Naming Convention

The name of each Inisfreean girl is actually really long and complex, much like a name in India including the person’s address.

 

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Table of Contents:

  1. Introduction
  2. Primary Name
  3. Surname
  4. Numerical Name
  5. Astrological Surname
  6. “What do you go by?”
  7. Name Changes
  8. ‘Universal’ Name Characteristics
  9. What is the highest possible ICV number-name, though?

 

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Introduction:

Inisfreeans (ICVs) have several different names; a primary or ‘first’ name, a surname (‘last’ name), a numerical name (designator), an astrological surname, nicknames, and pet names.  In an empire of far more than trillions of them, this is very helpful for identifying and finding them.  Here’s how we name them:

 

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Primary Name:

Inisfreean first names usually reflect the Outlander they were cloned based upon; if the form-sake of an ICV was named Mila, for example, all ICVs which were made to look like her will usually be addressed as ‘Mila’.  The use of an ICV’s additional names is rare, and generally serves only to identify and communicate with them via Djinnifer, the city’s main supercomputer.  In common speech and daily life, you will almost always hear of them only as their full or simplified first name; their primary.

 

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Surname:

Last names do not indicate biological parents or lineage, nor legal relationships in any way. Hyphens or spaces simply separate multiple names that sound good, whether they have meaning or not, and Inisfreeans do not associate the root or origin of a name or any word with the way the person is expected to be or become.  Usually each ICV carries on the surname of her form-sake.

 

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Numerical Name:

The three numbers attached as part of an Inisfreean’s full name indicate 1) the IC-FOB (Inisfreean Construct, Forward Operating Base; Inisfree or any of the Inisfree-like cities that the ICVs built) which they were born in, 2) the batch-number of that FOB, and 3) their number within that batch.  Here are some examples:

  • Milena Markovna Kunis ICV-1-5-39:  this Inisfreean version of ‘Mila’ Kunis was the 39th out of 50, in the 5th batch of 50, printed at FOB-1; Inisfree.
  • Haifa Wehbe ICV0:  the prototype ICV, first of her kind (first of all the ICVs), printed before there were batches being made, and nicknamed (or traditionally named; renamed, rather) ‘Nyria Serra’, who now happens to be Inisfree’s 3rd-in-command
  • Amber Heard ICV1:  the shortened name of the first ICV of Amber Laura Heard; first ICV of the first batch of that form-sake, who now happens to be Inisfree’s 4th-in-command

* An ICV’s numerical-name alone is not enough to distinguish her from all other ICVs; for example, there is more than one ‘ICV-1-5-39’; ICV-1-5-39 means ‘the 39th ICV of the 5th batch printed at FOB-1’, but now we need to know:  “The 5th batch of what?”  We’ll need the full ‘human’ name for that; we might want to know about Amber Laura Heard ICV-1-5-39, or Milena Markovna Kunis ICV-1-5-39, etc.  Thus, an ICV’s numerical name does not function as a distinct identifier like a Social Security Number.

Social Security Numbers (later called Social Control Numbers in the Firefly timeline) are three sets of numbers (3, then 2, then 4), nine in total; assuming that each number can be 0-9, that’s 10 multiplied by itself 8 times, which allows for 1,000,000,000 different numbers.  After Star-system Auzdein was populated (each of its 205,000 Inisfree-like cities each staffed with 100,000,000 ICVs, plus many more on its world-sized and star-sized Spaceships there), something like the SSN method could no longer work; one billion combinations would only cover the Inisfreean population of 10 of its cities.  The ICV population of 4,116,005,020,500,100,000,000 needed something other than a 9-character sequence with only 10 possibilities per character.  If each character was allowed to be any of the 10 single-digit number or any of the 26 letters in the English alphabet, there would be 36 possibilities per character, so then a sequence of 14 characters would be sufficient (36*36*36*36*36*36*36*36*36*36*36*36*36*36).  That was obviously too cumbersome and annoying, so next was considered adding every single known symbol; every letter and number from every language on Earth, including those with accent marks, as well as mathematical symbols and those of the Wingdings fonts, and even accepting italicized and emboldened ones as being distinct.  That allowed for more than 113,000 different (if not wholly distinct or unique) symbols per space, so the sequence would only need to be 4 or 5 characters long, but then the issue became remembering the exact names of all those symbols so alien to most people, and of the symbols so dangerously similar to their originals which were merely less leaning or turned a different cardinal direction.  The solution became the ‘city-batch-individual’ numbering system we use today; [Form-sake Names, ICV-#-#-#], but there is a little more to it than that.

