Logan

In the X-Men franchise, Wolverine went by the name Logan. His birth name was James Howlett, but his birth father's surname was Logan. He was a mutant with healing powers and retractable bone claws, which were eventually fused with adamantium. His healing powers gave him an extremely long lifespan during which he did not age.

Logan's Run is a science fiction novel published in 1967 that has been adapted into a film and television series. The novel focuses on Logan, who enforces society's rule that requires death for everyone when they attain the age of 21 by chasing down those who don't comply. He ends up running himself when it is his turn.

In D.C. Comics, Beast Boy's real name is Garfield Logan. He was also known as changeling, and was a member of the Teen Titans. he had the ability to change into any animal that he had seen in person or a picture of.


In the television series Dark Angel, Logan Cale was a wealthy cyber-journalist who used the alias 'Eyes Only' to fight corruption. He partnered with Max Guevara, a genetically engineered commando, who escaped from the program that created her.


The name Logan is Scottish in origin and means 'little hollow'. In 2015, Logan was the 14th most popular name for boys in the United States.

Wade

In X-Men, Wade Wilson is the real name of Deadpool. He was a mentally unstable mercenary with incredible healing abilities.

The name Wade appears in several D.C. Universe characters. Wade Eiling was  known as The General. He worked on Project Adam and had did not like superheroes. After being diagnosed with a brain tumor, he had his mind placed in the body of the Shaggy Man. Larry Wade was a character in the Dakotaverse. He dated Frida Golden and worked for a street dealer. Wade LaFarge was Slade Wilson's psychotic half-brother. The woman he loved married Slade Wilson, which drove him mad. He was an assassin.

In Babylon 5, Wade worked for Edgar Industries, was involved in Garabaldi's betrayl of Sheridan

In George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, House Wade was an extinct house that used to be located in Dorne.

In the Marvel Universe, Wade Cole was a cyborg and a member of the Hellfire Club.

In the Star Wars: Demolition video game, Wade Vox was an Alderaan smuggler.


There are two possible origins for the name Wade, both in Old English. It is either derived from the word wadan which means 'to go', or the place name wæd, meaning 'a ford'. In 2016, Wade was the 521st most popular name for boys in the U.S. 

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.

Selene

Selene was a vampire in the Underworld franchise. She was born in Hungary in the 14th century. She was turned into a vampire by the Vampire Elder Viktor after he killed her family. Viktor told her that her family had been killed by werewolves, or Lycans. She devoted her life to the extermination of the Lycans until she found Michael Corwin and helped him become the first vampire-lycan hybrid. She and Michael were the parents of Eve, who was born and raised in captivity while her parents were held in cryogenic suspension.

In the X-Men comics, Selene Gallio was a mutant an enemy of the X-Men and a was the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club. She has the ability to drain the life of others in order to extend her own life. She was born over 17,000 years ago.

580 Selene is a minor planet of our solar system. It is located between Mars and Jupiter, and it approximately 46 km in diameter.

SELENE was the name of a Japanese lunar orbiter. It was short for Selenological and Engineering Explorer, but was better known by it's nickname, Kaguya, after a legendary moon princess.

Selene Lindstrom was a character in the Isaac Asminov novel, The Gods Themselves. Adam Selene was a character in the Robert A Heinlein novel, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. In Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, Selene was an alias used by Lanfear.

Selene is the name of a genus of fish.

In Dungeons & Dragons, Selene was a name for a moon that orbited the planet Oerth.

Selene is of Greek origin and means "moon." Selene only made the top 1,000 names in the U.S. in four different years, 1992, 1993, 1995 and 2006.  In 2014, 193 girls were named Selene.

Quill

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Peter Jason Quill, aka Starlord, was abducted from Earth as a child. He became an outlaw, but later redeemed himself by stopping Ronan the Accuser from destroying Xandar with an infinity stone. In the process, he joined a group of misfits called the Guardians of the Galaxy. In the Marvel comics, Peter was an orphan who became an astronaut. He was given the title Starlord by an alien called the Master of the Sun.   

