Robot Names
When robots, computers, and other machines appear in fiction, there are a few common ways for them to be named. See also Names Given to Computers, NameTron and Law of Alien Names.
Examples of Robot Names include:
When done straight, a phrase describing the machine's function is shortened to an acronym, or made the name itself.
Anime and Manga
- Alpha from Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou named herself after her model name, since it was still pretty rare when she was created.
Comic Books
- Eradikator 6, the Exterminators and the Protectors from the Marvel Universe.
Film
- Beta of The Last Starfighter
- Both Ash and Bishop from the Aliens franchise have names containing SH, possibly to indicate they are Synthetic Humanoids. Falls apart in Alien Resurrection with Annalee Call though, unless C-near-L stands for Cybernetic Lifeform or similar.
- Cybernetic Artificial Lifeform, perchance?
- There's also the A-B-C pattern to think about.
- And Prometheus would continue this pattern with "David".
- AUTO from WALL-E is short for Autopilot.
Literature
- Pern's computer "AIVAS" (Artificial Intelligence Voice-Address System)
Live-Action TV
- That Mitchell and Webb Look has Cheezoid, designed to recognise cheese by smell. It can't.
Video Games
- GLaDOS, the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System from Portal. Her name might also be a variant of "Gladys", as in the naming scheme below.
- Only a handful of Robot Masters of Mega Man aren't called "Something man", where something describes some kind of theme related to their powers or function.
- Mega Man X is named after the numeral variable (x) because of his limitless potential to adapt and change.
- All Terrain Armored Combatants or ATACs, from the PS 1 game Vanguard Bandits.
- In Tron 2.0, a particularly knowledgeable Tower Guardian program is called I-No.
Web Comics
- Sawtooth Rivergrinder from Freefall, a Terraforming robot.
- Roofus the Roof-Repair Robot from The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob.
Western Animation
- Futurama's Bender (whose full name is Bender Bending Rodriguez, since he was built in Mexico, and "bending" is his middle name).
- Quite a few fit: Flexo, Angleyne, Roberto (the robber)...
- Uniblab of The Jetsons, given that his purpose was to blab on the employees to Mr. Spacely.
- The BOYZZ bots of The BOTS Master all had names based on their programmed skillsets.
- XR from Buzz Lightyear of Star Command is an X-Perimental Ranger. ER makes slightly more sense but forget that, X is just cooler. (And you won't confuse it with Emergency Room.)
- Truth in Television. X is the universally recognized letter to let people know that something is a prototype, or "experimental" equipment. That's why experimental planes are called X-Planes and have designations like "X-10" or "XF-1". It's similar to how fighter jets tend to have F in their designation.
- It's X instead of E because under the US aircraft designation system, E is used for EW aircraft, such as the E-3 Sentry.
- Truth in Television. X is the universally recognized letter to let people know that something is a prototype, or "experimental" equipment. That's why experimental planes are called X-Planes and have designations like "X-10" or "XF-1". It's similar to how fighter jets tend to have F in their designation.
- Mechanical Lifeforms aren't immune either, just ask Transformers such as Bonecrusher, Onslaught, or Ruination. But if you pick one of those three, phrase it very, very carefully.
- Linguo, from The Simpsons, whose function is to correct grammatical errors.
Alternately, a common word or name is made into a relevant backronym.
Anime and Manga
- Miyu for "Multiple/Merciful Intelligential Yggdrasil Unit" (depending on whether it's the Hime or Otome universe) from the Mai Franchise.
Comic Books
- J.A.K.E., short for "Jungle Assault Killer Experiment", from The DCU.
- A.D.A.M., short for "Ambient-Energy Dampening Actualization Module", from the Marvel Universe.
Film
- D.A.R.Y.L. ("Data Analysing Robot Youth Lifeform") from the movie of the same name.
- The titular artificial woman from the film S1m0ne is, in fact, Sim(ulation) One.
- The Iron Man movies turn Tony Stark's butler Jarvis into a computer named J.A.R.V.I.S. It isn't revealed what the Backronym is.
- Discussion elsewhere (forgot the exact site) suggests "Just A Really Very Intelligent System"
- Its from the novel of the movie.
- In the comics, Tony had a computer called H.O.M.E.R. (Heuristically Operative Matrix Emulation Rostrum).
