Anakin
Meaning
invented name created by George Lucas for Star Wars
The story
Anakin is a name whose meaning is unknown, and its history needs only one sentence: it was created by George Lucas for the Star Wars saga, where it belongs to the boy who becomes Darth Vader. Behind the Name adds the detail collectors love: Lucas may have based it on the surname of his friend, the director Ken Annakin, though Lucas denied it, and the name is not actually spoken on screen until Return of the Jedi in 1983. The records show the arrival anyway: about 165 boys in the 1990s, about 930 in the 2000s, about 2,000 in the 2010s, and about 2,700 so far this decade, already past the whole 2010s total with years to run. Brazil's census counts a young handful, median age four and a half. The record shows the name outgrowing its villain.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Anakin peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
162 people · the #29,495 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 4
Among people named Anakin living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 68 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Anakin
Most people given the name Anakin in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Anakin deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Anakin truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Anakin fits with your family’s names and surname.
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