Is there any reason that the twins were named Luke and Leia by Padme?

I have been wondering as to why Padme chose the names Luke and Leia for the twins as she was dying? It is pretty certain that she did not know she was having twins, so how did she suddenly come up with the names?

I imagine that Padme and Anakin must have discussed these names for the baby, so if they had either a boy or a girl they had discussed these names. But why these names?? Do we know if there was any particular reason that these names were chosen.

I think it would have really added to the scene with Anakin and Padme talking about their love had they took a moment and discussed potential names for their child. Maybe I am crazy, but I find it odd they really did not discuss names for the child. I know everything could not be be put in the film, but I personally would have liked for them to have spoken about names for a boy or a girl, and we learn why those names were chosen.

I have not read the book, so maybe this was covered there. If not, it would seem odd for Padme to just pull these names out of nowhere in the midst of dying. Surely she, and hopefully Anakin talked about names for the child, if either a boy or girl, and this is why Padme could name them so quickly even in her situation.

Darth Sin!

 

In the novelization, Anakin figured that there would be a girl and Padme thought there would be a boy. They didn't really discuss names or the significance of either name. I believe these were just names that came to mind. From the time he came home to when he first started having these visions, he and Padme barely talked about names and the like. The last time he really discusses anything about the pregnancy is just after being denied a place on the Council. When Padme first suggests that he could use his ties to Palpatine to try and end the war. Just prior to that conversation, he touches her belly and can feel one of them kicking.

Otherwise, Anakin would only talk about the Council and his visions. Nothing in any of the essential guides gives any importance to the names.

 

because GL told her to.

really, GL had to add SOMETHING to make continuity fit between the OT & PT.

 

Being VERY nitpicky, the names that were chosen were odd. From the databank, the names of the other "Naberrie" family members are Padme, Jobal, Pooja, Ruwee, Ryoo, and Sola. We also know of Corde, Dorme, Saché, Yané, Rabé, Sabé and Eirtae the handmaidens, and Sio Bibble. Let's face it....no "Real World" names here. Shmi isn't a real world name, and neither is Cliegg. Beru probably is not either. Kitster (If that is his name) is certainly not a "real world" name, and Biggs isn't either. Other human names from the Trilogy (from other planets) are Mon, Bail, Wedge, Mace, Lando and Lorth "Needa". Suddenly "Luke" (Of Biblical Gospel fame) and "Leia" (Pretty common) come into the picture. I think that some "Real World" names should have crept into the PT.

Carnage

 

What I was getting at here is that I found it rather odd that such a subject was not addressed in the story, particularly when you consider what most husbands and wives do when it comes to their children and considering names for their children.

Yes, it did tie in to the OT with them receiving the twins receiving their names before the film ended; however, would you not have expected to hear Anakin and Padme, if but briefly consider names for a child, and why they would want those names.

I found that the name Luke comes from the Latin name Lucas, meaning a "light." Some maintain that the original name was Lucius. So we know that Lucas chose Luke, because he was pointing to himself in choosing the name Luke.

Leia on the otherhand has an English origin meaning "meadow" and is very close to the Chinese origin of Lei, which means "Thunder"

I do not think I have to say much more on these two names, particularly when seeing Luke means "light" when you consider he was the New Hope. Now I cannot make a connection with Leia and a meadow, but certainly she definitely fit the meaning "thunder".

This could have been done so easy in that scene when Anakin and Padme were on the balcony, and to have had Padme say if we have a boy, I want to name him Luke. Anakin asks why this name. Padme simply says, because it means a "light", like I see in you. Then Anakin on the otherhand says, well if we have a girl, I want her to be named Leia. Padme ask why, because it means "thunder", like you can be at times. Or he could have said it has two meanings, meadow and thunder, which describes her differing personalities.

Anyway, the point is, I think it would have added to the birth scene when she names the twins to have known why these names were chosen and how they would also describe for the most part the personality and destiny of the twins.

One last thing, imagine if it was Anakin that came up with Leia, and then when you view the OT and it seems Vader though unawares Leia was his daughter, he seemed to hold back when it came to her, and partly because of her name being Leia.

And then when you consider in ESB when the film opens, it says Vader is obsessed with finding Skywalker. Imagine that obsession now if it was not just the name Skywalker, but that his first name is Luke that drives his obsession because he would remember that this was the name Padme wanted if they had a boy.

Darth Sin!

 

Ahh, but in the GFFA, Luke and Leia would probably sound very sci-fi to them like Sola and Pooja does to us. People in the GFFA probably have a hard time pronouncing John or Charles

 

Bail is a real world name it's just uncommon.

 

Well, there are Dex, Elan, and Ric(k). I'm sure 'Sly' could be considered a 'real world' name, too, as it's the nick-name of a has-been actor. And Moore is a real world surname.

Someone on the Asian Continant is probably named Shu Mai. Argente is a real world surname.

And I'm sure there are a few (well, maybe not a lot) more...