- The comics also featured I.S.A.A.C.
- Discussion elsewhere (forgot the exact site) suggests "Just A Really Very Intelligent System"
- HAL (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) - technically a HAL 9000, but no others ever appeared in the series—from [[2001: A Space Odyssey]].
- GERTY from Moon.
- V.I.N.CENT, short for "Vital Information Necessary, CENTralized", from Disney's 1979 movie The Black Hole.
- AMEE ("Autonomous Mapping Exploration and Evasion") from the science fiction film Red Planet.
- Most of the robots from WALL-E fit in this catagory:
- WALL-E - Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth Class
- EVE - Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator
- M-O - Microbe Obliterator
Live-Action TV
- On Power Rangers SPD, a Girl of the Week named Sophie is revealed to be a "Series One Processor Hyper Intelligent Encryptor."
- From the same series, there's R.I.C, the Robotic Interactive Canine.
- Parodied on Friends with C.H.E.E.S.E.:
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Joey: I'm up for the part of Mac Macaveli or "Mac". I'm a detective and I solve crimes with the help of my robot partner. He's a Computerized Humanoid Electronically Enhanced Secret Enforcer or "C.H.E.E.S.E." |
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- SELMA (Specified Encapsulated Limitless Memory Archive) from Time Trax.
- S.A.M. ("Super Automated Machine") from Sesame Street.
- Mr. R.I.N.G. ("Robomatic Internalized Nerve Ganglia") from Kolchak the Night Stalker.
- Parodied on Mystery Science Theater 3000 when Joel reveals to Crow in a flashback that his name actually stands for "Cybernetic Remotely Operated Woman." After Crow flips out that he's really a woman, Joel reveals it as the elaborate set-up for a joke.
Video Games
- R.O.B, the Nintendo robot who has made cameos in several games. Stands for "Robotic Operating Buddy", since it helps you play games.
- KOS-MOS, in Xenosaga. Her name is not only a backronym, it's also a recursive acronym. Kosmos Obey Strategical Multiple Operation Systems.
- In the same series, MOMO is an acronym for Multiple Observation Mimetic Organicus.
- In the video game Song Summoner: the Unsung Heroes, Z.E.R.O.'s name isn't actually an acronym; he's named after Ziggy's brother Zero, and as a reference to the fact that his serial number (SGNB 00000000 AA) contains many zeroes.
Web Comics
- Parodied on Dragon Tails. Bluey creates the Christmas Holographic Refracting Illusion System, and names it...Barry.
Web Original
- The CyborgName website bacronyms your name and sells T-shirts with the robot names on them. This wiki translates as "Transforming Versatile Technician Responsible for Observation, Peacekeeping and Efficient Sabotage".
- Efficient Sabotage? Uhhh...
- Yes, extremely efficient sabotage.
- Television / Videogame Trope Repository Of Perpetual Entertainment Subversion
- Yes, extremely efficient sabotage.
- Efficient Sabotage? Uhhh...
Western Animation
- H.E.R.B.I.E. ("Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics") the robot from the DePatie-Freleng Enterprises version of The Fantastic Four.
- The comic also featured H.U.B.E.R.T., short for Hyper-Ultronic Brain Employing Randomized Tracings.
- Parodied with GIR on Invader Zim:
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Zim: "GIR"? What does the "G" stand for? |
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- MAR-10 from Dexter's Laboratory.
- All of the robot characters in WALL-E, including the main character ("Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth-class"), EVE ("Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator"), but
- E.A.R.L., short for "Electronic Automatic Robotic Lighthouse", from The Simpsons.
- There is also C.H.U.M., short for "Childlike-Humanoid-Urban-Muchacho."
- I.S.R.A.E.L., short for "Intelligent Smart Robot Animation Eraser Lady", from the Drawn Together movie.
- B.E.N., short for "Bio-Electronic Navigator", from Treasure Planet.
- The B.A.T.s ("Battle Android Trooper") from G.I. Joe.
- F.L.U.F.F.I. from Bionic Six.
- JANICE, from Robotech, stands for "Junctioned Artificial Neuro-Integrated Cybernetic Entity".
- In Carmen's backstory in Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego??, The Chief's name is revealed to be an acronym meaning "Computerized Holographic Imaging Educational Facilitator." Back when he worked with Carmen, he was a robot.
