This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
unknown: I added "E." to Kevin's name in the page quote to further drive home the point of Hypocritical Humor.
Given
Dragonball's variety in this regard (initially food related, then the Freeza's and the Bloomer's families), I think it deserves its own section, or put them all on the
Dragonball page and put links to that in the different sections here.
Vampire Buddha: I think it's better to split Dragonball up. The way the page is now, it's easy to see if a given section gets long enough to be split off into its own subtrope. Giving Dragonball its own section would run counter to that.
Vampire Buddha: I've split a whole lot of examples into subtropes, which was discussed in this thread
. I also took out a lot of crap witch was just natter, Meaningful Name, or only a single name. Also, the page is now divided by name theme rather than medium, which I think works better.
What was removed
- Rei Ayanami's given name is never spelled with kanji, only phonetically (as are all character first names), and could be any of over a dozen words pronounced "ray" having meanings ranging from "zero" to "spirit", many of which are eerily appropriate to her role(s) in the plot.
- "Bow" and thus custom/manners as well, appropriately.
- Neon Exodus Evangelion, a fanfiction based on the series, took it a step further: Rei also has "sisters" (actually, clones) named for the numbers one through twelve.
- Similarly "Shinji" could have several meanings (one being the Buddhist equivalent of "deacon"), but might be best interpreted as "new man" (the live-action adaption would be well served to call him "Seth").
- Even better interpretation of his name is "holy sign".
- Ahem... "shin" is one way to say "god" in Japanese, and "ji" is a common ending for male Japanese given names, literally meaning "second" (as in "second son") or "next". So "Shinji" can be approximated to "son of god"; kind of ironic, considering his usual enemies in the anime.
- Shin could be god, but it could also be new (that's how they use it in the title after all). Given the other childrens' names, I'd lean towards new.
- Another interpretation of the name is "truth," though this one is not as rife with symbolism as the rest.
- Yet another choice is "belief" or "to believe". This is actually subtly punned on in Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0 where, during a pivotal scene, Misato exhorts Gendo to "believe in his own child"; "Jibun wo kodomo shinji no kudasai", of course.
- "Asuka" means "scent of tomorrow". All the children's names fit being born immediately after a catastrophe.
- The central female characters are all named after Aircraft Carriers (Asuka is named after 2 of them: one Japanese and one American, while her mother's comes from a German one) with the exception of Rei. This is ironic because the Japanese for "Aircraft Carrier" is "mother ship". Doctor Ritsuko Akagi is probably the trend-setter here (Dr. Akagi is a noted Japanese novel), while "Langley" was likely chosen because it links to the film 2001 (Doctors Chandra and Langley built the HAL 9000) despite being an English name. Misato was likely just named to match the other two.
- Rei, while missing out on the aircraft carrier theme, does share her first name with the Rei shiki Kanjo sentoki (Type 0 Carrier Fighter) aircraft, known in America as the Mitsubishi A6M Zero.
- From Wikipedia: "The Ayanami (綾波) was a Type II Fubuki class destroyer in the Imperial Japanese Navy that saw service during World War II."
- Kozo Fuyutsuki, NERV's three Bridge Bunnies, and the officially non-canonical Mana Kirishima have their last names taken from Japanese WWII naval vessels — with the exception of Maya Ibuki, whose first and last names are both taken from WWII Japanese warships. Also, Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida's names and the Horaki surname are taken from Ryu Murakami's Fascism in Love and Fantasy (愛と幻想のファシズム, Ai to Gensō no Fashizumu).
- Other names' meanings: Ikari = Anchor; Rokobungi = Sextant; Kiel (German) = Keel.
- Kaji = rudder, helm.
- Ikari (written with a different character) also means rage.
- This is especially noticeable in Big Bad Kagato. His primary theme is that of a snake, with his hair designed to mimic a cobra's hood and his principle minions being gigantic serpents. Thus, his base of operations and starship, the Soja, translates its name to "Serpent's nest". Kagato's name itself can translate as "I am God-like", "God Ego Man", or "I have an overwhelming mind", all of which are rather accurate for him. However, in common Japanese, the name merely translates to "heel". Again, rather fitting.
