Spider-Man's secret identity is Peter Parker.
Aunt May . The character is the aunt-by-marriage and adoptive mother of Peter Parker , who leads a secret life as Spider-Man . Spider-Man . Lee and Ditko conceived the character as an orphan being raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben , and as a teenager , having to deal with the normal struggles of adolescence in addition to those of a costumed crime-fighter . The Spider-Man series broke ground by featuring Peter Parker , the high school student behind Spider-Man 's secret identity and with whose `` self-obsessions with rejection , inadequacy , and loneliness '' young readers could relate .