The SW Names FAQ, Version 2.0 Copyright (C) Julie Lim, May 1994 This document attempts to catalogue the derivations and symbolism of various names in the SW universe. It does not cover all licensed material, nor does it necessarily indicate the intentions of Lucas et al. in choosing these names. Two main templates for SW are the symbolic conflict between light and darkness, and the historical transit of Rome from kingdom to republic to empire. More subjective allegories have also been read into the tril, casting Luke as an Arthurian or Christlike figure. Kenobi is another favorite for the latter role, with which solar imagery has been traditionally associated (see above). In lieu of continually repeating these themes throughout, I have chosen to simply state them here, and trust that readers will draw the necessary connections. Some entries may contain spoilers, especially for recently licensed material. A partial bibliography of non-SW references is appended at the end. Lastly, my thanks to various rassers who provided or suggested additional entries, or pointed out blunders in old ones. I've tried to pinpoint specific suggestions, but was foiled in some cases by lost files. Permission has been granted to Skip Shayotovich for Fidonet distribution (reposts and freq archival), and to Scott Streeter for Usenet distribution (reposts and ftp/www archival). Two paper copies are stored for lending access at the Corellian Archives (Ming Wathne, librarian; 427 Via Roma Dr., Santa Barbara CA 93110). All other rights are reserved. Ackbar: A(c)kbar (the Great) was a 16th-century emperor of the Mogul dynasty in India. The Arabic phrase "Allah akbar" means "God is great." Alderaan: Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover books contain the noble house of Aldaran [sic]. Aldaran rebelled against the other aristocrats and their domain was ravaged by arcane technology (e.g., _The Heritage of Hastur_, New York: DAW, 1975). Anakin: "Anakim" [sic] is one of several names in the Old Testament for a race of giants, "the sons of the gods [who] lay with the daughters of men" [Genesis 6:4]. ("Anakim" is actually plural.) This may refer to Anakin's great height, if Vader's size was not installed with the armor. Pre-ROTJ speculations included the derivation an-akin, or "not related," as part of a theory that Vader (regardless of whether he *had* once been Anakin) was not Luke's father and Kenobi was. This may still play a factor in the pretril if Uncle George keeps playing mind games with us. Antilles: A group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, divided into Lesser and Greater chains. Artoo-Detoo: An expanded transliteration of "R2-D2," which originated as an on-set abbreviation for "reel 2, dialogue 2" during the filming of _American Graffitti_. Aves [Zahn's trilogy]: Plural of the Latin _avis_, "bird." Alternately, an abbreviated pluralization of the Catholic prayer "Ave Maria," now more commonly known as "Hail Mary." [Cf. "Gaeriel Captison," "Mara Jade"] Bail (Leia's foster father): As spelled, a bucket, the crossbar of a cricket wicket, a stable divider, or the outer wall of a castle (the last from "bailey"). Homophones include "Baal," a Canaanite god in the Old Testament. As a common noun, "baal" is a Semitic root for "lord" or "master," e.g. "Baalzebub," "Lord of the Flies." [Cf. "Garm Bel Iblis"] Ben: Possibly an abnormal contraction of "Obi-Wan," as "Owen" may be; the nomenclature of some cultures (Hungary, much of Asia) places the surname first, which would make "Kenobi" and "Lars" the personal names of the two brothers. In English, usually a short form of "Benjamin." This name means "son of the south" or "son of my right hand" (and thus would have been a good name for Luke's clone); the two meanings are easily reconciled when one faces east, the direction of sunrise. By itself, "ben" is a patronymic prefix. "Ben Kenobi" may mean "the son of Kenobi." Beru: Queen Beruthiel of Gondor is mentioned in LOTR; Lucas asked Guinness to play Kenobi like Gandalf, but links among minor characters are tenuous at best. "Beruthiel" has been tentatively etymologized as "daughter of the queen." [Cf. "Owen"] Biggs Darklighter: Luke's role model on Tatooine [ANH novelization and radio play]. His first name reflects his function as "big brother." His last name evokes the quotation "better to light a candle than curse the darkness," possibly linked to Luke's words to him, "We're two shooting stars that'll never be stopped." Bollux/Zollux [Daley "Han Solo" trilogy]: The character named "Bollux" in American editions was renamed "Zollux" in British ones. "Bollux" is presumably homonymous with "bollocks," Brit slang for