Except that neither Uhura nor Uhuro is an actual Swahili name. The name "Uhura" was coined by taking the Kiswahili word uhuru (freedom) and grafting a Latin feminine suffix onto it, which makes no linguistic sense because Kiswahili is not a Romance language (it has gender prefixes, not suffixes, and certainly not Latinate ones). The comics writer seems to have treated it as Spanish or Italian and substituted the feminine -a with a masculine -o, which makes no more sense than the original coinage. For either a man or a woman, the name should be Uhuru. (Although that's a pretty rare surname from what I can Google -- it's more commonly a given name, e.g. Uhuru Kenyatta, the current president of Kenya.) Okay, now that's just lame. I am so sick of SF writers assuming that aliens speak Romance languages!!!
Keensera was a low point - pun intended. I just want the 'real' Chapel to make an appearance. With regards to what artists should and should not be expected to do. In the same way that Klingons are not bright green, the Federation is multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and treats the sexes equally (although it isn't clear if the 66/33 split of the sixties survived the Butterfly Effect intentionally or not). Artists SHOULD be expected to produce work that is in tune with the source material albeit the parameters are not rigid. For my part, I'm happy with all male and all human landing parties if they are balanced (i.e. the balance of probabilities) by all female and all alien landing parties. It's the balance that has always been lacking.
The Chekovs are of Russian, not Czech descent although the naming conventions are similar. It's not strictly a writers' error, but I think you should mention that "Lea" could be "Lenora" and "Chris" could be the full "Christopher".
Just in case anyone who loves the idea of a genderswapped Trek hasn't seen this, yet... [YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX6KT1Ai07o[/YT]
Parallel characters from up to the TOS era not mentioned in Parallel Lives which I have ideas for: Note that not all these names follow rules/traditions in real-life or in-universe; they're the best opposite gender analogues I could come up with. Edith Keeler - Ethan Keeler James Wainwright - Jane Wainwright Jeffrey "Jeff" Carlson - Jessica "Jess" Carlson Faith Garland - Farley Garland Gary Seven - Greta Seven Roberta Lincoln - Robert Lincoln Isis - Osiris John Christopher - Jane/Joan Christopher Gillian Taylor - Julian Taylor Clare Raymond - Clark Raymond Shannon O'Donnell - Sean/Shaun O'Donnell Shaun Geoffrey Christopher - Shauna/Shannon Geoffrey Christopher Alice Fontana - Albert Fontana Zefram Cochrane - Zoe Cochrane Lily Sloane - Lyle Sloane Soval - Toval/T'val Maxwell Forrest - Maxine Forrest Jonathan Archer - Jane/Joan/Joanna Archer T'Pol - Spol Charles "Trip" Tucker III - Charlotte Tucker (III) Malcolm Reed - Madison Reed Travis Mayweather - Theresa Mayweather Hoshi Sato - same or Hiroshi Sato Phlox - same or Gilia Erika Hernandez - Eric Hernandez Hravishran "Shran" th'Zoarhi/Thy'lek Shran - Hravishran sh'Zoarhi or Hravishran zh'Zoarhi Sarek - Tarek/T'rek Amanda Grayson - Aaron Grayson George Samuel Kirk, Sr. - Georgia Samantha Kirk, Sr. (unknown maiden name if father to children tradition is true in this reality too) Winona Kirk - Winston Kirk Uncle Frank - Aunt Frances Richard Robau - Ricarda Robau Robert April - Roberta April Alexander Marcus - Alexandra Marcus Christopher Pike - Christina Pike Phillip Boyce - Phillippa Boyce Robert Bennett - Roberta Bennett Harold Morrow - Harriet Morrow Lance Cartwright - Lacey Cartwright William "Bill" Smillie - Wilma/Willemina Smillie George Samuel "Sam" Kirk, Jr. - Georgia Samantha "Sam" Kirk, (Jr.) Harcourt Fenton "Harry" Mudd - "Harley" Mudd Gary Mitchell - Greta Mitchell Lee Kelso - same Barry Giotto - Bertha Giotto Shiboline M'ress - unknown Arex na Eth - unknown Willard Decker - Wilma/Willemina Decker Ilia - unknown Morgan Bateson - same Clark Terrell - Claire/Clara Terrell Peter Kirk - Petra Kirk 0718 - same Saavik - same or Taavik Valeris - Valerik Leonard James Akaar - Lea Jane Akaar Thoughts?
Hoshi is occasionally used as a boy's name, but it's usually feminine. Hiroshi Sato would work phonetically, though that's already the name of Asami's father on The Legend of Korra. Maybe Hitoshi Sato? Saavik's name already has a seemingly masculine form, since the character was originally conceived as male. So it's hard to say what could work as a counterpart. But didn't the comic use the same name for the gender-swapped Spock? In which case Saavik's name might also be unchanged.
Gilia, besides sounding feminine to our ears, is a genus of flowering plant in the same family as the genus Phlox.
Rachel Robau? Damn youtube It was the scene where Pike recruits Kirk after the bar fight, with an all-female cast, by Girls On Film.
Lee Kelso - Leigh Kelso? Ilia - Ileo? Shiboline M'ress - Shibolino M'Ress? Arex na Eth - Arexa na Eth?
Lee can be a feminine name too. Grace Lee Whitney, Lee Remick, Lee Grant, etc. Please, no. I'm so very tired of the pervasive sci-fi conceit of giving aliens Romance-language gender suffixes, as if Latin were the ancestral language of every species in the universe. (Everyone knows it's actually Sanskrit!) I'm grateful to Theodore Sturgeon for actually applying some imagination and coming up with a different feminine form for Vulcan names.
You may be tired of it, but it is no less illegitament than what is done in IRL. In fact, for example, the similarities of 'Shiboline' and 'Angeline' led me to 'Angelino', which in turn led me to 'Shibolino'. Besides, we know so little about these characters, that a little creative license is in order. Besides, it's fun trying to come up with alternative names for established characters. DSW
But that's just it -- it isn't "creative" at all to treat alien names according to familiar European language rules. It's deeply cliched. And I don't see what "IRL" has to do with anything. We have no information about real-life aliens, but it's a safe bet they don't speak Romance languages. And what we do know about real life is that the vast majority of the human race -- about 90 percent, in fact -- does not consist of native speakers of Romance languages either. There are many, many other naming conventions right here on Earth, let alone in space. You want to be creative, try looking into some of those other conventions instead of the same old tired, Eurocentric one that lazy SF writers have been falling back on for generations.
I'd personally go with Rachel there. Is Ricarda even a name? I had always assumed Rachel was meant to be the feminine form of Richard.