Name Patterns in Anime

[rocklobster]

According to an article I read in Anime Insider, in many anime and manga titles, the characters' names often follow patterns. I didn't realize this until I read that. Here are some patterns I've noticed since then. (Note: Blue patterns are mentioned in the article)
[color=Navy]EVA: WWII warships
Full Metal Alchemist: The Military members are named after military aircraft.
[color=Black]The homunculi are named after the Seven Deadly Sins.
Please Save My Earth: All the "moon characters" (and some of the Earth ones) have Japanese names for flowers: Sakura, Gyorukan (Chinese marigold), Shion (aster), Shushuran (begonia), etc
[color=Navy]Scrapped Princess: Many characters have names associated with firearms.
[color=Black]Inuyasha: All the members of the Band of Seven have names ending in "kotsu". According to an answer to a letter in AI, this is because kotsu is Japanese for bones. Appropriate, considering how Naraku found them.
Burst Angel: all the heroines were named after the heroines in Little Women. (OK, Gypsy pointed out that one, but still...)
Mew Mew Power: In the original version, all the heroines are named after food. Our version, of course, Americanizes the names and thus doesn't use the pattern. (someone pointed this out to me in the chatroom)
So what other patterns have you noticed?

[Mr. SmartyPants]

ROFL! Scrapped princess? NAMES OF FIREARMS????

Imagine:
"HEY! HEY FRANCHI! IT'S ME! BARETTA!"
"OH BARETTA MY LOVE! HOW I MISSED YOU SO!"
"WATCH IT! FRANCHI IS MINE!"
"Huwah, Stechkin! Why are YOU here?"
"Making sure you don't take my man. You filly scum Baretta"


Anyway I checked ANN, they have characters named Casull, Steyr, Armalite, Peters-Stahl. They even have people named "Galil" (IMI) and "Sokom" (Socom)

Hilarious! I think I'm going to check Scrapped Princess out now.

[Tancos]

A couple I've come across:

In Kamichu!, the characters' family names contain numbers.

In what promises to be a really bizarre OVA, Strike Witches, the characters are named for fighter pilots.

[Debitt]

A few of the characters in Magical Knights of Rayearth named after cars. IE Ascot, Eagle, Lantis, etc...

Also, Ibaragi Douji and Minamoto no Raikou are both figures in Japanese folklore, as well as characters in Tactics.

[yukinon]

Well, there's the obvious answer of the professors in Pokemon all having tree names.

[Puguni]

Sailor Moon. Enough said.

[Radical Dreamer]

Sailor Moon. Enough said.

Ditto. XD

[Bap]

I think in Fruits Basket, the majority of the Zodiac's names are based off the months or something. o:

[TrigunX89]

A lot of DBZ characters were named after food and other random things, if I'm not mistaken. Gohan = rice.

[Aka-chan]

A lot of the DBZ characters just have really, really random names.

Gundam Wing had a big number thing going on, and in a variety of languages.

[RedMage]

The names of the "Paper Sisters" Michelle, Maggie and Anita in in R.O.D. the TV were inspired by three famous Honk Kong actresses: Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh and the late Anita Mui.

[Tommy]

Bibidi, Babidi, Buu.

[Ichigo_89]

Bibidi, Babidi, Buu.

lol, Good stuff

[Animus Seed]

A lot of the DBZ characters just have really, really random names.

Not so! Every group in DbZ is actually a pattern:

The Son family; the pattern here should be obvious:

Son Gokou
Son Gohan
Son Goten

The Briefs are all named after underwear:
Dr. Briefs
Bulma/Buruma (bloomers)
Trunks
Bulla/Bra

The Ginyu Force are all dairy word-plays:
Ginyu ("milk")
Recoome (cream)
Jeice (cheese)
Burta (butter)
Gurd (yogurt)

The changelings:
King Cold, Freeza, Coola

Namekians ("namek-sa-jin," snail people):

Dende ("denden," slug)
Nail (snail)
Cargo (escargot)

And, the biggie:

Saiyan (Saiyajin) is a play on "yasai-jin," vegetable-people:

Vegeta (duh)
Kakkarotto (carrot)
Nappa (a kind of cabbage)
Bardock (burdock roots)
Radditz (radish)
Turles (turnip)
Paragus (asparagus, duh)
Brolly (broccoli)
The trend continues with Bardock's crew in his special, but the only one whose name I remember is Toma.

All Piccolo's men back in Dragonball (sans Z) are named after instruments, and so on.

This makes every character's "faction" immediately recognizable by their names. It also helped Akira Toriyama come up with new names for characters, and helps in the same way if you're ever writing a fanfic. (I had a Saiyan one time I named Taitope--i.e., potato. And so on.)

[Myoti]

It would take a whole other thread just to name all the patterns in One Piece, though it does follow a similar pattern to Dragon Ball (which makes sense, since Oda was influenced by Akira and all).