testicles. B-wing: Stands for "blade-wing"; with extended foils, the fighter resembles a dagger. Byss [_Dark Empire_]: An abyss is a deep, lightless chasm, from the Greek _abyssos_, "bottomless" (_a-_, "without"; _byssos_, "bottom of the sea"). Alternately, byssus or byssos was a gauzelike cloth of the ancient world, suitable for veils or shrouds. Chewbacca: While the character was largely based on Marcia Lucas' pet malamute Indiana, the name simply popped into George's head one day [_Skywalking_]. The original derivation may have been from "chewing tobacco"; some European rassers report that the name was translated along those lines when the films were dubbed. Chimaera [Zahn]: From the Greek _chimaira_, "she-goat." Also spelled "chimera." A mythological creature with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a snake; it was defeated by Bellerophon, the tamer of Pegasus. By extension, any fanciful or nightmarish creature, or in biotech, an organism fused from two or more distinct sources (different species, genders, etc., e.g., a tobacco plant made phosphorescent by the insertion of the firefly luciferin gene). Coruscant: Flashing, shining, scintillating. From the Latin _coruscare_, "to quiver or flash." Darth Vader: Intended to evoke "dark father" [_Rolling Stone_ interview w/ Lucas?]. _Vader_ is in fact the Dutch word for "father," but is not pronounced the same way as the name. "Vader" carries various other echoes (invader, evader, etc.), mostly from the Latin _vadere_, "to go or advance." The phrase _vade mecum_ ("come with me"), also from this root, was formerly applied in English to a manual or guide. Another Latin word, _vadum_, means "shallow place or ford" but also "depths or the sea" [cf. "Byss"]. Endor: King Saul consulted the witch of Endor while warring against David [first book of Samuel]; she conjured Samuel's ghost for counsel. "Endor" is also the Quenya name for Middle-Earth, e.g., _Et Earello Endorenna utulien_, "Out of the Great Sea to Middle-Earth am I come" [Aragorn's coronation]. The ROTJ moon is sometimes called the "Sentry" or "Century Moon" by fans who misheard the Emperor's phrase, "*sanctuary* moon." [James Kahn's ROTJ noevlization] Ephant Mon [chez Jabba]: An elision of "Elephant Man," which this critter resembles. [V088R52M@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu] Executor (Vader's SSD): A person or thing who executes or enacts a work; in a legal sense, a person entrusted to carry out the provisions of a will. By semantic slippage, the name suggests Vader's dual role as the executioner of spare admirals and the enforcer of Palpatine's will (bidding). 4-LOM [TESB bounty hunter]: A Kenner-spawned contraction of the phrase "for the love of money." [George Emmons] Gaeriel Captison [_Truce at Bakura_]: Gabriel ("man/hero of God") is the archangel traditionally identified as the angel of the annunciation and associated with the Virgin Mary. Another reference may be to the name "Ariel," most recently used in _The Little Mermaid_, but also in _The Tempest_ and _The Rape of the Lock_. In the latter two, Ariel is an "aerial" spirit of the atmosphere. "Ariel" itself means "lion of God." "Captison" may be interpreted as "captain's son" or "captive's son." While the latter may seem contextually unlikely, the Germano-Frankish royal name "Giselle/Ghislaine" arose from a word for "pledge or hostage" and a method of coaxing alliances. Gallandro [Daley]: A possible conflation of "gallant" and the Greek _andros_, "man" ( <-- android, androgynous, Andrew). Garm Bel Iblis [Zahn]: Garm was the watchdog of Niflheim, the Norse underworld ruled by the goddess Hel. As such, he represents a Norse analogue of Cerberus, who guarded Hades in Greek myth. [George Emmons] Bel is a Babylonian god, possibly a double of Baal [q.v., "Bail"]. One book of the Apocrypha, _Bel and the Dragon (or Snake)_, recounts how the prophet Daniel proved Bel's worship to be a fraud. Iblis is the chief evil jinn in Islamic lore, often identified with Satan. Greedo: Sounds like a combination of "greedy" and "Guido," evoking the image of an unscrupulous Mafia hitperson. Han Solo: "Han" is an archaic English form of "John," surviving in surnames like Hanson and Hancock. When elided with "Solo" ("alone"), it sounds like "Hans" (a German form of "John") and is sometimes misspelled that way. Biblical Johns include Christ's favorite apostle (traditionally identified with the evangelist) and Christ's baptizing cousin. Various proverbs and idioms are linked to the name, e.g. "jack of all trades." Joru(u)s C'Baoth [Zahn's trilogy]: "Joris" [sic] is a Dutch and Frisian form of "George." Clone names are stringently formed, not by