slight confusion about the names on Firefly

POSTED BY: Idefix
UPDATED: Sunday, December 1, 2002 21:32
VIEWED: 10582
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IDEFIX

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 2:52 PM

as you may know by now - or not - I'm german and so my question may sound silly to you but I was very confused about the names of people in Firefly. I got used to them now but since I have the chance to ask, I'll do it here.

are names like Book, River, Wash, Jayne normal to you (americans)?

I can't think of names like that in german and so I want to know if they're just normal names or if it's some kind of special thing in Firefly.

Malcom Reynolds is a normal name and I know Simon as a given name (it's a quite common name in germany) and Zoe is a bit exotic to me but still a name and Inara sounds like a name too.

...but the others?

are there actually people called Book and River and Wash? I assume all of them are given names as they all call each other by their given name.

River and Simon have the family name of Tam, Jayne's is Cobb and Inara's is Serra. I tend to accept averything as a family name, there are very weired ones here too, but as a given name I expect something that's not a word with meaning.

I don't know anyone here that has anything other than a 'normal' name as a given name, some are unusual but I think there are rules for what you can name your children and what not here in germany.

...I just read the beginning of this post again and there comes an actor to mind by the name of River Phoenix. so is River a normal name and it can be user for men and women alike? ther wouldn't be a possibility of people in germany calling their child "Fluss", it's just not a name.

...so please shed some light on all of this for me.

Idefix

RHEA

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 3:09 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Idefix:
are names like Book, River, Wash, Jayne normal to you (americans)?

Inara is Arabic, I believe - it means something like "ray of light" or "heaven-sent."

Book is not a normal name - he could be named for Booker T. Washington, a famous black American, or it could be short for something else.

River can be a name - I would class it, like Saffron from Our Mrs. Reynolds, as a holdover from the 60's hippy era. Not common. But then we have Willow in Buffy, and I would put her name in the same category. OTOH, I work in special ed and we just acquired a kid whose first name is Dannyboy. My hand to God, as Wash would say.

Wash is likely short for something else like Washington or Washburn.

Jayne's not normal - but neither is the character.

I suspect it may be a play on the country song "A Boy Named Sue," but I can't prove it (in other words, it's a joke).

Does that help?

IDEFIX

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 3:33 PM

thanks, that clears it up.

I needed some EPs to actually know what people are called because I couldn't place some of the names as names and in the beginning of a new series there's always a few EPs getting used to the peoples accents and generally the way they say something.

so you think Wash and Book are short forms of longer names or nicknames of some type. and Jayne is meant as a joke. I think I figured that one out myself but couln't be sure, I don't know the song you mentioned.

and when I hear some of the unusual names I'm almost glad for german rules about names. I usually hate unnecessary rules but if people call their kids like that and no one can stop it the poor kids are sure to have trouble with their name all their life and they didn't choose it.

names that can be femal or male seem to cause enough trouble for the ones wearing them. a male friend of mine (he's from somewhere in the former Yugoslavia) is calles Sinisa (spoken Sinisha) and all the people here in germany simply assume it is a female name. he's had telefon calls like that:
Sinisa: hello!
other person: hello, my name is ..., could I please speak your wife?
Sinisa: I'm not married.
op: oh, ahh, so could I please speak your sister Sinisa Idjuski then?
Sinisa: I have no sister, and you're already speaking to Sinisa Idjuski.
op: no, you don't understand, I want to speak to Sinisa Idjuski. did I dial the wrong number?
Sinisa: no the number is correct. what do you want. I'm Sinisa Idjuski.

...and on and on. if people believe something they're hard to get to acknowledge they're wrong.

I have a bit of a similar story in my own past: I once had a picture of my boyfriend (I'm actually female even if the nickname Idefix suggest otherwise, but I chose this so it's my own fault) on my desktop at work and a friend of mine who worked in the same building came by my place every noon to fetch me for a shared lunch. and both of them have brown shortish hair, so everyone in my office was sure the man coming to fetch be for lunch was the one on my desktop and so he was my boyfriend and they believed it even when I told them that they are two different people. and the two guys don't even look alike. they would have thought it if one was blond and the other darkhaired, they simply wanted to believe it.

...but I digress.

thanks anyway for the clarification.

Idefix

THELEFTHAND

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 4:18 PM

I think you should also keep in mind the fact that the names are USUALLY chosen for a reason. Book may indeed be a nickname, but the character is also a preacher. Book=Bible. Jayne is a feminine sounding name, so the comic relief element with the toughest guy on the ship having a "girly" name is obvious, as noted. I have no familiarity with German entertainment, but when American entertainment throws out odd names, there are usually definite associations going on. Mythology, History, and other disciplines can play a role. Take Willow from BtVS, since it was already brought up. The willow tree is very influenced by the elements. However, it never breaks, only bending under outside influences. On the other hand, don't worry if you can't find the association. Some times the meanings are personal. And some times the writers just like the way a name sounds. =)

ALLRONIX

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 8:02 PM

River does seem to a a hold-over from the hippie era by American standards. Zoe is also a name that came back into fashion with hippies (it means "life" in Greek). BTW, my brother-in-law's little niece is named Kayleigh (said the same as our darling engineer).

