Usual Nickname, Unexpected Name--Cal

Handsome Cal! How have I forgotten you? While Cal is starting to gain use on its own, it's still down below the Top 1000. Traditionally short for Calvin, of course, but there are plenty of other great options.
Thanks to Nicole for this suggestion. :)

• Calaïs (KAH-lah-ees, [ancient] Greek)--"turquoise"
• Calamus (KAL-ah-mus, [ancient] Greek)--"reed"
• Calchas (KAL-kas, [ancient] Greek)--uncertain, poss. "purple" or "to make trouble"
• Calbhach (KAL-vak, KAHL-wak, Irish)--cognate of Calvin. Anglicized as Calvagh (KAL-vah). 
• Calidore (KAL-id-or, English)--poss. from Greek, "beautiful gift"
• Calixte (kah-LICKST, French)--from Greek, "most beautiful". Other forms include Callistus (kah-LIS-tus, Latin) and Calisto (kah-LEES-toh, Spanish, Portuguese).
• Callahan (KAL-ah-han, Irish [surname])--diminutive of Ceallach (KAL-akh), the original form of Kelly
• Callan (KAL-lan, Irish [surname])--either from Cathaláin (KAH-hal-ahn, "battle power") or from one of the places named for High King Niall Caill, meaning uncertain, poss. "Niall of the forest".
• Callias (KAL-ee-as, kah-LEE-as, [ancient] Greek)--"beauty"
• Callinus (KAL-in-us, [ancient] Greek)--"beautiful". 
• Callister (KAL-is-ter, Scottish [surname])--shortening of MacAlister, "son of Alistair/Alexander".
• Calloway (KAL-oh-way, English [surname])--poss. from French, "pebble". Also spelled Callaway.
• Callum (KAL-um, Scottish)--from Latin, "dove". Also spelled Calum. Another form is Kalman (KAHL-man, Scandinavian).
• Calydon (KAL-id-ahn, [ancient] Greek)
• Carlisle (KAR-lile, English)
• Carroll (KEHR-ol, English; KAH-rol, Irish)--from Irish, "cutting". Anglicized from Cearbhall (KAH-rool).
• Chalcon (KAL-con, [ancient] Greek)--poss. "copper"
• Kalevi (KAH-lev-ee, Finnish)--poss. from Estonian "cloth". Other forms include Kalervo (KAH-lehr-voh, Finnish) and Kalev (KAH-lev, Estonian).
• Kalle (KAHL-leh, Scandinavian)--form of Charles/Karl. Also spelled Calle. Other forms include Kallu (KAHL-loo, Finnish).
• Kálmán (KAL-man, Hungarian)
• Kalmen (KAHL-men, Yiddish)--from Greek, "good name". Also spelled Kalman.
• Kaloyan (kah-loh-YAHN, Bulgarian)--"handsome John"
• Kalyan (kal-YAHN, Hindi)--"beautiful"
• Pascal (pas-KAL, French)--"Easter"

-Ric Rollin'

Haha, now that song's in your head!

I love a good -ric name. And unlike many constructions, this one is pretty much exclusively male (well, I did turn up modern unisex word-name Lyric, Irish girls' name Aifric, and Thai girls' name Bundarik, but that's it!).
Eric was a 70s/80s staple, Frederick's been on the downswing for the last century, Patrick is my age (or my parents'), and Maverick is quickly scaling the US charts.
While relatively uncommon today, -rich/ric names used to be fairly widespread in Europe, thanks to good ol' Proto-Germanic, where '-rich' meant "ruler" or "power".

