March 2013 Roundup

Here's a round up of baby name sites that profiled geeky names in the month of March.

Appellation Mountain took an in-depth look at Éowyn, and some of the character names chosen by Joss Whedon.

Baby Name Pondering talked about Morgana, and listed her favorite names from fantasy movies of the 1980's.

British Baby Names profiled Arthur, which has a ton of geeky references. Arthur Weasley was the patriarch of the Weasley family in the Harry Potter series, Arthur Dent was the main protagonist in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Arthur the Moth was the Tick's sidekick in the comic, The Tick. Arthur Petrelli was a character in the television series, Heroes.  Arthur Penhaligon was the protagonist in The Keys to the Kingdom series. Arthur was an A.I. in The Journeyman Project. And Finally, 2597 Arthur was a main belt asteroid.

Bewitching names examined Equinox.

Nameaholics Anonymous continued their series on Harry Potter names with G is for Gilderoy. 

Waltzing More Than Matilda took an in depth look at Neville. 

Moon or Pepper? I think you can guess that I chose Moon.

Idris

Idris was the name of a woman who became host to the living consiousness of the TARDIS in Doctor Who. Idris lived on an asteroid inhabited by an entity, House, that fed on the artron energy of TARDISes. House tricked the Doctor into coming to the asteroid, then he removed the living matrix of the TARDIS and placed it in the body of Idris. Her body could not live very long with the matrix inside, but the Doctor managed to get Idris back to the control room of the TARDIS before she died. As she died, the matrix was released back into the TARDIS. 

Idris Hopper was also the name of a minor character in Doctor Who. He was the secretary to the mayor of Cardiff who was taken over by the Slitheen. 

Idris was also the name of an operating system available from 1979 to 1988. 

Idris is a name of Welsh origin that means 'ardent lord'. Although it can be used for both boys and girls, it is primarily used for boys. It is also the name of a prophet in the Qur'an. In 2011, 114 boys were given the name in the United States. It did not rank for girls.

Carina

The constellation Carina appears in the southern sky, and it contains the 2nd brightest star in Earth's sky. It is Latin for the keel of a ship, as it formed the keel in the constellation that depicted the ship Argo, Argo Navis. Carina is also the name of a dwarf galaxy and a nebula that appear within in the constellation. The Carina-Sagittarius arm is an arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Carina was a slave of the Collector. She was killed when she tried to take the power stone. In the Marvel Comics, Carina Walters was the daughter of the Collector. She had the ability to fire bursts of energy from her hands, and transfer the consciousness of individuals to other bodies.

Carina was also the name of a civilian ship in Battlestar Galactica.

Carina is sometimes used a a pet form of the Italian name Cara, which means 'Beloved'. Carina first appeared in the top 1000 names in the United States in 1976. It hit it's peak in 1995 at #383. It is currently ranked at # 948.

Cora

Cora is the name of an evil sorceress in the fantasy television show, Once Upon A Time. She's also known as the Queen of Hearts for her penchant of pulling people's hearts from their chests, including her own. This weeks episode gave us Cora's back story, but I won't go into it here because I don't want to give away any spoilers for those who haven't seen the episode yet. An up to date description of the character can be found here. 

Cora Goodbody was a Hobbit in the Lord of the Rings.

Cora is an acronym for "Computer, Oral Response Activated" in Battlestar Gallactica. In other words, it was the voice of the computer in vipers. It often flirted with Starbuck.

Cora is also the name of an experimental rocket designed by the French. 

Cora is a Greek name that means 'maiden'. Cora was ranked at #15 in 1880, the first year of data available in the U.S. It declined continuously until the late 1980s, when it began to climb back up the charts. In 2011 it ranked at #204.

Marvin

Marvin the Martian was a Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Cartoon Character. His outfit was based on the Roman god Mars. He wasn't given the name Marvin the Martian in the original cartoons. His name came decades later when Warner Bros found there was marketing interest in the character. Marvin was often seen attempting to destroy the Earth, which he had been trying to do for 2000 years because it obscured his view of Venus. His weapon of choice was a Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator. He could also be seen using a small pistol that fired either bubbles of pliable plastic or energy beams.

Marvin the Paranoid Android was a character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. Marvin has a vast intellect, which he rarely gets to use, and as a result suffers from boredom and depression. He claimed to be 50,000 times more intelligent than a human. He died in So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, however in the radio edition of Mostly Harmless, he reappeared with the explanation that he was still covered by his warranty.