I'll agree that Wash is likely a nickname, and might not even be realted to the fellow's given name. I know several fellows who use their given names only when it comes to the IRS (Tax bureau). To their friends and family, they have their chosen names. I've even known a couple folks who have gone through the legal process to change their birth name into something more suiting.

One of my spirit-kin calls himself "Moon," and even his partner calls him that. Another local fanboy up here I knew for years as "Kevlar" before just recently finding out his legal name. It could be that Wash has a "legal" name he'd rather not be called - even by Zoe.

Co-founder of the Evil Writing Crew - causing hell, one hero at a time!

EVANS

Wednesday, November 27, 2002 2:31 AM

Quote:
Jayne's not normal - but neither is the character. I suspect it may be a play on the country song "A Boy Named Sue," but I can't prove it (in other words, it's a joke).

There is no way I'd tell The Boy Named Sue that his name is a joke. G

Since "Jayne" with a "y" is a surname, let us suppose that Jayne's family gave him his mother's maiden name, or the name of a dear friend. One of my grandfathers was given a first name equal to the family doctor's last name. I have several "Evan Evans"es in the family tree, past and present, including an uncle and a cousin. When my brother was born, the family wanted to give him the initials RYE, so they considered Rappahanock Yarborough and Robespierre Ypsilante; believe me, they could have done it. They didn't, however. I am named after my father's great aunt, who probably was born before the Civil War.

Melissa, but I usually sign my stuff

m.
------------------------------------------------
"But ... not boring, like she made it sound." Wash, in ARIEL

IDEFIX

Wednesday, November 27, 2002 12:25 PM

I am myself one of them who get called by their nickname instead of their given name most of the time.

all my friends call me Idefix or Ide for short. my boyfriend does, too.

my given name is Carola. it's nothing really bad but Idefix is the name I chose.

but you probably don't even know Idefix, do you? Asterix comic books? the little dog of Obelix? in the original french and in german and probably in some more languages he's called Idefix. in the english translation he's called Dogmatix.
and he's a male dog but I'm not *grin*.

and a friend of mine named her little boy Robin Aragorn Janos that's ok in germany. I heard of people who tried to name their kid Pumuckl (it's the name of a very famous german child fiction character, a little puck/sprite/imp (looked it up in a dic, don't know which one fits best) and they weren't allowed to.

Idefix

DAMOUTH

Wednesday, November 27, 2002 8:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Idefix:

are names like Book, River, Wash, Jayne normal to you (americans)?

[...]
I tend to accept averything as a family name, there are very weired ones here too, but as a given name I expect something that's not a word with meaning.

I think if you go back far enough, most names, both family and given, meant something. (And Native Americans seem/seemed to give meaningful names very frequently).

Let's not forget that two of the cast members of "Firefly" are named Summer (who plays River) and Jewel (Kaylee).

"Book" and "Wash" could easily be nicknames, unrelated to their "real" names, or they could be abbreviated versions of names such as Booker or Washington.

I don't think there are any rules about what you can name yourself or your children in the US. I believe the pop star Prince actually renamed himself to an unpronouncable symbol as part of a contract dispute with his record company.

Dan Damouth

POSSESSION

Thursday, November 28, 2002 3:45 AM

I went to http://www.behindthename.com which is a site that has origins and meanings of first names.

Wash, Book, Inara and Jayne are not in there. Well, Jayne is listed, but as a variant form for "Jane" and it's used in the feminine form.

The names: Malcolm is of Scottish and English decent. River is of English decent (cen be used for either male or female). Zoe is of English, Greek and Polish decent. Simon is of a lot-- English, French, Scandinavian and Hungarian decent. And Kaylee is listed as a variation of the name Kayley, which is of English and Irish decent.

I'm sure, since like mentioned above with Inara's name being Arabic, that the other names may be actual names, or just ones the writers somehow made up. Because a name search engine isn't exactly that reliable. My name wasn't even listed.

Captain Tight Pants
http://browncoats.cjb.net

BLUEHOOT

Friday, November 29, 2002 6:52 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by TheLeftHand:
Jayne is a feminine sounding name, so the comic relief element with the toughest guy on the ship having a "girly" name is obvious, as noted.

I actually find the name "Jayne" to be very masculine. Its the Y that does it. When I see them written, Jane=feminine and Jayne=masculine. Perhaps its the very hunky Adam Baldwin that makes me think this. Perhaps not. One of my dearest friends has the middle name of Jaynes (yes with the S) and I still found it masculine, though it belongs to a girl.

As far as naming rules goes...Why are those rules against certain names in place? Aside from trying to prevent the child from being teased.
In the US, I could name my child Craphead Stinkyfeet, and though it would be extremely cruel, I could still do it.

I wish I was a jellyfish because jellyfish dont pay rent.

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