How Much Would Names Change in a AU?

I'm writing a fairly big AU, and some large events have been changed, people surviving what should have killed them, avoiding dark side temptations.

How much should I change names? Specifically, I was thinking about Jaina and Jacen Solo and Ben Skywalker's names.

 

Well if it's AU then you can change the names all you want.

Just make sure that your AU begins before the children were named in the EU, that way you avoid complications.

 

What about changing names, again??!! I just didn't understand what you were asking . Eloberate please?

Aunecah_Skywalker

 

It depends. I just read the Thrawn books with the birth, and no explanation was given for the names. If they were just sort of things that Leia pulled out of thin air, then it's hard to explain why they would have different names in an AU. If, on the other hand, some reason is given in a book I haven't read, then all you'd need to do is change that reason--eg, if they were named after Leia's foster parents' siblings, then you make some event where she splits from them, or where they survived Alderaan so she doesn't need to name her children after them to remember them.

The other thing would be if you made them entirely different children, in which case it wouldn't exactly be an AU of the EU--it would just be a different version of the events after RotJ than the one given in the EU. You wouldn't be working with the same cast of characters, so you can name them anything you want.

 

Jaina and Jacen I might leave the same (although I hate the name Jaina). Mostly I was thinking of changing Ben's name. Obi-Wan isn't killed by Vader in my story so Luke has no need to name him after his fallen mentor.