# Where did the name "Ewoks" come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828 "2015-11-17T22:04:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/1 "2015-11-17T22:04:50Z")
In the third Star Wars movie that came out, I don’t think the word “Ewok” was ever used…so why are those little furballs referred to thusly? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/2 "2015-11-17T22:12:07Z")
[End credits](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086190/combined) & [script](http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Star-Wars-Return-of-the-Jedi.html). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/3 "2015-11-17T22:16:46Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/4 "2015-11-18T00:45:01Z")
Wookiees with the syllables switched, is what I always figured. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/5 "2015-11-18T01:09:09Z")
> [@HubZilla](#): > > Wookiees with the syllables switched, is what I always figured. Correct. George Lucas said as much in an interview someplace. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/6 "2015-11-18T01:16:04Z")
I think the first time ‘Ewok’ was actually spoken on screen was in The Ewok Adventure, but I’m not 100% on that. But when the movie is named for them it doesn’t matter as much if it’s actually vocalized. \>\_\> ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/7 "2015-11-18T01:50:29Z")
> [@HubZilla](#): > > Wookiees with the syllables switched, is what I always figured. But it still doesn’t make Chewbacca living on Endor with the Ewoks make any sense. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/8 "2015-11-18T01:57:10Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > But it still doesn’t make Chewbacca living on Endor with the Ewoks make any sense. Good, because that’s not what happened. Chewbacca is from Kashyyyk. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/9 "2015-11-18T02:00:58Z")
[Somebody’s not a South Park fan.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewbacca_defense) (And it was even cochrane doing it!) ---
**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:** [November 18, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/10 "2015-11-18T02:24:12Z")
> [@](#): > > (And it was even cochrane doing it!) Oh, so the wookie on Endor invented a warp drive to go to Kashyyk! It _does_ make sense after all! ---
**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:** [November 18, 2015, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/11 "2015-11-18T07:05:53Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > [Somebody’s not a South Park fan.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewbacca_defense) (And it was even cochrane doing it!) Darn. I’d forgotten that episode. Though it was about then I stopped watching. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/12 "2015-11-18T07:51:57Z")
Everyone knew the word “Ewok” due to merchandise. And yes, the licensees got the name from Lucasfilm, probably via script or directly from Lucas. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/13 "2015-11-18T12:40:07Z")
Actually, I think the OP has a point – how does everyone _know_ that the furballs are called “Ewoks”? Presumably this is what they call themselves, but I don’t recall them ever using the word. You can’t say it’s in the script or the credits – characters in the movie can’t read the script of the credits. So how did they know? And if the Ewoks don’t call themselves that, where did the name come from? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/14 "2015-11-18T12:51:33Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, I think the OP has a point – how does everyone _know_ that the furballs are called “Ewoks”? Presumably this is what they call themselves, but I don’t recall them ever using the word. You can’t say it’s in the script or the credits – characters in the movie can’t read the script of the credits. So how did they know? And if the Ewoks don’t call themselves that, where did the name come from? But characters in the movie did not use the term. We do, because we have narrative omniscience. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/15 "2015-11-18T12:57:02Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > But characters in the movie did not use the term. We do, because we have narrative omniscience. Did they, or didn’t they? I don’t recall. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/16 "2015-11-18T17:52:45Z")
The obligatory Endor Holocaust link: [STAR WARS: Endor Holocaust](http://www.theforce.net/swtc/holocaust.html) ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/17 "2015-11-18T17:57:44Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, I think the OP has a point – how does everyone _know_ that the furballs are called “Ewoks”? Presumably this is what they call themselves, but I don’t recall them ever using the word. You can’t say it’s in the script or the credits – characters in the movie can’t read the script of the credits. So how did they know? And if the Ewoks don’t call themselves that, where did the name come from? Star Wars is full of named characters and races that are not spoken in the movie. Many of them come from the credits. Some are not named until the toys come out. It’d be an interesting experiment to go through the script and see just how many names are actually spoken in the script. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/18 "2015-11-18T18:12:10Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Star Wars is full of named characters and races that are not spoken in the movie. Many of them come from the credits. Some are not named until the toys come out. Another notable example is Luke Skywalker’s home planet, Tatooine, a word which is not spoken in the first movie. Nevertheless, every kid I ever met knew the name of the planet–from the toy line, from the comic books, from the novelization, from publicity materials, from magazine articles. Each movie, and particularly the later ones after Star Wars had become an established franchise, was accompanied by a massive publicity campaign that would give you all sorts of background info that you would never know if you just watched the films and did nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/19 "2015-11-18T18:18:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Oh, so the wookie on Endor invented a warp drive to go to Kashyyk! It _does_ make sense after all! That’s not actually that far-fetched. Those Ewoks apparently have a much sounder grasp of the physical sciences than they let on. Have you noticed that the Ewok word for carbonite is “carbonite”? #thingsthatmakeyagohmmmmm ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828/20 "2015-11-18T18:30:38Z")
Might have imagined it … but I could have sworn that a form of the word “Ewok” is in that “Ewoks’ song.” There’s a prominent, repeated word that sounds to me like “Ee-WAAAH-keee”. Sounds like the last words of one of the lines of the chorus, as there is a pause after “Ee-WAAAH-keee”. EDIT: That song actually has a title – [“Ewok Celebration” or, unofficially, “Yub Nub” (sometimes “Yub Yub”)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewok_Celebration). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-ewoks-come-from/737828.md?page=2)