6

Is there any significance to the name Skywalker? Is there any evidence from George Lucas or any other important Star Wars creators about the choice of the name Skywalker for Luke and his father Anakin? I'm looking for quotes and evidence, though thoughtful speculation based on facts or events in the film is also encouraged.

Longshanks87
  • 800
  • 2
  • 7
  • 13
  • 12
    There's no confirmation that Rey is Luke's daughter. Please don't add tags based on speculative links to your question. – Null Mar 07 '16 at 15:46
  • An important thing to add - Lucas has a book of names he's thought up, and when he's creating a new character he just grabs one of the names from that book. Names like Mace Windu and Valorum appear in the earliest drafts of the first Star Wars film from the mid-seventies. This implies that there is generally no more significance to the names then "this sounds cool" - main characters being a possible exception – user45623 Mar 11 '16 at 03:07

2 Answers2

14

According to The New York Times:

Skywalker is an appellation for Loki, the Norse god of fire and mischief

It should also be noted that Luke's last name was "Starkiller" until fairly late into production. (It was changed due to conceivable connotations to the Manson murder case.) This means that Luke was already written as a great pilot when he was give the name "Skywalker," making that a probable cause.

Rogue Jedi
  • 66,921
  • 37
  • 322
  • 509
  • A slight change in name would have nailed a Rolling Stones song ... not likely to make it any further than Starkiller did. – KorvinStarmast Mar 07 '16 at 19:01
  • 4
    Yeah, "Starkiller" would've been - unfortunate: "What's your name?" "Luke Starkiller". "Are you a supervillain?" "No, just a moisture farmer." "Oh, so your parents then?" "Not that I'm aware of. I never met them. Somebody told me a bad guy killed my dad." – Darrel Hoffman Mar 07 '16 at 20:44
  • 1
    I'm not sure the New York Times did enough fact-checking here. http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/75580/did-gaiman-make-up-loki-skywalker-or-does-he-have-a-source-for-it – chepner Mar 07 '16 at 20:46
  • You mean Skywalker makes sense because Luke and Anakin are both great pilots? That's sort of affirming the consequent (a fallacy); I think it would be the other way 'round: it makes sense (actually it's a funny coincidence) that Luke and Anakin are great pilots, since their surname is Skywalker. Although their skill is likely attributed largely to being force-sensitive. That's certainly the reason why Anakin was able to survive/excel in podracing. – TylerH Mar 07 '16 at 21:52
  • @chepner Most mainstream media articles about "we dove into X character's history! Click to find out more" are woefully worse WRT research and detail than pretty much every Q&A on this site... the curse/benefit of being hardcore nerds. – TylerH Mar 07 '16 at 21:53
  • 1
    @TylerH The OP asked for out-of-universe reasons for the name Skywalker. Since Luke was written as a great pilot, Lucas' name choice makes sense. – Rogue Jedi Mar 07 '16 at 21:57
  • @RogueJedi It really depends on what came first, Luke's surname or his description as a great pilot. – TylerH Mar 07 '16 at 22:00
  • 1
    @TylerH Since Luke's last name was developed after filming had started, him being a great pilot was first. – Rogue Jedi Mar 07 '16 at 22:02
  • I just read the article; Luke could probably count the number of confirmable facts on his remaining fingers. – chepner Mar 07 '16 at 22:02
  • @RogueJedi That'd be a good tidbit to include in the answer to clarify how it makes sense then :-) – TylerH Mar 07 '16 at 22:03
  • @TylerH Updated. – Rogue Jedi Mar 07 '16 at 22:08
  • 3
    Even if the main character's name changed from "Starkiller" to "Skywalker" because of the Manson killings, Lucas had already used the name "Skywalker" earlier for another character--the book The Making of Star Wars features an extended synopsis of the initial "nearly two-hundred page rough draft" which Lucas finished in May 1974, and it features an 18-year-old-boy named Annikin Starkiller and a general in his 60s named Luke Skywalker, who eventually takes on Annikin as a "Padawan Learner". – Hypnosifl Mar 08 '16 at 02:13
1

In Thrawn: Alliances, Thrawn gives a meaning to the name 'Skywalker' as it relates to the Chiss and their Force-sensitive children:

I told you the Chiss call this talent Third Sight. What I hadn’t yet spoken of is the title these navigators are given once they take their posts.

The Chenuh word is ozyly-ese-hembo. In Basic, it translates to sky-walker

pg 274

Community
  • 1
Jack B Nimble
  • 114,812
  • 63
  • 435
  • 724