- Ayeka similarly has multiple variations, being translatable as "willowy", "frail", or "needing the support of a man". While the latter two apply to her initial personality, the willow is a reference to a tree known for its ability to withstand great stress by being flexible, and is also traditional in Japanese folklore as a repeller of demons, thematically opposing her to Ryoko, whose name literally means "Bringer of Demons".
- You can sometimes spot an Animagus or lycanthrope in the Harry Potter series by their name. Professor Remus Lupin was a Werewolf (not only is Lupine the generic name for a Wolf, Remus is the brother of Romulus, two boys who were literally Raised by Wolves and created Rome), another werewolf is Fenrir Grayback (Fenrir is the wolf that eats the sun in norse mythology), Sirius (another name for Dog Star) Black a black dog, and Rita Skeeter was a bug ("skeeter" being a slang term for mosquito).
- In Snow Crash, the main character is Hiroaki "Hiro" Protagonist, whose name is an obvious reference to his primary character status.
- This is, however, deliberate in-world theme naming; he's called "Hiroaki" because his mother was Japanese, and changed his surname for the sake of the pun as an adult.
- In Catch-22 there is a character whose family name is Major. He's raised under the name of Caleb, but his father had the rotten sense of humor to name him Major Major Major on his birth certificate, a fact that haunted him through his schooling. When he entered the army, the computer system had a sense of humor similar to his father's and promoted him to Major before he was through boot-camp. It didn't help that he greatly resembled Henry Fonda. He managed to avoid people by successfully becoming a hermit while ostensibly maintaining his duties by entering and exiting his office through the window, and only allowing visitors to see him when he was not there.
- Though the player can change the character's name at the start of the game, Ryuu in Breath of Fire III is named for his lineage, in that he is a member of an ancient dragon species called The Brood, and Ryuu literally means "dragon".
- Early on in the game, the player is asked by a mysterious cloaked figure for assistance, and after nobly accepting the job without first asking for details the man reveals his name to be "Loki", which should immediately set off red flags in any Genre Savvy player's head. It turns out that his "job" for our heroes ends up turning the starting town against them and making them a target for a dangerous crime syndicate.
- Case in point, don't trust anyone named for entities renowned for causing mischief, death, discord, or going back on deals.
- El Goonish Shive: Nanase's last name is Kitsune, which is Japanese for fox. So what does she call her magic duplicate? Fox, of course.
- The Emperor Constantine had chidren named Constantina, Constantine, Constantius and Constans. Yes, he had an ego problem. Why do you ask?
- This was actually pretty common in Roman society — children would typically have a name derived from that of their father.
- And then there were such names as Primus ("first"), Secundus ("second"), Tertius ("third") etc. If you ran out of imagination, you could give them one of these. Plus, you could easily remember the order they were born in.
- Ancient Roman naming, especially during the Republican period, was quite different from that of their modern descendants. Roman male names were made up of praenomen (first name), nomen (clan name), and cognomen (a name that differentiated branches of the same clan). In addition, there were only twenty or thirty praenomen used at any given time, with the result that there were thousands of Luciuses, Gaiuses, Tituses, etc. Some praenomen were exlusive to certain clans — the Aemilii were the only ones who used Mamercus, for example. Daughters were all given femininized versions of the father's nomen, and if there was more than one daughter, they'd be numbered. So Gaius Julius Caesar could have daughters named Julia Prima, Julia Secunda, Julia Tertia, etc. By the early Imperial period this began to break down and you start to see women being given unique names, not just Daughter #1, Daughter #2, Daughter #3, etc.
- Two Words: George Foreman
- It's actually not unheard of for parents in many cultures to name their children after a theme, especially in Japan: If a couple plans to have four kids, Haruko, Natsumi, Akihiko, and Fuyumi may ensue. (For those less savvy in Japanese, these names are derived from the four seasons.)
- Ditto for Ichiro, Jiro, Saburo, Shiro, and Goro.
Looney Toons: Argh. That will teach me to enter links without checking them. Sorry I made you fix them, U.
