The oddball names aid greatly as search markers. 10.10 is not a great differentiating search term in computing whilst "maverick" (or indeed "meerkat") doesn't often appear alongside "wifi setup" (or whatever) except in pages referring to ?Ubuntu.
"Oneiric ocelot" seems to be going too far in searching out little used vocab though - who knows how to pronounce or spell oneiric?
>[Mark:] "The pronunciation is like “an-EAR-rick”."
But dictionary.com tells me it should be "oh-nay-rick" and their sound bite is "oh-nai-rik" (in my pronounciation). Given the Greek origins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oneiros) I'd go with on-eye-ross and hence on-eye-rick.
It's much easier to remember 10.10 (released 2010 October) than whatever year Monkey, Bat, Cow or Hedgehog came out.