"Naga", Korra's animal companion, means "Dragon" in the Malay/Indonesian language.
Avatar Aang's animal guide was a sky bison, but the show creators were originally going to give him a polar bear-dog. This idea was scrapped and recycled for Korra's animal guide, Naga.
Tenzin is named after the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. He shares this name with Monk Gyatso from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Tenzin is Korra's airbending teacher just as Gyatso was Aang's airbending teacher.
"Naga" shares the same letters as the name "Aang."