Rock Theme Naming

...and Steven!

No, this trope isn't about people named after rock stars. Some fictional characters (and some real people) are named after things that can be dug from the ground, such as rocks, gems, metals, and minerals.

Naming women after jewels is the least conspicuous version of this — it is quite common for girls to be given names like Ruby, Opal, or Crystal. Using other variants tends to attract attention.

The geological Sub-Trope of Scientific and Technological Theme Naming and by extension, Theme Naming. The line for elemental metals would likely depend on how likely someone without a formal scientific education would be aware of the metal's existence, so characters named Gold and Silver would be this trope while ones named, say, Vanadium and Yttrium would be Scientific and Technological Theme Naming.

Compare Wealth's in a Name, since a gemstone name can be used to indicate moneyed status.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• In Cardcaptor Sakura, Eriol's guardians/servants, Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon, are both named after gemstones often mistaken for each other.
• Dragon Ball Z: Word of God revealed that the true names of Androids 17 and 18 were Lapis and Lazuli, respectively.
• The Stone World Villagers in Dr. STONE are all named after rocks and minerals. The only exceptions are Suika, Genbu, and a nameless man. (Although Suika is justified as being a nickname.)
• Beast King Golion (The original source of Lion Voltron) has the original five pilots with surnames which are types of metal: Akira ("Keith") Kogane — "gold", Isamu "Lance" Kurogane — "iron", and so on. (Princess Fala/"Allura" doesn't fit into the scheme.)
• CLAMP's four-volume series Wish uses this for the majority of named characters. The theme is precious and semi-precious stones. Names include: Kohaku ("Amber"), Hisui ("Jade"), Ruri ("Blue Glass"/"Lapis-lazuli"), Hari ("Crystal"), Koryuu ("Garnet"), Kokuyo ("Obsidian"), Sango ("Coral"), and Shinju ("Pearl"). There may be more.
• All the important characters in Gaist Crusher have this. The main character got Shirogane ("silver"), Kongou(ji) ("Adamantine"), (Shin)dou ("Copper"), Quartz(heart) ("Icy cold"), Kokuyou ("Obsidian"), Sango ("Coral"), Hisui ("Jade"), Kohaku ("Amber") and Rock is... Rock. But specifically those Volcanic rock since it corresponds his full name.
• Inuyasha: The three characters from the youkai exterminator village who are actually named all have names related to semiprecious stones: Sango (coral), Kohaku (amber), and Kirara (mica).
  • The first movie introduce the villain Menomaru (agathe), with his goons named after crystal and glass.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: In conjunction with its Musical Theme Naming, has each protagonist's Stand from Parts 3-6 follow this: Star Platinum, Crazy Diamond, Gold Experience, and Stone Free.
• The gems in Land of the Lustrous are named after the minerals their bodies are made of. The main character is Phosphophyllite, and other prominent characters include Cinnabar, Rutile, Diamond, Bort (rough, low quality diamonds), Antarcticite, Ghost Quartz, and Cairngorm. The only exception to the theme naming is their leader, Kongou/Adamant, because he’s an artificial creation, and the substance his body is made of (a lattice of hexagonal diamonds) does not occur naturally.