Marvin White was a teenaged sidekick of the Super Friends in the D.C. Comics universe. He also appeared in Teen Titans. He had a pet dog named Wonder Dog. In early incarnations, he was clever and resourceful, although sometimes also bumbling, and had no super powers. Later, his fellow sidekick Wendy Harris was made his fraternal twin, and both became technical geniuses.

Marvin is a variant of the Welsh name Mervyn, and means "sea hill". The use of Marvin as a baby name has declined in the United States. While the name appears in the top 1000 names for every year on record, Marvin hit it's peak in 1933 & 1934 when it ranked at #44. In 2011, Marvin ranked at #471, the lowest it's ever ranked.

Kamala

In the Star Trek: Next Generation episode, "The Perfect Mate", Kamala was an empathic metamorph from the planet Krios Prime. As an empathic metamorph, Kamala's personality and interests changed depending on whatever man she was with, becoming his ideal woman. These personality traits would become permanent when she bonded with her mate, but she would still retain her empathic abilities. Kamala was the first of her kind to be born on Krios Prime in 100 years. She was betrothed to Alrik of Valt as part of a peace treaty. The U.S.S. Enterprise was escorting Kamala to Valt when her escort, an elderly ambassador, was injured by Ferengi attempting to purchase Kamala. Captain Picard took over as her escort, giving Kamala a chance to explore her own identity for the first time. Kamala was happier with the person she was when she was with Picard, so she bonded with him instead. She adopted his sense of duty as well, so she still went through with the arranged marriage, relying on her empathic abilities to make Alrik happy.  

Kamala is an Indian name that means Lotus. In 2011, the name Kamala was given to 7 girls in the United States.

Reed

Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic is the leader of the superhero team The Fantastic Four. The Fantastic Four started out as a Marvel series, and has led to two blockbuster films. Reed was a scientific genius. Due to exposure to cosmic radiation, he had the ability to stretch or shape-shift his body into nearly any shape. He is sometimes portrayed as cold and distant to his teammates. He is married to Susan Storm aka the Invisible Woman, with whom he has two children, Franklin and Valeria.

Malcolm Reed was the armory officer on the Enterprise NX-01 in the Star Trek franchise. As such, he was in charge of security. He was one of the principle characters on the last Star Trek television series, Enterprise. Malcolm was from an English family with a long history of service in the Royal Navy, but Malcom suffered from aquaphobia, so he entered Starfleet instead.

In science, the Reed Reaction is a chemical reaction. A reed relay is a relay that uses an electromagnet to control reed switches.

Reed is an English surname that means "red haired". Except for two years in the 1880s, Reed has always appeared in the top 1000 given names in the United States. In 2011, it reached an all time high ranking at #367.

Jadis

Jadis was a character in the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. She appeared in The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. She was mentioned in some of the other books too. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, she is referred to as the White Witch. She was from the World of Charn, which exists outside Narnia and Earth, and was it's last Queen. She was a powerful sorceress, and fought a bloody war against her sister. When she was about to be defeated, she spoke a curse called the Deplorable Word that ended all life on Charn. She placed a sleeping spell on herself and was awakened by a bell she left behind by Digory Kirk and Polly Plummer of Earth. She followed them to Earth but she could not use her magic there. When they attempted to send her back to the Charn, she ended up in Nardia where she ate a silver apple from the tree of youth and became immortal. She was then banished by Aslan to the north for 900 years. When she returned, she used her magic to create the Long Winter. There was a prophecy that the Golden Age would be brought about by two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve. She tried to use Edmund Pevensie to lure the his siblings to her, but the Beavers helped them flee. Aslan returned and prevented her from executing Edmund. As the two sides prepared for war, Jadis asserted her legal claim on Edmund's life. Aslan offered his own life in place of Edmund's and Jadis accepted. She stabbed him in the heart on the Stone Tablet. After Aslan was resurrected, he killed her in the midst of battle.

Jadis is an invented name. The White Witch of Narnia is not the most appealing namesake, but the name has a modern sound, sharing a first syllable with the extremely popular name Jayden. In 2011, the name Jadis was given to 5 boys and 5 girls.

Update: Thanks to Waltzing More Than Matilda, I've learned that Jadis is the word for 'witch' in Persian.