“Mister Spock, sometimes I think when I hear the word communication again, I have to cry.” – With this iconic sentence we learned Nichelle Nichols in 1967 as Lieutenant Uhura know. Enterprise episode in the spaceship The last of its kind She sat on the Bridge of the USS Enterprise for the first time and arranged frequencies and communication. Since then, her character has been picked up and adapted again and again.
The figure Lieutenant Uhura has not only performed in the classic Star Trek films since the original series, but also in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (played by Celia Rose Gooding) and the newer films of the Calvin-Timeline (played by Zoe Saldana). Saldana was given the honor in the year 2009 To be officially addressed with Uhura’s first names for the first time in the Star Trek movie.
Her full name is Nyota Uhura
Like her surname, Uhura’s first name comes from the Swahili and means something like “star”. Uhura itself derives from the word “Uhuru” and means freedom. A significant name for a significant protagonist who also existed beyond Nichelle Nichol’s death – but the way there was no easier.
Since your first name was never mentioned in the series, there were several assumptions about Uhura’s name in fan circles. Among them were names like Penda and Samara. Nyota was then for the first time From the author William Rostler In the Book Star Trek II: Biography used in 1982. Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek creator Genes Roddenberry had already agreed to use the name at the time, as reported, among other things, Screen Rant. Nevertheless, he was never officially pronounced before 2009.
Star Trek takes up the running gag for Uhura’s name
Kirk (Chris Pine) also has to puzzle in the film Star Trek on Uhura’s first names. She doesn’t reveal him: In the end it is finally Spock (Zachary Quinto) who reveals the secret. He whispers the first name after an intimate farewell kiss in the transporter room and thus makes a romantic hook under the fan debate.
Incidentally, Uhura is not the only original character that had to wait long for a name. Mr. Sulu, played by George Takei, also only received an official in the film Star Trek VI in 1991 – the undiscovered country First names – over a decade after his first appearance. Today fans know him as Hikaru Sulu.
We will probably no longer find out why those responsible in the original series have so many difficulties to choose first names. It is clear that the figures have deserved one: neither Nyota Uhura, nor Hikaru Sulu are indebted from the Star Trek Canon.