CT Before the prequels, was Kenobi mainly referred to as Ben?

In my fan fiction, I've explained the name "Obi-Wan" as a nickname in some alien language which was given to him during the Clone Wars for his bravery. Ben is his real name. I wish this is how the name had been explained to me because it makes more sense this way.

 

I always called him Ben as a kid. I started calling him Obi-Wan regularly because of the prequels.

 

not me, always known him to be Obi-Wan, even before the prequels.

 

Yeah, and there is also a mesa on Tatooine going by the name of Ben which is another part of the reason

 

I think in Luke's more serious moments, he's Obi-Wan and when he's the young, naive, helpless farm boy, it's "Ben".

 

I've always referred to him as Obi-Wan. That is his true name (not just a Jedi name). And even in ANH, it was immediately clear that Ben was simply an alias, most likely to stay hidden from the Empire as he was in exile. I assume any referrence to him as Ben by Leia, or any other character in the OT was also in effort to keep his true identity secret and/or habit.

BEN: Obi-Wan Kenobi...Obi-Wan? Now thats a name I haven't heard in a long time...a long time.
LUKE: I think my uncle knew him. He said he was dead.
BEN: Oh, he's not dead, not...not yet.
LUKE: You know him!
BEN: Well of course, of course I know him. He's me! I haven't gone by the name Obi-Wan since oh, before you were born.

 

Great question!

I was born in 91. I'm pretty sure I referred to him as Obi-Wan before the PT. Ben just didn't sound Star Wars-y enough, plus most outside of Luke in the movies (Leia, Vader, Yoda, Tarkin, maybe more?) refer to him as Obi-Wan. Old Ben, sometimes, but never Ben.
It could be because I saw RotJ first where he's referred to as Obi-Wan when he's introduced ("Obi-Wan!") and later Vader calls him Obi-Wan. ("Obi-Wan has taught you well.")

But I'm pretty sure many did refer to him as Ben Kenobi.

 

We always knew he was "Obi-Wan" and Ben was a pseudonym. However, as others have said, Ben was used prominently in the OT and I remember using it too as a kid.

 

I don't know about other fans but I always call him "Obi-Wan" and never "Ben".

 

Before the prequels i always thought of Obi Wan as a title, with Ben being his real name.

 

I've always referred to him as Obi-Wan, even before I saw the Prequel movies.

 

I always called him Obi-Wan Kenobi, and that goes back to when I first saw the OT on the 1995 VHS releases, before the special edition, before the dark times.

 

I saw TPM first, he was always Obi-Wan. Figured 'Ben' was something he just called himself for fun.

 

Born in 1974, and I mostly referred to him as "Ben," and most of my friends did, too. But I did call him "Obi-Wan Kenobi" sometimes, too.

 

He may have picked it up on Tatooine. If you like TCW, however, he started using as an alias while he was in disguise as Rako Hardeen. I liked that.

 

Oh? I'm way behind on TCW (I do like it, just haven't had the time to catch up since series 4, still haven't even looked at Rebels), so never saw that.

Nice to see that it's been addressed, but given the prominence and importance attached to this alias in SW/ANH (you know, the VERY FIRST STAR WARS FILM), it really should have been dealt with in AOTC or ROTS, just so dingbats like us shouldn't have to wonder and argue about it.

There was an old rumour back between AOTC and ROTS that 'Ben' was going to be the name of a clonetrooper who was a close friend of Obi-Wan Kenobi - no idea if there was any truth to the rumour. They might have ditched the obvious reference and simply renamed the clonetrooper 'Cody', who was clearly close to Obi-Wan in ROTS.
(TBH, I'd rather have had a poignant hint at Obi-Wan's future alias than a pointless cameo from a random Wookiee called Chewbacca)

 

The release of "Clerks" was the tipping point for the changeover from "Ben" to "Obi Wan" in mass culture. A couple of years prior to that the hipster crowd, (they weren't irritating back then,) referred to him as "Obi Wan" to differentiate themselves as "Warsies" as opposed to mere "Star Wars Fans."

 

I guess.

 

Born in '86 and first watched the movies in '94, as well.

I just always called him Ben because Luke did. I got into the habit of calling him Obi-Wan because of the prequels. You guys are making me jealous. Lol.

 

All three OT films credit Alec Guiness with the role of "Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi".

 

Ben was his alias on Tatooine.
His name is Obi-Wan Kenobi.
I thought the OT made this pretty clear. I saw ANH back in 1984 when I was 6.
My friends and I called him Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ben back in the day. Just like Luke did!
The PT made it abundantly clear that his name is Obi-Wan Kenobi.
I rarely use Ben anymore when referring to Obi-Wan, although I just started reading the "Kenobi" novel so maybe that will change?

 

In much of the media coverage and on the toys back in the day (yes I saw them in the theater when they came out lol), he was referred more as Ben Kenobi than Obi-Wan or as Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi. From as much as I can remember.