Human Name Origins

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I've heard how "Leila Kalomi"'s last name comes from nowhere, about "Sulu" (from the Sulu Sea, an attempt to suggest all of Asia) and "Uhura" ("freedom" in Swahili, with an "a" instead of a "u"), etc

Where does the name "Miramanee" come from? Is it a made-up Indigenous American name, or does it mean something (granted, the passage of years on Amerind may excuse it in-universe, if it means nothing in a native language - indicative of new names being created in their society, for whatever reason).

Also, both "Hoshi" and "Nyota" mean "star" in their respective languages. Wonder if the advent of space colonization and travel becoming everyday affected the naming practices of humans, just as events on Earth make certain names popular now?

 

[Victoria]

Miramanee always sounds to me like a made-up name similar to names like Minnehaha.

Estelle/Stella/Esther are all names which, whilst may not be the most popular around, are still well-known and mean "star". There are other common names (Chandra, Cynthia) derived from "moon" words as well as the, currently, quite popular Luna which gets its popularity from Harry Potter rather than the satellite. The popularity of "Lyra" comes, surely, from "His Dark Materials" rather than directly from the star.

Nature and natural objects have always played a large part in naming but I think popular culture's more likely to be a driver than "real life" space travel.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I forgot. I guess you can add Mudd's wife to the constellation.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Here I thought Nored was a made-up name - you know, as in "Not a redshirt because she survives" - and it actually isn't. https://forebears.io/surnames/nored#meaning

 

[Christopher]

Salish in "The Paradise Syndrome" was named for an indigenous group of peoples from the Pacific Northwest, even though that's nowhere near the tribes that his people were supposedly descended from. But "Miramanee" doesn't seem to be based on any real name. I tried searching for "Miramanee -paradise -trek," and I found mentions of several people named Miramanee, but I can't tell if they were named after the Trek character or if the name predated Trek.

Here I thought Nored was a made-up name - you know, as in "Not a redshirt because she survives" - and it actually isn't. https://forebears.io/surnames/nored#meaning

I don't think the "redshirt" meme was a thing yet in 1973. And nobody died in TAS, except I'Chaya and the Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon."

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Was there some kind of set of unwritten rules for creating Native American-sounding names for TV characters/made-up lakes for summer camps and the like?

 

[Nerys Myk]

I've heard how "Leila Kalomi"'s last name comes from nowhere,

I thought the character was originally going to be Polynesian, so they picked a Polynesian sounding name.

Where does the name "Miramanee" come from? Is it a made-up Indigenous American name, or does it mean something (granted, the passage of years on Amerind may excuse it in-universe, if it means nothing in a native language - indicative of new names being created in their society, for whatever reason).

Might be some half remembered name from a writers childhood. It sound similar to Native American names found in the North East and Great Lakes. Like "Menominee" , "Meskwak"i, "Minneiska" and others.

Was there some kind of set of unwritten rules for creating Native American-sounding names for TV characters/made-up lakes for summer camps and the like?

I doubt there were rules written or unwritten. Two that I can think of are "Tonto" and "Mingo". Though, IIRC neither were related to the tribes the characters came from. The summer camp names might be authentic in many cases. Though not necessarily located in the right geography. I hear there is a movement to change the names as in many case it was cultural appropriation.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I thought the character was originally going to be Polynesian, so they picked a Polynesian sounding name.

Yes, but IIRC, there's no corresponding real world name, just someone's idea of one. @Christopher I think you mentioned this.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Yes, but IIRC, there's no corresponding real world name, just someone's idea of one. @Christopher I think you mentioned this.

Yes, that is what I meant by a name that sounded Polynesian. Though a quick Google search did find a Hawaiian with the name "Kalomi" from the early 1900s.

 

[Christopher]

Though a quick Google search did find a Hawaiian with the name "Kalomi" from the early 1900s.

Was it this? https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/lydia-lilia-kalomi-24-ygqsx

I guess my previous search attempt missed that. If it was a real Hawaiian name, then I was wrong.

Although Leila's an Arabic, Hebrew, or Persian name; Leilani would be a Polynesian name.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Maybe it's a nickname, or perhaps she has Middle Eastern relatives on one side of her family.

 

[Christopher]

Maybe it's a nickname...

That's the approach I took. I created a character named Leila for my original fiction once, assuming it was a Polynesian name, and when I learned better I revised it so her name was Leilani, shortened to Leila. Although I ended up dropping the character when I realized the book had too many characters.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I assume who ever thought of the name felt “Leila” sounded Polynesian. Or was thinking “Leilani” but had a brain fart.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

What about Aurelan? Where does that come from?

 

[Victoria]

There are a lot of Star Trek names that are minor spelling changes from RL words. I've tended to assume that "Aurelan" is just such an adaptation from "Aurelian" which to me, is the name of a Roman Emperor, derived from the Latin for "gold". It's possible that the Star trek "Aurelan" is derived from the "aurelian" relating to butterflies.

 

[Christopher]

There are a lot of Star Trek names that are minor spelling changes from RL words.

Heck, there are a lot of real names that are spelled idiosyncratically, because their parents wanted something different or they didn't know how a name was normally spelled. There are French names like Aurelian, Aurelien, and Aureline; Aurelan could be one more variation. Maybe it was the name of someone the writer knew in their personal life. There's no way to know.

 

[Victoria]

Heck, there are a lot of real names that are spelled idiosyncratically, because their parents wanted something different or they didn't know how a name was normally spelled. There are French names like Aurelian, Aurelien, and Aureline; Aurelan could be one more variation. Maybe it was the name of someone the writer knew in their personal life. There's no way to know.

I'd been thinking about naming like "Jem'Hadar" which just happens to be very similar in spelling and sound to "jemadar", a military rank in India but you are right that there are many RL variants of names. As a pedant, I disapprove!

 

[Christopher]

And of course, "Ferengi" is a word in Arabic and other Middle Eastern languages meaning a European, derived from "Frank" (an archaic term for "Frenchman"). Very weird that it got used as the name of a Trek alien species.

Although I guess it's a step up from having space Romans named Romulans, space lizards named Saurians, and space cats named Caitians.

 

[Victoria]

It feels like here's been a move from naming being Latin-derived and influenced to being Asian-derived and influenced.

 

[VSAFaculty]

As an aside, who came up with the name Nyota? I have a zine from 4 decades ago where her first name is Penda.