My husband wants to name our son after Darth Vader, but I’m afraid it will haunt him for the rest of his life
A woman asked people for advice on whether or not to name her second child after Darth Vader in a resurfaced online post.
The anonymous women, presumably from the UK, increased Reddit to explain that she and her husband named their firstborn Rowan after the horsemen in Lord of The Rings.
However, she admitted that they were “torn” about naming their child Anakin after the villain in Star Wars, despite both liking the name.
She explained that it’s the connection to the movie’s villain that bothers her, because she’s “not a huge Star Wars fan.”
The message read, “Halp! My husband wants to name our baby Anakin. Yup. So we just found out we’re expecting again and although we’ve picked a girl name, we’re torn about boy names.
A woman asked people for advice on Reddit about naming her second child after Darth Vader in a resurfaced online post (stock image)
“We named our eldest son Rowan (it was inspired by Rohan’s riders on LOTR) because we wanted something less ordinary without being totally unheard of. Which brings us to our current conundrum.
“I really like the name Maxwell, although I’m a little concerned about it, and other ‘Max’ variations are getting too popular. My husband LOVES the name Anakin. I don’t mind the name itself, it’s what it’s connected to that bothers me.
“I have a feeling our poor boy would spend his whole life hearing how he was named after Darth Vader.
“We’re not even huge Star Wars fans, but my hubs uses the excuse that we weren’t die-hard LOTR fans and we named our first after that. He just really likes the sound of the name. I don’t know what to do here. Do you have any name suggestions?
She later added, “Thank you all for your advice. So it seems the general consensus is that as much as he likes the name, it’s a bad idea because of its exclusive connection to Star Wars.
The anonymous woman, believed to be from the UK, explained that she and her husband named their firstborn Rowan after the horsemen in Lord of The Rings.
“I’ll read some of your comments on him and hopefully we can come up with a better name that we both like… One that won’t scar him for life!”
Many rushed to the comments to leave their own thoughts on the name, with one person saying it’s like calling a girl Oprah.
One person said, “The thing is, no matter how big or not your fan base is of either series, Anakin is WAY more relatable than Rowan. Rowan won’t be asked, “You mean like from Lord of the Rings?!” his whole life. Anakin certainly will.
“I agree with your husband that it’s a great name, but it’s like calling a girl Oprah. “That name already belongs to someone and now no one can have it…unless their parents don’t mind being seen as weird superfans and their kids being pestered about it forever.
“Slightly related, I know someone who named their son Hanson Solomon… aka Han Solo. It’s embroidered on all his c**p, haha. I actually think that’s still better than Anakin, since the kid can choose to get rid of it when he’s older, if he wants to.”
Another wrote: ‘My name is Annakah (pronounced phonetically – anna+kuh) and even with such a version I hear almost every day at my retail job “oh, like Star Wars?” Or a lame joke about the power.
Many rushed to the comments to leave their own thoughts on the name, with one person saying it’s like calling a girl Oprah
‘My advice? Skip the name. Other compromise names like mine just end up in the same references/jokes, unless Star Wars suddenly loses popularity, which I doubt it will. Good luck!’
Someone else said, “Anakin, a boy nicknamed “Ani”? Do not do it. I’m a huge Star Wars fan and I think it’s a terrible name for a kid.
“What about Luke, not super ordinary but still Star Wars related.”
While a fourth wrote, “My 9-year-old cousin’s name is Anakin and I still think it’s terrible. His nickname is Annie and I don’t like that either.
That being said, he’s a thriving, smart little boy with lots of friends and his name hasn’t held him back at all. If you both don’t agree with the name, don’t use it anyway. I’d be a little embarrassed to tell people I named my kid Anakin, but to each his own!’