Starbuck

Fictional Sailor

Starbuck is a character in the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by author Herman Melville. Strong and steady, Starbuck serves as first mate on the whaling ship Pequod under the command of the mad Captain Ahab. Starbuck tries to stop Ahab's obsessive hunt for Moby-Dick, but loyal at the last, he dies at sea with Ahab and his crew after a final battle with the great while whale. The Starbucks coffee chain took its name from the character.

Extra credit: Unrelated characters named Starbuck also appear in the play The Rainmaker (which debuted on Broadway in 1954) and in the sci-fi TV show Battlestar Galactica (1978-79, with Lt. Starbuck played by Dirk Benedict)... Starbuck was played by actor Leo Genn in the 1956 film which starred Gregory Peck as Ahab.

Another character who gave his name to a fast food chain: Roy Rogers.