• Love Live! Sunshine!! has the Kurosawa sisters, Dia and Ruby (Dia's name is short for "diamond"). According to an interview with Dia, it's a tradition in the Kurosawa family to name their daughters after precious stones, though she mentions that it's unusual to be given English names like hers and Ruby's.
  • The fantasy spin-off Yohane the Parhelion -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR- would introduced Kohaku, a distant relative that works as Dia's assistant.
• Magnes is Latin for "lodestone", or magnetic iron. One example of an entity named for such is the Wizard in Mega Man Star Force, the one piloting the rocket that almost blew up at Echo Ridge Elementary and which Mega Man uses to transfer into Meteor G at game's end.
• Oshi no Ko: The Hoshino twins are named Ruby and Aquamarine (Aqua for short).
• Pokémon:
  • Due to the fact that Pokédex Holders are named after the Pokémon game titles, the second, third, and fourth generation main characters of Pokémon Adventures use this. Gold, Silver, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum all count.
  • The major antagonist group in Pokémon Horizons: The Series, the Explorers, have members whose names are all derived from gemstones, such as Amethio (amethyst), Zirc and Onia (zirconia), Hamber (hambergite), Gibeon (named after the Gibeon meteorite), etc.
• Sailor Moon villains are frequently named after minerals or jewels, with varying obscurity. Some groups of villains have their own theme, e.g. the Shitennou's names all end in "ite", the Black Moon Clan members are named after precious stones, etc.
  • From the Dark Kingdom: Beryl, Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite, and Kunzite.
  • From the Black Moon Clan: Demande, Rubeus, Esmeraude, Sapphir, Koan, Beruche, Petz, and Calaveras.
  • From the Death Busters: Kaolinite, Eudial, Mimet, Viluy, Tellun, Cyprine, and Ptilol.
  • From the Dead Moon Circus: Zirconia, Tiger's Eye, Hawk's Eye, Fisheye, Zircon, Xenotime and Zeolite.
  • From Shadow Galactica: Sailor Iron Mouse, Sailor Aluminum Seinen, Sailor Lead Crow, Sailor Tin Nyanko and Sailor Heavy Metal Papillon.
• In Shaman King, several of the Native American shamans are named after metals: Silva (silver), Goldva, Kalim (from kalium, the German word for potassium), Nichrome (who has a brother named Chrome), Bron (bronze), Rutherfor (rutherfordium), and Zinc.
• Skip Beat!: Rich Bitch Erika Koenji is always accompanied by her three bodyguards/ servants/ henchmen nicknamed Emerald, Sapphire, and Ruby. Each has an earring that corresponds to the gemstone they're named after, and the author of the series affectionately calls them "The Jewel Squad." Erika even has plans to add international acting and modeling superstar Ren Tsuruga to her squad as "Diamond" (her favorite stone).
• Star Driver: Star Swords are typically named by types of gems or stones.
• The Kujyo twins in Wasteful Days of High School Girls are named after gemstones: Hisui (emerald) and Kohaku (amber).
• Yaiba has the First Class Soldiers in the Pyramid arc named after precious stones (Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald and Diamond). Plus, when they combine they form a being called "Jewel". In the following arc, the giant ultimate soldiers created by the same people who made the above mentioned girls are named Gold and Silver.

