If they are following the pattern of English schools, then what happens when a family has more than one son? Is the eldest called by the last name and the rest by their firsts? That could explain why Blake's father's brother is called Ushton rather than Blake.

.Blake's uncle Ushton however, is his father's brother, and hence should have been called "Blake" (= his last name)... perhaps close family use the given name, which is fine for Blake himself (he's close family so can call Ushton Blake "Ushton") but why should Travis call him Ushton? (Travis is not close family!) Unless Travis despised him and deliberately used this way of naming him.

There are several possibilities (aside from the obvious confusion of having two characters with the same name):

1. Only eldest sons are called by the surname, at least when they're together
-- this would cover Deeta and Del both being called Tarrant.

1A. Ushton is a younger brother.
1B. Blake's father was the younger son and Blake was his first name but became our Blake's last name (Erik the Red, Lief Erikson, that sort of thing). [!]

2. Ushton and Blake's father had different fathers but the same mother.
2A. She remarried and women still take their husband's last name.
2B. She was only married to one but the other still got his own father's name
2C. She wasn't married to either... (we know marriage is still around, the question is what are the rules) but children take their father's last name regardless of their parents' marital status. Dayna has her father's last name, whatever that means.
Inga Ushton?

3. Ushton or Blake's father adopted an alias.

4. There is some additional meaning to the word brother in their time that we aren't getting. Blood brothers? Some sort of social connection that has nothing to do with family ties.

daro2096 wrote:

Maybes the word 'uncle' has fallen out of general use by the 29th century or whenever the seies is set in?

JustBrad wrote:



Vila uses Uncle in this episode

JustBrad wrote:



Vila uses Uncle in this episode

JustBrad wrote:



Vila uses Uncle in this episode

daro2096 wrote:

Blake's uncle: Is Ushton his first name? Because he is Blake's father's brother. His name should be Ushton Blake and his daughter Inga Blake, yes?

So why does Travis call him Ushton?

JustBrad wrote:In conclusion, there is no 'system' or convention of naming in B7, and therefore no way to make sense of it.

JustBrad wrote:

Naming conventions have always been a topic of debate in B7.

Blake, Gan, Tarrant, and and Avon are almost always referred to by their surnames. Since Gan is presumably not an Alpha Grade, it is not a class based naming convention. Even in the Zen Defense Device vision, Avon's brother is clearly calling him Avon, not Kerr. Even Anna calls him Avon, even in bed....

Jenna, Vila, and Dayna, are referred to by their given name. So again, not class based, and not gender based.

Servalan is always Servalan, presumably a surname, as it's doubtful a given name would follow the title Supreme Commander. Likewise Travis only has one name, even when identified for his court marshal. And then there is Soolin, also with only one name, but presumably a given name.

In conclusion, there is no 'system' or convention of naming in B7, and therefore no way to make sense of it.

Psychostrategist wrote:

(on Liberator's flight deck)

Jenna: Who exactly is Inga? *glances with veiled jealousy toward Blake*
Blake: She meant a lot to me once.

Only reasonable interpretation is that Blake had not one but multiple rolls in the hay with his first cousin which is sorta gross. While Roj and Inga as first cousins from two brothers would not share the same X chromosome, if such a pairing led to male progeny the offspring could end up with an identical Y-chromosome to Inga's dad which would be weird to look at your son and see your father's face.

Verdict: Blake, guilty of degeneracy after all.