‘The Mandalorian’ season 3 reconfirms that even ‘Star Wars’ characters don’t like Baby Yoda’s real name

The Mandalorian took a long time to name Grogu, but fans knew what to call him the first time they saw him. “Baby Yoda” tells you all you need to know about the character, with Jon Favreau once reprimanding none other than CEO Disney CEO Bob Iger for saying “Baby Yoda” in an email. Favreau seems to have cooled on this stance a little, but it’s still a rule for cast and crew not to call him his unofficial name.

Not even the show’s star is immune to this. On a recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Pedro Pascal mentioned Baby Yoda and then paused, saying “I can’t believe I just said ‘Baby Yoda’. That’s the first time.” and explaining “I’m just following the rules!”

But, in an amusing twist, not even the Star Wars characters want to call him Grogu. In season two, Amy Sedaris’ Peli Motto reacted to learning the name by saying “Grogu? Woah! That’s a terrible name. No way am I calling you that,” and now the season three premiere has continued the trend.

Here, Din Djarin tells Carl Weathers’ Greef Karga to call him Grogu, only for him to respond “Oh, if you say so…”.

This is almost certainly a nod to the skepticism that fans had for the Grogu name reveal. In its defense, most Star Wars names sound silly the first few times you hear them, but decades of talking about Jabba the Hutt, Dexter Jettster, and Boba Fett has made them seem absolutely normal. Maybe in a few decades “Grogu” will roll right off the tongue, but for us he’s going to be “Baby Yoda” for some time yet…