-The Baroque Works have codenames according to numbers (males) and holidays (females).
-The Priests of Skypiea are named from sort of religious forms or something (don't recall exactly what they represented).
-The Seven Warlords have an animal 'theme' (Donquixote Doflamingo, Bartholomew Bear, Sir Crocodile, Jenbei the Whale Shark, Jaquille "Hawkeyes" Mihawk) as do the members of CP9:
[SPOILER]-Lucci transforms into a leopard, Kaku turns into a giraffe (and often comments on how he likes them), Jabra turns into a wolf, Blueno's hair looks like bull horns, Kalifa has a technique which makes her look like a sheep, Fukurou talks about being an 'owl' and his very name means 'owl', Kumadori talks about being like a 'lion' (though his name actually means "bear-bird), Spandam has a name and appearance like a panda (and carries a sword that turns into an elephant).
[/SPOILER]
-The Supreme Admirals have a basis of an old myth about three animals (Blue Pheasant, Red Dog, and Yellow Monkey).

Even ones not in a 'pattern' still have interesting meanings behind their names and appearances, like:
-Monkey D. Luffy, who's name is based off a ship term ("luff," which is something to do with the air being cut at the front of the ship, which is where Luffy always sits) and he has an appearance not unlike that of a monkey.
-Rorona Zoro is based off two famous swordsman, the French "L'Ollonois" and (obviously) the masked-man "Zorro."
-Nami's name is actually a refrence to a Norse myth or such, I believe, having to do with a character who could control the weather (not totally sure on the details of this one).
-Usopp's name ("uso") means "lie" in Japanese (which Usopp does quite a bit) and he's made to look a bit like Pinnocchio (who also was famous for lying). In another connection, Usopp works to become a "brave warrior of the sea," much as Pinnocchio tried to become a "real boy."

There are other odd refrences in names of attacks and locations, like how Zoro's attacks are often animal based AND have some sort of Japanese pun connected to them, like "Onigiri" (Demon Slash) which sounds like the word for "riceball," and "Tora Gari" (Tiger Hunt) which sounds similar to a phrase meaning "uneven hair style." =p

[Aka-chan]

Not so! Every group in DbZ is actually a pattern:

etc.

I stand corrected. That's really interesting. I had been thinking of Yamcha at that time (whose name alludes to "mischief"), and couldn't fit him into a pattern; I hadn't thought through all the others (never got that into DBZ).

Myoti, "Nami" means "wave" in Japanese; might it be no more than that, or is it another pun? (The "onigiri" one made me laugh for SO long when I first read it in the manga.)

[Myoti]

Myoti, "Nami" means "wave" in Japanese; might it be no more than that, or is it another pun? (The "onigiri" one made me laugh for SO long when I first read it in the manga.)

It's a dual meaning, I believe. I knew about the "wave" part for the longest time, but it was only recently that I head better explanation behind the name, so it probably just means both.

And ditto on the "onigiri" part. XD

[Animus Seed]

[quote="Aka-chan"]I stand corrected. That's really interesting. I had been thinking of Yamcha at that time (whose name alludes to "mischief"), and couldn't fit him into a pattern]

The old DB crew that sticks around for DbZ are all named after food:

Yamucha="dim sum." In the older DbZ episode dubs before FUNi got them, there's an odd pun made by King Kai about Yamcha and dim sum that doesn't make sense because it didn't translate well at all. I don't remember it, but it was something like, "Yamcha my chum did some good, and then some dim sum" or something similarly unintelligible.

Oolong (that pig guy) and Puar (that floating cat thingy) are both types of tea.

Tenshinhan ("Tien" in the dub) and Chiaotzu are both also some sort of food, but I don't remember what kind.

[Wise Dragon]

You guys left out the "Spice Boys" from dbz. Me and my friends still make fun of that one.

[yukinon]

Whaaat? nuh uh!

[Animus Seed]

You guys left out the "Spice Boys" from dbz. Me and my friends still make fun of that one.

Oh, yeah. Well, I never considered them canon.

(For those who care: They were Garlic Jr., Mustard, Vinegar, Spice... I might be forgetting one.)

It's really sad that I both know and remember this much about Dragonball Z. It wasn't very good, but for some reason I loved it anyway.

[Geirr]

:lol: ROFL! Scrapped princess? NAMES OF FIREARMS????
[...]
Anyway I checked ANN, they have characters named Casull, Steyr, Armalite, Peters-Stahl. They even have people named "Galil" (IMI) and "Sokom" (Socom)

There's also Browning, Mauser, and "Shizu" (CZ.)

[teigeki_calesa]

I did notice a trend in the last names of the five main heroes in Beyblade. It seems that they contain the element that their Bit Beasts represent.

In the Sakura Taisen games, the girls were named either after flowers or heavenly bodies/stars.

[termyt]

Not surprisginly, Sailor Moon also followed this trend.

Usagi Tsukino = Moon Rabbit (references a Japanese legend about a rabbit who lives on the moon) Even her English name Serena may have been derived from Selene - the Greek goddess of the moon.

Ami Mizuno = Asian Beauty of Water (The Mizu" kanji character can also be read "sui" in Japanese. Suisei is Japanese for the planet Mercury)

Rei Hino = Spirit of Fire ("Hi" can also be read as "Ka" is the root of kasei - the Japanese word for Mars).

Makoto Kino = Sencerity of Wood ("Ki" can also be read "moku" and mokusei is Japanese for Jupiter)

Minako Aino = Beautiful Child of Love. (Her name does not follow the planet naming convention because she came first in her Sailor V comic)

The others follow a similar pattern. If you are truly interested, look it up like I did. ^_^