August 2015 Round Up

It's time for the monthly round up of geeky names from other blogs.

Nancy's Baby Names suggested Perseid for babies born or conceived during the meteor shower. I love the idea!

Appellation Mountain profiled Clark, as in Superman's first name, and Andromeda.

The Art of Naming talked about Nova.

Galileo

Galileo Galilei was a scientist that lived during the Renaissance. His astronomical observations fundamentally changed the way we view the universe. Among his contributions was the discovery of the four largest moons of Jupiter, now called the Galilean moons. His support of the heliocentric model of the solar system caused much controversy, and he was tried by the Roman Inquisition. He was sentenced to house arrest on June 22, 1633, a sentence which remained in effect until his death in 1642.

An unmanned spacecraft was named Galileo in his honor. It arrived at Jupiter in 1995 and remained in orbit until 2003. The spacecraft was deteriorating, and it was decided to intentionally crash it into Jupiter itself to prevent contamination of any of Jupiter's moons, some of which may harbor life.

Rocket Shop Galileo was a science fiction novel by Robert A Heinlein.

In Star Trek, several shuttles were named Galileo. Galileo Galilei was mentioned in several episodes, and in one episode title.

The name Galileo is of Latin origin and means 'from Galilee.' In 2014, 20 boys in the U.S. were named Galileo.

Leela

In Futurama, Turanga Leela was the captain of the Planet Express space ship. She grew up an orphan, believing herself the sole survivor of an alien race, but in fact, she was a mutant. She worked at Applied Cryogenics as a Fate Assignment Officer but gave it up to work at Planet Express. She has had relationships with Zapp Brannigan and Fry. She had a pet alien named Nibbler.

In Doctor Who, Leela was a companion of the Fourth Doctor. She was a warrior from the Sevateem. She fell in love with another time lord named Andred. Leela left the Doctor to marry Andred and live on Gallifrey.

Leela is a variant of Leila, which means 'night beauty.' In 2014, 217 girls were named Leela in the U.S.

Dione

Dione is one of Saturn's moons. It was discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1684, and was called Saturn IV until 1847. It is approximately two-thirds ice and water. There is a thin layer of molecular oxygen ions in an exosphere. It has been photographed by the space probes Voyager and Cassini.

106 Dione is a main belt asteroid. It was discovered in 1868 by J.C. Watson.

The name Dione comes from Greek Mythology. Dione was a Titaness and the mother of Aphrodite. It means 'Of Zeus', which refers to the word Goddess. It has never been in the top 1,000 names in the U.S. In 2014, 5 girls were named Dione.

Tauriel

In Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies, he added a character that did not appear in the book. Tauriel was an elf, and the captain of Thranduil's guard. She fell in love with Kili, one of the dwarves in Thorin's party. After the dwarves escaped, she left the palace without permission to hunt down the orcs that pursued them. Legolas had feelings for Tauriel and followed her. She fought in the Battle of the Five Armies.

In the elvish language created by J.R.R. Tolkien, Tauriel means 'forest maiden.' In 2014, 20 girls were named Tauriel in the U.S.

Buran

Buran was the name of Russia's space shuttle program and was also the name of the shuttle itself. The program began in 1974, and ended in 1993. The shuttle flew a single unmanned mission in 1988. The shuttle was destroyed in 2002 when the facility it was in collapsed. The program began construction of two other shuttles, Ptichka and Baikal, but they were never completed. The program ended due to lack of funding, and political upheaval.

Buran is the Russian word for 'snowstorm.' Buran does not appear in SSA's name database.

Kelvin

Kelvin is a unit of measurement for temperature. It was named after Scottish physicist William Lord Kelvin, who wrote about the need for an absolute thermometric scale. It's symbol is K.

There is also a Kelvin circulation theorem, a Kelvin equation, and Kelvin functions. 

Kelvin is an English name meaning 'friend of ships.' I think that K would be a great nickname since it's also the symbol for the unit of temperature. Kelvin has been in the top 1,000 names in the U.S. since 1950. It's been declining in popularity. In 2014, it was the 684th most popular name. 

Finnick

In The Hunger Games, Finnick Odair was a tribute from District 4 in the 65th Hunger Games. He was the youngest to win the Hunger Games at the age of 14. He was later reaped as part of the 3rd Quarter Quell. Finnick was married to Annie Cresta, also a victor from District 4. He was very close to his mentor, Mags. Finnick was incredibly good looking and charming, and he used it to his advantage when dealing with political intrigues in the Capitol.

The name Finnick was invented by author Suzanne Collins. It's root is the Gaelic name Finn, which means 'white, fair.' In 2014, 38 boys were named Finnick.

Irisa

In the television show and video game, Defiance, Irisa was an Irathient, one of the alien Votan races that settled on Earth in the future. She was adopted as a child by Joshua Nolan. She was implanted with a Kelovan or key, which would allow her to mentally control the Kaziri, a Votan ship. She became Nolan's deputy lawkeeper in the town of Defiance.

IRISA is the acronym for the Research Institute of Computer Science and Random Systems in Rennes, France. The acronym is derived from it's French name, "Institut de recherche en informatique et systèmes aléatoires".

Irisa is a variant of Iris, a Greek name that means 'rainbow'. In English, it is a type of flower. In 2014, 8 girls were named Irisa in the U.S.

Jorah

In Game of Thrones, Jorah Mormont was a knight from House Mormont in Westeros who fled to the Free Cities to avoid execution and became a mercenary for the exiled Targaryens. At first he spied on Daenerys for Varys, the spymaster of Westeros. He developed a deep devotion to Daenerys and became loyal, but when she found out about his past spying, she exiled him.

Jorah is a variant of Yarikh, a moon god in Caanaite relgion. In 2014, 7 boys in the U.S. were anmed Jorah.

Katniss

Katniss Everdeen was the heroine of The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. When Katniss's twelve year old sister, Primrose, was chosen to go to the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss volunteered to go in her place. Katniss and her fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark, won the Games, only to be caught up in a web of political intrigue following the games.

Katniss is the name of an aquatic plant in the Sagittaria genus.In 2014, 38 girls were named Katniss in the U.S.

Tiberius

In Star Trek, Tiberius was the middle name of James T Kirk, Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Kirk's middle name came from his paternal grandfather, Tiberius Kirk.

In Harry Potter, Tiberius Ogden was a member of the Wizengamot who resigned in protest when Dolores Umbridge was appointed High Inquisitor of Hogwarts.

In the Mortal Instruments, Tiberius Blackthorn was a shadowhunter. Shadowhunters were humans with angelic blood who battled demons and supernatural beings.

Tiberius is an ancient Roman name, borne by a Roman emperor. In 2015, 85 boys were named Tiberius in the United States.

Alma

In the third Hunger Games book, Mockingjay, Alma Coin was the president of District 13. Alma's husband and daughter were killed in a pox epidemic. Coin led the rebellion against the Capitol and used Katniss Everdeen for propaganda to aid the rebellion.

ALMA is an acronym for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, an array of radio telescopes in Chile.

Alma is derived from the Latin word 'almus', which means 'nourishing.' Alma is also the Spanish word for 'soul.' In 2014, Alma was the 680th most popular name for girls in the U.S.