History Main / NamesGivenToComputers

* Type 1: Significant acronyms: [[TwoThousandOne HAL 9000]] (Heuristically programmed [=ALgorithmic=] computer), [[WarGames WOPR]] (War Operation Plan Response), [[{{Portal}} GLaDOS]] (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System)

TropeNamer is [[http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?NamesGivenToComputers this page]] on the PortlandPatternRepository.

* {{Terminator}} has Skynet, but the individual Terminators don't have onscreen names, just model numbers.

* QuestionableContent's AnthroPCs generally have personal names, though Pintsize is a somewhat jocular Type 2 and one-shot character [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1105 PT410x]] eschews the very idea of a "slave name".

* Type 2: Functional descriptions: [[BlakesSeven Orac]], [[{{Terminator}} Skynet]], [[StarTrekVoyager The Doctor]]

* StarWars uses (and abuses) Type 3 to a disturbing degree, given the rather small namespace that droids seem to have in that universe.

In the real world, computers are usually given [[ThemeNaming themed names]], especially in computer labs. These names range from the strictly functional (apple001-050, accounting_server, hp_laser_48, fx98v4p) to the literary ([[WilliamShakespeare cleo, tony and jules]] for a trio of mail servers) to the whimsical ([[AndADietCoke Coke]] and [[LordOfTheRings Gollum]] for the Data General Eclipse MV/8000 prototypes in Tracy Kidder's ''SoulOfANewMachine'') to the random (the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, named by a school contest run by NASA). Robots are often given people or pet names (although industrial robots are likely to have strictly functional names or even just serial numbers). There are frequently technical reasons for doing this; networked computers (including routers and printers) need to identify themselves to other nodes on the network, and it also helps to name otherwise identical computers to make tech support and troubleshooting less confusing.

In the real world, computers are usually given [[ThemeNaming themed names]], especially in computer labs. These names range from the strictly functional (apple001-050, accounting_server, hp_laser_48, fx98v4p) to the literary ([[WilliamShakespeare cleo, tony and jules]] for a trio of mail servers) to the whimsical ([[AndADietCoke Coke]] and [[LordOfTheRings Gollum]] for the Data General Eclipse MV/8000 prototypes in Tracy Kidder's ''SoulOfANewMachine'') to the random (the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, named by a school contest run by NASA). Robots are often given people or pet names (although industrial robots are likely to have strictly functional names or even just serial numbers).

This trope was perhaps more common in the era of MainframesAndMinicomputers; these days, if you see a computer with a name, it will likely be a robot of some sort, an artificial intelligence, or both. This may reflect real life; a lot of non-techies never bother to give their computers names. NamedWeapons may be historically related, though computers frequently know their own names for network usage and the like.

This trope was perhaps more common in the era of MainframesAndMinicomputers; these days, if you see a computer with a name, it will likely be a robot of some sort, an artificial intelligence, or both. This may reflect real life; a lot of non-techies never bother to give their computers names.

* StarTrek, in general, tends to be surprisingly mundane -- AIs tend to have personal names (Data, Lore, Vaal, Landru) or bear legacy names (Nomad, V[spoiler:oya]ger)

* {{Halo}} uses a mixture of Type 6 and mundane names -- Cortana, the UNSC AI, is named after the sword of Holger the Dane from TheSongOfRoland (thus a nod to {{Marathon}}'s Durandal), but the Forerunner AIs have rather mundane, vaguely religious names like Guilty Spark and Mendicant Bias.

* Significant acronyms: [[TwoThousandOne HAL 9000]] (Heuristically programmed [=ALgorithmic=] computer), [[WarGames WOPR]] (War Operation Plan Response), [[{{Portal}} GLaDOS]] (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System)
* Functional descriptions: [[BlakesSeven Orac]], [[{{Terminator}} Skynet]], [[StarTrekVoyager The Doctor]]
* Using the model name or number as the system's "personal" name: HAL 9000, [[StarWars R2D2 and C3PO]], [[KnightRider KITT and KARR]]
* "Electronic Brain"-type names (somewhat of a discredited trope since the 1970s or so): [[TheDCU Brainiac]], {{Neuromancer}}, [[HitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Deep Thought]], [[BlakesSeven Zen]]
* Names derived from "Automatic Computer", i.e. ENIAC and UNIVAC: Brainiac, Orac, [[IsaacAsimov Multivac]], EMERAC from the Tracy/Hepburn movie "Desk Set", KurtVonnegut's EPICAC. Also largely a discredited trope, since the UNIVAC architecture hasn't been used for much of anything in at least three decades.
* Names picked to sound authoritative or just badass: [[HitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Hactar]], [[{{Marathon}} Durandal]] (named after the titular hero's sword in TheSongOfRoland), [[CodeLyoko XANA]], [[{{Alien}} Mother]] (also used in DarkStar and WallE, among others)

* {{Halo}} is a mixture of Type 6 and mundane names -- Cortana, the UNSC AI, is named after the sword of Holger the Dane from TheSongOfRoland (thus a nod to {{Marathon}}'s Durandal), but the Forerunner AIs have rather mundane, vaguely religious names like Guilty Spark and Mendicant Bias.

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* Names derived from "Automatic Computer", i.e. ENIAC and UNIVAC: Brainiac, Orac, [[IsaacAsimov Multivac]], EMERAC from the Tracy/Hepburn movie "Desk Set", KurtVonnegut's EPICAC. Also largely a discredited trope, since the UNIVAC architecture hasn't been used for much of anything in at least two decades.

