Questions tagged [names]
For questions about names: of characters, including titles, nicknames, and honorifics; of in-universe locations, e.g. countries or planets; or of objects, e.g. vessels, weapons, etc. Questions can be in-universe or out-of-universe, about topics such as origins, meanings, usage and pronunciation. For questions about the title of a work of sci-fi or fantasy, use the [title-explanation] tag instead.
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Who can knight you so that the knighting 'sticks'?
Motivating scenario:
I'm a swell upstanding guy, so Ser/Lord X, an acquaintance of mine, knights me. So I walk into my village tavern; the barkeep asks "What'll it be, friend?" and I tell him "That's ...
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Origin of Darth Vader's name
Who came up with the name Darth Vader? According to Wiktionary (apparently Darth Vader now warrants a dictionary entry meaning "a malevolent, dominating and threatening force" :o):
Derived from the ...
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Where are the other schools of magic beyond the seven already named?
With the new Pottermore site and the upcoming release of Fantastic Beasts film, JK Rowling has been awesome and given us new writing on the schools of magic in the world.
In the introduction it is ...
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The use of 'Darth' as Vader's name, not title, in Star Wars
I watched Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope for the first time in a while a few days ago (the first step in taking my Daughter through the Machete Order). One thing that stood out was the pre-duel ...
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Does Gollum know that others call him Gollum?
I don't recall any of the characters in Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit calling Sméagol Gollum in his face. It seems to be more of a private epithet. Is this correct? Does Gollum know that others call ...
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Was Hogwarts named such because of a connection to warthogs?
Was Hogwarts named 'Hogwarts' because of a connection to warthogs?
Or was it named for hogs and warts separately, or something else entirely?
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How is his name "Chewbacca"?
Chewbacca (Chewie to his friends) is the Wookiee in the original Star Wars trilogy. We know his name because people other than he say his name. Whenever he speaks, it's in growls and other noises, ...
user1027
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Does "FN" stand for or mean anything?
There are several Stormtroopers with designations in the form "FN-####" in The Force Awakens, including
There are also other First Order Stormtroopers whose designations start with "FN" appearing in ...
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What's the relationship among the many uses of the name "Praxis" in sci-fi?
Besides being the name of the Klingon moon destroyed in Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country,
there are at least five other uses of the name in sci-fi or gaming citation
How are these uses related?
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Why do only Hobbits use a combination of first- and last names?
While all the Hobbits I can think of have a combination of first- and lastname (e.g., Bilbo Baggins, Peregrin Took, the Sackville-Baggins's,...), I can't think of any character* of another race that ...
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Is there only a single Skywalker family?
Given the size of the Empire, it seems highly probable that names would be reused. Although I'm not aware of any in canon, there must be other Skywalkers in the galaxy, leading me to my question.
Are ...
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Is there an in-universe explanation for the Roman Empire terminology used for the Romulans?
This answer to another question indicates that several of the showrunners of Star Trek had an interest in the Roman Empire, and that influenced their design and construction of the Romulan Empire. ...
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What's the origin of referring to female superior officers as "sir"?
It is well established in Star Trek: The Next Generation that female superior officers are normally referred to as sir. This is applied to Dr. Crusher, Counselor Troi, Cmdr. Shelby, Maj. Kira, Lt. ...
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Is there a list of the names used for Sauron in Lord of the Rings?
In the preface to The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, authors Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull mention a surprising fact:
Dr. Richard E. Blackwelder once counted in The Lord of the ...
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When did "The Batman" become "Batman"?
In Batman's first appearance in Detective Comics No. 27, he is referred to as "The Bat(-)Man" exclusively.
In the issue, characters say "It's the Bat-Man" rather than "It's Batman". For example:
...
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Harry Potter characters with alliterative names?
Lots and lots of characters in the Harry Potter books have alliterative names (Severus Snape, Peter Pettigrew, Godric Gryffindor, Stan Shunpike, to name but a few).
Is there a complete list of such ...
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Why did JK Rowling choose the name 'Harry'?
The title says it all, my question is, has JK Rowling ever commented on why she chose the name Harry for her main character?
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How did Gandalf get each of his various names?
Gandalf goes by many names in Tolkien's works. Gandalf himself says in The Two Towers:
"Many are my names in many countries. Mithrandir among the elves, Tharkûn to the dwarves; Olórin I was in my ...
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Why was Frodo "wise" and Samwise a "half-wit"?
According to the sources I’ve found (for example this one), “Frodo” comes from the Old English “fród”, meaning wise. (Apparently in “Hobbit Language” Frodo’s name is “Maura”, but I don’t know if this ...
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Did Luke Skywalker ever refer to Obi-Wan as "Uncle Ben?"
Until recently, the Wikipedia article for Peter Parker's Uncle Ben said this at the top:
As far as I can remember, Luke never refers to Obi-Wan as "Uncle Ben" in any of the films, or any of the EU ...
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Why are there two characters named Aegon?
Spoilers for the Season 7 finale of Game of Thrones, "The Dragon and the Wolf".
At the end of the episode through one of Bran's visions we learn that:
While we knew that Jon was the son of ...
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What is the significance of Lily Luna Potter's middle name?
All of Harry's other children have middle names that honour people who played a serious part not just in his life, but in the second wizarding war: James Sirius Potter, and Albus Severus Potter.
...
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Why was the character of Captain Kirk given the middle name "Tiberius"?
There is a question about why Kirk's middle name was Tiberius from an in-universe perspective. The answers explain that Kirk was given the name after his grandfather (Tiberius Kirk) and that his ...
Null♦
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What is the origin of the name "Jedi"?
Where does the name "Jedi" originate, either in or out of universe?
