Eureka Maru - Etymology

Etymology

Although the origin of the name of the ship Eureka Maru is never mentioned in the series, or any official literature springing from it, here are some facts that may provide clues to where the name comes from:

• Heureka (often today spelled: eureka) means "I have found it!" in Ancient Greek.

This is potentially explained by the fact that the Maru was built by Beka Valentine's father and his business partner Sid. The term 'Eureka!' would seem appropriate for non-professional ship builders who manage to put together a ship.

• The word maru is often attached to Japanese ship names. See Japanese ship naming conventions.
• The Kobayashi Maru is a Starfleet test that first appears in the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Gene Roddenberry is the creator of both the Star Trek and Andromeda universes.
• Maruts (Sanskrit) are storm gods, company of Indra.
• The Komagata Maru incident which occurred in British Columbia, in Canada — coincidentally where much of Canadian Filming, including Andromeda, is filmed.

There is also a strong possibility that the original name may have been the Yurika Maru -- "Yurika" being a Japanese proper name—which is more consistent with a Japanese designation than an arbitrary Ancient Greek word with tenuous if any relevance to a freighter. If this were the case, it is unclear whether the phonetic transposition was an error on the part of the writers, to whom the name may have been only spoken, or if it is deliberately intended to have happened in the realm of the fictional Andromeda universe.

However, Beka herself has called the Maru a 'salvage ship' on at least one occasion. "I have found it!" does indeed make some sense viewed in this light.