repetition of a random letter but always a U. To paraphrase Vian Lawson, "We know U're a clone because there's more than one of U." Zahn stated in an interview [archived at wpi.wpi.edu] that "C'Baoth" is intended to evoke the Biblical phrase "Lord God Sabaoth," meaning "Lord God of Hosts." In Zahn, "host" likely contains a double sense of "army" and "sustainer of a parasite or a graft." Katana [Zahn trilogy]: The longer of the two swords a samurai was entitled to carry. John Keegan writes of the samurai "cult of the sword," "It seems to have partaken of the Japanese belief in the importance of unity with nature and natural forces, since muscular effort is 'natural' while the chemical energy of gunpowder is not." [p 45, _A History of Warfare_. New York: Borzoi, 1993.] Klaatu, Barada, Nikto: The names of these three skiff guards are given in merchandise and production sources, though not in ROTJ itself. "Klaatu, Barada, Nikto" originated as a robot command phrase in the 1950's film _The Day The Earth Stood Still_. Leia: The name has been pronounced with either a long A or a long E sound. As the former, "Leia" has been called a variant of "Leila," a Semitic name meaning "night." A Talmudic source cites Leila as the Angel of Night. Both pronunciations are also used for "Leah," the first wife of Jacob. "Leah" is said to mean "wild cow," "languid," or "weary" in Hebrew, and "mistress" in Assyrian. There also exists the name "Lea," the feminine form of "Leo" (lion) [cf. Ariel, "Gaeriel Captison"]. Lianna (a pseudonym of Mara Jade (q.v.); an Imperial base [WEG]): An alternate form of "Eliane," rooted in the Greek _helios_, "sun." The liana or liane ["mot fr. des Antilles, des dial. de l'Ouest," _Petit Robert 1_, 1991] is a tropical vine that insinuates thorny tendrils into the trees it climbs upon, and eventually strangles them. Sometimes the original host tree entirely rots away, leaving the liana still fused upright like a hollow pillar of lace. Lobot: Combines "lobe" with "robot." Probably refers to the cyborgic mechanism around his head (brain lobes). Another reading is a shortened form of "lobotomy," referring to his surgical modification. [V088R52M@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu] Luke: Commonly associated with "light," from the Greek _leukos_, "white or bright," or the Latin _lux_, "light." While this is true of the Roman names Lucius and Lucia, and variants thereof, "Luke" actually arises from a completely different root, meaning "man from Lucania": Greek _Loukas_, Latin _Lucas_. When young Skywalker's name is compressed to first name and last initial, he becomes "Luke S.", intensifying suspicion of this character as a directorial stand-in. Historically, the name Luke has been best known as the putative author of the third gospel in the New Testament. This apostle was a doctor and a Gentile; the last aspect may relate to our Luke's conversion from initial ignorance of the Force. Mara Jade [Zahn]: "Mara" is Hebrew for "bitter"; it is commonly read as an alternate version of "Mary" (exact etymology unknown, but thought to relate to the sea). Both are in the Bible: Mara in Ruth 2:20; Mary/Miriam in places too numerous to list. Kama-Mara is the Buddhist deity of love and death. A jade is a translucent gem (usually green), a broken-down horse, or a hussy. The last may hearken to one of the Biblical Marys, a harlot from Magdala who became one of Christ's disciples. A common demi-heretical speculation (along with the equation of Lucifer ("light-bearer") with Prometheus) is that Mary Magdalene and Christ married or became lovers (e.g., _The Last Temptation of Christ_). Mon Calamari: "Mon" is French for "my," but also the Japanese word for the crest of a noble house. Other possible roots are the Greek _monos_, "one" (monarch, monastic) and Latin _mons_, "mountain," both of which denote eminence. "Calamari" (also spelled "calamary") means "squid." This may be the only entry you later find useful in restaurants. Obi-Wan: One theory is that Kenobi was a clone line's template, so that "Obi-Wan" derives from the designation "OB-1." Alternately, other Warsies think the "OB" part stands for "Old Ben." While Obi-Wan may be an expanded transliteration like "Artoo-Detoo" for "R2-D2," no LFL-licensed sources have used the "OB-1" form. Organa: Possibly intended to evoke a sense of flowing vitality ("organic") in contrast to the hard-edged technology of the Empire. Owen Lars: "Owen" is a Welsh form of "Eugenius," meaning "well-born." It may also refer to him "owing" a debt to someone, or "owning" Luke in loco parentis. David Jansen (jansen@strwchem.strw.leidenuniv.nl) adds, "Someone also mentioned that it was a clone