‘The Mandalorian’ Fans Are Refusing To Call Baby Yoda By His Real Name

As the expression goes, a Baby Yoda by any other name… is still Baby Yoda. In the latest episode of The Mandalorian, “Chapter 13: The Jedi,” Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano reveals that the Child / Baby Yoda’s real name is Grogu. Dave Filoni, who wrote and directed the episode, told Vanity Fair that “the name has been around for a while. [Shworunner Jon Favreau] told me early on in season one what it would be, which made me start to think about how people could learn the name. This gave me the idea that Ahsoka, who is very compassionate, would be able to connect with the Child, and that without words they could probably communicate through memories and experiences. Through that connection, she learns the name and then tells Mando and the audience.”

It’s nice that Baby Yoda has an official (and American Dad-indebted?) name, and his cooing reaction to Mando saying “Grogu” was adorable. But, c’mon. If Disney expects anyone to call him anything other than Baby Yoda, they are sadly mistaken, as evidenced by reactions to the name reveal (hopefully it didn’t cause any wildfires) online.

There’s about a one percent chance that I will call Baby Yoda “Grogu” at any point in the future, which is still one percent higher than calling Mando “Din Djarin.”

(Via Vanity Fair)