Comic Books

• Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld: Gemworld royalty are normally referred to by their royal title and house name — i.e., the series lead is properly known as Princess Amethyst, her birth parents were Lord and Lady Amethyst, etc. Becomes a bit confusing when royal houses have several children of the same gender; in the original mini-series alone, there were three princesses of the House of Emerald, all of which were named as "Princess Emerald" by lifelong Gemworlders (Amethyst would later nickname the youngest princess "Emmy" to differentiate her).
• The Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior is made of this trope. Names include Crystar, Moltar, Feldspar, Ambara, Stalax, Ogeode, Malachon (for Malachite), and their whole planet is named Crystallium.
• In Sonic Universe, Silver meets a new character named Gold. They both have Psychic Powers (Silver has telekinesis, Gold has telepathy), semi-identical markings on their hands (Silver) and forehead (Gold) and they are both trying to save their universe from destruction.

Fan Works

• All the Phoenix Corporation Agents in Akatsuki Kitten: Phoenix Corporation Overhaul have a Jewel-based codename, which have been adopted as their actual names in many cases. There are only three that don't: Agent Chimera (Tiger's Eye) and Agent Nightingale (Pearl and Obsidian) consider their jewel-based codenames to be too long and cumbersome for everyday usage. Agent Silk, for reasons unknown, keeps his hidden from everyone. The only person to actually know his is the author, and she's not telling.
• In Shining Pretty Cure, not just with the main heroines and the mascots, but the locations, which show a heavy light and gemstone motif. The story is set in Luminous Town, they attend Bright Academy, and congregate at Gemstone Park by Lake Lapis.
• In A Song of Grumbling & Cotton Candy, Jem insists that her Awesome Mc Cool Name is really just "Jem". Pizzazz doesn't buy it. In reality, her name is "Jerrica Benton", but it's a secret:
  Jem: I... are you asking for my last name?
  Pizzazz: Yeah. Honestly, yes, yes I am. I know, I'm horrible. I don't remember your name. You're just... ...you. You probably know mine.
  Jem: Phyllis, right? Honestly this might surprise you but... Jem actually is my name.
  Pizzazz: [thinking] Oh bullshit. Just like Clash, exactly like Clash. Then why does your credit card say Constance, Clash? Huh? Wanted me to believe you were naturally a redhead too, didn't you?
• The Hunger Games fanfics often name characters from District 1 after precious stones. Examples include Jade, Crystal, Ruby, Citrine and Topaz from The Victors Project, and Emerald, Quartz and Opal from Tales of the Hunger Games. However, the use of the name Facet^note as in the facets on a gemstone for District 1's male tribute in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is as close as canon gets to giving a citizen of 1 a jewel-themed name, though there is a student at the Capitol Academy whose surname is Jasper.

Films — Live-Action

• Used in Akira Kurosawa's film August Rhapsody (the one about Nagasaki, with a guest appearance by Richard Gere as a half-Japanese pinapple company heir), when the Grandmother is listing all the metal-themed names of her siblings (Gin/silver, Kin/gold, Tetsuo/iron, etc., there were a lot of them) to jog her memory and see if Gere's character's recently deceased father could be among them, to the greedy hope of the Grandmother's grown children.
• In the Hellboy films, the redshirts at the BPRD all have mineral-themed names such as Steel and Flint.

Literature

• In the Bardic Voices series by Mercedes Lackey, Rune has a job as a musician at a brothel where all the ladies working there take on names after gems. The Madam goes by Amber, and the other ladies are called Sapphire, Pearl, Topaz, Ruby, Diamond, and Amethyst.
• In Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun, robots are named after gems, metal, or rocks, while human males are named after animals or animal products (e.g. the main character Silk) and human females are named after plants (e.g. the love interest Hyacinth).
• In Double Act by Jaqueline Wilson, the protagonists are twins called Garnet and Ruby. Their mother was called Opal.
• In the Discworld books, all trolls are named in some way after rocks or minerals. Female trolls may have the names of precious stones (such as "Ruby"), whereas males tend to be named for more mundane minerals or geological terminology (such as "Detritus"). Trolls even grow to look like the specific minerals for which they are named, making these Prophetic Names — a phenomenon which is called "metamorphorical rock" in-setting, but which isn't actually understood there. One book, on the other hand, features a troll called Big Jim Beef, which is explained as a "macho" nickname, similar to a human being called Rocky. Additionally, the word "rock" itself to refer to a troll generically is a rather nasty insult, though a troll might call himself Rock as a proper name (such as Galena using "Rock Cliffe" for his Stage Name in Moving Pictures).
• In Double Act by Jaqueline Wilson, the protagonists are twins called Garnet and Ruby. Their mother was called Opal.
• The Fifth Season: Graduates of the Fulcrum are given new rock-themed names as a nod to their Dishing Out Dirt powers. Examples include Alabaster, who's actually very dark-skinned, and Syenite, who personally chose a mineral that gets stronger under pressure. They maintain the tradition with their son, Corundum.
• In Nina Kiriki Hoffman's book A Fistful of Sky, the five kids in the LaZelle family are all named after minerals or precious stones. The girls are named Opal, Gypsum, and Beryl, while the boys are named Jasper and Flint. It is implied that this is a family tradition, as they have cousins named Amethyst and Chalcedony.
• In Mask of Shadows, Emerald, Ruby, Amethyst, and Opal are all named after the four gemstone rings the Queen wears.
• In Night World, lamia vampires often have nature-themed names, including gemstones. This includes Opal, Jade, Garnet and Jasper.
• The Ordinary Princess: All seven royal daughters of Phantasmarania are named after jewels: Diamond, Opal, Emerald, Sapphire, Crystal, Pearl, and Amethyst.
• In Flavia Bujor's The Prophecy of the Stones the heroines are called Jade, Amber and Opal.
• In Tolkien's Legendarium, the hobbits have an acknowledged tradition of most often naming females after flowers or gemstones: e.g. Diamond Took, Esmeralda Brandybuck or Ruby Gamgee.
• Vorkosigan Saga: Captain Vorpatril's Alliance features a gengineered dance troupe whose members are named Pearl, Ruby, Emerald, Topaz, Onyx, and Lapis Lazuli.
• Wings of Fire: A sizable number of dragons are named after gems, such as Ruby, Tourmaline, Pearl, Onyx and Diamond.

