By Brooke Cussans, Baby Name Pondering

　　The ‘Doctor Who‘ Christmas special aired on Christmas Day, so I thought this would be  a good time to follow up my Fiftieth Anniversary Special post on Doctor Who actor names with one inspired by the other stars of the show – the companions.

　　The companions provide a balance to the usually erratic and eccentric Doctor, and help to maintain continuity from one regeneration of the Doctor to the next. They are his greatest supporters – sometimes helping, sometimes asking the right questions, and sometimes getting into a spot of trouble. Companions have been male, female and robots, and as the Doctor often travels with a few at once there have been 43(!) of them so far. Here is a is a summary of ten of his most well-loved female companion names.

　　Amelia “Amy” Pond (2010-2012)

　　At times it was slightly unclear whether the affection between sardonic Amy and the Doctor was romantic or not. But her unwavering love and loyalty for Rory proved she was a determined woman who clearly knew her own mind. Amelia has been rising in the past decade while Amy has been falling, but both are top 200 names.

　　Clara Oswin Oswald (2012-present)

　　Current companion Clara – a.k.a the impossible girl – is a nice match with current Doctor Matt Smith. She is clever, curious, quirky, fun, and enchanting. Clara is a beautiful and elegantly understated name meaning ‘clear, bright,’ and which has been steadily climbing for the past decade.

　　Donna Noble (2006-2010)

　　At first Donna came across as brash and mouthy, but she also proved to be cheeky, daring and full of heart. She was a true friend to the Doctor, a change from the romantic overtures of her predecessors Rose and Martha. Her time with the Doctor was one of immense personal growth, and her leaving was one of the most tragic as the Doctor was forced to wipe away her memories of their travels together. Donna is an Italian name meaning ‘lady’ that experienced its heyday in the 1950’s, and looks unlikely to make a comeback for a while.

　　Dorothy Gale “Ace” McShane (1987-1989)

　　Her name was a ‘Wizard of Oz‘ pun, but Ace showed she had a lot of fire and spunk. A tough-talking London teenager, she is best remembered for beating up a cyberman with a baseball bat. Dorothy is a sweet name that was extremely popular in the early 1900’s, but seemed out-of-sync with this lively tomboy. Ace suited her much better. Ace is  a top 1000 name for boys, but is extremely rare for girls.

　　Leela of the Sevateem (1977-1978)

　　Leela was a tribal warrior – fierce and proud, she often ended up saving the Doctor rather than the other way around. Matt Groening has said that the name of the character Leela on Futurama was inspired by this companion. Girl names with the double ‘l’ sound have been popular in the last couple of decades. But while Leela has benefited from this trend she has never appeared in the U.S. Top 1000.

　　Perpugilliam “Peri” Brown (1984-1986)

　　American Peri isn’t a favorite among many – she’s generally considered to be little more than on-screen eye candy – but her name is one of the most interesting. It was invented as a caricature of the type of long, ostentatious names that some mothers were choosing at the time Peri would have been born. Peri is a peppy sounding name that has appeared on small numbers of girls in the U.S since the 30’s.

　　Rose Tyler (2005-2010)

　　Rose was the first companion when the series re-launched in 2005, and set a new template for companions to be mostly ordinary girls with extraordinary heart. Her romantic relationship with the Doctor remains a uniquely special one. Like a rose, she blossomed during her stint as companion, and helped to give this seemingly dated and dainty name some current day edge

　　Romana (1978-1981)

　　Her name is “short” for Romanadvoratrelundar, and as a Time Lady herself Romana is the only companion that has also regenerated and been played by two actors. Romana was clever, at first haughty and mischievous, then more relaxed and witty. This romantic sounding Latin name sees some rare use in the U.S.

　　Sarah Jane Smith (1973-1976 & 2006-2011)

　　Sarah Jane tops many people’s lists as their favorite companion. She appeared in the new series and starred in her own spin-off show The Sarah Jane Adventures. The combo name Sarah Jane may feel a little plain and homespun, but this character helped redefine the companion role from helpless bystander to brave, smart, feisty and opinionated equal. She also had her impact on the name charts – Sarah Jane first appears on the SSA lists in 1974. Who wouldn’t want a caring, clever and brave role model for their daughter?

　　Tegan Jovanka (1981-1984)

　　Tegan was an outspoken Australian flight attendant. Story is that when a producer was considering names for this character he was thinking of either Tegan (after a friend’s Australian niece) or Jovanka (after Jovanka Broz), but a script writer mistakenly thought that this was to be her complete name after seeing them written on a piece of paper. Tegan is a good choice for a spunky sounding unisex but dominantly female name.

　　River Song a.k.a Melody Pond (2008-??)

　　As a final bonus, there’s River Song. Technically, River is not a companion in the traditional sense. She has appeared in various adventures but hasn’t continuously traveled with the Doctor – yet. Born Melody Pond (she’s Amy and Rory‘s daughter), River Song is a play on her birth name. Flirtatious, mysterious and independent, this character adds an air of sass and spunk to both River and Melody.

　　Do these characters influence your impressions of their names? Would you use one of the companions names for your child? And more importantly, is your favorite companion on this list?

　　Brooke Cussans – better known on the Nameberry forums as bluejuniper – is based in Melbourne, Australia and is the author of name blog Baby Name Pondering. She especially loves rare and unusual names.