designation like OB-1 (O-N) and that Ben and Owen were brothers in both being O-series clones." [cf. "Ben," "Obi-Wan"] "Lars" is a Scandinavian form of "Laurence." Like "Luke," this is a regional name ("man from Laurentium") commonly ascribed with a more glamorous meaning ("laurel-crowned"). The Lares (two syllables) were Roman household gods. Palpatine: Appears to conflate the Latin _palpare_, "to stroke, press, or flatter" ( <- palpate, palpitations), with "Palatine," one of the seven hills of Rome, on which several emperors resided. By extension, the adjectival form _palatinus_ acquired the meaning "imperial"; the Latin name of the hill itself, _Palatium_, is the root of "palace." Peregrine [Zahn]: One of the largest and swiftest kinds of falcon. As an isolated adjective, "peregrine" means "foreign or wandering," a short conceptual step to "exiled." The name "Peregrin(e)" is sometimes given in honor of several early saints, and was Pippin Took's full first name in LOTR. Ree-Yees [chez Jabba]: A scrambled version of "three-eyes," which this critter has. [V088R52M@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu] Rukh [Zahn]: An enormous bird in Arabic legend, also transliterated "roc"; some mythographers equate it with the phoenix. Sith: An archaic version of "since," e.g., "What is thy Body but a swall'wing Grave, Seeming to bury that Posterity Which by the Rights of Time thou needs must have If thou destroy them not in dark Obscurity? If so the World will hold thee in Disdain, Sith in thy Pride so fair a Hope is slain." [Shakespeare, _Venus and Adonis_, stanza 127] Also visually resembles the Irish name for Faerie, "Sidhe" (pronounced "she"). An especially tenuous link can be drawn from the Arthurian view of the tril, in which Leia, as Luke's sister and love interest, fulfills the role of Morgan le Fay; Leia is hailed in Zahn as "Lady Vader," the heir to Vader's Sith honorific (Sith = Sidhe = Faerie = Fay). Sturm and Drang [Zahn (Karrde's pet vornskrs)]: "Sturm und Drang" literally translate to "storm and stress" in German. Specifically, a stylistic trend in late 19th century German literature, glorifying individuality and impulsiveness. More generally, any chaos or tumult. Skywalker: A title of Loki, the Norse god of fire. Loki was punished for rebellion against the gods by being bound to a rock, where a serpent dropped burning venom onto his body. This presents a possible link to Anakin's supposed lava bath; also cf. Prometheus/Lucifer in "Mara Jade" entry. Talon Karrde [Zahn]: A talon is the hooked claw of a bird of prey. In view of the name of his ship, "Karrde" probably comes from "card." One of the titles Zahn considered for _Heir to the Empire_ was _Wild Card_. Tarkin: A near-homophone of "Tarquin," the name of several Etruscan kings of Rome. The last of these, Tarquin the Proud, committed such outrages that the Romans overthrew the monarchy and established the republic. The outrage most commonly commemorated in art is his rape of the Roman noblewoman Lucretia. (The etymology of "Lucretia" is unclear, but the name's resemblance to "Luke" is of interest: Lucretia as an oblique female version of Luke, i.e. Leia.) TIE fighter: Acronym for "twin ion engine." In the ANH novelization (credited to George Lucas, but ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster), it was not fully capitalized, and was written "Tie"; the name may have originated as a reference to the craft's approximate "bow-tie" shape. Thrawn [Zahn]: A Scottish word for "twisted, perverse, or unpleasant." Some have also interpreted it as a portmanteau of "thrall" and "pawn"; the Grand Admiral does not appear to be anyone's tool within Zahn, but he may have been unwittingly used if one takes _Dark Empire_ into account. A derivation from "prawn" has also been proposed, as a counterpart to the Alliance's seafood admiral. Tydirium: Tydeus was the father of Diomedes, a Greek hero of the Trojan War. The Latin genitive plural would be _Tydeorum_, "belonging to Tydeuses." Tyndareus (Lat. gen. pl., "Tyndareorum") was the consort of Leda, Queen of Sparta, whom Zeus courted in the shape of a swan. Wayland [Zahn]: A legendary Norse/Germanic smith, also known as Volund. One legend speaks of him seizing a Valkryie's swan-plumage while she bathed or slept, depriving her of flight. Wookie(e): Originated during _THX-1138_, when one actor ad-libbed the background dialogue, "It sounds like you ran over a Wookie(e) back there!". The word is spelled with one E in the ANH novelization, but with two E's in most other sources. Partial bibliography-- Campbell, Joseph. _The Hero With A Thousand Faces_. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973.