Caspian

In The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis,  Caspian was the name of a series of Kings of Narnia. The most prominent of them was Capsian X. Caspian X was orphaned as a small child and was raised by his uncle, Miraz. Miraz had murdered Caspian's father. When Caspian was a teenager, Miraz had his own son. Caspian's tutor urged him to flee on the night of the child's birth, believing that Miraz would kill Caspian to pave the way for his own son to rule.  He encountered the Pevensies, who had returned to Narnia, and Aslan. After the Pevensies returned to their own world, Caspian was made King of Narnia.

In Highlander: The Series, Caspian was an immortal. He was born around 1300 B.C. and was a member of the Four Horsemen, a group of vicious raiders who were active during the Bronze Age. By the 20th century, Caspian had become a serial killer. He was in an insane asylum in Romania until one of the other Four Horsemen broke him out. Caspian was killed when he and another horseman dueled with MacLeod.

Caspian comes from the name of the Caspian Sea, which is derived from the name of the city Qazvin, which in turn takes it's name from the ancient Cas tribe. In 2014, 87 boys were named Caspian in the U.S.

May 2013 Roundup

It's time for my monthy round-up of other blogs that have profiled geeky names!

Once Upon a Time Baby Names had a post on Cedric, which was a character in Harry Potter, and Caspian from C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian.

Naming the Fishes had a great list of werewolf names, dragon names, and minotaur names. I think I like Zylo the best.

Nancy's Baby Names had a post about a baby born in 1971 named after a lunar module, and Atreyu, from the Neverending Story.

Appellation Mountain profiled Mira, which among other things is a star in the constellation Cetus.

British Baby Names had a post on Merewen, which can be found the two fantasy series: Stonewylde, and The Door Within.

Bewitching Names always manages to find something new and interesting, and this time she's discovered Chrysalis.

Baby Name Pondering talks about Cestus, which has some sci-fi references, and Delta, which pops up a lot in mathematics and sciences.

Nameberry has a post of Joss Whedon names. They also have a cool post on Arctic inspired names. They're mostly nature-related, but there are some science inspired choices.

In Name Only had a post on names from the television show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

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. 

Aslan

Aslan was a character in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan was the only character to appear in all seven of the Narnia books. He was a wise and magical leader, often considered to represent Christ. In The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Aslan was killed by the White Witch in exchange for Edmund's life. After he was killed, his body disappeared, and soon after he reappeared, alive. He explains that it was because he offered his life in return for Edmund's, invoking a deeper magic.

The Aslan were a feline alien race in a science fiction role playing game called Traveller.

Aslan was a warhorse in the Red River manga series. 

Aslan is a real name of Turkish origin. The meaning of the name is 'lion'. In 2011, the name was given to 41 boys and 7 girls. 

Gale

Gale Hawthorne was a character from The Hunger Games trilogy. A resident of District 12, Gale was the hunting partner of Katniss Everdeen before she went to the Hunger Games. He survived the subsequent bombing of District 12, and led hundreds of other residents to safety in District 13. He spent time inventing weapons with Beetee in District 13, and was part of a squad sent to assassinate President Snow. After the revolution, he moved to District 2 where he held a job with Panem's new government. 

King Gale was the first Emperor of the Lone Islands and King of Narnia in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. 

Gale is also the name of a crater on the planet Mars. It was named after Walter Frederick Gale, an amateur astronomer who studied Mars.

Gale was a moderately popular name for boys from 1912 to 1969, when it dropped out of the top 1000 names completely. It peaked from 1932-1952, when it ranked between #300 and #400. In 2011, the name was given to 5 girls, and did not rank for boys.

Carter

Carter is a name that pops up quite frequently in Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

First up is Sheriff Jack Carter from the recently cancelled Syfy series, Eureka. Sheriff Carter was styled after Sheriff Andy Taylor from the Andy Griffith Show. He was the 'normal' guy in a town full of geniuses, although somehow he was always the one to figure out how to save the day when things go wrong. His daughter Zoe Carter and sister Lexi Carter also appeared on the show.

Samanta Carter was one of the original members on Stargate SG-1. She was an astrophysicist and a member of the U.S. Air Force. She's a strong role model for brainy girls. Her father, Jacob Carter, was an Air Force General. When he was dying of cancer, he agreed to join with a Tok'ra symbiote to save his life.

John Carter was the protagonist of the novel A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. He's probably more familiar from the movie version, John Carter, which performed poorly in the United States. Despite the movie's failure, the character was a popular one. In the 1970s. Marvel had a series of comics based on the character called John Carter, Warlord of Mars.

Peggy Carter was the one of the founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D was a love interest of Captain America. During World War II she was an agent for the Strategic Scientific Reserve.

Alice Carter was the daughter of Captain Jack Harkness in the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood. Alice Carter was actually an alias, as her name had to be changed for her protection. She had a son, Steven Carter. Jack had to use his grandson to stop the 456, even though he knew Steven would die. 

Carter J. Burke was a character in the film Aliens. He wanted to use the Aliens for research and as bio-weapons. He planned to infect Ripley with Alien embryos in order to smuggle them. 

Sharon Carter aka Agent 13, was a Marvel character who was a secret agent and member of S.H.I.E.L.D. She was also the girlfriend of Captain America. Captain America had a earlier love interest, Peggy Carter, who was once considered Sharon's sister, then later her aunt. 

Carter was also a character in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television show. He was a human who studied martial arts under Master Splinter. He was able to turn into a large, yellow mutant.  

Edison Carter was a character in the British science fiction television show, Max Headroom. The show only lasted for 14 episodes and ran from 1987-1988. Edison Carter was a hard hitting reporter in the show.

Carter is a minor character in The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis. He was a student at Experiment House.

Carter is an English name that means 'one who uses a cart'. In 2011, Carter ranked as the 41st most popular name for boys. It was also given to 193 girls.