Sora

In Stargate Atlantis, Sora Tyrus was from the Genii homeworld. She served under Acastus Kolya, and was part of a raid the Genii conducted against Atlantis. Sora blamed Teyla for her father's death when she left him behind on a Wraith hive ship, and the two fought over it. Teyla won, and spared Sora's life, ending their feud. She disagreed with Kolya's ruthless methods, and preferred to spare lives wherever possible.

In the video game Kingdom Hearts, the main protagonist is a teenage boy named Sora. I know nothing about this game, so I won't attempt to explain it.. click the links if you want to know more!

Sora is a unisex Japanese name that means "sky." In 2014 it was given to 67 girls and and 25 boys in the United States.

Adria

In Stargate SG-1, Adria was the half-human, half-Ori child or 'Orici' that Vala Mal Doran was forced to carry. She was genetically altered so that she grew to an adult in a few days. She was also implanted with the collective memory of the Ori race. Adria was created to lead the Ori armies to the Milky Way Galaxy and convert the humans that lived there. Adria was captured by the Goa'uld Baal, who implanted her with one of his cloned symbiotes.The Tok'ra managed to remove the symbiote, but not before it released a toxin. Adria was forced to ascend or die. After she ascended, she assumed the power of all the Ori, who had been killed by the Saangral. After SG-1 activated the Ark of Truth, her power diminished enough that Morgan Le Fay was able to stop her.

There is a main belt asteroid named 143 Adria. It was discovered in 1875 and was named after the Adriatic Sea, since the discovery was made on the coast.

Adria is a feminine form of Adrian, meaning 'from Hadria.' In 2014, 59 girls were named Adria in the U.S. 

Ronan

In Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan the Accuser was a Kree radical. He was part of the Kree military, and he refused to accept the peace treaty between his world and Xandar. He agreed to obtain an orb for Thanos in return for the destruction of Xandar. When he discovered that the orb contained an infinity stone, Ronan broke his deal with Thanos and attempted to destroy Xandar using the stone. He was defeated by the Guardians of the Galaxy.

In Stargate: Atlantis, Ronon Dex was born on the planet Sateda in the Pegasus Galaxy. He was implanted with a tracker and hunted by the wraith for sport. Sheppard's team helped him remove the tracker, and he joined them when he learned that his people had been wiped out by the wraith.

In Harry Potter, Ronan was a centaur that lived in the forbidden forest. He led the centaurs during the Battle of Hogwarts during the Second Wizarding War.

Ronan is a Gaelic name that means "little seal". Ronan entered the top 1,000 names in the U.S. for boys in 2001 and has been steadily climbing ever since. In 2014, it was the 366th most popular name for boys. The name was also given to 9 girls.The alternate spelling Ronon was given to 10 boys.

Ulysses

In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ulysses Klaue was a smuggler who sold a large amount of Vibranium to Ultron.

In D.C. Comics, Ulysses was the alias for Neil Quinn, who had the ability to absorb and transfer various forms of energy.

In Marvel Comics, Ulysses Bloodstone was an immortal human born 10,000 years ago in Scandanavia. He became immortal when the bloodstone shattered, and a piece of it became imbedded in his chest.

In the Doctor Who novel, The Gallifrey Chronicles, Ulysses was a time lord who married a human named Penelope Gate, an human from the 19th century.

In the Syfy series, Defiance, Ulysses was a bioman who lived in Defiance and worked for Datak Tarr. Nolan defeated him in a fight by deactivating his switch.

In Babylon 5, the Ulysses was a merchant vessel. In a Battlestar Galactica comic book, the Ulysses was a battlestar that along with Galactica attacked Trinity Base. In Star Trek, the U.S.S. Ulysses was a Federation starship.

In a Stargate SG-1 comic series, Fall of Rome,  Ulysses was a Goa'uld who was in a Unas host. He had lived on Earth in Ancient Greece.

In World of Warcraft, Ulysses Rackmore was the captain of the ship Gallant.

The Ulysses of Greek myth made an appearance in the television show Xena: Warrior Princess. Xena and Gabrielle helped him break a curse placed upon him by Posiedon.

Ulysses is the Latin form of the Greek name Odysseus, who was a hero from myth. Ulysses last appeared in the top 1,000 names in 2005, when it was #983. In 2014, 171 boys were named Ulysses in the U.S.

Kent

Clark Kent is the name given to Kal-El, aka Superman, by his human parents. Born on Krypton, he was sent to Earth by his parents to save him from the impending destruction of his home world. Earth's yellow sun gives him abilities far beyond the average human. He lives in the city of Metropolis, and works as a journalist for the  Daily Planet.

In an alternate timeline, Ariella Kent was the daughter of Superman and Linda Danvers. Like her mother, she was also known as Supergirl.

