Recurring names

Some character names seem to recur in Star Trek. Novakovich, for instance. http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Novakovich_(disambiguation) Is there a known reason for this name to recur?

Some often-used names, I know, have an in-universe explanation (relative of so-and-so) or a real world one (in-joke, named for a production staff member, etc).

 

Several Burkes as well.Could easily have changed the name to Berg or Burkhart or something.Not a major issue but you just know there is some continuity junkie out there trying to make the characters related somehow.A little thought should be put into these things but maybe the producers aren't as interested in the small nlggly details as the fans are.

 

Guess they'll always have Paris.
Sorry.

 

Sir John Burke, the Royal Astronomer, was a distant cousin of San Francisco Mayor Helen Burke (she married a British consul and businessman belonging to the ancient Burke line). Helen had no children that survived World War III, but Sir John did and had several generations that followed his interest in the stars and were some of the earliest colonists and boomers.

A direct descendant of Sir John, Yeoman Harlan Burke, was one of the Khitomer conspirators, personally killing Chancellor Gorkon himself. He was killed by Valeris during the investigation, but left a huge black mark on the Burke lineage.

Harlan left children and grandchildren, shamed by his legacy. Three great-grandchildren of his, brothers Danny, Tommy, and Maxwell joined Starfleet in spite of this. Danny Burke, the eldest, opted out of the Academy, instead enlisting as a soldier, fighting and dying valiantly during the Federation-Klingon War on Ajilon Prime.

Tommy Burke followed his older brother into the service, where his academic and professional skills went noticed. He earned commission as an Ensign and eventually a brief tour on the prestigious USS Enterprise-D as a relief tactical officer.

The youngest, Maxwell Burke, joined Starfleet in the mid-to-late 2360s and quickly eclipsed both his brothers in rank and prestige, gaining an appointment as a lieutenant and first officer on one of the first Nova-class starships, the USS Equinox, in 2370. Unfortunately, the Equinox was abducted by the Caretaker the next year, and Burke would ultimately commit mutiny and murder in his attempt to reach Earth. He died in the Delta Quadrant, after tarnishing the Burke name once more.

 

Some names are more common than others in the real world, too, like Smith, Johnson, etc, or their foreign counterparts (that is, not Smith translated necessarily but names which were similarly common in whatever language).

Some just stand out more in English. It'd be like (proportionally speaking) having 45 people with the last name Herkimer all working for the same company of 500 employees and only 4 of them are related to each other by blood or marriage.

 

Perhaps people joining Starfleet take a nom de guerre more often than not, and once a certain one gets used in a noticeable manner, several others pick that one, too?

Also, perhaps Toral is a common bastard name, and instantly recognizable as such (only not by us stupid humans) - and interstellar political and military intrigue is more likely than not to involve at least one of those?

Timo Saloniemi

 

Perhaps anybody with the same last comes from the same family, as yet another symptom of "small universe syndrome."

Kor

 

Not spelled the same, but you also have:

Soren from The Outcast and Dr. Tolian Soran from Star Trek Generations

 

I'm imagining some mediocre fan fiction now about an insecure young cadet or ensign Isabelle Janeway, struggling to live up to her great-aunt's name and legacy:

"Yes, I'm a Janeway, but that doesn't mean I can make a Borg cube explode by just looking at it, you know!"

 

Yeah and Q from TNG and Q from Voyager

 

Crewman Dax from ST:TUC and Torres from Encounter at Farpoint.

You mean Q and Q from TNG, and Q, Q, Q and Q from Voyager

 

At least they were all Q, the species. It's not like they met a Bajoran named Q.

 

There actually is an Ensign Janeway in an episode of TNG

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Janeway_(Ensign)

She isn't given a first name, but for all we know, she could be Isabelle

Just remembered there is also an Admiral Chekote (pronounced the same as Chakotay) too.

In fact, I just found this old thread that might be worth a look through.

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/reused-names.207070/

 

Galen Galen Galen

 

Dr. Janet Wallace
Dr. Janice Lester
Yeoman Janice Rand

When Kirk was with a woman not named Jan, he really had to watch himself for force of habit.

 

Pretty sure there was a Planet Q in TOS.

 

Yeah, it's where Macbeth was performed by Karidian's troupe.

 

Helen comes in second. It might even tie if you consider "Elaan" to be a pseudo Helen.

Helen Noel
Helen Johansson (Don't recognize this one? http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Helen_Johansson)

Unless these two are one and the same, Noel having transferred and married since. "Dagger" takes place 5 episode before Menagerie.

 

Ha. Helen Johansson "knew" Kirk in the biblical sense.

And it seems more and more likely that Lieutenant Tyler of Star Trek: Discovery will probably not be related to the Lieutenant Tyler from "The Cage". I mean, I don't want to jump to conclusions or anything.