A 19-year-old woman became pregnant with her boyfriend whom she was dating for three months.
She unilaterally decided to name her unborn son after a character from the Star Wars franchise.
Her 23-year-old brother, Redditor "danidear23," had reservations about his younger sister being a capable mother, but he had a harder time with the name she chose.
"First name Anakin, middle name Skywalker. I wish I were kidding."
The Original Poster (OP) kidding, he was not.
"She's way too young for a kid, and that shows in a multitude of ways, but none so egregious as her name announcement."
"She posted on Facebook yesterday a calligraphy banner with 'Anakin Skywalker last name' printed on it."
anakin skywalker GIF by Star WarsGiphy
"I put a laugh react because obviously I thought it was a joke?"
Joking, she was not.
star wars GIFGiphy
For the uninitiated, Anakin Skywalker—a.k.a. Darth Vader—was the antagonist in the original Stars Wars trilogy.
In the prequel trilogy, Anakin was the protagonist as a Jedi who was eventually lured by Palpatine to the dark side of the Force to become a Sith Lord.
Oh, and he was a terrible dad whose life mission was to murder his son.
u/TameHoneyPie/Reddit
The OP received the surprising confirmation of his sister's intentions.
"But then later when I called her to ask for the real name she said 'no, that's exactly what we've decided to call him.'"
"I asked how the BD felt about it and she said 'well I'm carrying the baby for nine months and pushing it out of MY body so I get name privileges.' Wtf."
season 1 the gungan general GIF by Star WarsGiphy
"I said dude, you know this kid is going to be abysmally bullied, right? You're giving him a name that is fully entrenched in pop culture."
The OP warned of the child's psychological toll of being associated with an iconic character whom the American Film Institute designated as the third greatest movie villain in film history.
"It's not a name that he can fit to his own identity, he's going to be known as Darth Vader his whole f'king life."
star wars no GIFGiphy
"I then said I didn't even know my sister was a Star Wars fan."
So, it turns out, she's not remotely into the universally revered movie franchise of all time.
"She responded 'It's not about Star Wars at all, just really love the name Anakin Skywalker, it has good sonics (???). I'm sure people won't care if he's called Anakin.'"
The big brother gave his sister an intense ribbing that resulted in a FaceTime session with the parents.
"I started laughing and told her she's an idiot for not seeing the problem here, and she got really really mad."
"She hung up on me and evidently called my parents because they FaceTimed me later and while dad thought it was an absolute riot, mom told me off for not being 'gentle with my sister during a difficult time.'"
"I just can't believe my nephew is going to be fully named after the most iconic villain in history. Lol, what the hell."
"It's almost funny if you don't think about how much it would genuinely suck to be named Darth Vader."
darth vader GIFGiphy
The OP asked AITA (Am I the A**hole) for calling her sister an "idiot" for naming her baby after a Star Wars villain.
Redditors weighed in on whether the OP was either of the following:
- NTA - Not The A**hole
- YTA - You're The A**hole
- ESH - Everyone Sucks Here
- NAH - No A**holes Here
"NTA - seriously, it's such a wildly strange name choice I think you're entirely forgiven for being shocked."
"I know people have the right to name their kids but I think family members ought to be able to say 'hang on' when it's so blatantly unsuitable and borderline dangerous for the kids future."
"Anakin Skywalker will be an icon for decades yet, they'll get do much s*it." – spiderbabyinapram
"We have laws in my country that prohibit parents from naming their child something that could potentially ruin their lives or cause extreme bullying. Like naming a kid danaerys or frodo."
"I agree 'anakin' on its own is a cool sounding name if we ignore star wars but.. No. Just no. God, poor kid." – rlcute
It's a stretch, but the connection here foretells an ominous future.
"I mean the kid who played him in Phantom Menace was bullied so relentlessly that he stopped acting, as an adult assaulted his mother, and has even been diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic."
"So if that's any indication, he may be a danger to his mother too. NTA" – level 2romancase
"I mean, being bullied doesn't "turn you into" a schizophrenic but still, Anakin Skywalker is a horrible name to impose on a kid." – pellmellmichelle
Anakin may not fare well in the real world.
"Plus people actually care about a person's name when they apply for jobs. Imagine this kid trying to apply for a corporate job, everyone is gonna treat him as a joke." – BornGeekyNerd
"He's going to grow up hating his name and his mother, and she's going to wonder why he doesn't want to talk to her when he finally moves out and cuts contact."
"That, and a name change." – roadhoggin
"His resume will get thrown out quite often since it is going to be seen as a joke."
"He will have very hard time whenever he has to use his name. The police will think his ID is fake, no one will take his resume serious, the government will think it is fake/a joke, etc."
"The kid will have a life time of headaches ahead of him." – vagabond139
It's not the worst thing in the galaxy.
"NTA but looking at a site that lists baby names - Anakin is a kind of popular name to name kids nowadays. At least there will be other kids to share the misery with." – Thriftyverse
"I have a nephew named Anakin. It just becomes, y'know, a regular name after a few times shouting it." – Comestible
"I think using Anakin is, like, borderline okay. It's actually a nice-sounding name."
"Middle name Skywalker is just absurd." – Sage_Advise
But take it from Luke, the name can have annoying consequences.
"I'm a Luke. You cannot imagine how many times somebody had made the 'Luke I am your father' joke to me."
"When I was a kid there was probably a 90% chance it would happen whenever I was introduced to an adult. Now that I'm an adult it's more like 20% thank god."
"Every. Single. Time. Someone has said that to me they thought they were being clever. If they were actually clever they would know they had made a mortal enemy that day."
"I actually like my name apart from that. But seriously a kid named Anakin is never going to live that name down." – lstyls
Some names just don't translate well beyond fiction.
What do you think?
*If you enjoyed this article, you can read more like it by clicking on the AITA link below.*
If you don't know the story of Anakin Skywalker, get caught up with Star Wars - Episodes I-VI available here.
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