Hal

HAL-9000 was an artificial intelligence from 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke. HAL was short for Heuristically programmed, ALgorithmic computer. Hal was part of the computer in the Discovery One spaceship. HAL began to malfunction, and when the astronauts decided to disconnect his cognitive circuits, HAL decided to kill them. In the sequel, 2010: Odyssey Two, HAL was restarted, and his previous attempt to kill the astronauts was revealed to be due to a conflict in his programming. HAL sacrificed himself to save the astronauts, but was turned into a non-corporeal being by the monolith.

Harold 'Hal' Jordan was one of several humans to become member of the Green Lantern Corps. He was a member of the U.S. Air Force. When Abin Sur, a member of the Greeen Lantern Corps, crash landed in California, the power ring chose Hal Joran as it's replacement officer. He was one of the founding members of the Justice League. 

Hal Yorke was a vampire in the U.K. television series Being Human. He was born in the late 15th century. He went on a bloody rampage for centuries, and gained such an evil reputation that even the Old Ones were afraid of him. In the 20th century he lived with a werewolf named Leo and a ghost named Pearl. After Leo died, Pearl went with him to the afterlife, leaving Hal with another werewolf and ghost, Tom and Annie.

Halfast 'Hal' Gamgee was a Hobbit and a cousin of Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. 

Hal the Archer, and Hal Korwin where minor characters in the Doctor Who television series. 

Hal is typically a nickname for Harold or Henry. As a stand alone name it is not very popular. In 2011, only 15 boys were named Hal.

Teyla

Teyla Emmagan was a character in the television series, Stargate: Atlantis. Teyla was born in the Pegasus Galaxy on the planet Athos. Her planet was frequently culled by the Wraith, an alien species that consumed the life force of humans. A group of humans from Earth visited her planet shortly after discovering the lost city of Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy. Teyla's people were forced to evacuate to Atlantis as well, and Teyla joined the human expedition. Some Athosians had a small amount of Wraith DNA, which gave them the ability to sense the presence of the wraith. In Teyla this ability was unusually strong, and with practice, she was eventually able to make telepathic contact with Wraith minds. Teyla had a relationship with an Athosian named Kanaan. The relationship produced a son named Torren. Teyla stayed on Atlantis when it traveled back to the Milky Way galaxy to stop a Wraith attack on Earth. 

Teyla is an invented name. In 2011, 20 girls were named Teyla.

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.
 

Merry

In the Doctor Who franchise, Merry Galel was an inhabitant of Akhaten. She was known as the Queen of Years, and was a Sun-singer of the long song. The song was continuously sung by various singers to appease the sleeping Old God. The Doctor's companion, Clara, encountered Merry when she was running away because she feared she would make a mistake. Clara convinced her that she would be able to complete her task and convinced her to return. While Merry was singing, the Old God awoke, and took her as a sacrifice. The Doctor and Clara rescued her and convinced her that she did not need to sacrifice herself to appease the Old God.

Merry was the nickname of Meriadoc Brandybuck in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He was a Hobbit and one of the Fellowship of the Ring. At Gondor, he became a squire to Théoden. He helped Éowyn kill the Witch King of Angmar. He was awarded a knighthood for his bravery. 

Merry Pemberton was a character in the D.C. Comics universe.

Merry is an English name that means 'Happy'. Merry appeared in the SSA's top 1000 names for most years between 1920 and 1969, but hasn't ranked since then. It ranked highest in 1954 when it was #468. In 2011, the name Merry was given to just 15 girls.

Tycho

Tycho Brahe was a Danish astronomer who lived in the 16th century. He observed a supernova in 1592, and unlike most of his contemporaries, asserted that the star was further away than the moon. He coined the term 'Nova' to describe what we now call Supernovas. Tycho lost part of his nose during a duel over a mathematics formula, and often wore a false nose made of various metals, depending on the occasion. There are craters on the moon and on Mars that are named for him.

Tycho Celchu is a character in the Star Wars universe. He was a native of Alderaan, and he lost his entire family when the planet was destroyed by the Death Star. He was a member of the Imperial Navy at the time, but the destruction of his world spurred him to join the Rebel Alliance as a starfighter pilot. He later continued to serve as a pilot for the New Republic. He eventually became a General in the Galactic Alliance Defense Force.

There are characters named Tycho in the computer games Fallout and Marathon, and in the Warhammer 40,000 game.

Tycho is a Greek name that means "hitting the mark". I think the fact that it can be shortened to the modern nickname 'Ty', makes this name a little less archaic. In 2011, 13 boys in the United States were named Tycho.

Quorra

Quorra was a character from the movie, Tron: Legacy and the video game, Tron: Evolution. Quorra was the last known ISO (Isomorphic Algorithm) still alive. She was a friend of Kevin Flynn, and helped his son Sam Flynn after he traveled to the Grid. She eventually escaped with Sam to the real world, becoming a real person in the process.

Quorra is pronounced the same as the name Cora, so it might have been intended as a variant of that name. Cora is an Italian name that means 'heart.' Quorra is another name for the Niger River. It might also derive from the Latin word 'quora', which means 'whose'. In 2014, 26 girls were given the name Quorra.

Kitiara

Kitiara 'Kit' Uth Matar was a character in the Dragonlance series of novels by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. She was a mercenary who joined the Dragonarmies of Ansalon. There, she rose in rank to become the Dragon Highlord of the Blue Dragonarmy. She was the half-sister of the hero Caramon Majere, and his twin, the sorcerer Raistlin Majere. She was also a lover of the half elven hero Tanis and the knight Sturm Brightblade, whom she later killed. She was killed by Dalamar the Dark, a former apprentice of her brother Raistlin, in the Tower Of High Sorcery in Palanthas.

Kitiara is an invented name. It's unusual, but the sounds are familiar enough to make it a useable name. It would also be an awesome name for a female cat. Kitiara has hovered at the bottom of the SSA lists from 1990 through 2005, occasionally dropping off altogether. In 1993, the highest ranked year, 12 girls were named Kitiara.