Maverick is the code name for Ubuntu 10.10 which comes out on 10-10-10. All
Ubuntu versions have a number which is the year of release followed by the
month and a code name. It is an alliterative code name. The first word is an
adjective and the second is an animal. Version 10.04 was Lucid Lynx and the
next one will be Maverick Meerkat. It is in beta now. The spring release,
11.04 will be called Natty Narwhal. Most users just go by the descriptor to
keep it short, so I called it Maverick. If you call it Meerkat then you are
correct, but come across as a newbie.

4.10 Warty Warthog 2004-10-20
5.04 Hoary Hedgehog 2005-04-08
5.10 Breezy Badger 2005-10-13
6.06 LTS Dapper Drake 2006-06-01
6.10 Edgy Eft 2006-10-26
7.04 Feisty Fawn 2007-04-19
7.10 Gutsy Gibbon 2007-10-18
8.04 LTS Hardy Heron 2008-04-24
8.10 Intrepid Ibex 2008-10-30
9.04 Jaunty Jackalope 2009-04-23
9.10 Karmic Koala 2009-10-29
10.04 LTS Lucid Lynx 2010-04-29
10.10 Maverick Meerkat 2010-10-10
11.04 Natty Narwhal 2011-04-28

Note that the alphabetical listing started with Dapper since there was no C
after Breezy and that all releases except one (Dapper) have met their target
dates of April (04) and October (10).

Who says that naming a version has to be boring?