Just found a cool little tidbit - thought I'd share

[Necromancer]

So I remembered that Prof and Tia's daughter (from one of the alternate universes) was named Tavi. I remember Tavi being a character in a Jim Butcher series as well so I was curious if maybe it was a shout-out to Butcher by naming her that. I decided to Google: "Tavi name" Instead I was hit with the feels train. 

Tavi, it turns out, is commonly a nickname for David. So it appears they named a child after him.

Edited March 23, 2017 by Necromancer

[TheKittyOfAtlantis]

I'd noticed the similarity between the names, but it hadn't occurred to me that alternate Prof and Tia deliberately named their daughter after David. I figured it was intentional on Sanderson's part, to suggest that Tavi's role in her universe is similar to David's role in his. But depending on the timing of things, your interpretation could work too.

[Mr. Staccato]

3 hours ago, Necromancer said:

So I remembered that Prof and Tia's daughter (from one of the alternate universes) was named Tavi. I remember Tavi being a character in a Jim Butcher series as well so I was curious if maybe it was a shout-out to Butcher by naming her that. I decided to Google: "Tavi name" Instead I was hit with the feels train. 

Tavi, it turns out, is commonly a nickname for David. So it appears they named a child after him.

Oh yeah? Haha. Interesting - then you should know that Jonathan is Hebrew for "God has given", that Tia is Greek for "Goddess", and that David is Hebrew for "good."

So you could actually read that as "the God and Goddess has given good." That is SO NOT coincidental.

[TheKittyOfAtlantis]

1 hour ago, Mr. Staccato said:

Jonathan is Hebrew for "God has given"

And Prof is a gifter...

I mean, I have no idea if that's intentional. Jonathan is such a common name that using it as a meaningful character name would be a surprising choice, but it's amusing in any case. What I'd really like to know is, why Phaedrus? I imagine it has something to do with the chariot allegory (which, perhaps embarrassingly, I only know of because I looked up "Phaedrus" while reading Steelheart), but who knows? (Brandon Sanderson does, I don't.)

[kenod]

On 23/03/2017 at 2:52 AM, Necromancer said:

So I remembered that Prof and Tia's daughter (from one of the alternate universes) was named Tavi. I remember Tavi being a character in a Jim Butcher series as well so I was curious if maybe it was a shout-out to Butcher by naming her that. I decided to Google: "Tavi name" Instead I was hit with the feels train. 

Tavi, it turns out, is commonly a nickname for David. So it appears they named a child after him.

There are already quite a lot of shout-outs to Jim Butcher (Obliteration's appearance is based on him).

[Mr. Staccato]

19 hours ago, kenod said:

There are already quite a lot of shout-outs to Jim Butcher (Obliteration's appearance is based on him).

You're kidding. Whenever David described Obliteration's appearance in the books, the impression that always came across to me was that of a dilapidated cowboy. Oh my god, and I'm supposed to be a fan of Jim Butcher. Now I have to think rethink the way my mind conjures faces~

[kenod]

1 hour ago, Mr. Staccato said:

You're kidding. Whenever David described Obliteration's appearance in the books, the impression that always came across to me was that of a dilapidated cowboy. Oh my god, and I'm supposed to be a fan of Jim Butcher. Now I have to think rethink the way my mind conjures faces~

 

[Yitzi2]

On 3/23/2017 at 1:00 AM, Mr. Staccato said:

and that David is Hebrew for "good."

For "beloved", actually.  "Good" would be Tov.

[Flynn]

For David, there's also the reference to David and Goliath

Edited April 1, 2017 by Flynn

[+tabitreader]

On 3/23/2017 at 1:39 AM, TheKittyOfAtlantis said:

Jonathan is such a common name that using it as a meaningful character name would be a surprising choice, but it's amusing in any case. What I'd really like to know is, why Phaedrus? I imagine it has something to do with the chariot allegory (which, perhaps embarrassingly, I only know of because I looked up "Phaedrus" while reading Steelheart), but who knows? (Brandon Sanderson does, I don't.)

"PhD" is where Phaedrus came from. The "Prof" name is short for Professor. I'm not sure if prof dropped his real last name for Phaedrus/Phd or if his actual last name is Phaedrus. In Steelheart, David puts together the Phd/Phaedrus connection while considering his identity near chapter 5.

[SandersonFanderson]

On 3/22/2017 at 11:00 PM, Mr. Staccato said:

Oh yeah? Haha. Interesting - then you should know that Jonathan is Hebrew for "God has given", that Tia is Greek for "Goddess", and that David is Hebrew for "good.

This actually adds to a theory my friend had, that Tia might secretly be an Epic. Epics were referred to as "god-like," and Tia is greek for "Goddess," this add so much to the theory

[Kobold King]

On 12/24/2018 at 5:43 AM, SandersonFanderson said:

This actually adds to a theory my friend had, that Tia might secretly be an Epic. Epics were referred to as "god-like," and Tia is greek for "Goddess," this add so much to the theory

 

It could just be a piece of irony. The character named after a goddess has one of the least amounts of physical power in the series, although she has a vital role among the Reckoners.