In X-Men, Quill was a mutant that attended Xavier Institute. He had porcupine quills on his head instead of hair, and he could fire them as projectiles. He was mentored by Gambit and wanted to become a thief. He was killed when William Stryker attacked the school.

In Doctor Who, Mr. Quill was a minor character who was an engineer at a off shore gas rig.

In the Transformers franchise, the Quill was an artifact that had the ability to change the future itself.

Quill was an experimental satellite program in the 1960s to test radar imaging from space.

The Quill was a 1983 computer program that one could use to write computer games. QUILL is also short for Quintiq Logic Language, a Dutch programming language.

Quill is an English word that refers to the hollow shaft of a feather, or a pen made from one. In 2014, 5 boys were given the name Quill. 

If you're looking for a name that reflects a love of the written language, Quill is a great choice.

Scarlet

Scarlet Witch is a character in the Marvel Universe. Her real name is Wanda Maximoff. She is the twin sister of Pietro Maximoff, also known as Quicksilver. In the Marvel Comics, Scarlet Witch was a part of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants before joining the Avengers.

Will Scarlet is a character in the television show Once Upon a Time.

Scarlet Sharp was a witch who was reported missing on Potterwatch in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.

Scarlett Adams was a character in the Power of Five series of novels by Anthony Horowitz. At first, it was believed her power was to predict the weather, but it was later determined that she also had the ability to control it.

Skarlet was a character in the Mortal Kombat video game. She was able to absorb the blood of her prey.

The Scarlet Brethren were a group of nine wizards who wore red robes in  the Dragonlance novel, "The Dying Kingdom."

In Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, a Scarlet-Flower was a breed of dragon of Chinese origin. They were red with a yellow crest, and enjoyed fighting.

In the Star Wars franchise, Scarlet was a term used for art that was not approved by Imperial censors.

The name Scarlet is of French origin, and means 'red'. It can be spelled Scarlet or Scarlett. Scarlett was the 30th most popular name for girls in the United States in 2014.

Logan

The name Logan can be found all over the sci-fi/fantasy world. The most prominent use is in the Science fiction novel turned film, Logan's Run. In the novel, people's lives were terminated once they reach the age of 21 in order to prevent overpopulation. The character Logan was charged with enforcing the rule by killing those who run. When Logan turned 21, he became a runner himself, and used an underground railroad to reach Sanctuary, a colony on Mars.

Logan is also the name of Wolverine, of the X-Men. Wolverine was born James Howlett, the son of a wealthy landowner, John Howlett, in the 1880s. However, his biological father was the groundskeeper, Thomas Logan. Thomas killed John Howlett, and Wolverine in turn killed Thomas with his bone claws. Cast out by his mother, he adopted the name Logan.

Logan Cale was one of the main characters in the television series Dark Angel. Logan is a hacker/journalist, who transmits his untraceable broadcasts under the pseudonym "Eyes Only". He helped Max track down her fellow genetically engineered soldiers.

There were two characters in the tv series, Warehouse 13 with the name Logan. Kate Logan was a secret service agent who once had a relationship with Pete Lattimer.  Logan was an individual who used an artifact to disrupt a banking convention. He killed several bankers before he was stopped.

Logan Gyre is the High King in The Night Angel Triolgy by Brent Weeks.

Logan Willowine was a Kender Mystic in the Dragonlance novel, Citadel of Light.

Lieutenant Logan was an engineer on the U.S.S. Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Garfield Mark "Gar" Logan, is the real name of the comic book character Beast Boy.

Logan is the main character in the video game Fable III. Gabriel Logan is a character in the video game, Syphon Filter. Logan was a character in the video game Star Wars Galaxies.

In Farscape, Douglas Logan was an avatar used by Rygel in a simulation.

The name originates as the name of a Scottish Clan. It means "little hollow". Although it is mostly used for boys, Logan is also used for girls. In the United States, Logan ranked as the 13th most popular name for boys, and ranked at #391 for girls in 2014.

July 2013 Roundup

It's time for my monthly roundup of other blogs that profiled geeky names for the month of July!

Appellation Mountain profiled Domino and Jubilee who are known to geeks as characters from X-Men.

