You know him as Jon Snow – the internet knows him as one of TV’s greatest heartthrobs.
Yet the name most people associate with Kit Harington isn’t actually his given name — and, for much of his childhood, he didn’t realise that either.
The actor was born Christopher Catesby Harington on December 26, 1986, in Acton, west London, but he’s been called Kit for as long as he can remember.
The twist is that, for the first 11 years of his life, he assumed “Kit” was the name on his birth certificate. Learning otherwise sparked a surprisingly memorable identity wobble.
In a 2012 chat with Interview magazine, Harington described the moment it clicked.
He was sitting a school placement test — the sort used to determine which class set you’d be placed in — and wrote “Kit Harington” at the top of the paper.
“They looked at me like I was completely stupid,” he said, “and they said, ‘No, you’re Christopher Harington, I’m afraid.’ It was only then I learned my actual name. That was kind of a bizarre existential crisis for an 11-year-old to have.”
Even after finding out, he never felt the need to reinvent himself with the name Christopher.
“No one ever calls me Christopher,” he said. “I only use it when I’m applying for a new passport or something.”
For him, “Kit” isn’t just a nickname; it’s the identity that fits. “I felt that’s who I was. I’m not really a Chris.”
It’s an unusual personal footnote for someone whose career path has been equally distinctive.
Harington studied at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, then made his professional breakthrough in 2009 playing Albert Narracott in the West End run of War Horse.
Not long after, his life changed direction when he was cast as Jon Snow in HBO’s Game of Thrones, a part he played for eight seasons and one that made him globally famous.
By the later seasons, he was reportedly earning as much as $1.1 million per episode. HBO also explored the idea of a Jon Snow spinoff in the years after the finale, but Harington said in 2024 that it was “off the table,” explaining they couldn’t land on the right story — a decision that implied he’d rather step away than do something that didn’t feel worthwhile.
Since leaving Westeros behind, he’s put together a varied and often stage-led body of work.
He’s repeatedly returned to the West End, appearing in Doctor Faustus, True West alongside Johnny Flynn, taking the lead in a 2022 revival of Henry V, and most recently featuring in Jeremy O. Harris’s confrontational Slave Play in 2024. On screen, he joined the Marvel universe in Eternals as Dane Whitman — a role that teased bigger plans but hasn’t yet turned into a full MCU arc.
From 2024 onward, he has also appeared as Sir Henry Muck in HBO’s financial drama Industry, playing an aristocrat with towering ambition and questionable judgement — a performance that has drawn strong reviews and awards chatter.