After 87 Years, Superman's Father Finally Reveals His Human Name

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Published May 30, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT

Nicolas Ayala is a Senior Writer for the Comics team at ScreenRant, with over five years of experience writing about Superhero media, action movies, and TV shows.

For the first time in DC Comics history, Superman's Kryptonian father Jor-El reveals his human, Earth-given name. Kryptonian naming conventions works on a rigid system of patronymics and gender-based formatting that directly reflects a citizen's societal caste and lineage. For male Kryptonians, an individual’s identity is constructed using a short given name connected via a hyphen to their family's hereditary house name, such as Kal-El, Jor-El, and Zor-El. Female Kryptonians don't carry a hyphenated house name during their adulthood; instead, they're given a singular name at birth and traditionally carry their father's full name as their legal surname until marriage, like Kara Zor-El and Lara Lor-Van.

Most Kryptonians never get the chance to adopt a terrestrial name or a superhero moniker, unless it's in an alternate universe like the one introduced in Superman: Father of Tomorrow.

Jor-El's Human Name Is Jordan Kent

Superman: Father Of Tomorrow #1; Written By Kenny Porter; Art By Danny Earls & Nick Filardi

Jor-El is renamed Jordan Kent in Superman Father of Tomorrow #1

In a timeline where Jor-El survives Krypton's destruction instead of Kal-El, the legendary Kryptonian scientist becomes the "adopted brother" of Jonathan Kent in Kansas, where Jor-El adopts the name "Jordan Kent." Jordan Kent lives a regular life with the Kents at their farmhouse, and the Kents likely avoided the problem of legally adopting a young Kryptonian they found on their land. Like Kal-El in his Superboy days, Jordan Kent helps the Kents with their daily work until he grows tired of wasting his godlike potential.

Unlike Clark Kent, however, Jordan Kent retains all the vivid memories of his life as Jor-El, especially his failure to save his wife Lara and his son Kal. Jordan's remorse is eating at him, and Jonathan's death serves as the inciting event for his official transformation into Superman. Besides Jordan Kent's closer connection to his Kryptonian roots, his brilliant mind makes him a fusion of Superman and Mister Terrific, as he's able to assemble advanced technological devices in a matter of seconds, using nothing but mundane objects.

Father Of Tomorrow Proves Earth Had More Than One Chance To Gain Its Man Of Steel

Jor-El Could Have Been A Similarly Selfless Superman

Kal-El's arrival is a miracle for both Krypton and Earth, as he carries the entire legacy of his home planet on his shoulders and saves humankind out of sheer benevolence. While the Kents shaped Kal-El's values, the boy's naturally kind heart gifted the world a savior who could have easily become its tyrant. Traditionally, Superman's incredibly pure spirit has highlighted the idea that all other Kryptonians would have at least given up at some point, if not decided to use their godlike powers for selfish reasons. Jordan Kent proves that Kal-El wasn't the only pure-hearted Kryptonian with the potential to become Earth's savior.

As Jordan Kent, the white-clad Jor-El takes up the Superman mantle and immediately starts saving Metropolis from Metallo. Meanwhile, Kara Zor-El and Krypto might be a few years away from arriving on Earth to help Kara's uncle protect the world. Elsewhere in the DC multiverse, both Jor-El and Superman's mother Lara Lor-Van also cement themselves as heroic Kryptonians before their deaths in the Absolute Universe. And in DC's main continuity, Lois Lane and Jon Kent live up to Superman's legacy when they develop their own Kryptonian powers.

How different do you think Jor-El will be as Superman?

Superman: Father of Tomorrow #1 is now available from DC Comics.