 

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Astrological Surname:

Zodiacal signs are frequented as name portions (at least for original-design ICVs; those who were not based on a form-sake, but on either 1) a fusion of form-sakes’ features, or 2) on bodypart ratio algorithms; our person-printing equivalent of Pandora music software figuring out what you will like next), often indicating the zodiacal sign the Inisfreean was born under; an ICV might have ‘Freyja’ in her name, for example, since we call the constellation Orion that name instead.  A similar practice is the Native American naming convention where-by their offspring are named after the first thing their elder sees upon stepping outside the tipi right after the birth.  Having a Zodiac sign as part of the name also indicates birth in Inisfree when it was on Earth; constellations look completely different in other locations across Space, and especially in other dimensions, such as where Star-system Auzdein’s many worlds are.

* If Inisfree anchors itself on or in another cosmic body or dimension, the Zodiacal signs will be different, so instead of the 13 Earth-That-Was zodiacal signs, the new local zodiacal signs visible from Inisfree’s anchor-portal will be used in the naming.  The Rising Sign (‘Ascendant’), Sun Sign, and Moon Sign, may also be used, and, if so, will always follow after the Zodiacal Sign.  If the local cosmic body has multiple stars and moons, multiple Sun- and Moon-Signs may become part of the Inisfreean’s name.  An Earth-based example might be:  ‘Capricorn Aries Pisces’ for an original-design ICV born when that combination of signs was in the sky over Inisfree’s location on the Earth, and she would likely be known as ‘Caprice’.

Here are some examples of Inisfreean-feminized first names based on the modern human Zodiac signs and other constellations:

  1. Aquarius:  Aqua
  2. Aries:  Ariel
  3. Cancer:  Candice
  4. Capricorn:  Caprice
  5. Crux (Southern Cross):  Chrissy
  6. Dorado:  Dora or Doreen
  7. Gemini:  Jemma or Jenna
  8. Hydrus:  Hannah
  9. Leo:  Leonor (such as Leonor Varela)
  10. Libra:  Liara
  11. Orion:  Freyja
  12. Pisces:  Pia (such as Pia Muehlenbeck)
  13. Sagittarius:  Sage (like the fragrant plant used for incense)
  14. Scorpius:  Scorpia
  15. Taurus:  Taury or Torey (such as Tori Black)
  16. Virgo:  Vira or Veronica

 

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“What do you go by?” 

Inisfreeans universally go by and call each other by their simplest, preferred name, which is usually just their first name, an intentional alternative spelling of it, a shortened version of it, or a nickname / pet-name.  Milena might go by Mila, and Nikolina might go by Nina.  ICVs also always refer to themselves in informal situations as the name their current client likes to call them by, defaulting in all other cases to what their maker (the Governor) prefers to call them.  Perhaps one of the Melina ICVs has a client who likes to address her as that full first name; he calls her Melina when he talks with her, but when she is around the Governor, if he prefers Mila, she will speak of herself as Mila.

 

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Name Changes:

With the exception of sometimes-shifting nick- and pet-names, these do not occur, nor are they desired.  ICVs are engineered and born with an endless desire to follow The Inisfreean Way (our version of The American Way), which includes enjoying and keeping the full name one begins her existence with.  An ICV may be addressed in different ways by different clients, but her true and full name always remains, and she becomes happy when she thinks of it, saying it with her winning smile every time.

 

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‘Universal’ Name Characteristics:

Inisfreeans are assigned their names at conception, the moment the Governor tells the Grid Mind (‘Djinnifer’) to have the city’s cloning facilities create a version of an Outlander or one of his original designs. Their names come from a list of acceptable names (which are pleasing and arousing to the Governor), which only the Governor has access to; suggestions may be submitted through the proper channels, but once a name has reached his attention and been found unsuitable, it is typically blocked from resubmission.  As the Governor and the Grid Mind; Auz and Djinnifer, are the All-father and All-mother of every Inisfreean (ICV), they alone get to decide what each of their children is named.  Auz approves all the ‘human’ names, and Djinnifer assigns them with the numerical names to everyone in each batch, imprinting them in their memories during the personality installs (so that each Inisfreean knows and responds to her name/s at birth).