A string of numbers and letters, often containing at least one hyphen.
Anime
- Project 2501, aka. the Puppet Master, from Ghost in The Shell.
Comic Books
- In Marvel Comics, Machine Man's official designation when he was built was X-51, but he much prefers the name his adoptive father gave him, Aaron. In fact, addressing him as "X-51" is probably the fastest way to make him angry at you.
- RRU-9-2 from The DCU.
- MX 39147 from Alpha Flight.
- SJ 3 RX, better known as Red Ronin, from the Marvel Universe.
Film
- Star Wars has R2-D2 and C-3PO among innumerable others.
- It is interesting to note that in certain historical periods, some fans believed that this naming convention was not specific to robots, believing Kenobi's first name to be "OB-1"
- Referenced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels for the Wii. If Kenobi fights himself,
- It is interesting to note that in certain historical periods, some fans believed that this naming convention was not specific to robots, believing Kenobi's first name to be "OB-1"
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Obi-Wan:If I'm Obi-Wan, does that make you Obi-Two? |
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- In the Star Wars Expanded Universe novel Vision of the Future, there's a character named Entoo Needaan E-elz, Entoo Nee for short. The characters who meet him find his name interesting, rather like a droid's designation. He smiles and tells them that people do sometimes mistake him for a droid.
- From The Matrix's expanded media, the first robot to intentionally kill a human was named BI66-ER.
Literature
- Buck Rogers gives us Twiki, from the robot's alphanumeric designation: TWKE-4
- The titular character in Eric Frank Russell's 1941 story, Jay Score revealed to be a model J.20 robot on the final page.
- Although not robots, Lois McMaster Bujold uses this for the names of several genetically engineered life forms. In Ethan of Athos, Terrance's full product number includes Terran-C, and Janine's number includes J9. In "Labryinth", Miles meets Nine, the last survivor of ten prototypes. She is later renamed Taura. The Quaddies from Falling Free all have names derived from their serial numbers as well. The names vary from traditional (Tony) through unusual-but-not-unheard-of (Silver) to decidedly odd (Pramod).
Live-Action TV
- On Red Dwarf, Kryten (obviously) as a more "normal" first name, but his full name is Kryten 2X4B-523P.
- In one episode, he claims that he shortens it to Kryten since he thinks "2X4B" is a dorky middle name. But not as bad as an acquaintance of his, called 2Q4B.
- If we allow Greek letters as well, Power Rangers has Alpha 5 and Alpha 6.
Video Games
- From Chrono Trigger, R-66Y AKA Robo.
- The W-Series in Super Robot Wars, despite coming up with normal sounding names, they have their own robot names, which ranges from W00 to W17, in order of the creation sequence.
- ν-13, the Yandere Robot Girl SNK Boss of BlazBlue.
- And that's not a V. That's the Greek letter "nu", which happens to be the 13th letter of that alphabet. (Looks identical in many fonts.)
- The E-Series robots from Sonic the Hedgehog all have this style of name, with E followed by a number.
- E-102 Gamma, and E-123 Omega are the main examples.
- Clank has at least three names; two of them are strings of numbers (one his serial number and the other his actual name, XJ0461) and the last—well what do you think it is?
Web Comics
- It seems that the standardized format for designating robots in Gunnerkrigg Court is through single-letter model designations (H-Models for the horse robots, HL-Models for the heavy lifting robots, S-Models for the "Seraph" robots, etc.). Individual robots get numbers appended to their model name: the robot that Annie built is S13, and the Super Prototype of the S-Models is S1.
- Though there are multiple exceptions: see every other subsection of this page.
Western Animation
- K-10, KIT-9, and COCKA-3 from the "Go God Go XVII" episode of South Park. They are supposed to be close to things you'd read as an actual word; if K-10 and KIT-9 switched numbers, they would be read like "canine" and "kitten," in reference to the species they are designed after. Similarly, if COCKA-3's number was one less, it'd be "cockatoo."
- X-J9 In My Life as a Teenage Robot. She doesn't like the name much and prefers to be called Jenny.
- Robot X-1 from Futurama.
A similar string of numbers or letters which resembles a word or name, either as written, or when read aloud.
Anime and Manga
- Trinity Blood: HC-IIIX, usually known as Father Tres Iqus
Comic Books
- Some AI's in Schlock Mercenary have names like this, though they may require some effort to decode.
