Ashildr

In Doctor Who, Ashildr, daughter of Einarr, was a young woman who lived in a Viking village on Earth in the 9th century. Her village was visited by an aliens called the Mire who posed as the Norse god Odin, in a plot to harvest the strongest warriors. Ashildr had a vivid imagination, perfect for Mire hologram technology, which the Doctor used to dupe the Mire into surrendering. Unfortunately Ashildr was killed in the process. The Doctor then used Mire technology to bring her back to life, but it also made her immortal. Ashildr kept detailed diaries of her life because she had trouble remembering much of her past, including her name. She eventually began referring to herself as 'Me', and in the 18th century, 'Lady Me'. Later, Ashildr traveled with Clara in a second TARDIS stolen from Gallifrey. She was the last living being at the end of the universe.

Ashildr is a variant of the Norse name Åshild, which means 'god battle'. The name Hildr comes from a valkyrie, one of Odin's handmaidens, who chose who would survive a battle, much as the Doctor did by saving Ashildr. Ashildr does not appear in the Social Security Administration's name database.

Thor

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor Odinson was a prince of the planet Asgard, son of Odin and Frigga. He was banished to Earth by his father, Odin, for an unauthorized attack on the Jotunheim. While on Earth, he met and fell in love with Jane Foster. He regained his power after he attempted to sacrifice himself to protect Jane and her friends from a destroyer sent by his adopted brother, Loki. He later joined the Avengers to stop Loki from conquering Earth, and again to fight the A.I. Ultron. After defeating Malekith, Odin (actually Loki in disguise) offered Thor the throne of Asgard, which he declined. In the Marvel comics, his mother was Jord, or Gaea, the spirit of the Earth. When visiting Earth he sometimes takes on a mortal form, and is known as Donald Blake. If separated from his hammer, Mjolnir, for too long, he loses his power.

In the television series Stargate SG-1, Thor was a member of an alien race called the Asgard. Unlike the Asgard in the Marvel universe, in Stargate the Asgard bear no resemblance to humans. Thor and the Asgard protected some human worlds from the Goa'uld. Thor befriended Jack O'Neill and SG1, which led to an alliance between Thor's people and Earth. When the Asgard were facing extinction, Thor convinced the Asgard High Council to bequeath all their knowledge and technology to the people of Earth.

In the U.K. series, Being Human, the werewolf Thomas McNair named one of his vampire killing stakes "Thor."

In several of the Hitchhiker's Guide novels by Douglas Adams, the Thunder God Thor was friends with Zaphod Beeblebrox.

Thor is of Norse origin, and means "Thunder". Thor made the top 1000 names in the U.S. in 1961 (#964), 1965 (#964), 1966 (#894), 1968 (#881), 1969 (#957), and in 1971 (#912). In 2014, 114 boys were given the name Thor. 

April 2013 Rounup

Here's my monthly round up of posts from other baby name sites for April!

Baby Name Pondering had a long post on the Doctor's newest companion, Clara. I thought about profiling Clara myself, but I wanted to see how the character developed, since so much about her is still a mystery. They also profiled Khaleesi, from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, aka Game of Thrones. Never having read the books or seen the television show, I found it an enlightening read.

Naming the Fishes talks about the historical origins of Idris, and discusses Lore, which is known to Trekkies as the name of Data's brother from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Nameberry shares a list of inventors, both famous and obscure, as possible namesakes. Some of the choices here are a bit odd. You really have to love coffee to name your kid after the guy who invented coffee filters.

My Name is Pabst introduces their March Madness winner, Severus Danger. Looks like this adorable lad is already working on his namesake's sneer.

Waltzing More Than Matilda has a great in depth post on Thor. I prefer the female version, Thora, myself. 

For Real Baby Names found a girl named Saturn Marie.  

British Baby names profiled Freya, which has several geeky references. In Stargate SG-1, Freya was a woman who as host to a Tok'ra symbiote. There's a character in Final Fantasy IX named Freya Crescent. There is a main belt asteroid named 76 Freia, and a Swedish satellite named Freja.
 

Vala

Vala Mal Doran of Stargate SG-1 was once the host of a Goa'uld symbiote named Qetesh. After being freed by the Tok'ra, she became a planet hopping con artist. She attempted to steal Earth's first starship, Prometheus, but was thwarted by Daniel Jackson. She later sought out Daniel's help and through a piece of Goa'uld technology, became linked to him. Since they could not be apart without either of them dying, Vala stayed at Stargate Command, and eventually reformed enough to become a member of SG-1 herself. She was mother of the Orici, Adria, and in an alternate timeline, became lovers with Daniel Jackson. 

The Valar of Middle Earth are a race of angelic beings. Vala is the singluar form of the name. They are mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, but are mostly dealt with in the second part of The Silmarillion. They are the Powers of Arda (the world). They shaped the world and created beauty to counter the darkness of Melkor, aka Morgoth, from whom all evil in Middle Earth comes.

Vala is also the anglicized name of Völva, a shamanic seeress in Norse mythology. An asteroid, 131 Vala, was named for Völva.

There is a programming language called Vala. 

Vala is also a real name of Germanic origin. It means 'singled out'. According to the Social Security Administration, 13 girls were given the name Vala in 2011.