How did R2-D2 get its name? SlashFilm has the answer:
Rumor has it that George Lucas and a co-worker were editing American Graffiti, when a co-worker asked Lucas for “Reel Two, Dialog Two”, which is abbreviated “R2D2”. Lucas supposedly wrote down the abbreviation and used it as the name of the now famous droid in Star Wars.
Comments (1)
"Walter Murch and I were mixing American Graffiti, and Walter wanted to make some changes in one of the sound tracks. He needed the dialogue tracks for reel two so he said, 'George get me R2-D2', meaning reel two, dialogue two ... and I said 'that's a great name, Walter' and wrote it down in my notebook" (pg. 224)