Pacific Rim

Theatrical Release Poster via Wikipedia

My husband was watching an extended preview for the movie Pacific Rim last night and what caught my eye was not the amazing graphics of huge robots and monsters, but the names of the actors and characters in the movie. There are some GREAT finds in this one...

Characters
Raleigh - The main character is a Jaeger (the huge robot) pilot with a relatively low-used place name. While the character in the movie is male, Raleigh was given to more girls than boys in 2012, 107 to 81.

Yancy - Raleigh's brother, Yancy is a name from a surname. Yancy was given to 10 boys and 9 girls in 2012.

Stacker - Stacker Pentecost is the commanding officer in the movie. I cannot find any use of this name in the United States, but it is definitely a standout name.

Mako - Mako is a female co-pilot. The name is Japanese and means "child of truth". It is also a type of shark, and while Mako is usually a girl's name in Japan, it is also given to boys and was given to 7 boys in the US in 2012.

Newton - Newton is the perfect name for a scientist character in the movie. The name is a surname, most widely known from Sir Isaac Newton. Newton was given to 15 boys in 2012.

Hermann - Hermann is another scientist character. The name is the German form of Herman, and while Herman was given to 63 boys in 2012, Hermann was not on record.

Herc - Herc is another pilot in the movie. I cannot find any use of this name in the US, but I wonder if it's short for Hercules, which was given to 6 boys in 2012.

Hannibal - Hannibal is a black marketeer who actually took his name from the historical Carthaginian military commander. We also know of the name from Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Dr. Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal was given to 13 boys in 2012.

Sasha - Sasha is a Russian female character in the movie, but the name's roots are as a nickname for the Russian Aleksander. 687 girls were named Sasha in 2012.

Aleksis - Aleksis is another pilot in the movie. It a Slavic name, with similar roots to Alexander. There is no record of its use in the US, however there were 1,552 boys given the name Alexis in 2012.

Tendo - Tendo is a Chinese-American Jaeger technician in the movie, but all I can find on the name is Japanese. There is no record of its use in the US.

Actors
Idris - Idris is a Welsh name that has popularity in England/Wales and France. It was given to 137 boys in 2012.

Rinko - Rinko is a Japanese actress who was born Yuriko, which is a common Japanese name that means "lily". Neither name was recorded as used in 2012.

Burn - Burn is obviously a word name, and this actor was born in the United States, but I cannot find any recorded use of it in the US.

Clifton - Clifton is a surname that was used more often in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It has since fallen out of the Top 1000, but was given to 129 boys in 2012.

Can we also talk about what the huge robots are caled? Jaeger or Jäger (yay-gur) is German for "hunter" and would pass as a very cool name, much like Jagger. Some parents must agree... it was given to 30 boys in 2012.

What do you think of the names of Pacific Rim?

Thanks to Behind the Name, IMDB and Wikipedia for help with the above information.