In the real world, computers are usually given [[ThemeNaming themed names]], especially in computer labs. These names range from the strictly functional (apple001-050, accounting_server, hp_laser_48, fx98v4p) to the literary ([[WilliamShakespeare cleo, tony and jules]] for a trio of mail servers) to the whimsical ([[AndADietCoke Coke]] and [[LordOfTheRings Gollum]] for the Data General Eclipse MV/8000 prototypes in Tracy Kidder's ''SoulOfANewMachine'') to the random (the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, named by a school contest run by NASA).

* "Electronic Brain"-type names (somewhat of a discredited trope since the 1970s or so): [[TheDCU Brainiac]], {{Neuromancer}}, [[HitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Deep Thought]], [[{{Alien}} Mother]] (also used in DarkStar and WallE, among others), [[BlakesSeven Zen]]

* Names picked to sound authoritative or just badass: [[HitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Hactar]], [[{{Marathon}} Durandal]] (named after the titular hero's sword in TheSongOfRoland), [[CodeLyoko XANA]]

In the real world, computers and robots are usually given [[ThemeNaming themed names]], especially in computer labs. These names range from the strictly functional (apple001-050, accounting_server, hp_laser_48, fx98v4p) to the literary ([[WilliamShakespeare cleo, tony and jules]] for a trio of mail servers) to the whimsical ([[AndADietCoke Coke]] and [[LordOfTheRings Gollum]] for the Data General Eclipse MV/8000 prototypes in Tracy Kidder's ''SoulOfANewMachine'') to the random (the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, named by a school contest run by NASA).

In the real world, computers are usually given [[ThemeNaming themed names]], especially in computer labs. These names range from the strictly functional (apple001-050, accounting_server, hp_laser_48, fx98v4p) to the literary ([[WilliamShakespeare cleo, tony and jules]] for a trio of mail servers) to the whimsical ([[AndADietCoke Coke]] and [[LordOfTheRings Gollum]] for the Data General Eclipse MV/8000 prototypes in Tracy Kidder's ''SoulOfANewMachine'') to the random (the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, named by a school contest run by NASA).

In the real world, computers are usually given [[ThemeNaming themed names]], especially in computer labs. These names range from the strictly functional (apple001-050, accounting_server, hp_laser_48, fx98v4p) to the literary ([[WilliamShakespeare cleo, tony and jules]] for a trio of mail servers) to the whimsical ([[AndADietCoke Coke]] and [[LordOfTheRings Gollum]] for the Data General Eclipse MV/8000 prototypes in Tracy Kidder's ''SoulOfANewMachine'') to the random (the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity).

[[RealityIsUnrealistic Not so much in fiction]] -- although writers and producers twigged early that naming computers was common practice, they invariably managed to make computer and robot names substantially more dramatic than they really were in real life. There's quite a few themes that get used in movies and literature that seldom pop up in real life:

* Names derived from "Automatic Computer", i.e. ENIAC and UNIVAC: Brainiac, Orac, [[IsaacAsimov Multivac]], EMERAC from the Tracy/Hepburn movie "Desk Set", KurtVonnegut's EPICAC

* Functional descriptions: [[BlakesSeven Orac]], [[{{Terminator}} Skynet]]
* Using the model name or number as the system's "personal" name: HAL 9000, [[StarWars R2D2 and C3PO]]

In the real world, computers are usually given [[ThemeNaming themed names]], especially in computer labs. These names range from the strictly functional (apple001-050, accounting_server, hp_laser_48, fx98v4p) to the literary ([[WilliamShakespeare cleo, tony, and jules]] for a trio of mail servers) to the whimsical ([[AndADietCoke Coke]] and [[LordOfTheRings Gollum]] for the Data General Eclipse MV/8000 prototypes in Tracy Kidder's SoulOfANewMachine) to the random (the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity).

[[RealityIsUnrealistic Not so much in fiction]] -- although writers and producers twigged early that naming computers was common practice, they invariably managed to make computer and robot names substantially more dramatic than they really were in real life. There's quite a few themes that get used in movies and literature that almost never pop up in real life:

* Significant acronyms: [[TwoThousandOne HAL 9000]] (Heuristically-programmed ALgorithmic computer), [[WarGames WOPR]] (War Operation Plan Response), [[{{Portal}} GLaDOS]] (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System)
* Functional descriptions: [[Blakes7 Orac]], [[{{Terminator}} Skynet]]

TropeNamer is [[http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?NamesGivenToComputers this page]] on the PortlandPatternRepository.

* Significant acronyms: [[TwoThousandOne HAL 9000]] (Heuristically-programmed ==ALgorithmic== computer), [[WarGames WOPR]] (War Operation Plan Response), [[{{Portal}} GLaDOS]] (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System)

* Using the model name or number as the name: HAL 9000, [[StarWars R2D2 and C3PO]]

* Significant acronyms: [[TwoThousandOne HAL 9000]] (Heuristically-programmed ALgorithmic computer), [[WarGames WOPR]] (War Operation Plan Response), [[{{Portal}} GLaDOS]] (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System)

In the real world, computers are usually given [[ThemeNaming themed names]], especially in computer labs. These names range from the strictly functional (apple001-050, accounting_server, hp_laser_48, fx98v4p) to the literary ([[WilliamShakespeare cleo, tony, and jules]] for a trio of mail servers) to the whimsical ([[AndADietCoke Coke]] and [[LordOfTheRings Gollum]] for the Eclipse MV/8000 development machines in Tracy Kidder's SoulOfANewMachine) to the random (the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity).

In the real world, computers are usually given [[ThemeNaming themed names]], especially in computer labs.