In 1978, the names Astria, Astrea and Astreia all debuted in the U.S. baby name data, and the name Astra saw its then-highest-ever usage (unsurpassed until 2020):
| Astra | Astria | Astrea | Astreia | |
| 1980 | 5 | 5 | . | . |
| 1979 | 17 | 14 | . | . |
| 1978 | 25† | 24* | 9* | 6* |
| 1977 | 19 | . | . | . |
| 1976 | 9 | . | . | . |
What caused this sudden interest in the name Astrea?
A Saturday morning cartoon called The Space Sentinels (originally titled The Young Sentinels). It premiered in September of 1977, and the main characters were a trio of teenage superheroes that represented three different racial groups:
- Mercury (Asian), “the amazing athlete who can match the speed of light”
- Astrea (African-American), “able to assume any living form”
- Hercules (white), “empowered with the strength of a hundred men”
Astrea (pronounced ASS-tree-uh) was one of the few African-American superheroes on television around this time. (The Super Friends character Black Vulcan was another.)
Like Hercules and Mercury, Astrea’s name was taken from a figure in ancient mythology: the Greek goddess of justice, Astraea.
Though I’ve chosen the spelling Astrea for this post — because “Astrea” is the most common alternative spelling of “Astraea” — I have to admit that I don’t know which spelling was used in the cartoon. None of the episodes I watched on YouTube displayed the character’s name on-screen.
Speaking of episodes, not very many exist: only 13 aired before The Space Sentinels was cancelled. Was the mixed-race cartoon too ahead of its time to survive?
So which of those three debut spellings do you like best: Astria, Astrea or (one-hit wonder) Astreia?
Sources:
- Space Sentinels (TV series 1977) – IMDb
- Space Sentinels – Wikipedia
- Terrace, Vincent. Television Introductions: Narrated TV Program Openings since 1949. Plymouth, UK: Scarecrow Press, 2014.
My name is Astreia and I was born in 1979. Honestly, Astreia is the best spelling for this name.