Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Jemma

In Marvel's Agents of Shield, Jemma Simmons was a biochemist and was part of Phil Coulson's team. She worked closely with Leo Fitz, and the two were commonly referred to as 'Fitzsimmons.' Jemma had two PhD's and attended S.H.I.E.L.D's Academy of Science and Technology. Grant Ward attempted to kill both Jemma and Fitz. Fitz sacrificed himself to save Jemma, telling her that he loved her as he did so. Fitz survived with some brain damage, but their friendship was never the same due to the guilt Jemma felt for his sacrifice and because she did not reciprocate his feelings. Jemma was sucked into an obelisk that was a portal to another world.

Jemma is a variant of the Italian name Gemma which means 'gem or precious stone.'  In 2014, Jemma was the 637th most popular name for girls in the U.S.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Kara

In DC comics and televison, Supergirl's name was Kara Zor-El. She was the cousin of Kal-El, aka Superman. She was an inhabitant of Argo City, which survived the destruction of Krypton. The inhabitants eventually died from radiation poisoning, with Kara being the only survivor.  She was adopted by the Danvers family on Earth, and went by Kara Danvers there.

In the reboot of Battlestar Galactica, Kara Thrace, aka Starbuck, was a member of Galactica's crew. Her mother, Socrata Thrace was a member of the Colonial Marines and her father, Dreilide Thrace was a pianist. Kara was abused as a child. After her dream of becoming a professional Pyramid Ball player ended with a knee injury, she joined the military and became a pilot. She was romantically involved with Zak Adama, and they were engaged when he was killed. She liked to play cards and tended to drink a lot. She had a strong faith in the Gods. She later married Samuel Anders.

Kara is a variant of the Italian name Cara, which means 'beloved.' In 2014, Kara was the 442nd most popular name for girls in the U.S.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Daisy

In Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Daisy Johnson was the daughter of Calvin Johnson and an inhuman, Jiaying. Daisy was taken from her parents as an infant, and she went by the name Skye. She joined S.H.I.E.L.D., and worked on Agent Phil Coulson's team. After she was exposed to the Terrigen mist, she gained the ability to cause vibrations in objects. In the Marvel comics, her codename was Quake, and she became a member of the Avengers.

In Pokémon, Daisy was an older sister of Misty. She was the one of the Gym Leaders of Cerulean City.

In the video game Super Mario Land, Daisy was the Princess of Sarasaland.

Daisy is an English name that means 'day's eye.' It is also the name of a flower. It is sometimes a nickname for Marguerite, which is the French word for the same flower. In 2014, Daisy was the 180th most popular name for girls in the U.S.

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet in our solar system. It is the second largest planet (excluding dwarf planets) in the solar system, after Mercury. It has two small moons named Phobos and Deimos. An abundance of iron oxide gives Mars its red color. Mars is home to the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons.

A list and description of the planet Mars in fiction can be found here.

The name Mars comes from the Roman god of War. In 2014 34 boys were named Mars in the U.S.

Monday, October 5, 2015

Zelda

In The Legend of Zelda, Princess Zelda was the name of several members of the royal family of Hyrule. In some incarnations she was a child. In others, she was a young adult. Zelda possessed psychic and magical abilities. She often played the role of damsel in distress for the hero Link.

In X-Men, Zelda was a waitress who once dated Robert Drake, aka Iceman.

In the British Sci-Fi series, Terrahawks, Zelda was an android and the primary villain of the series.

In the Batman television series, Zelda the Great was a magician who robbed a bank every year on April Fool's day in order to pay Eivol Ekdol to make her escape devices for her.

Zelda is a diminutive of the Old German name Griselda, which means 'dark battle.' Zelda dropped out of the top 1,000 names for girls in the U.S. in 1967. In 2014, 212 girls were named Zelda.

Friday, October 2, 2015

Hermes

In Andy Weir's science fiction novel, The Martian, Hermes was the name of the space ship that transported humans between Earth and Mars. Hermes did not land on either planet, however. It launched from earth's orbit and remained in orbit of Mars while the crew transported to and from the surface in other vehicles.

In Futurama, Hermes Conrad was a bureaucrat and accountant at Planet Express. He loved being a bureaucrat and was often concerned about his grade. He was once a professional limboer. He had a wife named LaBarbara and a son named Dwight. He did not like Dr. Zoidberg.

Hermes was the name of Percy Weasley's owl in the Harry Potter series.

In Kino's Journey, there was a talking motorcycle named Hermes.

69230 Hermes is a S-Type asteroid that crosses the orbits of Venus, Earth and Mars.

Hermes was the Greek God of transitions and boundaries. He was known as the messenger God, and was called Mercury by the Romans. In 2014, 8 boys were named Hermes in the U.S.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Kenobi

In the Star Wars franchise, Obi-Wan Kenobi was a Jedi knight. He was Padawan to Qui-Gon Jinn, and later took Anakin Skywalker as his Padawan. He became a Jedi Master and served on the Jedi Council. After Anakin turned to the dark side and slaughtered the Jedi, Obi-Wan fought him, gravely wounding him and left him for dead. After Padmé died in childbirth, he took Luke Skywalker to Tatooine and watched over him. When Luke sought him out as an adult, he told Luke that Darth Vader killed his father, and taught him the ways of the Jedi. While on a mission to rescue Princess Leia, he was killed by Darth Vader.

There are many theories out there as to where Kenobi may have come from, but nothing definitive. I think that since you could shorten it to 'Ken', it makes it more wearable, but it might be better in the middle spot, or for a pet. Kenobi does not appear in the Social Security Administration's name database.