Live-Action TV

• There are many Latin American telenovelas whose protagonists are named after gemstones and then give the soaps their names. They include Esmeralda ("Emerald", about a Naïve Everygirl who was Switched at Birth with the guy who'd become her love interest), Topacio ("Topace", actually a remake of "Emerald", about a blind girl who also was Switched at Birth), Cristal ("Crystal", about a girl named Cristina AKA Cristal and her long-lost mother Victoria), Rubí ("Ruby", with a Gold Digger Anti Heroine), and Perla Negra ("Black Pearl", about a girl named Perla who pulls a Dead Person Impersonation to defy the local Big, Screwed-Up Family and protect her dead best friend's son).
• In Mystery Science Theater 3000, there's Pearl and the Forresters that came before her, who are all named after gems.
• In Sapphire and Steel, the Humanoid Abomination "element" agents who deal with temporal problems are named after metallic elements or alloys (for male-presenting ones) and gemstones (for female-presenting ones).

Sports

• When they're not using Animal Theme Naming, Australia's national sports teams (especially women's teams) tend to do this:
  • Opals (Women's basketball)
  • Sapphires (Women's under-21 basketball)
  • Gems (Women's under-19 basketball)
  • Pearls (Women's intellectual disability basketball)
  • Diamonds (Netball)

Tabletop Games

• Yu-Gi-Oh!: The IceJade are all based on the monoclinic amphiboles and monoclinic pyroxenes that make up nephrite jade.

Toys

• Jewelpet: The Jewelpets are magical animals that are each named after a certain mineral and whose eyes, which are the source of their magic, are made of that mineral - so, for example, Ruby is a ruby rabbit and Labra is a labradorite polar bear. The sole exception is King, who represents onyx.

