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Do Vulcans have first names...

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Captain
Captain
If memory serves me correct, the only first name that Vulcans is Mister.
Does anyone remember any time that an Vulcan is called by a actual first name??

Resistance is Futile
 
If memory serves me correct, the only first name that Vulcans is Mister.
Does anyone remember any time that an Vulcan is called by a actual first name??

Resistance is Futile

It's been mentioned several times in episodes and books that Spock's other name is unpronouncable by humans. Don't remember where.
 
If memory serves me correct, the only first name that Vulcans is Mister.
Does anyone remember any time that an Vulcan is called by a actual first name??

Resistance is Futile

It's been mentioned several times in episodes and books that Spock's other name is unpronouncable by humans. Don't remember where.

In the episode "This Side of Paradise", Leila asks Spock what his other name was, and he responded, "You couldn't pronounce it".
 
I think there's a moment in Journey to Babel when McCoy asks what he should call Spock's mother, Amanda Grayson. She replies that her Vulcan last name (the name she took from marrying Sarek) is unpronounceable. I believe the implication is that Spock and Sarek are, of course, the first names (or at least the personal names. I've never heard anything that confirms they have the normal Western name structure of personal name first, family name last, but that doesn't mean they don't)
 
Well, Spock and Sarek are first names, as evidenced by the naming structure given in Star Trek III:

"Spock, son of Sarek, son of Skon, son of Solkar"

If they were last names, then they would, by definition, be shared within the family, right?
 
Last names don't, by default, have to be the family names. There are different ways to structure it. The prime example in Trek is Kira Nerys, Nerys actually being her personal name and Kira her family name. However, I think we can safely use "personal name" and "first name" interchangeably in this thread. It is safe to say that Spock and Sarek are personal names (i.e. first names).
 
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Interesting that people tend to forget there are varied naming structures right here on Earth. Japan and China, for example, place the family name before the individual name. "First name" is kind of a western conceit.
 
Exactly. I'm not particularly familiar with non-Western structures on Earth, however, so I figured I would just stay in the realm of Trek when citing an example.
 
Well, Spock and Sarek are first names, as evidenced by the naming structure given in Star Trek III:

"Spock, son of Sarek, son of Skon, son of Solkar"

If they were last names, then they would, by definition, be shared within the family, right?

They may not have a family name, period. The Vikings didn't use family names. Leif Ericson was named such because he is quite literally 'Eric's son', the son of Eric. Then you have groups such as the Scottish clans, which in addition to being a network of extended families, also included families adopted into the clan and people who lived under a clan chief's territory. The last name was adopted to indicate clan allegience or membership, not (necessarily) parental lineage.
 
Interesting that people tend to forget there are varied naming structures right here on Earth. Japan and China, for example, place the family name before the individual name. "First name" is kind of a western conceit.


That's why Leila asked Spock if he had another (not necessarily a first) name.
 
Obviously we only hear the Vulcan's first names. Source? Look at Tuvok and T'Pol's families.

The Romulans are different as we only hear their last names, kinda reminds me of English, Japanese, and German cultures where non-familiar people call themselves by their surnames. It's fitting since Romulans are known to be xenophobic.

And T'Pol's other name means Duck when translated into English. :D
 
Fanfic and novels have it that Vulcans and Romulans have a hierarchy of something like four names. One indicates the family line, and thus Spock and Sarek would share it - and apparently Amanda would be referring to this in "Journey to Babel", too. The family name for Spock is given in a couple of novels as S'chn T'gai. Possibly the two-part structure suggests that it is formed the Spanish way, by taking half of the mother's family name and half of the father's; perhaps Sarek S'chn A'bnd married Amanda Grayson-T'gai?

Another is the given name used in public - that is, Spock or Sarek. A third is a given name used only in private, among good friends or lovers - this is probably the name Spock lamented was unpronounceable by Leila Kalomi, and Amanda actor Jane Wyatt once established this to be Harold (although it's pronounced "Carl", which is the tricky part). And then there's the vewy vewy secwet fourth name that never gets shared.

Timo Saloniemi
 
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