• Adalrich (AHD-al-rik, Germanic)--"noble ruler"
• Alaric (AL-ah-rik, English)--from Germanic "ruler of all"
• Alberich (AHL-beh-rikh, German)--original form of Aubrey
• Aldric (ahl-DREEK, French)--from Germanic "old power". Other forms include Aldéric (ahl-day-REEK) and Audric (oh-DREEK).
• Amalric (AHM-al-rik, ah-MAHL-rik, Germanic, ah-mahl-REEK, French)--from Germanic "work power". One of the possible sources for Emmerich/Emery.
• Ardaric (AR-dah-rik, Germanic)--poss. "brave power"
• Athanaric (ah-THAN-ar-ik, Germanic)
• Baderich (BAH-der-ik. Germanic)--"battle ruler"
• Baldric (BAHL-drik, English)--from Germanic "bold power"
• Berich (BEHR-ik, Germanic)--"bear ruler"
• Brunric (BROON-rik, Germanic)--"armor ruler" or poss. "brown ruler"
• Bystrík (BIS-treek, Slovak)--poss. "quick-witted"
• Cedric (SED-rik, English)
• Cenric (KEN-rik, Old English)--"bold power". One of the sources of surname Kendrick. 
• Cyneric (KIN-eh-rik, Old English)--"royal power". Another possible source for Kendrick.
• Eboric (EB-or-ik, Germanic)--"boar power"
• Edric (ED-rik, Old English)--"wealth ruler"
• Elric (EL-rik, English)--either from Old English Alfric (AL-frik) "elf power" or Athelric (ATH-el-rik) "noble power"
• Embrik (EM-brik, Norwegian)
• Erchamrich (EHR-kam-rik, Germanic)--"chief ruler"
• Ermenrich (EHR-men-rik, Germanic)--"great ruler" Another possible source for Emmerich/Emery.
• Emmerich (EM-er-ikh, German)--other forms include Émeric (ay-meh-REEK, French) and Aymeric (eh-muh-REEK, French).
• Garrick (GEHR-ik, English)--from Occitan "oak tree", or possibly Germanic "spear power"
• Genseric (GEN-ser-ik, Germanic)--poss. "spear power". Variants include Gaiseric (GYE-ser-ik), and Geiserich (GYE-ser-ikh, German)
• Godric (GAHD-rik, English)
• Guerric (gehr-REEK, French)
• Gumerich (GOO-mehr-ik, Germanic)--"ruler of man"
• Gunderic (GOON-deh-rik, Germanic)--"war ruler"
• Heinrich (HINE-rikh, German)--original form of Henry "home ruler". Other forms include Henrik (HEN-rik, German, Scandinavian) and Hendrik (HEN-drik, Dutch). Another possible source for Kendrick, as well as a possible source of Emmerich/Emery.
• Hilderich (HIL-der-ik, Germanic)--"battle ruler"
• Imrich (IM-rik, Czech, Slovak)--form of Emmerich/Emery
• Isanric (EE-san-rik, Germanic)--poss. "iron ruler". Also written as Isenric.
• Jarich (YAH-rikh, Frisian)--poss. from Germanic "spear"
• Landrich (LAHN-drik, Germanic)--"land ruler"
• Leofric (lee-OF-rik. Old English)--"beloved ruler"
• Lorik (LOHR-ik, Albanian)--poss. "quail"
• Merrick (MEHR-rik, English)--from Welsh Meurig (a form of Maurice) or Germanic "famous ruler".
• Odrich (AHD-rik, Germanic)--"ruler of riches". Variants include Audéric (oh-day-REEK, French).
• Osric (OZ-rik, Old English)--"god power"
• Pierrick (PYEHR-eek, French)--form of Pierre/Peter
• Roderick (RAHD-er-ik, English)--from Germanic, "famous ruler". Other forms include Rörik (ROH-rik, Swedish), Rorik (ROH-rik, Old Danish), and Rurik (ROO-rik, Russian).
• Romaric (RAHM-ah-rik, Germanic; roh-mah-REEK, French)--poss. "famous power"
• Serik (SEHR-ik, Kazakh)--"support"
• Shurik (SHOOR-ik, Russian)--diminutive of Alexander
• Sigerich (SEE-geh-rik, Germanic)--"victory ruler"
• Siserich (SEE-ser-ik, Germanic)--"song ruler"
• Tarık (TAHR-ik, Turkish)
• Theodoric (thee-AHD-oh-rik, Germanic)--"ruler of the people". Variants include Dietrich (DEET-rikh, German), Diederich (DEE-der-ikh, German), Dederick (DED-er-ik, English), and Dedrick (DED-rik, English).
• Ulrich (OOL-rik, German, ool-REESH, French)--variants include Olric (OHL-rik) and Odalric (OH-dahl-rik). 
• Volkrich (VOHL-krik, Germanic)--"people's ruler"
• Waldrich (VAHL-drik, Germanic)--"ruler of power". Other forms include Waldric (WAHL-drik, English) and Gaudéric (goh-day-REEK, French), and Galdric (gahl-DREEK, French).
• Wilrich (VEEL-rik, Germanic)--"willful ruler"
• Winrich (VEEN-rikh, German)--from Germanic, "friend ruler"
• Wirich (VEER-ikh, German)--from Germanic, "war ruler"
• Witteric (VEET-er-ik, Germanic)--poss. "forest ruler"
• Wulfric (WOOL-frik, Old English)--"wolf power". Another form is Ulfric (OOL-frik).
• Yorick (YOHR-ik, English, Dutch)--form of George. Other spellings include Jorick (YOH-rik, Dutch) and Jorik (YOH-rik, Dutch)

