Rey’s biological parents are a junk trader couple named Dathan and Miramir, who lived in obscurity and tried to protect her by hiding her on Jakku. Dathan is a non–Force-sensitive “strandcast” (genetic clone) of Emperor Sheev Palpatine, which makes Rey a descendant of Palpatine by blood.
In the movies
In Star Wars: The Last Jedi , Kylo Ren tells Rey that her parents were “nobodies” who sold her for drinking money, framing them as insignificant junk traders. The Rise of Skywalker later reveals that, while they lived as poor junk dealers, her father was actually Palpatine’s cloned son and her parents abandoned her to keep her hidden from Palpatine’s agents.
Expanded canon details
Later canon sources give her parents names and more backstory: her father is Dathan and her mother is Miramir, both humans who tried to live a quiet life far from the Empire and the Sith. They are killed by the assassin Ochi of Bestoon after refusing to reveal Rey’s location, completing the explanation of why Rey grows up alone on Jakku.
Family connection summary
Rey is not the daughter of any Skywalker or Solo; her closest blood relation in the saga is Emperor Palpatine through Dathan’s cloned origin. Despite this ancestry, the story emphasizes that Rey’s identity is defined by her choices, which is why she ultimately chooses the name “Rey Skywalker.”
