# The various pronunciations of "Leia" in the Star Wars movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883 "2005-04-24T18:16:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Limbo\_Donni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Limbo\_Donni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limbo_Donni)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/1 "2005-04-24T18:16:53Z")
(I apologize for not being a Star Wars fan, so I don’t know any of the minor character’s names.) We have a running argument in our house about how to pronounce “Leia”. They played the original on TV last week and we taped it. Her name was actually only used twice. The rest of the time she was “The Princess” or “Your Highness”, etc. Once was by that guy who blew up Alderon, who pronounced it “Lee-uh”. And again, the rebel commander who’s pointing to the charts she’s supplied who thanks her by name as “Lee-uh”. Showed everyone the tape. Thought that would end it. But now last night they showed “The Empire Strikes Back” And there somebody calls her “Lay-uh”. Then Billy Dee Williams shouts a warning to her “Lie-uh” And finally Luke mumbles about her as “Lay-uh” while he’s hanging upside down off some aerial under the space station. So . . . . Is there any official statement about this? It must come up at those famous conventions. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/2 "2005-04-24T18:23:24Z")
I’d just as soon assume it’s pronouced “Lay-uh” since that’s how she pronounced it. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/3 "2005-04-24T22:02:05Z")
Well, Billy Dee Williams calls his old buddy “Han” instead of “Hahn,” so I think he’s clueless. I always thought the princess’s name was “Lee-uh.” ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/4 "2005-04-24T22:21:23Z")
Leia and Luke both use “Lay-uh.” I chalked up Tarkin’s “Lee-uh” to (a) his weird Imperial British accent and (b) the fact that he’s a dick. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/5 "2005-04-25T00:04:49Z")
Local planetary accents? Yeah. I’m a nerd. So what? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Limbo\_Donni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Limbo\_Donni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limbo_Donni)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/6 "2005-04-25T02:45:21Z")
That would work. Yoda and Jar Jar have pronounced accents. I think it’s more just not knowing how to deal with a word with 3 consecutive vowels during a first script reading. And once you’ve got it pronounced one way in your head it’s hard to shake. Especially when the name only appears a couple of times over months of shooting. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/7 "2005-04-25T04:17:22Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > Leia and Luke both use “Lay-uh.” I chalked up Tarkin’s “Lee-uh” to (a) his weird Imperial British accent and (b) the fact that he’s a dick. Luke calls her “Carrie” when he comes back after blowing up the first Death Star. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/8 "2005-04-25T04:21:17Z")
It has to be Lay-uh, otherwise all the cheap porno puns don’t work! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/9 "2005-04-25T04:47:28Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > Luke calls her “Carrie” when he comes back after blowing up the first Death Star. 😃 Or, depending on who you believe, “HEEEEEEEYYYYYY!” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/10 "2005-04-25T05:00:23Z")
George Lucas doesn’t even spell things consistently, let alone care about the pronunciation. For some reason it’s something that doesn’t concern him too much. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/11 "2005-04-25T14:45:30Z")
Well if you listen, Carrie Fisher has a slight Brit accent while she is held captive on the Death Star. I guess she was influenced by being around the all Brit cast. When she is with Ford and Hammil she goes back to her US accent. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/12 "2005-04-25T16:48:18Z")
I’d say the “correct” pronunciation is the one that she uses herself, as the **Lord** s said already in this thread. To me, having various pronunciations of names actually makes the movie seem more true-to-life. I have a very simple first name, and it sounds quite different when pronounced by Americans, Brits, anyone with a French accent, and so forth. Why wouldn’t that be true in the Star Wars universe? ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/13 "2005-04-25T17:54:25Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Why wouldn’t that be true in the Star Wars universe? Because George Lucas was never one for consistancy. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/14 "2005-04-25T21:42:52Z")
I always thought it was kind of strange that Luke and Leia had regular old Biblical Earth-names\*, but everybody else had weird, non-Earth names like “Lando,” “Boba,” “Tarkin,” and “Bibb.” (\*This is assuming “Leia” to be a variant of “Leah.” If it’s not, then Luke has the only regular old Biblical Earth-name.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/15 "2005-04-25T21:45:41Z")
Leia is also an Earthly name (though uncommon in the US), and is, I believe, generally pronounced “LAY-uh” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/16 "2005-04-25T21:50:35Z")
Cross-posted with **jackelope** there. But there’s also Han, Owen, and Obi-Wan’s nickname Ben, plus many of the background characters who have names that are never mentioned except in the credits (I think _Attack of the Clones_ had an Elian, for instance). ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-various-pronunciations-of-leia-in-the-star-wars-movies/300883/17 "2005-04-26T19:51:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Cross-posted with **jackelope** there. But there’s also Han, Owen, and Obi-Wan’s nickname Ben, plus many of the background characters who have names that are never mentioned except in the credits (I think _Attack of the Clones_ had an Elian, for instance). It’s [Elan](http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/elansleazebaggano/index.html), actually. (Still a real name. Hebrew.) There’s also Han. (which is a real name, right? Or is it only Hans?)