Talk: Tiberius Kirk

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The Name "Tiberius"[]

According to Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek: The Motion Picture novelization, James T. Kirk received his middle name "Tiberius" because it belonged to the Roman emperor whose life for some unfathomable reason had fascinated his grandfather Samuel. This contradicts Star Trek. If we were to consider the novel to be canon, how could we reconcile this contradiction? Perhaps, Tiberius Kirk's first name was originally Samuel, but because of his fascination with Emperor Tiberius, he changed his name to Tiberius.

The novel also states that James T. Kirk got his first name "James" because it was both the name of his father's beloved brother as well as that of his mother's first love instructor. This also contradicts Star Trek. If again, we were to consider the novel to be canon, how could we reconcile this second contradiction? Maybe, James T. Kirk's parents George Kirk and Winona Kirk only named him after those two men but not Winona's father James (Winona Kirk's father), because they were not very close to her father; whereas, in an alternate reality, George named James T. Kirk after Winona's father, because they were closer to her father than to George's brother and Winona's love instructor, and more importantly, because George, when he was about to die, wanted to reflect Winona's love for him, as she had just suggested naming their newborn son after George's father.

-- Astrophysicophile 19:12, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

Overall? Simple. Novels aren't canon. So, no reconciliation required... -- sulfur (talk) 19:20, April 19, 2013 (UTC)

Yeah, I know, but I wanted to reconcile the contradiction just in case somebody else puzzles over it. -- Astrophysicophile 19:46, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

We're not here to speculate. Only to document. -- sulfur (talk) 19:50, April 19, 2013 (UTC)

Rename[]

As we are never told that George Kirk's father had the last name Kirk (George could have been given his mother's last name, whether or not Tiberius married her), shouldn't this just be "Tiberius"? --LauraCC (talk) 15:04, August 23, 2016 (UTC)

Have we seen a single instance in the Star Trek universe among Earth-based Humans where the father's surname is not passed down to the child? Just curious is all... -- sulfur (talk) 18:21, August 23, 2016 (UTC)

I can't think of one offhand. Anybody else know of an instance? --LauraCC (talk) 18:23, August 23, 2016 (UTC)

Oppose, there are several examples in Star Trek of surnames working pretty much the same way as they do today, with the most recent example being ID. - Archduk 3 17:11, August 25, 2016 (UTC)

Doesn't mean it didn't happen. Or maybe he went by one name, like Cher. --LauraCC (talk) 16:40, September 10, 2016 (UTC)

Now you're starting to speculate. -- sulfur (talk) 16:45, September 10, 2016 (UTC)

Still wondering if there's an answer to your earlier question. --LauraCC (talk) 16:50, September 10, 2016 (UTC)

David Marcus has his mother's last name.; granted, it was because she hid his paternity from him. But it's still an instance of kid having mom's last name instead of dad's.

Why is it important to make the distinction between Earth-based and non-Earth here? --LauraCC (talk) 16:39, January 20, 2017 (UTC)