Ununnilium: Iscool. Certainly I've done the same more than once.
Kendra Kirai: Why did whoever it was unbold my Galaxy Angel names? I bolded the ones that were foods for a reason. (I mean, until I looked it up, I didn't know Blancmanche or Stollen were pastries, and Milfeulle I only knew because I had looked it up a while back)
Looney Toons: I did it a couple minutes ago because basically in my browser, the bold was obnoxiously large and obtrusive, and because we don't highlight the theme element in any of the other names in the other examples.
Kendra Kirai: In the other examples they're obvious or explained.
Looney Toons: <shrug> I won't play volleyformat if you change it back.
BT The P: Could someone explain what theme Antonio, Carlos and Jobim follow, 'cause I don't get the reference.
Ununnilium: Same.
Sukeban: Antonio Carlos Jobim was a very famous Brazilian musician — he wrote the music to The Girl from Ipanema.
Ununnilium: I'm going to dispute that "in French" counts as Theme Naming.
Later: Thus:
- All of the important characters in La Pucelle: Tactics are named after French words (Alouette, Culotte, Noir, Eclair, etc.).
JonR I'm taking out the alleged shout-out to Ah My Goddess in Freelancer, because the Norns were Norse goddesses; the AMG goddesses were named after them.
Looney Toons: Moving Dark Puck's recent addition
- In the Sailor Moon R movie, the main villain is named Fiore, which is Italian for "flower". As it turns out, Fiore is being controlled by an evil flower.
to Prophetic Names, because that's what it is. It's only a theme if there are at least two characters with related names.
Looney Toons: Chinstar, "Raphael" is
also a Renaissance Italian artist.
Looney Toons: Corrected "portemunaus" to "portmanteaus" because that's the only thing I can figure it's likely to be.
Looney Toons: Removed
- Celebrity parents tend to give their kids themed names. Take Gwyneth Paltrow for example with her daughter Apple.
because one name is not a theme. If Paltrow had named her kids Apple, Orange and Banana, that would be a theme. This, however, is like saying that the parents of an only child named "John" indulged themselves by giving all their children names that start with "J".
Looney Toons: Okay. Removed:
- Sheep In The Big City had a ton of this including General Specfiic and his army including Private Public, Major Know-It-All and Major Embarrasement, then also the narrator Ben Plotz.
because a series of unrelated punning names is not a theme.
- The Nightmare Fuel filled short Fingerprint Farm featured a farmer named Farmer Hand- who was not suprisingly- a hand- a rather creepy realistic disembodied hand at that.
because, once again, everybody in chorus, one name is not a theme.
- Gwyenth Paltrow has two children named Apple and Moses.
because, maybe I'm stupid, but I can't see a theme linking Apple and Moses.
Nornagest: It's a little weak, but the thing that leaps immediately to mind is "Old Testament".
buttbutt: more than a little. If the Apple was the only food mentioned in the OT, there might be a claim for it, but right now we have "one fruit, one Biblical figure, one mom who shouldn't be allowed to name her own children." At that point "Apple and Moses both have five letters" is just as viable a connection.
Looney Toons: Deleted recent addition
- Bastard! named practically everything after heavy metal bands. The Kingdom of Metallicana, the Demon Lord Anthrathrax, the Halloween spell. The well-meaning but pathetic White Knight Bonjovina (who is perpetually getting beaten up, something many metalheads would like to do to his namesake). The vampire Count Di Amon is clearly named after King Diamond, as they have the same distinctive facepaint. At one point, early on, the antihero Dark Schneider attacks a priest with a fireball spell, shouting "Slayer!". The defensive spell the priest counters with? "Stryper!"
because there's already an entry for Bastard!!, dating back to the original creation of this page.
Looney Toons: Moving
- Every Scene in Dynamite Headdy has a name parodying that of some famous film, e.g. "Mad Mechs", "Stair Wars", "Fly Hard", "Fatal Contraption"...
to Idiosyncratic Episode Naming, because that's really what it is. And because Theme Naming applies to characters.
Sabre Justice: ...why does the trope description go on about the use of this in anime, when the page quotes and most of the examples are in English?
