Did it actually change? I always thought that Leia said 'Han' the 'Khan' way while Luke and Han himself said 'Han' the 'can' way, but you're probably right. That is strange indeed. I guess a simple in-universe explanation could be that there are two different ways to pronounce the name in Galactic Standard, but neither of them is preferred over the other.

It goes for Leia, too. In A New Hope, General Dodonna mentions "the plans provided by Princess Lee-yuh," while everywhere esle she is "Lay-uh"

Why is this? Some people in the GFFA say tomato, some people in the GFFA say tomahto. Humans mispronounce words all the time, especially names. This is one of those times where we can safely say that the mistakes are not continuity errors on the movie makers' part, but instead are mistakes that the characters themselves are making.

How would you pronounce "Han" if you weren't sure, and kept hearing it multiple ways?

That's how I think of it. We can't expect everyone in Star Wars to have perfect pronunciation, so the problem is theirs, not ours.

I think it did change. Have to watch ESB again. I think when they are all on Cloud City both Threepio and Lando mispronounce his name. It's like when Tarkin says Leia's name as Lee-ah. I think maybe it was an accident, and nobody corrected it during the taping of the film.

vadersgirl33

It definitely changes. And another point, if you see a person's name in print,
you could certainly mispronounce it. But when someone introduces themselves why would you then start pronouncing their name differently? Han introduces himself in ANH as the "Khan" pronunciation..."Han Solo, I'm captain of the Millenium Falcon". Leia calls him the "Khan" way in the hallway at the Hoth base as well, then on Cloud City she changes to the other pronunciation. It starts with the scenes with Lando. Amazing that the continuity people didn't catch that.

I pondered this myself a few months back. Who knows?

Some mispronounce Leia's name, too. And as someone wise once said, (hi, JP! ) "everyone should pronounce their names like they themselves do,"

I think at one point Leia calls him "Han Can", which was really odd.

Don't tell me you've never met someone with a weird name and mispronounced it, even after they said it for you. Odd names, even when you hear them are hard to pronounce, remember how to pronounce, and even pronounce correctly all the time when you know how its supposed to be pronounced.

Albeit, Han is a little simpler than raish'anqiraj or something, but there is still ambiguity.

General Dodonna should have known how to correctly pronounce Leia's name, but that doesn't mean he didn't just flub it because he was nervous about public speaking or something.

Hmm, no I can honestly say once someone speaks their name to me, I pretty much know how to say it. For instance, the first time I saw the name Liam Neeson, I wasn't sure how to produce his first name. Once I heard it spoke, I never called him LYAM again.

Sorry, I meant "pronounce" not produce. LOL

OK, I didn't read all the comments, so this might have already been written:

The nice thing about "Star Wars" is that people act normal. Coming from different planets, you would be bound to have different accents and pronounciations. Leia pronounces Han "hAN", like "can", while Luke says "Hon", like "Kahn". Lando also pronounces like Leia, while Han himself says it like Luke. It's just the differences in people and planets.

But up until the middle of ESB, Leia pronounces Han like "Khan". Why would a person
change the way they pronounce someone's name?

I do remember it changing, but I don't remember exactly where. I figured it was just pronounced differently by different people.

Was it Leia who changed? My explaination for that would be the language she used in a "proper" sense, as in when she were playing her diplomatic senator role, was different compared to her casual voice. Same is true with Padme. She used a dry proper, almost cockney voice in professional situations, and changed the tone significantly when she was in casual-mode.

This is quite funny to read...Maybe Georgie forgot to correct his actors when it was pronounced wrong!!

I call him Han the Man!!

Being a Brit, I dare not get involved in this discussion

Hmm, no I can honestly say once someone speaks their name to me, I pretty much know how to say it.
Really? Wow. Nice skill to have. Doesn't mean other people can't make the mistake, though.

Being a Brit, I dare not get involved in this discussion
Oy, git the bloody 'ell outta ere ya bloomin' sod.
How was that? I don't actually speak British insult. I might have called you a subway or something, for all I know.

Maybe it has to do with the people who say the name "the Khan way(TKW)" are more "cultured".
1.Princess Leia says it "TKW"
2.Farmboy Luke says it "the Can way(TCW)"
3.Baron Administer Lando says it "TKC"
4.Scoundral Han says it "TCW"
5.Protocal Droid C-3PO says it "TKW"

Anyone else see a pattern?The "Cultured" people say it "TKW".While the rougher people tend to say it "TCW".I think this may have been told to the actors because what sounds better for a High-Class person to say,Khan or Can.

Nobody says it the CAN way in ANH...and I can't think of a single instance in the OTC where Luke says it incorrectly. He is the one constant who always says it the Khan way. Being that Han introduced himself with the Khan pronunciation in ANH, it must get really frustrating when he hears people butcher his name.

I might have called you a subway or something, for all I know.
Indeed you did!
It's an outrage!

I always figured that Billy Dee just never got the memo.