Build Trip's Family

[Thot]

I don't know about you guys, but in my world I always stucked with the idea to use names of the royal family of England (or out of its history): I mean Charles, Elizabeth...

Therefore:

Mother = Eleanor

The males would be something like Edward, Henry, Richard, James, George, William or Jacob and the females like Margaret, Isabel, Anne, Cathrine and Mary.

Doesn't have to be, but I like to "continue" this little running gag.

[WarpGirl]

But Trip is an American????????? However to "American-ize" that idea you couls subsitute names of the Kennedy's or Vanderbilts.

[Aquarius]

Trip is an American, but many Americans are Anglophiles. Trip's mom might've been one...if one wanted to run with Thot's idea that the names Charles and Elizabeth came from UK royalty. She doesn't have to *be* English, just admire them, in order to do this.

[honeybee]

I don't think its an accident that most human characters in Trek have classic type names. Charles, Elizabeth, Jonathan, William, James, Jean-Luc, Katherine, Benjamin are all names that have endured for centuries. While some of the newer names in the English language in particular might endure, its a safe bet that the classics will endure centuries into the future. Trendy names of the 1800s like Nettie have pretty much died out, and my money is that Tiffany, Sunshine, Flower and Bunny (I've know people named all of those things, not as nicknames) aren't going to endure.

I did know an Agatha in high school, but her parents were A&M grads and they named her that so they could call her "Aggie".

[Aquarius]

Seriously. My first name isn't all that common--although I am encountering more people I share it with than I did when I was a kid. Still, it sucks having a "trendy" or "unusual" name. I'm like, "Mom, were you *trying* to get me beat up and teased???" And then there are those who, though it isn't that hard, mispronounce it, can't remember it, or insist on calling you its closest relative of "regular" names, with no regard at all to the fact that it *isn't your name.*

I think Orson Scott Card has something to say about character naming in his book about Character and Viewpoint. I think he advises to mostly keep it simple, which I think is another reason why most of the human characters in Star Trek have names that have endured. Too many complicated names, even in sci-fi, and the viewer/reader tunes out. And when you have aliens to name, I think the tendency would lean toward keeping the hard to say/spell/remember ones for them, vs. the human characters that your audience is meant to relate to.

[WarpGirl]

Trip is an American, but many Americans are Anglophiles. Trip's mom might've been one...if one wanted to run with Thot's idea that the names Charles and Elizabeth came from UK royalty. She doesn't have to *be* English, just admire them, in order to do this.

Well on the previous page I did say my version of Trip's mom was Irish. It was just an observation, that I thought could be funny. I mean Consuelo Tucker (for a Vanderbilt name) or Edith Tucker (for a Kennedy) or because Trip is southern... Lady Bird Tucker (Johnson)

[Alelou]

I think Rigil had a Vulcan name in his last chapter of DP -- T'Mom -- that made Trip smile every time he heard it. It's a good point -- our Trek alien names never seem accidentally ridiculous, as they probably should sometimes, just by the laws of probability.

There's a name of one of my son's classmates that he and I still giggle about even though the boy moved away years ago: Declan Lump. As Dickensian as it sounds, I might still try to get away with that one someday. I also adore the local last name Weatherwax.

[Aquarius]

My friend Sue is a retired first grade teacher. Her son had a friend who's name was Guy White. Any time she saw his name on a class roster, last name first, it always said "White, Guy," so over the years it evolved into a running joke where if Guy came over to see Jeff or called, she'd yell "Jeff, some White Guy is here to see you/on the phone!"

[Alelou]

LOL. That's too funny.

[aadarshinah]

I don't think its an accident that most human characters in Trek have classic type names. Charles, Elizabeth, Jonathan, William, James, Jean-Luc, Katherine, Benjamin are all names that have endured for centuries

Anyone else but me notice a pattern here: Johnathan Archer. James Kirk. Jean-Luc Picard. Benjamin Sisko. Katheryn Janeway.... Okay, you have to work a bit for Sisko, but it always struck me as odd how many J's there were in ST captain's names...

[WarpGirl]

Not that it means anything but Christopher Pike... Anyway, I like to give my Trip's Irish family some unique names... Liam, Maeve, Sean Rowan... I'm thinking of Brayden for an Uncle. Although Trip's great grandfather was Cyrus (?) that's pretty unique. It's mostly used as a biblical name now.

[honeybee]

Anyone else but me notice a pattern here: Johnathan Archer. James Kirk. Jean-Luc Picard. Benjamin Sisko. Katheryn Janeway.... Okay, you have to work a bit for Sisko, but it always struck me as odd how many J's there were in ST captain's names...

I wonder if subconsciously the cadence of the "J" sounds authoritative to a English-language ear.

[Aquarius]

It would be interesting to see if there had been some kind of study done about that.