Video Games

• Arc Rise Fantasia names all cities and towns after precious stones: Diamant - diamond, Opalus - opal, Jada - jade, and Topazion - topaz. Other settlements are a bit more complicated cases. Carbunculus is a corruption of carbuncle, a name for an almandine gem, cut in a specific method. Batrachites is a mythical stone supposedly found in frogs. Ebur is Latin for ivory. Antrax is anthracite, a type of coal. Benetnasch is an exception, being named afer a star.
• The hero of Boulder Dash is a Tunnel King who mines his way through dirt and rocks to obtain diamonds named Rockford.
• This may be at play in Dragon Age: Origins, but not overtly. The surname of the Dwarf Noble Warden is Aeducan, from the old dwarven word aeduc, which means either "shield" or "stone."
• Dragon Quest XI's Kingdom of Heliodor (itself a form of beryl) contains several such characters, such as King Carnelian, Sir Jasper, and Princess Jade. The Odd Name Out is Sir Hendrick, who turns out to have been born somewhere else.
• Characters from Brodia in Fire Emblem Engage derive their names from rocks and minerals, such as Crown Prince Diamant (from diamond) and his younger brother Alcryst (anagram of crystal).
• Jack Jeanne: The classes in Univeil Theater Academy are named after gems: Quartz, Onyx, Rhodonite, and Amber.
• The Jumi in Legend of Mana are all named after the gemstones in their cores. So when you run into a Jewel Thief named Sandra, a Gem Merchant named Alex, and hear of a Jumi Knight called Alexandrite, it's not hard to put two and two together.
• The Mogmas in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword are all named after metals and ores, except for Tubert who's named after tuber, a type of plant part.
• The Crystal Warriors of Magical Warrior Diamond Heart are all named "<Gemstone> Heart": Diamond Heart, Sapphire Heart, Amethyst Heart, and so on.
• The Hearthians of Outer Wilds are all named after rocks or geological phenomena. This is in contrast to the Nomai, who are named after plants and flowers.
• Pokémon:
  • Several game titles feature this. Second-generation games Gold, Silver, and Crystal; third-generation games Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald; and the fourth-generation games Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. These names carried over to some characters in the manga.
  • Most Gym Leaders have names referencing their type specialty, so Rock-, and Steel-type Leaders fall into this as well: Brock, Jasmine, Roxanne (but not Roxie, who's a Poison-type Leader), Roark (similar to both "rock" and "ore"), Byron, Grant ("granite"), and Olivia ("olivine"^note Also the name of Jasmine's city; it also overlaps with her own region's Floral Theme Naming). This could also extend to Ground-type Leaders Giovanni (referencing "geo,") and Clay.
  • Many rock/ground Pokémon named this way. Examples include Geodude, Graveler, Sandslash, Sandshrew, Regirock, Lunatone, Solrock.
  • As for Japanese names, from the fifth generation, there's Ishizumai and Iwaparesu. "Ishi" is "stone" and "Iwa" is "rock". Their English names are Dwebble and Crustle (as in Earth's crust- it literally carries a chunk of crust on its back).
  • Pokémon Colosseum and XD have the Orre region, which is derived from "ore". Then there are the individual location names: Phenac City (phenacite), Pyrite Town, Agate Village, and Realgam Tower (realgar).
• Sonic Shuffle: Many of the Force Jewels have this. Preciousite, Carbuncle, and Barrier Amber are just a few.
• One of the female love interests in Story of Seasons (2014) is named Agate.
• Super Robot Wars X: The last names of three of the Original Generation are Iolite, Aquamarine, and Obsidian. These are the names of crystals.
• Tales Series
  • Tales of Hearts is heavily themed around gemstones and rocks, and as such most characters are named after them.
    • The protagonists include Shing Meteoryte, Kohaku Hearts, Hisui Hearts, Innes Lorenz(inite), Beryl Benito, and Kunzite. Kohaku and Hisui's names are Japanese for Amber and Jade respectively. There's also Lithia Spodumene, whose name refers to lithium, which is present in spodumene mineral.
    • Supporting characters have names like Chalcedony, Peridot, Paraiba, and Labrador(ite), and minor villains are named Grossular and Kornerupine.
    • Major villains are named Corundum, Incarose (a poetic description of rhodochrosite), Chlorseraph and Clinoseraph (two brothers, named after clinochlore and seraphinite). The Big Bad himself is Creed Graphite.
    • In fact, the only major character who is not named after a rock is Gall Gruner, added in R version. This is a hint that he is not from this world.
  • In Tales of the Abyss, we have Jade, his sister Nephry (Nephrite), and childhood friend Saphir (Sapphire). In a manga bonus chapter, Jade and Saphir are seen going to school with a young man named Jasper, all of which suggests that these kind of names may be somewhat traditional in Malkuth.
  • Tales of Berseria: Eleanor shares her name with a precious gemstone also called "Eleanor" that her Doomed Hometown had previously passed down and guarded for generations.
• In Tsukihime, the Meido twins are named Hisui (Jade) and Kohaku (Amber).
• A Very Long Rope to the Top of the Sky: Anti-Debuff rings for one debuff are named after gemstones, often playing off of folk lore (emerald rings prevent poison, for instance).
• In WarioWare, areas around Diamond City have gemstone names like Sapphire / Emerald street, Agate forest, the Chromaconda rollercoaster, and Peridot campgrounds.
• In the KOEI crossover game Warriors Orochi, the large boar-like generals (with the exception of Gyūki) are all named after minerals such as Feldspar and Galena.
• Agate from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 names her Blade Specials and Battle Skills after gemstones. Her name also counts, but in-universe it's inverted - she wants to find a new myneral and succeeds in the end of her Blade Quest. The party then proceeds to name it after Agate.