Kent Blake was the protagonist of the 1950's comic book series Kent Blake of the Secret Service.

Kent was a minor character in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Full Alert". He was a member of "The Trust", a group of rogue NID agents.

Kent was a character in the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. He was an administrator of the planet Balmorra.

Kent is derived from the name of a county in England, which itself may come from a word that means 'coastal district'. Kent fell out of the top 1,000 baby names in the United States in 2003, when it ranked at #882. The highest it ever ranked was in 1962, when it was #136. In 2014, 148 boys were given the name Kent.

Olokun

In Stargate SG-1, Olokun was a Goa'uld system lord who conducted experiments on humans. After abandoning his experiments, he created the Cursor'va, a group of Jaffa that acted as intelligence agents. His fleet was decimated by Anubis, but he survived, only to later be killed by Ba'al.

Olokun was based on an African god of the sea, worshiped by the Yoruba people.  Olokun does not appear in SSA's name database.

Janus

In Stargate, Janus was an ancient scientist. He lived in Atlantis, and was one of the Lantean survivors who escaped to Earth. Janus used unorthodox methods, and his controversial experiments and inventions were often done in defiance of the Lantean Council.
In I Am Number Four, Janus was a pilot and member of the Lorien Defence Council. He piloted the ship that brought the chosen Garde to Earth.

In Men In Black, Janus was an INS agent that was neuralized by Kay and Dee.

In Warehouse 13, the Janus Coin was used to separate a person's consiousness from their physical form.

The feminist science fiction 'fanzine', Janus, was published from 1975 to 1980.

Saturn has a moon named Janus.

There are two programming languages that bear the nameJanus. Microsoft used the name as a codename for Windows 3.1x, and as a codename for a portable version of Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM). There is a speech recognition program named Janus.

In biology, a Janus-faced molecule can have both beneficial and toxic effects.

Janus particles are nano particles that have two different physical properties.

The name Janus comes from a two-faced Roman God. He looked to the future and the past, and was the god of beginnings and endings. The name for the month of January is derived from Janus. I love this name, but I think the name is problematic for boys because it sounds too similar to the girl's name Janice. It would work well for a pet though. It has never ranked in the top 1,000 names in the U.S., and does not appear in the database for 2014.

May 2015 Roundup

Here's my monthly roundup of geeky names from other name blogs in the month of May!

British Baby names did a very thorough write up on Hermione, and Nolan. Nolan's geeky references include the surname of Prince Charming in Once Upon a Time, Joshua Nolan, the main protagonist in Defiance, and Nolan Grayson, aka, Omni-Man.

Ren's Baby Names talks about Leia.

The Art of Naming discusses names from Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Nancy's Baby Names posted a great list of secular names. They also did a write up of Denali, which is the name of a coven in the Twilight series.

Roses and Cellar Doors has a list of Pixar names.

Name News found a great Steampunk Name generator.

MyNamesInTheClouds has an interesting You Tube video where he discusses names from Game of Thrones.

Nameberry has an article that shows the popularity of GoT names.

Once Upon a Time Baby Names goes in depth on the name Gordon.
It's geeky associations include:
Gordon Gould who is widely credited for the invention of the laser
The superhero Flash Gordon
Commissioner Gordon and Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) in Batman
A teleporting Inhuman from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Gordon Walker, a vampire hunter in the tv series Supernatural.
Gordon Freeman, a character in Half Life
Byron Gordon of Babylon 5
a friend of Dudley Dursley in Harry Potter
a computer in Red Dwarf< a wraith in Stargate Atlantis
a naval officer in the Temeraire novels
an air force major in the Transformers comics
a professor in Warehouse 13

Ara

Ara is a constellation in the southern sky. The constellation name comes from the Latin for 'altar'. It was first described by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. There are 8 main stars in the constellation. The Stingray Nebula is in Ara.

In Stargate Atlantis, Ara was a member of the Satedan military who was captured by the wraith, and eventually became a wraith worshiper. She was killed by Rakai, one of her fellow wraith worshipers.  In Stargate SG-1, Ara was the name of a platform in the shape of the Ori symbol for Origin, upon which heretics were burned.

In Dragonlance, Ara Kano was a leader of the town Pirim.

Ara Tribe is a tribe in the StarCraft Universe.

Project Ara is a Google initiative to create modular smartphones.
Ara is a genus of macaws.

Although the constellation name is derived from Latin, Ara is also a female Persian name that means 'brings rain', and a male Armenian name from a legendary King, Ara the Beautiful. Ara is sometimes used as a nickname for the Russian name Avrora. It can also be used as a nickname for Arabella.