 

I guess the reason is that Padme liked the names.

 

i'm not sure it was an accident that the names were never discussed in the film, and i don't really think it was an oversight.

in my life we're only talking about having a baby within 2-3 years from now and she's already picked out a boy's name and wants to work on a girls name. We might change our minds on the names between now and then but this is fairly normal i've found, where the situation in the film where it's not discussed at all is not.

I think it is done to "dehumanize" anakin. It shows quite clearly that he's detatched from padme and his life, it shows what he is concerned about, his standing as a jedi. A good conversation on his future would have done anakin some good, but that would require listening to padme, something he never did in the film or things would turn out differently.

I have no doubt she decided on names on her own since Anakin was not a part of that, and i'm sure she decided long before laying on her death bed.

 

In AOTC Padme did fall for Anakin on that meadow... you know, with the gonzo-colour dress and the waterfalls in the background, on Naboo. GL, the big romantic. Perhaps that's why he added that scene.

Or it could just have been a real random thing and Padme thought it up between two sessions of the Senate.

 

See, there was this thing called the OT.
And it had two kids called Luke and Leia in it.

Padme just had to fit in with the OT.....




-JR

 

Well, it has to be the Force that told her. I mean she felt Anakin was STILL good, and they did have a symbiotic connection in the ruminations scene. The Force guided her to call the kids those name, because they would be main reason Anakin came back to the good side of the Force.

 

Shmi is a real world name as is Padma (A) - just not western European/American culture. and with everything that needed to be covered in RotS talking about the names of the child/ren would not even make the bottom of the list. not important.

 

Yeah, that's pretty much it. I mean, why did Lucas choose the names back in the day? I don't really know, but there they are. It's funny because this is another one of those "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situations. If Lucas had added in a baby naming scene, people would complain that it was too "heavy handed" and he's "spoon feeding" us the fact that he can make the continuity work.

It doesn't particularly bother me that we don't know where they came from, but I think it would be an interesting thing to visit in the EU.

 

Anakin: If it's a boy, let's name him Buck.

Padme: Why in the blazes would we do that?

Anakin: It's all comic-booky and pulpy and stuff.

Padme: How about Nox Corellia?

Anakin: That's too normal. How about Sam?

Padme: Where the hell do you get these names?

 

RebelScum77,

I hear what you are saying in that Lucas does get beat up over such things, and I am one to not necessarily go that route. For me I guess as far as this subject is concerned is because of my own experience in becoming a parent, and having this conversation with other parents that this is a normal, expected conversation between and a husband and a wife once they learn they are expecting. And there is usually some rhyme or reason as to why they want to names their kids the names they chose, if nothing else but they like the sound of it in relation to their last name.

So for me, I would have expected such a conversation between Padme and Anakin, and the place for it was when they were out on the balcony, even when Padme suggested having their child be raised on Naboo. It is amazing how many people do not like this scene between them, but imagine had they discussed naming the children in that scene and why so. I think it would have enriched this scene because this would have been expected given that Padme had just shared this news with Anakin.

Lastly, yes we all know that the twins names are suppsoed to be Luke and Leia, but I just do not enjoy that scene very much when Padme gives them their names, for it seems she just pulls them out of nowwhere. Yes, I agree that her giving them the names Luke and Leia at that moment connects to what we know in the OT, but no origin in the Prequels as to why the twins got their names, or at the least no discussion between this husband and wife about their child's name.

Darth Sin!

 

If Lucas had added in a baby naming scene, people would complain that it was too "heavy handed" and he's "spoon feeding" us the fact that he can make the continuity work.



Yeah, adding a baby naming scene in ROTS would either be comedic or boring as heck.

 

Dawg, where the hell have you been?!?

It's great to see you back.


-JR

 

Is there any reason that the twins were named Luke and Leia by Padme?



Well in the OT those were the names used so if she had named them say bob and gloria or even dennis and edna it wouldnt have worked out very well unless they added a whole chapeter to the OT about how they changed their names as teens to luke and leia.

Dont get me wrong, would of been nice to see teenage luke and leia getting amancipated then sitting down with lawyers and the court system to legally change their names from edna and dennis.

 

Thanks, great to see you, too.

R/l has been kicking into overdrive for me.

Back on topic before we get yelled at: No one seems to blink at some crazy old hermit named 'Ben.' I guess 'normal' names still have their place. Perhaps a 'Bob' or two got wasted on the DS.

 

Perhaps they liked them...like most parents do when picking baby names.

 

I agree with the notion that Lucas didn't focus on a scene with their coming up names, because it shows that Anakin is too focused on his fear of the future, rather than keeping his mind on the here and now. It puts the burden on Padme to name both children.

 

The real question is why did Padme even go the trouble of naming the twins if she was planning on ?making herself? die a few seconds later?? What was the point?

 

True. She should have said : "I dont feel like naming them. R2, use your random name generator." Now, that would have been a good plot twist.