Pet Names for Geeks and Nerds

Hagrid

Literary name

Gentle giant Rubeus Hagrid is the groundskeeper at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter novels (probably after Hagrid Rubes, the equally kind ancient Greek mythological giant), but that's not the only reason…

Jaskier

Literary and botanical name

"buttercup"

Jaskier is the original Polish name of the bard character in The Witcher , incorrectly translated in the English versions of the books and video games as Dandelion but really meaning Buttercup. The…

Kurt

German, diminutive of Kurtis

"courteous, polite"

A name that defines itself, a bit more curt in the harder K version.

Loki

Norse mythological name

"lock"

Loki is the shape-shifting, gender-bending god of mischief in Norse mythology. Taking several animal forms, from a salmon to a seal to a fly, Loki is alternately friend and foe of the gods.

Neville

French

"new town"

More often used in Britain than here, where most names ending in ville fall into the unthinkable class, this might make an exception via fans of the musical Neville Brothers. Charles Dickens used the…

Pixel

English modern coinage

"picture cell or element"

Coined in the 1960s to define the smallest photographic element of a televised image. It's a portmanteau of "picture" + "cell" or "element".

Remus

Latin, meaning unknown

Remus is one of the legendary twins who, with brother Romulus, founded Rome. An unusual yet classic name for the extremely adventurous who can put aside the stereotyped image of Uncle Remus. Though…

Rocket

Word name

Starbaby name that might prove too supercharged for real life, but if like director Robert Rodriguez you're interested only in boys' names starting with R , you may need to add Rocket (and Rebel and…