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Concept
Nyota Uhura
Summary
Nyota Uhura (niˈoʊtə_ʊˈhʊrə), or simply Uhura, is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. In the original television series, the character was portrayed by Nichelle Nichols, who reprised the role for the first six Star Trek feature films. A younger Uhura is portrayed by Celia Rose Gooding in the 2022 prequel series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, while an alternate timeline version of Uhura has been portrayed by actress Zoe Saldaña in the feature films Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), and Star Trek Beyond (2016).
Uhura is a translator and communications officer who specializes in linguistics, cryptography, and philology. She was an important part of the original series' multicultural crew and one of the first black characters to be portrayed in a non-menial role on an American television series.
Gene Roddenberry had intended his new female communications officer to be called "Lieutenant Sulu". Herb Solow pointed out how similar this was to "Zulu" and thought it might act against the plan for racial diversity in the show, so the name Sulu remained with George Takei's character. "Uhura" comes from the Swahili word uhuru, meaning "freedom". Nichols states in her 1994 book Beyond Uhura that the name was inspired by Robert Ruark's 1962 book Uhuru, which she had with her on the day she read for the part. When producer Robert Justman explained to Roddenberry what the word uhuru meant, he changed it to Uhura and adopted that as the character's name. Coincidentally, the end credits of the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country incorrectly refer to Uhura as "Uhuru".
Uhura's first name was not used in Star Trek canon until Abrams's 2009 film. The mystery regarding Uhura's first name is the subject of a running joke in the film, as Captain Kirk repeatedly tries to find out what it is, before finally hearing Spock call her "Nyota" in a moment of intimacy.
Although other non-canon names had previously existed, "Nyota" had been the most common. Two other proposed names were "Penda" and "Samara".
Official source
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