Webcomics

• Cucumber Quest's Crystal Kingdom has Princess Ametrine, Queen Sapphire, King Ruby, Peridot, and Obsidian.
• Karin-dou 4koma: Seren named Kinka and Ginka (coin youkai) after their coins' metal — gold and silver, respectively. At one point, Mifi wonders if the naming scheme would have continued if Tamaryu were a coin youkai instead of a dragon, with a name like "Douka" (corresponding to copper). Kinka and Ginka deem it very likely.
• The Ménage à 3 spinoff Sticky Dilly Buns features sisters Amber and Ruby, hitting this trope and also Colourful Theme Naming.
• In Monsterful the entire Gem family have literal jewel names, Sapphire, Ruby, Onyx, Topaz, Diamond and Pearl.

Web Animation

• RWBY: Emerald is named after the semi-precious stone, and her hair is green to match the name. Cleopatra, whom Emerald resembles, was said to have been both obsessed with and cursed by emeralds.

Web Videos

• Noob has sisters going by the Online Alias of Saphir and Rubis, respectively "sapphire" and "ruby" in French.

Western Animation

• The Flintstones (as well as the Rubbles, Mr. Slate, Joe Rockhead, etc.). They are a modern stone-age family.
• The Guatemala Clan in Gargoyles are named Zafiro, Turquesa, Obsidiana, and Jade. They're Spanish, but you can probably figure out what they mean.
• In My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, rock farmers Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz have four children: Marble Pie, Limestone Pie, Maud Pie, and Pinkie Pie.
• Pearlie had a mild case of this, with the main characters being named Pearlie, Opal, Jasper, and Sapphira.
• Sofia the First: In Enchancia, there is a small recurring trend of naming characters after precious stones. This includes Ruby and Jade—Sofia's best friends from the village, Princess Amber, and the Griffin guards of the Royal Treasure Room—Jasper, Onyx, and Opal.
• The Crystal Gems in Steven Universe are named Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, with Steven's mother Rose Quartz being a former member. This extends to their entire race, and each has a gemstone which resembles their namesake and is their actual body. Since Steven is a half human/gem hybrid, he averts this and has a conventional Earth name. (Though his middle name is "Quartz".)
• On Trollz, almost all the characters have rock, mineral and/or gemstone-themed first names. To name some examples:
  • The BFFL (the main five characters) are named Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire, Topaz and Onyx—their boyfriends are named Coal (for Amethyst), Rock (for Ruby), Alabaster (for Sapphire), Jasper (for Topaz) and Flint (for Onyx) and their main rivals are named Coral, Opal and Jade.
  • One possible exception to this trope is a minor character named Nicki—while not confirmed, it's possible that "Nicki" is short for 'Nickeline', a type of mineral containing 43.9% nickel and 56.1% arsenic.

Real Life

• A group of east-west streets running parallel to each other around downtown Albuquerque are named for various minerals. North to south, they are Copper Avenue, Gold Avenue, Silver Avenue, Lead Avenue, Coal Avenue, and Iron Avenue.
• Philadelphia has a few clusters of streets named for precious or semiprecious stones. The most prominent is in Kensington and Port Richmond, where there's a series of streets running rougly parallel to Kensington Avenue called Jasper, Emerald, Coral, Amber, and Agate Streets.

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