All ICV names will:

  • arouse the Governor
  • start with names he is familiar and comfortable with
  • uniquely identify the ICVs to Djinnifer to help coordinate their actions in the cities, the fleets, and beyond

In summation, an Inisfreean may have between only 1 name (technically), and dozens of names, based on where they were born (or where Inisfree had a portal open to at the time of their birth; which stars were visible at the time) and based on what the Governor felt like including in their name at the time.  In the Gird Mind records, all of their astrological data is kept whether it is part of their name or not, and in FOB-Book (Inisfree’s equivalent of Facebook), each Inisfreean’s webpage will display their alphanumeric name, which includes their ‘human’ name and home-FOB (a.k.a. ‘origin-FOB’; which Inisfree-like city they were born in) along with the clone-batch numbers.

 

What is the highest possible ICV number-name, though?

Inisfree’s SSBS is big enough to fit ~1,000,000 PSBSs in it, along with ~50,000,000 MSBSs (50 inside each PSBS).  The 205 worlds (planets and moons) in the star-system where those giant Spaceships are based, each have 1,000 Inisfree-like cities on them, but that gives them a vast dispersion with wilderness perimeters extending hundreds of miles in all directions from their borders; while only 100,000,000 ICVs live in each of those cities, thus meaning each of those worlds has 100,000,000,000 ICVs on it, the dispersion and populations on the world-sized and star-sized Spaceships are completely different.  Here are the specifics:

  • 4,116,005,000,000,000,000,000 ICVs are on those giant Spaceships
  • 50 Moons fit in the Earth; 50 MSBSs in a PSBS
  • 1,000,000 Earths fit in the Sun; 1,000,000 PSBSs in an SSBS
  • Since there are ~100,000,000,000,000 ICVs on each MSBS,
  • there would be ~5,000,000,000,000,000 ICVs on each PSBS,
  • and ~5,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ICVs on the SSBS.
  • 50,000,000*(100,000,000,000,000)+1,000,000*(5,000,000,000,000,000)+(5,000,000,000,000,000,000,000)=15,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ICVs
  • 15 sextillion people is just their CAPACITY, though; we keep room for more guests, kajirae, and kajirae candidates, as well as other people and cargo, because those Spaceships are part of Inisfree’s Star Fleet, and its mission is to serve as mobile palatial pleasure worlds, not military ‘sardine cans’.  This is why there are closer to 4 sextillion ICVs, not 15 sextillion.
  • If you assume that the SSBS does not have a population based on its size, and that the PSBSs do not either; that only the MSBSs’ populations count because the larger ships are predominantly made to house the smaller ones, then you essentially have 50,000,000 MSBSs organized in 1,000,000 PSBSs, all of which are housed in the SSBS ‘mother-ship’.  Counting only the populations of those MSBSs then, we get 5 sextillion; must closer to the 4+ sextillion ICV population of the Inisfreean empire.
  • Next we’ll break down an Inisfreean planet’s population to determine the largest numbers in an ICV’s numerical name:  100,000,000,000 ICVs in 1,000 cities, with 205 planets, each of which has 1,000 cities of its own; so far the first of the 3 ICV number-name’s numbers can be as high as 205,001 (that’s that last of the Inisfree-like cities, since Inisfree itself is #1).  For example, the range of numbers to identify the FOBs (Inisfree-like cities) on the planet closest to the central stars in Inisfree’s private solar system, would be 2-1,001 (not 1-1,000).  The range of numbers to identify the FOBs on the 1st moon of that planet would then be 1,002-2,001 (not 1,001-2,000).  Once you have numbered the cities on all the moons of that planet, you continue this numbering system to the 2nd planet out from this system’s central stars, on and on until you reach the outermost moon of the outermost planet in Star-system Auzdein.  (That outermost moon will have this range of numbers to identify its FOBs:  204,002-205,001.)
  • 100,000,000 ICVs per Inisfree-like city, and 1,000 form-sakes, would mean 100,000 copies of each form-sake; 2,000 batches of each form-sake, so the highest the 2nd number in an ICV number-name can be is 2,000.
  • Then, of course, since each batch has at most, only, and always 50 ICVs in it, the highest that 3rd number can be is 50.  That means we have ICV-205,001-2,000-50.  Let’s factor in the giant Spaceships, though.
  • However, what about the many more ICVs on the giant Spaceships which have no Inisfree-like cities?  They were made after the 205 natural-looking worlds of Star-system Auzdein, so the 1st number of their ICVs’ number-names will start after 205,001… if we continue this three-part number-name system.
  • Since we are only counting the populations of the MSBSs, we will break down their population; 100,000,000,000,000 ICVs is the same as in 1,000,000 Inisfree-like cities, which tells us that the dispersion of Inisfree-like cities or population-groups on each MSBS is 1,000x less dispersed than on the moons in Star-system Auzdein.  (The surface area of the Earth is ~11.6x greater than the surface area of the Moon, so we can assume that the surface area of a PSBS is ~11.5x the surface area of an MSBS, but the city-sized population-groups on an MSBS and PSBS are not limited to the outer and inner surface areas, like they are on one of the 205-worlds; the entire Spaceship is ‘solid’, except for its world-hangars.  Also, much of a PSBS is hollow; 50 world-hangars for the 50 MSBSs it can house.)
  • So how do we keep that first number-name number from rising to high above 205,001?  The 1st MSBS would take it soaring up to 1,205,001.  By the 50,000,000th MSBS, it would be at a staggering 50,000,000,205,001.  The solution is to add one more section to an ICV’s number-name; ICV-[homeworld or home-ship]-[city]-[batch]-[individual]
  • Assuming all ICV populations are grouped in 100,000,000 (one-hundred-millions) just as they are in the Inisfree-like cities (a.k.a. FOBs), and applying this world-number prefix, the highest each section can be in a complete number-name is as follows:  ICV-51,000,207-1,000,000-2,000-50.  Thus, the 50th ICV made, in the 2,000th batch of form-sakes, in the last-numbered FOB-sized section of the SSBS, would have this after her ‘human’ name:  ICV-51,000,207-1,000,000-2,000-50.  (The last MSBS made would mean this number instead:  ICV-50,000,206-1,000,000-2,000-50, because Inisfree was made first, the 205 worlds were made next, then the MSBSs, then the PSBSs to house them, and finally the SSBS to house all the PSBSs.)
  • This also assumes that, even though the PSBSs and SSBS are vastly bigger than an MSBS, that they still only have 1,000,000 FOB-sized population-groups, which is reasonable due to how the majority of their volume is either 1) hollow; empty hangar shafts to house lines of lesser world-ships, or 2) taken up by those lesser world-ships.  In other words, the populations of those larger world-ships would be similar, just spread out with greater and greater dispersion in order to keep room for the world-diameter shaft hatches.
  • 50,000,000 MSBSs + 1,000,000 PSBSs, + 205 planets/moons + 1 SSBS + Earth (or whichever world Inisfree is anchored on at a given time) = 51,000,207 possible ‘worlds’ (or world-sized Spaceships) an ICV can be born on.
  • 1,000,000 is the total number of one-hundred-million ICV population-groups on each MSBS.
  • 2,000 is the maximum number of batches needed to make a 100,000,000-ICV population of just 1,000 form-sakes (assuming no fusions or original faces were made as batches or individual ICVs; custom orders).
  • 50 is how many ICVs can be made at the same time in any of the Inisfreean cloning facilities; each is a radial chamber with 50 3D-printing pedestals arranged around its inside wall.
  • So if the 1st number of an ICV’s number-name is <207, the highest their number name can be is ICV-206-1,000-2,000-50; this ICV was born on the outermost world of Star-system Auzdein, in the last-numbered of the 1,000 Inisfree-like cities on that world, in the last of the 2,000 batches of whichever form-sake she was made in the likeness of (her ‘human’ name will indicate that), and is the 50th in her batch of 50 identical ‘sisters’.
  • If the 1st number of an ICV’s number-name is 1, she was born in Inisfree, thus her number-name can only be this high:  ICV-1-1-2,000-50; this would make her born on Earth, in Inisfree, as part of the 2,000th batch based on one of the 1,000 form-sakes, and number 50 out of her batch of 50 ‘sisters’.

Now Nyria’s full name, with the addition of the world-number into this naming system, then becomes:  Haifa Wehbe ICV-1-1-0-0; 1st world (Earth), 1st city on that world (and in the Inisfreean empire), not part of a batch, not born as one of 50.

 

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