Is there any in-universe evidence at all for the origin of the word? Out of universe, how did George Lucas come up with the name "...
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Is Wedge Antilles related to Captain Antilles?
Is Wedge Antilles (of Rogue Squadron) related to Captain Antilles (of Leia Organa's Tantive IV from Episode 4) in-universe? (G to C canon).
I couldn't find any mention of relation (or its absense) ...
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Why the name 'Rogue One'?
So far, is there any suggestion, or speculation as to the reason for the name 'Rogue One' for the next Star Wars film?
To me, the name seems very close to the Rogue Squadron, most known from Hoth (...
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Reference for the first name of Sirius Black's mother, known from her portrait: Walburga
In Order of the Phoenix chapter 4, we meet the portrait of Sirius's mother in Sirius's house. The portrait is behind a curtain and starts screaming. In chapter 6, Sirius tells a few more words about ...
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Were the NX-class starships named after the Shuttles?
From Enterprise we know that the first two warp-5-capable NX-class starships were the NX-01 Enterprise and NX-02 Columbia.
Lo and behold, the U.S. Space Shuttle Orbiters were built in the following ...
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What is the earliest instance of Spock being called "Dr. Spock"?
As noted in the answer to the question Does Spock have a PhD?, Spock is never referred to on-screen as "Dr. Spock" in Star Trek. However, the "doctor" title has persisted amongst the general ...
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Name this children's sci fi show from my childhood
I am trying to remember what this show was from when I watched it in my childhood (I grew up in the 90's).
It was a sci-fi television series with a crew of children/young adults that were stranded in ...
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Why are the names Sauron and Saruman so similar?
The names Sauron and Saruman are very similar in writing and pronunciation.
Is it an accident? or having an a forethought reason?
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Why was Luke "Red Five"?
In Star Wars: A New Hope, at beginning of the attack on the Death Star, we see the pilots of Red Squadron check in.
Luke reports in as "Red Five", however we also ...
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Why was Marvin called "the paranoid android"?
Marvin, from The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is clearly depressed, but there are not any indications that I recall (from the books, at least ) that he is paranoid. Yet both in-universe and out-of-...
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Was the original hobbit name of Bilbo and Frodo "Bilba" and "Froda"?
I am reading the appendices of The Lord of the Rings and in particular Appendix F, part II "On translation".
Tolkien writes:
To their man-children they usually gave names that had no meaning at ...
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Where did using "Luna" as the future name for the moon come from? [closed]
Besides Latin, of course. It seems to be very common to refer to the (typically colonized) moon as "Luna" in sci-fi works. Did authors independently decide to use the Latin name? Or did someone ...
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Does Emperor Palpatine have a first name?
Has the first name of Emperor Palpatine been mentioned in any Star Wars work?
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What, if anything, is the name FRIDAY an acronym for?
At the end of Age of Ultron,
JARVIS is an acronym for for Just A Rather Very Intelligent System. What is FRIDAY an acronym for?
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Why didn't Snape recognize the Marauder's Map?
When Harry was in the corridors trying to find Peter Pettigrew at night, Snape came. Snape took that map, and had a few attempts at revealing it. When he told the map to reveal itself in the name of ...
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Are there starships in Star Trek that we know are named after women?
A brief browse through this list yields some likely candidates:
USS Curie -- most likely named after Marie Curie, but could be Pierre Curie or both, or involve Irène Joliot-Curie or Frédéric Joliot-...
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Where did the name Smaug come from?
So I was wondering what the origin of this name is for the dragon? Is it a known word from a language with a meaning or is it a completely made up word?
Or perhaps it evolved from another word... its ...
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What was Helga Hufflepuff’s animal ‘avatar’?
The four founders of Hogwarts all have alliterative names that give hints as to their personalities (first name) and the values their respective houses seek (surname, through the cultural symbolism ...
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What's the first canon indication that Sulu is Japanese?
This comment claims that Sulu is not a Japanese name (technically true), but I always assumed that Gene Roddenberry intended the name to be Japanese but he was just oblivious or ignorant. It ...
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What is DJ's actual name?
This answer points out that DJ's hat bears an emblem that reads DON'T JOIN.
So clearly, out-of-universe, DJ derives from that expression.
But in universe, is Don't Join a backronym from his actual ...
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When did Obi-Wan change his name to Ben?
In the fourth episode of Star Wars, A New Hope, Obi-Wan tells Luke that he hasn't used "Obi-Wan" since a long time before Luke was born.
But in the third movie, Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan uses his ...
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Kylo Ren vs. Kybo Ren
Star Wars has two characters with almost the same name: Kybo Ren the space pirate, and Kylo Ren the villain of the upcoming episode The Force Awakens.
Are these characters linked in some way? Even ...
user52712
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Why were they called "Air Nomads" when they lived in permanent homes by the air temples?
They don't seem to live a nomadic lifestyle, so why were they called "Air Nomads" when they lived in permanent homes by the air temples?
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How is Anakin’s nickname spelt?
This question was inspired by Valorum’s answer to the question on what the Tuskens did with Shmi Skywalker.
In it, he quotes the following from the official Attack of the Clones novelisation:
...
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What's the difference between the names Eru & Ilúvatar?
If my Silmarillion memory serves, both are names of the ultimate creator. What's the difference? When should one used over the other?
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Significance of the name "Lorien"
In B5 Lorien is the name of a member of a very old (possibly the oldest) race in the galaxy. Though he can choose to appear humanoid he actually is more of a energy-field. He is very powerful and ...
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Why is "Diagon Alley" named that way?
I totally didn't get the Diagon Alley / "diagonally" thing for a long time after reading the first Harry Potter book. I think my mind didn't want it to be such a sleazy pun. (Re-run commentary to ...
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