Meaning of SW Character names.

I'd say this has been talked about before, but I couldn't find it anywhere so I thought I'd give it a try. I have always thought it was interesting that most people in SW are given a name for a reason. Most of the character's names have some hidden (or not so hidden) meaning.
Obvious examples are...
Darth Vader (Dark and father)
Sidious (Insidious)
Count Dooku (being a nod to Count Dracula)
(Thats where I'm going with this...)

The reason I actually posted this is that I found another one. I saw a picture of a "coatimundi". I had never even heard of this animal before, but it has a long face and resembles Ki-adi Mundi. Just made me wonder if there were any other "nods or meanings" that I had missed.

 

well... i always thought that sidious came from hidious being in which... he is ugly... nasty... mean... and hateful... (i favor the jedi if you havent noticed)

darth maul... as in mauling at the jedi with his lightsaber...

skywalker... they walk the skies in hope to help the galaxy... 'cept in 3...

obi-wan kenobi... meaning p.i.m.p. of the galaxy lol (well he is)

 

yeah the sith names are pretty obvious. alot of other ones tend to be lucasisms ie cin drallig, antilles, etc.

other ones like R2D2 and C-3PO i heard were used because they sounded good when they were said.

 

correct me if i'm wrong

 

R2-D2 was a reel from American Graffiti

And Dooku is from duku, japanese for poison. Tyranus is Greek for king, but later came to mean a tyrant king.

Padme is from Padma meaning Lotus

Shaak Ti is from Shakti, the hindu goddess

Leia comes from 'lea' meaning meadow

Luke beleive it or not is from Lucas 'Luke S'

 

Skywalker sounds less evil the starkiller(original name).

 

I think that most of the names have background in some language, ancient or not... Otherwise, it would be too dificult think all those names without any reason...

 

General Grievous always struck me. As most people probably know, grievous usually means severe or gruesome injuries or wounds. Tyranus = tyrant, Plagueis = plague, and Skywalker = rides with destiny.

<[-]> Saber

 

Is Grevious his real alien name or is it supposed to be intimidating?

 

Luke means 'light'. I would assume that was done on purpose.

 

Back in 1999 I read somewhere that Obi-Wan Kenobi means "keeper of the dark secret," since he keeps the dark secret of who Luke's father really is. I don't know if that's true or not. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Palpatine probably comes from the Palatine Hill of Rome where the Roman emperors built their palaces.

What does Padme mean?

Does anyone have any idea what Chewbacca means? Or is it simply a made up name?

 

Padme means 'lotus'.

I have no idea about Chewbcca.

Your other ideas sound right, though.

 

Seems like I heard before that Lucas named Chewbacca from his dog? Might have that mixed up.

 

GL had a dog named Indiana, he named some other obscure character in another story
that name. He based Chewbacca on his dog Indiana.

Many Bothans died to bring us this information.

 

Shmi Skywalker - Lakshmi, Vishnu's consort in Vaishnava (Hinduism) belief.

King Varuna - former King of Naboo, also the Hindu demigod of waterways.

Shaak Ti - (Jedi Council member) Shakti means power, force, and feminine energy in Sanskrit (You can check wikipedia's definition for something a bit more detailed).

Depa Billaba - (Jedi Council member) Deepa Ballabha means Master of the Light in Sanskrit.

Yoda - derived from Yoddha, meaning "warrior" (other interpretations from other languages, I've heard)

 

INDIANA...thats it. Sorry, knew I had that mixed up somehow but it just wouldn't come to me.

I read once that Nute Gunray came from Newt Gingrich/Ronald Reagan.

 

Speaking of Nute...

Lott Dodd (the Trade Federation senator in The Phantom Menace) may have been named for Trent Lott (a Republican, in case you didn't know) and Senator Christopher Dodd (a Democrat).