TheBoost said:

Been thinking about Star Wars character names, ever since we had that thread about stormtroopers and someone told me there's a stormtrooper named Davin Felth. That name sucks.

So I started thinking about the names people have in the movies.

I'm only counting human characters who's names are used in the movie.

Star Wars

• Obi-Wan Kenobi aka Ben... A bit wierd, but very reminiscent of Japanese names. Can't get more normal than Ben.

 Return of the Jedi

• Anakin... Not a real name, but resembles "Ken" or "Nick" grounding it somehwat.

 

My conclusion is that the names USED in the movies (Sio Bibble isn't named in dialogue) aren't anywhere near as weird as the names given to characters in the EU. In fact, most bare at least a passing resemblance to normal Earth names.

My final analysis is that EU names kinda suck. Then end. Thank you for your time.

Yay for the Anakin -> Nick suggestion.  http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Nick-name-for-little-orphan-Ani/post/403336/#TopicPost403336

Anakin is derived from the Judeao-Christian stories surrounding Giants in the Bible.

Anakim (or Anakites) are the descendants of Anak, and dwelt in the south of Canaan, in the neighbourhood of Hebron. In the days of Abraham, they inhabited the region later known as Edom and Moab, east of the Jordan river. They are mentioned during the report of the spies about the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. The Book of Joshua states that Joshua finally expelled them from the land, excepting a remnant that found a refuge in the cities of Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. The Philistine giant Goliath, whom David^[44] later encountered, was supposedly a descendant of the Anakim.^{[citation needed]}

The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.

—^[45]

It is more commonly suggested by traditional Jewish sources (such as the Midrash) that the spies saw large and powerful inhabitants in Canaan and because of their own fears, cowardice, and inadequate faith in Yahweh, saw themselves as grasshoppers in the eyes of the Canaanites, whether they were actual "giants" or not.^{[citation needed]}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anakim#Anakim

TheBoost said:

My final analysis is that EU names kinda suck.

Exar Kun's gonna pwn yo ass, mofo.

TheBoost said:

Han Solo... Han isn't far from Hans, a real name, and Solo isn't usually a name but a recognizable word.

I've always thought of "Solo" being a nickname Han uses. As in ray afraid. Afraid obviously isn't my real last name, but for the most part I do go by that in the real world. I thought Han probably used it because in his line of work you wouldn't want to be known by your legal name.

I realize than in the EU it's established as his real name, but not in my world.

Does Han Solo use forums in your world? ;-)

I wouldn't be surprised.  As I said in a different thread, he's delusional, not dumb.  You can even assume

Spoiler:

he's smart.

I assumed for years that "Solo" was a name he gave himself. Some quote from one of the Han Solo Adventures or original novelizations mentioned something about "though his name was Solo, he was truly alone now".

Leia (various spellings exist) is also a real name least we forget Princess Leia Of Hungary ;-)

doubleofive said:

I assumed for years that "Solo" was a name he gave himself. Some quote from one of the Han Solo Adventures or original novelizations mentioned something about "though his name was Solo, he was truly alone now".

I think there's a bit in the ROTJ novelization where Leia considers this. "Solo" meaning "loner", no human friends, etc..

A lot of the wierd names in Star Wars have more roots in real languages than is first apparent to those of us who only speak english.  I remember seeing some of the odd names for planets in the prequels while they were being made, only to be surprised to find out (often by accident) that they were ACTUAL names of real places (often very remote) on earth.  Though they were usually spelled slightly different than their earthly counterparts.

For example, the planet Utapau from ROTS is one letter away from the U-Tapao airport in Thailand...

And Mustafar is probably from the arabic name Mustafa, an epithet of Muhammad that means "the chosen one."  (source)

If Peta Lactril were to marry Captain Panaka, she would be known as Peta Panaka.

Wasn't that a Jonathan King song?

If Jolee Se'ol married Ric Olié, she'd be know as Jolee Olié.

If Zam Wessel married Charles Hawltrey Obi-Wan might have called her Zam Zam The Lavatory Man.