Taika Waititi Confirms Baby Yoda Has a Real Name on Star Wars: The Mandalorian

Now that Star Wars: The Mandalorian has finally wrapped up on Disney+, there are tons of questions surrounding the future of Baby Yoda and his surrogate father, recently revealed to be named Din Djarin. The two are on the run from the remnants of the Empire, who are trying to obtain custody of the Child. But while we finally learned the name of the titular Mandalorian, the bounty hunter of the Outer Rim who we’ve been following for the entire first season, fans have had to deal with calling the child “Baby Yoda.” But the character has a name, apparently — we just don’t know it yet.

Actor and director Taika Waititi, who both starred in Star Wars: The Mandalorian as IG-11 and directed the Season 1 finale, spoke with the New York Times at the Golden Globes and confirmed Baby Yoda actually has a name.

We’ve already heard a lot about Baby Yoda and his history in the Star Wars galaxy, especially from the Chairman of the Walt Disney Company himself Bob Iger. In fact, everyone involved with Lucasfilm is adamant that the character is not named Baby Yoda, but has a name that will be revealed in time.

“I think it’s exceeded our expectations, all of our expectations. But I knew, the moment I saw an early cut of the first episode, that we had something really special. And I just felt it,” Iger said on The Star Wars Show. “I’ve been in the business for 45 years, worked my way up through television mostly, [and I] remember times throughout my career in television when I saw either a character or an actor playing a character when you just knew.”

Iger was quick to point out the popularity of Baby Yoda, but was very careful not to use the popular nickname everyone else is in love with.

“In this particular case, The Child, or The Asset — because we don’t refer to The Child or The Asset the way the world is referring to The Child and The Asset as ‘Baby Yoda’ — that’s a no-no,” Iger said. “I got chastised, in my early emails to Jon Favreau, I referenced in my emails, ‘Baby Yoda.’ It just seemed easy. And I got my wrists slapped by Jon a few times. ‘It’s not Baby Yoda!’ ‘Okay, okay!’”

The first season of Star Wars: The Mandalorian is now available to stream on Disney+. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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