- L-Ron from The DCU.
Fanfic
- Done as an Actor Allusion in the Transformers Animated fanfic Return to Cybertron, where Sari is told by Perceptor that her original protoform designation was T4R4-5RT0N6.
Film
- B-4 from Star Trek: Nemesis (giving hell of a work for translators...)
Literature
- Probably invented by Isaac Asimov with his US Robotics stories: NDR = Andrew, LNE = Lenny, etc.
- The Bolos created by Keith Laumer usually have three-letter designations (sometimes with numbers) and nicknames derived from those designations: Unit LNE (Lenny), JSN (Jason), SPQR (Senator), DAK (Das Afrika Korps), and RML-1138 (Rommel) are typical examples. The last two appear in unrelated stories.
Live-Action TV
- VICI on Small Wonder.
- Doctor Who's K-9
- Plex from Yo Gabba Gabba!
Video Games
- T-ELOS, also from Xenosaga.
- The CL 4 P-TP General Purpose Robots in Borderlands are normally referred to as "Claptraps".
- Or "Intergalactic Ninja Assassin"
- O2-JOY, from Noitu Love.
- Ma3a (Mathreea) from Tron 2.0.
- Jak X: Combat Racing has UR-86, a robot designed to takes out its opponents. UR is obviously "you are" and "to 86" means to get rid something.
Web Comics
- Princess Voluptua's valet, W-2: 9000 from The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob is a reference to the W2 tax form.
- In Bob and George, the original robot characters named N4-T3 and C1-14D-L1N6, which just happen to look like Nate and Chadling, respectively.
- Schlock Mercenary has some fun with this one.
- For those not sufficiently familiar with Roman numerals, the other names mentioned are, in order: "Gavin", "Xavier", "Algernon", "Kacey", "Victor", "Allen", "Michael", "David" and "Michelle".
Western Animation
- The Mighty Orbots, Tor, Bort, Bo, Boo, Krunch and Ono had names that reflected their personalities.
- Tor was the strongman.
- Bort was the shapeshifter with an identity crisis, and his name is a partial anagram of the word robot.
- Actually, except from Ono and Krunch, all of the Orbots' names are partial anagrams of "robot."
- Bo and Boo were mischievous twins.
- Ono was the babysitter figure, who tended to preface every scolding of the others [including their human leader] with "Oh, no!"
- NOS-4A2 From Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. It's an energy vampire, and its model name when spoken aloud sounds like Nosferatu.
- GICU2 the short-lived transforming security robot from DuckTales (1987).
- Not actually a robot, but worth mentioning: XLR8 of Ben 10 fame.
Comic Books
- Mekano from Wonder Comics.
- Similarly, there is a Mechano in the Marvel Universe.
- Mekanique from The DCU.
- Computo from The DCU.
- Electro and Elektro from the Marvel Universe.
Film
- Dot Matrix from Spaceballs.
Literature
- Tik-Tok from the Oz books.
Live-Action TV
- Data of Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Gadget from Doctor Who.
- Circuit of Power Rangers Time Force.
Video Games
- Clanky from Backyard Sports
- And, on that note, Clank.
Web Comics
- The TicTocs from Gunnerkrigg Court (though this name has only appeared in Paratext so far) are named for the sound they make.
- Mecha-Nicole from Everyday Heroes
Western Animation
Robo-something
Anime and Manga
- As a Shout-Out to Asimov, robots in The Big O also preface their names with the initial R. The one most often encountered was R. Dorothy Wayneright.
Comic Books
- The titular character of Atomic Robo, a robot built by Nikola Tesla in the 1920s.
Film
- RoboCop's titular character, although he was technically a cyborg.
- Ro-Man from the infamous B-Movie Robot Monster.
- Robo Gadget from the 1999 film version of Inspector Gadget
Literature
- The robots in most of Asimov's stories all had the first initial R. (for robot) in front of what appeared to be near-human first name/last name name builds.
Live-Action TV
- Robot from Lost in Space
Video Games
- Again from Chrono Trigger, Robo AKA R-66Y
- Robo-Ky from Guilty Gear XX is a robot designed to resemble Ky Kiske.
