--- title: Baby Named After 'General Leia' Ignites Star Wars Debate description: A baby named after General Leia Organa has ignited a viral debate over whether the beloved Star Wars character was better as a princess. canonical: https://time.com/5477733/princess-leia-star-wars-debate/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-12T16:15:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:56:22.979Z og:title: Baby Named After 'General Leia' Ignites Viral Debate og:description: Which title do you prefer for Carrie Fisher's beloved Star Wars character? og:url: https://time.com/5477733/princess-leia-star-wars-debate/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6197223b527d995/6988f536929fad210fbeede6/star-wars-the-last-jedi-princess-leia.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: star-wars-the-last-jedi-princess-leia og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Baby Named After 'General Leia' Ignites Viral Debate twitter:description: Which title do you prefer for Carrie Fisher's beloved Star Wars character? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6197223b527d995/6988f536929fad210fbeede6/star-wars-the-last-jedi-princess-leia.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Baby Named After 'General Leia' Kicked Off a _Star Wars_ Debate Over Whether She Was Better as a Princess  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Dec 12, 2018 4:15 PM CUT  General Leia (Carrie Fisher) in Star Wars: The Last Jedi General Leia (Carrie Fisher) in Star Wars: The Last JediLucasfilm Ltd  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Dec 12, 2018 4:15 PM CUT A baby named after [General Leia Organa](http://time.com/4109339/princess-leia-force-awakens/ "undefined") has ignited a viral debate over whether [Carrie Fisher’s beloved _Star Wars_ character](http://time.com/4626594/carrie-fisher-star-wars-women/ "undefined") was better as a [princess](http://time.com/5065392/star-wars-the-last-jedi-carrie-fisher/ "undefined"). It all began when Twitter user Jackie Caplan-Auerbach [tweeted out](https://twitter.com/geophysichick/status/1071531284575469568 "undefined") an exchange between a flight attendant and another passenger on her plane. “Flight attendant on my flight to the mother holding an infant: ‘What’s her name?'” she wrote. “Mother: ‘Leia’ FA: ‘Like Princess Leia?’ Mother: ‘No, like General Leia.’ A-freaking-men, sister.” Leia first made the switch from princess to general in 2015’s _Star Wars:_ _The Force Awakens_, a transition that was met with resistance by some fans and continues to be a point of contention to this day. One detractor even responded to Caplan-Auerbach’s tweet with a list of what he viewed as Princess Leia’s accomplishments — delivering the Death Star plans, destroying a shield generator, etc. — versus General Organa’s failures. > [](https://twitter.com/AndrewJKugle/status/1072853407675895809) See some of the other replies below. > [](https://twitter.com/geophysichick/status/1072093520457056258) > [](https://twitter.com/Astronomisty/status/1071944146791919617) > [](https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/1072806801786236928) > [](https://twitter.com/cxptainflint/status/1072853047154499584) > [](https://twitter.com/starbeamart1/status/1072872267804274688) > [](https://twitter.com/MarkLegend007/status/1072872900401815557) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5477733/princess-leia-star-wars-debate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5477733/princess-leia-star-wars-debate/"},"headline":"A Baby Named After 'General Leia' Kicked Off a Star Wars Debate Over Whether She Was Better as a Princess","datePublished":"2018-12-12T16:15:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:22.979Z","description":"Which title do you prefer for Carrie Fisher's beloved Star Wars character?","url":"https://time.com/5477733/princess-leia-star-wars-debate/","keywords":["Newsfeed","movies","viral","Star Wars topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6197223b527d995/6988f536929fad210fbeede6/star-wars-the-last-jedi-princess-leia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6197223b527d995/6988f536929fad210fbeede6/star-wars-the-last-jedi-princess-leia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"star-wars-the-last-jedi-princess-leia","caption":"star-wars-the-last-jedi-princess-leia","creditText":"Lucasfilm Ltd","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5477733/princess-leia-star-wars-debate/","name":"A Baby Named After 'General Leia' Kicked Off a Star Wars Debate Over Whether She Was Better as a Princess"}}]}] ```