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Let us praise the names ofDune.
Our heroes come from House Atreides, their elegance enhanced by that smooth classical diphthong.
Their rivals are House Harkonnen, whose knife-edged Finnish consonants are like a hunter-seeker for the ears.
(Frank Herbert got it from a phone book.)
Of course, some are better than others.
And then theres Duncan Idaho.
Duncan Idaho is not the name of someone fromDune.
Duncan Idaho is the name of a Chris Pratt character in an action movie that goes straight to Paramount+.
It is the name of a professional snooker player in a British sitcom written byMatt Berry.
It is the garbled voice command of someone trying to find a caramel macchiato in the Coeur dAlene area.
Now, I am a newcomer toDunefandom, and I am aware I need to tread lightly.
Anextremely scientific sampling of the communityfound that roughly two-thirds of fans considered Duncan Idaho a cool name.
Some spoke compellingly for their side.
Duncans the cool, laid-back one.
This was also the explanation offered up to me byDenis Villeneuvehimself: Personally, I deeply love it.
In theDunesaga, even Duncan Idaho refuses to go to bat for the name Duncan Idaho.
After spoiler alert Duncans death inDune, his body is artificially replicated as agholain the sequel,Dune Messiah.
The ghola originally goes by the name of Hayt and possesses none of Duncans memories.
My lord may call me what he wishes, for I am not a name.
But do youenjoythe name Duncan Idaho?
I think that was my name, Sire.
It fits within me.
Yet … it stirs up curious responses.
Ones name, I think, must carry much thats unpleasant along with the pleasant.
In his own words, Duncan Idaho contains much thats unpleasant.
I couldnt have said it any better myself.