Ara appears in the SSA's top 1000 girl names from 1900-1918. It's highest rank was in 1901 when it reached #559. It has never reached the top 1000 for boys. It was given to just 49 girls and 7 boys in 2014. Although it's unisex, I think Ara works best for girls due to it's similarity to Ada and Ava. It would be a good choice for parents who like those names but want something a little different.

Thor

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor Odinson was a prince of the planet Asgard, son of Odin and Frigga. He was banished to Earth by his father, Odin, for an unauthorized attack on the Jotunheim. While on Earth, he met and fell in love with Jane Foster. He regained his power after he attempted to sacrifice himself to protect Jane and her friends from a destroyer sent by his adopted brother, Loki. He later joined the Avengers to stop Loki from conquering Earth, and again to fight the A.I. Ultron. After defeating Malekith, Odin (actually Loki in disguise) offered Thor the throne of Asgard, which he declined. In the Marvel comics, his mother was Jord, or Gaea, the spirit of the Earth. When visiting Earth he sometimes takes on a mortal form, and is known as Donald Blake. If separated from his hammer, Mjolnir, for too long, he loses his power.

In the television series Stargate SG-1, Thor was a member of an alien race called the Asgard. Unlike the Asgard in the Marvel universe, in Stargate the Asgard bear no resemblance to humans. Thor and the Asgard protected some human worlds from the Goa'uld. Thor befriended Jack O'Neill and SG1, which led to an alliance between Thor's people and Earth. When the Asgard were facing extinction, Thor convinced the Asgard High Council to bequeath all their knowledge and technology to the people of Earth.

In the U.K. series, Being Human, the werewolf Thomas McNair named one of his vampire killing stakes "Thor."

In several of the Hitchhiker's Guide novels by Douglas Adams, the Thunder God Thor was friends with Zaphod Beeblebrox.

Thor is of Norse origin, and means "Thunder". Thor made the top 1000 names in the U.S. in 1961 (#964), 1965 (#964), 1966 (#894), 1968 (#881), 1969 (#957), and in 1971 (#912). In 2014, 114 boys were given the name Thor. 

June 2013 Roundup

I took the month of June off from the blog, but plenty of other sites picked up the slack! Here's a roundup of Geeky Names profiled in the month of June.

Appellation Mountain profiled Tanith, first name of Sci-Fi writer Tanith Lee. Tanith was also a Goa'uld in Stargate SG-1.

In Name Only had Stark as their cool baby name of the week.

British Baby names talked about Ismeria, a rare name that has a slightly geek reference in that it's part of the genus name for a type of butterfly.

Baby Name Pondering has two names with a geeky side: Dale, and Fiora.

Nancy's Baby Name's Name Predictions contained a few geeky names, Cypher, Kitai and Tesla.

Bewitching Baby Names had an in depth profile of Ameratsu, which was the name of a Goa'uld in Stargate SG-1.

Nameberry had an awesome list of Celestial Names.

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.

Rosha

In Stargate SG-1, Rosha was the host of the Tok'ra Jolinar of Malkshur. She was lovers with Martouf, who was the host of Lantash, who was Jolinar's lover. When Jolinar was being hunted by an Ashrak, a Goa'uld assassin, she abandoned Rosha and took another host in an attempt to evade the Ashrak. The ultimate fate of Rosha is unknown.

Rosha might be a variant of the boy's name Roshan, a Persian name that means light, or bright. Rosha does not appear in the Social Security's name database.

Mitchell

In the television series, Being Human, John Mitchell was a vampire with a werewolf roommate in a flat inhabited by a ghost. Mitchell attempted to go 'dry', and refrained from feeding on humans, in an attempt to live a normal human life. In the end, he failed, and asked his werewolf roommate to kill him so that he would not continue to take human lives. 

Cameron Mitchell was a U.S. Air Force pilot, and later the leader of SG-1 in the series Stargate SG-1. While a pilot, he led the Earth forces at the Battle of Antarctica, becoming seriously wounded. When he recovered, he was given his choice of assignment. He chose SG-1, only to discover that the original team was dissolved, and he made it his mission to get them back together.

Gary Mitchell was a helmsman on the U.S.S. Enterprise in the original Star Trek television series. When the Enterprise traveled into the galactic barrier, Mitchell and Dr. Dehner came into contact with energies of the barrier. When they recovered, they developed powerful god-like abilities. Mitchell's powers corrupted his personality, and with the help of Dr. Dehner, Captain Kirk was forced to kill Mitchell.

Mitchell was a member of Katniss's sharpshooting team in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. He was from District 13, and was killed during an assault by Katniss's team on the Capitol.

American Maria Mitchell was a 19th century astronomer who discovered a comet that became known as "Miss Mitchell's Comet". There is a crater on the moon named Mitchell in her honor.

