Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Too cruel to choose a name with a geek/nerd connection?

139 replies

spence24 · 11/07/2014 11:48

OH and I are both self-confessed pop-culture geeks/nerds (whatever you wish to call us!) - I work in the comic book industry, he is a cartoonist and illustrator. We both love Sci-Fi, and always have.

We keep wanting to pick a name (we don't know gender) that has a link to the world we live in, and it will grow up in, but we also want it to be "normal" enough sounding just in case it decides to rebel and be into something like football... shudder

We also have the issue of the fact that our names already rhyme, something our friends and family bring up at every possible moment. He also has a daughter who name ends in -y, like ours both do, so ideally we want a name that doesn't do that, otherwise we may as well just join the circus as the rhyming family...

sigh - I think my hormones have kicked in because right now, the fact that I honestly believe we will NEVER agree on a name is really getting to me, and it seems to be the Number 1 challenge, which is ridiculous now that I've typed that...we're not even due until January!!!

Oh! And he also vetoes any name that ANY of his work colleagues have, or are married to, or have called their children, despite me not knowing ANY of them. ARGH.

Sorry, rant over. Going back to my corner now.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
DalekInAFestiveJumper · 11/07/2014 18:17

Here's my one suggestion. Choose a name from something that's more or less complete. I had a friend name his daughter after a character in a book series that was not yet complete, only to find it really made reading later books in that series very difficult/traumatizing!

MadameJosephine · 11/07/2014 18:24

My nephew was going to be Annika if he was a girl as it was seven of nine's name before she was assimilated

DalekInAFestiveJumper · 11/07/2014 18:40

I have friends, they're brother and sister. His kids names are Tony, Steve, Peter, and Carol. Her kids names are Diana, Bruce, and Clark.

I tend to refer to their group family outings as crossover events.

doziedoozie · 11/07/2014 18:44

Jayged.

(a name I made up for a short story set in the future, female character)

shobby · 11/07/2014 18:47

Showing my age here, but any characters from Michael Moorcock books....?
Una
Cornelius...

Gileswithachainsaw · 11/07/2014 18:51

So has to be drusilla!!!

I wanted to name dd2 amber (amber benson link) Blush

I'd so call a kid Anya, Dana, willow and wish I had guts for buffy or cordelia.

Yama · 11/07/2014 18:53

I love the name Hera - the baby in Battlestar Gallactica.

TheWanderingUterus · 11/07/2014 18:54

How about Montgomery?

DH said no Hmm and he supposedly calls himself a fan of Star Trek.

John with Luke as a middle name?

Beverley?

Delenn?

Susan?

TinklyLittleLaugh · 11/07/2014 19:02

Moomin DD2 is The Mymble, or sometimes Madame Mim. Tis character forming.

upyourninja · 11/07/2014 19:52

We went through this whole process with our DD. We ended up picking something else from our shortlist when she was born as it suited her more, but she does have Kathryn as a middle name, as a Trek link.

We also considered many of the names from the list above. Fwiw I didn't want anything immediately recognisable - though I do know a 23 year old Buffy (so film rather than series maybe!). You could always use the slightly more recognisable geekery name as a middle name?

I'm now trying to think of names that haven't been mentioned...

Alex (Krychek)
Melissa (Scully)
Emily (Scully)
William (Scully/The Bloody Grin)
Anne (Summers)
Lucy (Lawless, i.e Xena - awesome role model)
Callisto/Callista from various places, nn Callie
Vala (Mal Doran, Stargate)
Some of the endless LOTR names(!)
Roslyn (Laura Roslin from BSG, on my shortlist but now used by a friend because of Welsh family links)
There are so many Trek options - all the peripheral characters - Delaney twins, jake (Sisko)
Have fun Grin

Gileswithachainsaw · 11/07/2014 20:24

Arf at William (the bloody) :o

Gileswithachainsaw · 11/07/2014 20:25

I think I love you up

:o

gamescompendium · 11/07/2014 20:38

My sister has a friends whose kids are all named after Dr Who companions (old and Nu Who). Think 'Clara' rather than 'Adric' though so although it's obvious when you are told no-one but a superfan would realise.

I think if you want to do it you need to choose a pool of names that is large enough that you have a decent choice if you end up with, say, 3 girls.

TheWomanTheyCallJayne · 11/07/2014 20:48

Jayne? Wink

badtime · 11/07/2014 20:59

There are loads of 'normal' names in A Song of Ice and Fire (I don't watch Game of Thrones, so I don't know which ones appear).

Jon
Robert
Brandon
Robin
Lucas
Edmund
Casper
Ralph
Benedict
Damon
Duncan
Roland
Donal
Emmett

Eleanor/Elinor
Bethany
Margot
Arianne
Rosamund
Leona
Jayne
Mina

These are mostly minor characters and well known names, so there is plausible deniability (and some of them have other references as well).

For what it's worth, my hypothetical boy name is the main character from a well-known fantasy novel, and hasn't appeared in the ONS statistics since 2008.

FatherSpodoKomodo · 11/07/2014 21:15

We named DS1 after watching Star Trek. Shame the name was Jayden and nearly everyone on MN hates it!

I always had Kathryn on my girls list, after Janeway.

Zefram is the most fabulous name, and it's all DH's fault that I haven't got a Zefram as he vetoed it. Hmph.

I also wanted triplet girls so the first one could be called Seven Of Nine (as they would have been DH's 7th, 8th and 9th children) The other two were to be called Octavia and Nona (so basically Seven, Eight, Nine) I got one boy instead.

KarineAimee · 11/07/2014 21:36

I think Deanna is a lovely name but it has been vetoed for any future DD as OH thinks it is too obviously linked to TNG. I did point out that there is also a Deanna (many, actually! ) in BSG, but got nowhere with that argument.

Names I am more hopeful about:
Anya (Buffy)
Talia (Bab 5)
Mira (the actress who plays Delenn in Bab 5)
Kara (BSG)

Weirdly I find SFF girls names more interesting than boys ones. I do like Gaius, but think the poor imaginary child would have a hellish time in the playground.

We shall see if I ever get pregnant when we have to choose if I can persuade him.

upyourninja · 11/07/2014 21:43

Grin Giles I think we are very alike - I was on the first fx rewatch thread but DH wanted to watch Buffy instead!

Gileswithachainsaw · 11/07/2014 21:49

:o

Lioness82 · 11/07/2014 22:02

OH has just suggested:
Jennifer (Sisko)
Molly ( O'Brian)
Naomi (Wildman) - first child born on Voyager

I love the character Torres, but can't bring myself to suggest B'Elanna (Nor Miral, which is her mother and daughter's name - the last child born on Voyager!).

EurotrashGirl · 11/07/2014 22:21

If he is an X-Files name, you gotta name your baby Fox! Grin
I think Willow is a nice Buffy-inspired name.

GermyElephant · 12/07/2014 04:27

Andrew (Ender Wiggin)

We also thought of scientist names... Darwin, Fleming, Nikolas (Tesla), etc

Kaylee, River

GermyElephant · 12/07/2014 04:29

Tony (Iron man)
Logan

CheerfulYank · 12/07/2014 04:41

I know massive Star Wars fans with a Harrison. I begged them to have a daughter called Anakin so they could call her Annie :)

Joss is great, as are some BSG names. Hera, Roslin would be pretty for a girl... Could be Rosie for short :), Saul, Kara, Gaius, Felix...

Kevin Smith had a daughter called Harley Quinn.

squoosh · 12/07/2014 05:03

I'm not a geek fan but apparently it's written in the stars that the geek shall inherit the earth.

............Just don't pick 'Gandalf'.