NameFreak! has a great post on the characters from the movie Pacific Rim.

Naming the Fishes has a list of Names Worn By Elves.

Bewitching Names has a list of names inspired by the constellation Cancer.

Nameaholics Anonymous continues their Harry Potter Name series with H is for Hestia.

Histornamia has found a great name, Jaina, from Star Wars and World of Warcraft.

Callisto

Callisto is one of Jupiter's moons that was discovered by Galileo. It is Jupiter's second largest moon, and is nearly as large as the planet Mercury. It is composed of equal amounts of rock and ices.

In X-Men, Callisto was a mutant who possessed superhuman senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. She was once a beautiful woman, but became scarred as a result of violent encounters with normal humans. She was the leader of the Morlocks, a group of mutants that lived in the sewers. She lost leadership of the Morlocks when Storm defeated her in a duel.  She later became a servant of the wizard Kulan Gath. When she found herself in a new timeline, she became an ally of the X-Men and even rescued Professor X. 

Callisto was a character in Xena: Warrior Princess and in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Callisto witnessed the death of her mother and sister at the hands of Xena, who killed them during a chaotic attack on her village. As a result of this trauma, Callisto became a ruthless and bloody warlord, who was out to get Xena. She died twice, became an immortal, then a God, then a demon, and ultimately an archdemon. 

The Callisto series was a series of science fiction novels published in the 1970s by author Lin Carter.

In Doctor Who, the Callisto Pulse was a device that could disarm micro-explosives. River Song traded a Callisto Pulse for a vortex manipulator she needed to reach the Doctor.

In Star Trek, the U.S.S. Callisto was a Federation starship, and in a Star Wars novel, Callisto was the name of an Imperial Star Destroyer.

In Greek mythology, Callisto was a nymph of Artemis. She was transformed into a bear and set among the stars. Callisto has never ranked in the top 1,000 names in the United States. In 2012, 7 girls were named Callisto in the U.S.

Cypher

Cypher was a character in the X-Men universe. He was telepathic, and could understand any form of communication, spoken, written, an non-verbal. He was also the a hacker, and was X-Men's computer expert. His real name was Douglas 'Doug' Ramsey.

Richard Cypher aka Richard Rahl was a character in Terry Goodkind's fantasy series The Sword of Truth. He was a woods guide in Westland and spent most of his time in the woods. He guided travelers safely through the Hartland forests. He was very handsome and was in love with Kahlan Amnell. He was a Seeker of Truth and the master of D'Hara.

Cypher was also a character in The Matrix. He became disillusioned with the real world and wanted to return to the Matrix. He betrayed Morpheus and conspired with Agent Smith to capture Morpheus in return for being plugged back into the Matrix. After Morpheus was captured, he returned to the Nebuchadnezzar and killed Dozier and wounded Tank. While speaking with Trinity, he confessed his love for her and he unplugged and killed Apoc and Switch. He was about to kill Neo when Tank managed to regain consciousness and killed him.

Johnny Cypher in Dimension Zero was a 1967 science fiction cartoon. He had the ability to travel through space and time to different dimensions.

Cypher was a science-fiction/corporate espionage film released in 2002. It starred Jeremy Northam and Lucy Liu.

Cypher is a character from the Warhammer 40,000 Universe.

Cypher would work well as a first name.. It's similar to Cyrus, which is poised for a breakthrough now that Claire Danes used it for her son. It is easily shortened to the nickname 'Cy'. In 2011, five boys were named Cypher.

Darwin

Darwin is most recognizable as the surname of naturalist Charles Darwin who devised the theory of evolution. His name has been used for craters on Mars, the Moon, and in Tasmania. He also has an asteroid named after him. Apple used his name for a MAC operating system in 2000.  

Armando Muñoz of the X-men used the alias Darwin. Darwin's mutant abilities allow him to evolve to protect himself. He appeared in the 2011 film X-Men: First Class.

Darwin is an English surname that has one of two possible roots. It may be derived from a given name in the 7th century, Deorwine, which means 'dear friend', or it may be a reference to the town Darwen. In 2011, 291 boys were given the name, along with 5 girls.