And don't let the -richs scare you off! ;) There's plenty of precedent to Anglicize those German/Germanic names by changing the '-rich' to '-ric/rick' or '-ry'.
So for instance, Winrich would logically be Winric/Winrick (WIN-rik), or Winry (WIN-ree) in Modern English.
(Full Metal Alchemist fans rejoice! :p )

Women of Space

At first this post was just going to feature the names of women who've been in space, but since part of my inspiration was the amazing Katherine Johnson, that just didn't seem right (the other inspiration was explaining to my 8-year-old why Valentina Kerman is named Valentina).
And so, here's a list of women from space-exploration history. :)
(with a surprisingly few number of repeating names!)

Female astronauts who've been in space:

• Anna (Lee Fisher)
• Anousheh (Ansari*--first Iranian-American)
• Barbara (Morgan)
• Bonnie (J. Dunbar)
• Catherine (Coleman)
• Chiaki (Mukai*--first Japanese woman)
• Claudie (Haigneré*--first French woman)
• Dorothy (Metcalf-Lindburger)
• Eileen (Collins*--first female Shuttle pilot and commander)
• Ellen (S. Baker, Ochoa*--first Hispanic woman)
• Heidemarie (Stefanyshyn-Piper)
• Helen (Sharman*--first Briton)
• Jan (Nancy Jan Davis)
• Janet (L. Kavandi)
• Janice (E. Voss)
• Joan (Higginbotham)
• Judith (Resnik*--first Jewish-American woman)
• Julie (Payette)
• Kalpana (Chawla*--first Indian-American)
• Karen (L. Nyburg)
• Kathryn (P. Hire, D. Sullivan, C. Thornton)
• Laurel (B. Clark)
• Linda (M. Godwin)
• Lisa (Nowak)
• Liu (Yang*--first Chinese woman)
• Mae (Jemison*--first African-American woman)
• Margaret (Rhea Seddon)
• Marsha (Ivins)
• Mary (L. Cleave, E. Weber)
• "Megan" (Katherine Megan McArthur)
• Millie (Hughes-Fulford)
• Nancy (J. Curry)
• Naoko (Yamazaki)
• Nicole (P. Stott)
• Pamela (Melroy)
• Peggy (Whitson)
• Roberta (Bondar--first Canadian woman)
• Sally (Ride*--first American woman)
• Samantha (Cristoforetti*--first Italian woman)
• Sandra (Magnus)
• Shannon (Lucid, Walker)
• Stephanie (Wilson)
• Sunita (Williams)
• Susan (J. Helms, Kilrain)
• Svetlana (Savitskaya*--first woman to spacewalk, as well as make multiple space trips)
• Tamara (E. Jurnigan)
• Tracy (Caldwell Dyson)
• Valentina (Tereshkova*--first woman in space)
• Wang (Yaping)
• Wendy (B. Lawrence)
• Yelena (Kondakova, Serova)
• Yi (So-yeon*--first Korean)

Other notable women:

The 'Mercury 13'--a group of female pilots who independently took the first phases of astronaut testing, hoping to prove that women could go to space--

• Bernice (Steadman) 
• Gene Nora (Stumbough)
• Irene (Leverton)
• Jane (Hart)
• Janet (Dietrich)
• Jean (Hixson)
• "Jerri" (Geraldine Sloan)
• "Jerrie" (Geraldyn Cobb)
• Marion (Dietrich)
• Myrtle (Cagle)
• Rhea (Hurrle)
• Sarah (Gorelick)
• "Wally" (Mary Wallace Funk)

The original Soviet female candidates (minus the previously mentioned Valentina Tereshkova)--

• Irina (Solovyova)
• Tatyana (Kuznetsova)
• Valentina (Ponomaryova)
• Zhanna (Yorkina)

In NASA--

• Irene (D. Long--first female chief medical officer at Kennedy S.C.)
• Jocelyn (Gill--NASA in-flight science chief, 1961-73)
• Katherine (Johnson--probably the most well-known of NASA's "human computers")
• Susan (G. Finley--started as a computer; currently the longest-serving woman at NASA: 1958-present)

Just a small sampling, of course! NASA currently has several female astronaut candidates, scheduled or waiting a turn, and many also retired without getting their chances; and of course NASA today employs many, many women in a  variety of positions. And I definitely didn't have room for the full list of NASA's "human computers", many of whom were African-American, but you can find one here: CRGIS. :)