- When Annie builds a robot in Gunnerkrigg Court, she simply names it Robot, and he answers to this from then on. It's later revealed that his original name was S13.
- Also, Robox. Who is basically a box on legs.
- Not to mention Boxbot, who has arms but no legs at all. He's like Robox's lame twin.
- Also, Robox. Who is basically a box on legs.
Web Original
- Robot Redshirt from the League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions.
Western Animation
- The Robot Devil, of all robots. And Robo-Puppy.
- Robot Jones from Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?.
Something-tron or Something-bot
Comic Books
- Biotron from the Marvel Universe.
- The Cybertrons, also from the Marvel Universe.
- Victor von Doom, from The Fantastic Four, has several Doombots.
- Doom also had an android called the Robotron at one point.
Film - Live
- The Orgasmatron in Barbarella, invented by Duran Duran
Live-Action TV
- The Buffybot from...does it have to be said?
- Polyphase Avitron from Doctor Who.
Web Comics
- Gofotron from Sluggy Freelance
- Doorbot (a robot porter who is literally bolted to his door) and Boxbot (a box on wheels) from Gunnerkrigg Court.
- From the webcomic Adventurers!, Killer Evil Death Spybot 5000. Who's with the protagonists.
Western Animation
- Megatron (who later becomes Galvatron) of Transformers
- Lots of Transformers characters or places have the "-tron" or "-bot" naming convention: Autobot, Transbot, Cybertron, Banzai-tron, Velocitron...
- Futurama's "Hedonism-bot".
- And Reverend Preacher-bot, Beelze-bot, Kwanzaa-bot, and dozens more!
- Bunnie Rabbot of Sonic the Hedgehog is another cyborg example of this naming convention.
References to other pop culture, or actual human names.
Anime and Manga
- Most robots from Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou choose their own, usually human-sounding, name. Kokone is one such example.
- Chachamaru Karakuri in Mahou Sensei Negima: her name is written with the Kanji for "tea", while "Karakuri" are a spring-powered, tea-serving doll mainly used in Japan's Meiji period. Meaningful Name indeed.
Comic Books
- Skeets from Booster Gold, he's a small yellow flying security bot with a laser, you figure out why he's called Skeets.
- Which is to say the flying targets at shooting ranges, which resemble him. Not the hip-hop slang kind of skeet. (Also a kind of target shooting, but not the kind you're thinking of.)
Film
- Robbie the Robot from Forbidden Planet
- David from Steven Spielberg's A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.
- All of the replicants in Blade Runner have human-sounding names, although some are unusual (eg. Roy, Leon, Pris, Zhora.
Literature
- Zane Gort from The Silver Eggheads by Fritz Leiber, a robot author (creator of the popular Dr. Tungsten series), whose name is an homage to Zane Gray and to Gort, the alien robot of The Day the Earth Stood Still. Also, his lady-love, the government-built censor-robix, Miss Phyllis Blushes. (She's plated in pink anodized aluminum. Zane, on the other hand, is blued steel.) (And "robix" is that setting's term for a female robot. Robot sexuality is one of the amusing features of the setting.)
- Marvin, the Paranoid Android, from Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy.
Live-Action TV
- Crow T. Robot, Tom Servo and Gypsy from MST3K
- Kryten from Red Dwarf is a reference to the head butler in the J.M. Barrie play The Admirable Crichton, but with Xtreme Kool Letterz.
- Get Smart - Hymie. His father's name was Hymie!
- The Late Late Show - Geoff Peterson
Video Games
- Chrono Trigger hat trick: Prometheus AKA R-66Y AKA Robo.
- Legion in Mass Effect 2, named after the bible passage for it's Mind Hive nature.
Web Comics
- Lincoln from Coga Suro. Later robot names follow a Greek mythology theme [Styx, Persephone, Hades].
- Speaking of Styx, there's also Mr. Roboto.
- The robot cows from Gunnerkrigg Court are all named Elsie with a number (for example, Elsie 113). This was apparently chosen because "Elsie" sounds just like "L.C.", which stands for Laser Cow.
- Also a reference to the Borden Company's cartoon mascot, Elsie the Cow.
- Winslow and Momo from Questionable Content
Western Animation
- Hanna-Barbera's Frankenstein Jr.
- Rosey and Mac from The Jetsons were not given names that meant anything if broken down into acronyms.