Mitchell is a surname with several origins. It can be a variant of the name Michael, an anglicization of the Irish surname Mulvihill, which itself comes from Ó Maoil Mhichíl, or it might be derived from the Middle English word meaning 'Big'. Mitchell has appeared in the Social Security Administration's database as a first name since the first recorded year in 1880. In 1994, the name reached it's highest peak at #71. In 2011, it ranked at #418.

Morpheus

Morpheus was one of the main characters in the Matrix franchise. He was the captain of the hovercraft Nebuchadnezzar. Morpheus's goal was to find "The One" who would end the war as foretold by the Oracle. He found Neo and taught him about the Matrix.

Morpheus was an alias of Dream, the protagonist of the D.C. comic The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman.

Morpheus was the title of an episode in the 10th Season of Stargate SG-1, during which the team falls ill with a sleeping sickness.

There were two video games named Morpheus. One was released in 1987 and was a shoot em' up style game. The other was released in 1998, and was a first person adventure game. Mopheus D. Duvall was a character in the video game, Resident Evil: Dead Aim.

Two types of software share the name Morpheus: a file sharing program, and a morphing and digital compositing program.

Morpheus was the god of dreams in Greek mythology. He was a winged daemon, but he could take human form, and appear in dreams. The last time the name appeared in the Social Security name database was in 2000, when it was given to 5 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.

Amaterasu

Amaterasu is a goddess of the Sun in the Japanese Shinto religion.

Amaterasu was a Goa'uld system lord in the television series Stargate SG-1. She was a minor character and only appeared in the episode New Order, parts 1 and 2, and was mentioned in two other episodes.

Amaterasu also appears in a self named manga series and others, including The Five Star Stories, and 666 Satan.

Amaterasu is quite an unwieldly name, but it is very unique and beautiful. I could see Amy or Sue as nicknames, but they are so pedestrian compared to Amaterasu, that they almost detract from it. Perhaps she's best left to the middle spot.

The Dwarves of the Hobbit

The Hobbit features a band of dwarves led by Thorin. They were Nori, Ori, Dori, Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Bombur, Bofur, Bifur, Balin and Dwalin. I gave Thorin his own post which you can view here.

Nori, Ori and Dori were brothers, and were from a group of dwarves called Durin's Folk. All three brothers played the flute, and were remote kinsmen of Thorin.

Ori can also be found in the Stargate franchise as the name of god-like aliens that have ascended to another plane of existence.

Fili and Kili were also brothers, and were the youngest of the dwarves. Thorin was their uncle. They were often used as scouts.

Oin and Gloin were brothers and were cousins of Balin and Dwalin. Gloin was the father of Gimli, the dwarf that belonged to the Fellowship of the Ring in the Lord of the Rings.

Bombur and Bofur were brothers, and Bifur was their cousin. Bombur was known for being fat and late for everything. Bofur and Bifur both played the clarinet.

Balin and Dwalin were brothers. They both played the fiddle.

Although they seem less useable than other Tolkien names, some of the dwarves names have seen some limited use in 2011. The name Balin was given to 40 boys in 2011. Kili was given to 6 girls, this usage is probably not related to The Hobbit. It's probably more likely a variation of Kiley. Nori was given to 18 girls. I also doubt this is related to the Hobbit. Nori is also a boy's name in Japanese that means 'rule, or ceremony'. Ori was given to 53 boys, but it is also a Hebrew name that means 'my light'. Dori was given to 13 girls, most likely as a variation of Dora. Although Dori is a also a male Hebrew name meaning 'my generation'.

Vala

Vala Mal Doran of Stargate SG-1 was once the host of a Goa'uld symbiote named Qetesh. After being freed by the Tok'ra, she became a planet hopping con artist. She attempted to steal Earth's first starship, Prometheus, but was thwarted by Daniel Jackson. She later sought out Daniel's help and through a piece of Goa'uld technology, became linked to him. Since they could not be apart without either of them dying, Vala stayed at Stargate Command, and eventually reformed enough to become a member of SG-1 herself. She was mother of the Orici, Adria, and in an alternate timeline, became lovers with Daniel Jackson. 

The Valar of Middle Earth are a race of angelic beings. Vala is the singluar form of the name. They are mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, but are mostly dealt with in the second part of The Silmarillion. They are the Powers of Arda (the world). They shaped the world and created beauty to counter the darkness of Melkor, aka Morgoth, from whom all evil in Middle Earth comes.

Vala is also the anglicized name of Völva, a shamanic seeress in Norse mythology. An asteroid, 131 Vala, was named for Völva.

There is a programming language called Vala. 

Vala is also a real name of Germanic origin. It means 'singled out'. According to the Social Security Administration, 13 girls were given the name Vala in 2011.