Fact file.

Superman (Kal-El, also known as Clark Kent) is the first great comic-book superhero. This fact file answers the quick questions people ask most, and links to the Codex page that goes deeper on each one.

Superman fact file

What is Superman’s real name?

Superman’s Kryptonian birth name is Kal-El, and his Earth name is Clark Kent. The names took a while to settle. The newspaper strip first called him Kal-L on 17 January 1939, with his parents as Jor-L and Lora. George Lowther’s 1942 novel The Adventures of Superman spelled it “Kal-el” and gave his parents the modern names Jor-El and Lara. The spelling Kal-El first appears in a comic in Superman #113 (May 1957), written by Bill Finger.

Fans also ask what “Kal-El” means. There’s no single canon translation, and neither popular answer comes from Siegel and Shuster:

• “Voice of God” reads El as the Hebrew word for God. It’s a popular theory, but the Superman Homepage notes there’s no evidence the creators intended it.
• “Star child” or “child of the stars” comes from an in-universe Kryptonian translation offered in later stories.

Both are interpretations, so treat any confident answer you see online as one reading among several.

Where is Superman from?

Superman comes from Krypton, a planet that orbited a red sun called Rao. His father, the scientist Jor-El, foresaw the planet’s destruction and sent his baby son to Earth in a rocket. Read the full story of his home world in our guide to Krypton explained, and meet his relatives in the Superman family tree.

Where do Superman’s powers come from?

In modern stories, Superman’s cells soak up radiation from Earth’s yellow sun and store it like a battery. That wasn’t always the explanation. In 1938 Kryptonians were simply a more evolved race; in the 1940s Earth’s lower gravity made him strong; and from around 1960 the yellow sun took over, according to DC’s own history of the idea. The full list is on Superman’s powers, and the things that stop them are on Superman’s weaknesses.

Clark Kent or Superman: who is the real person?

It depends on the era. In the Golden and Silver Ages, timid Clark was the act and Superman was the real man. Since John Byrne’s 1986 reboot, most writers say the opposite: Clark Kent is who he is, and Superman is what he does. James Gunn takes the same view for Superman (2025). There’s more on this, and on his likes, dislikes and values, in Superman’s personality.

How old is Superman, and when is his birthday?

Modern comics usually write Superman as being in his late thirties to early forties, but there’s no fixed canon age. His birthday isn’t settled either: 29 February began as a 1960s letters-page joke and was printed in DC’s 1976 Super DC Calendar, while DC has also marked 18 April, the day Action Comics #1 went on sale.

For quick-fire trivia, see our Superman fun facts.

Superman on screen

Superman has been played by many actors, from George Reeves on TV in the 1950s to Christopher Reeve, Henry Cavill and David Corenswet. See our guide to every Superman actor, the history of the character in Superman’s history, and the latest film in our Superman (2025) guide.

Why is Superman called the Man of Steel?

Superman has been called the Man of Steel since 1938, his very first year: sources disagree on whether the phrase first appears in Action Comics #6 or #7. The Man of Tomorrow nickname comes from New York World’s Fair Comics #1 (1939), tied to the fair’s “World of Tomorrow” theme, and James Gunn has revived it as the title of the next film. The Last Son of Krypton comes from Elliot S! Maggin’s 1978 novel of that name.