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I’m an auntie again, so I’ve got baby names on the brain. My older brother’s wife gave birth to her eighth child, a baby girl (for those keeping score at home, that’s 6 girls and 2 boys for them and a total of 10 nieces & nephews for me), last night so now begins the long process of choosing a name. Yes, they wait until the baby arrives to choose a name. Their record for finalizing a name decision is 8 months. It’s torture for a planner like me. While they peruse the baby name books, let’s take a look at some of the character names on Chuck for deeper meanings.
- Charles – German: army/warrior – It seems like such an innocuous name. Charles. Chuck. The name of your favorite uncle or your dad’s golf buddy. But knowing the meaning of the name throws it into a whole new light. Chuck has become a warrior. He is part of an army. Well played, Schwedak.
- Sarah – Hebrew: Princess – It’s always surprised me that such a non-traditional character carried such a traditional name. The fact that it’s not even her real name makes the choice even more interesting. Perhaps that’s how Fedak and Schwartz decided to ground this butt-kicking, take-no-prisoners spy with lots of emotional baggage. If she had a name like Tiffany or Summer, it would be difficult to take her seriously.
- Casey – Gaelic: Vigilant – I opted to focus on his surname because he’s rarely referred to as John. Here’s another instance where a character chose a new name for themselves, and the meaning reveals a lot about the character. Casey is vigilant, almost excessively so, but that’s an excellent trait for a spy.
- Morgan – Welsh: Great Circle – This is the lone “trendy” name among the regulars on Chuck, and I’m not sure how to interpret its meaning. Is he the one who binds them all together? Does everything come back to Morgan? Or did it just sound cool?
- Eleanor – French: Meaning Unknown – She’s a riddle wrapped in a mystery surrounded by an enigma.
Am I giving the creators of Chuck too much credit in choosing names? Or are there hidden depths to be found in each character’s name? Also, what are your recommendations for my new niece? (We already have: Genevieve, Elizabeth, Aurora, Sarah, & Laurel)
I had a friend named Psyche, that seems like a good name for a girl.
I always liked the name Carina 🙂
I personally like Larissa, Isabella, Shiloh, Maia, Samady, Bella. But from the ones that you all ready have I like Aurora and Sarah.
Eleanor comes from the French “Éléonore (also seen as Aliénor). There is two possibilities as the meaning of the name, but it very similar; from Greek “Eleos”= Compassion, and Latin “Lenire”= To soften.
As for Sarah, her real name being Sam (for Samantha?), it comes from a combination of Aramaic and Greek (Sam-antha)and it means “Intelligent and Attentive Listener”. Pretty much what Sarah was in the first seasons with Chuck, right?
But now, thanks to Chuck, she’s becoming more and more the Princess. 😉
Eleanor…
“From the Old French form of the Provençal name Aliénor. It was first borne by the influential Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th century), who was the queen of Louis VII, the king of France, and later Henry II, the king of England. She was named Aenor after her mother, and was called by the Provençal phrase alia Aenor “the other AENOR” in order to distinguish her from her mother.
The popularity of the name Eleanor in England during the Middle Ages was due to the fame of Eleanor of Aquitaine, as well as two queens of the following century: Eleanor of Provence, the wife of Henry III, and Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I. More recently, it was borne by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), the wife of American president Franklin Roosevelt”(behindthename.com)
If you use the Greek meaning it means ‘sun’, ‘ray;, and ‘shining light’.
RE#4:
Since it was mentioned so close to the start of the series, I’m pretty sure that a major factor contributing to choosing this character’s name was the “worst childhood nickname” mentioned in Chuck vs. The Wookie: “Organ”
Aurora is a gorgeous name. Both sweet and strong.
I’ve always loved Shalom for a girl, Sean and Seth for guys.
Concerning Eleanor, being French speaking myself I had a look about the meaning. In French, the proper form is Eléanor, it comes from the Greek “El” and “enor” meaning “wealth” and “honor”.
The boy’s name John is of Hebrew origin, and the meaning of John is “God’s grace”.
Of course, that’s not his birth name!
Alex: Origin; Greek, Meaning: Defending men
The boy’s name Coburn is of Scottish and English origin. Surname and place name: “burn” likely refers to a small stream. Could be a variant of Cockburn, meaning “stream of the rooster”. Or ‘Brook by hillock; dweller at the brook’.
Congratulations Mel! I love the name meanings and totally agree about Charles/Chuck…I mean Charlie Brown was a Chuck. Warrior? Really? Very cool.
Aurora is what my name was supposed to be (because my Dad liked the movie Sleeping Beauty) but I guess they wanted something easier to pronounce. Yeah, they kinda missed that boat. My name suggestion: I just watched Desperado for the umpteenth time, so I’ll go with the name Cecilia.
Well actually the German word for warrior is Krieger and army Armee. Where did you get this information that Charles means warrior?
Hey Mel, congratz on the latest family addition.
GRETA. 😀
Congratulations.
Nice blog. It’s everything here exactly what I need to know.
Now all we need to do is start coming up with names possibilities for baby awesome.
I think a beautiful name for your niece is Aria or Emelia or Carina or Sarah love them all