MONDAY MEME TIEM?

[outfoxy]

Another simple character meta meme to get the juices flowing and distract you from getting actual work done on your Monday.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

What does your character's name mean? What language is it in? Did you know what it meant before I asked the question? Do you like what it means, hate it, do you think it's accurately reflective of the character who owns it? Think the original creator gave the character their name with pointed intent? Share whatever you want about your character's name, as much or as little as you want!

Just tell us: WHAT DOES YOUR CHARACTER'S NAME MEAN?

Comments

[everyonetakes]

Apparently the meaning of Kate is pure, which makes me laugh a little and would make Kate laugh A LOT. I'd never given the meaning of her name much thought before, although I did go out of my way to decide her name is just Kate, not short for anything, because in canon when someone asks if they can call her Katherine she seems to find the idea pretty stupid.

[likeblueblazes]

I can't imagine anyone calling Kate 'Katherine' without getting thoroughly trounced with snark. XD

[everyonetakes]

The guy who asks her is this creepy rich dude trying to buy her love~ and her response is, "What? Like Tom Cruise tried to change Katie to Kate?" XD

[likeblueblazes]

Ophelia is actually one of my favorite names and part of the reasons why I was so drawn to her character in the first place. It means 'help,' which is really fascinating considering her relationship with Flavia and just makes me that much more attached to her. And, of course, it comes from the Shakespeare play Hamlet, which is also fitting because of how dramatic Feely can be. I'm positive she was named to emphasize her character and I love it.

[pontmercyfriend]

Marius has a couple of different meanings, being derived from the Latin word for "male," the name of the Roman god of war, and being a male form of Maria, which I love because of this fabulous essay I can't remember where I found emphasizing how in Les Miserables, Marius actually represents feminine traits/a herione's journey more than that of a typical romantic leading man, which is totally how I view Marius as a character. Also, I headcanon the name of Marius' mother as Marie and the idea that he was named after his mother, because I have a lot of feelings about Marius and his family that I will spare you from essaying about here. And as Victor Hugo is as dead as most of his characters, I do what I want~

[outfoxy]

渦巻鳴門

In Japanese, uzumaki is a vortex-shape or a whirlpool, and naruto means maelstrom, although together the characters can mean a cataracts in a river also. The first represents the 'spiral' theme of the character and the second represents his incredibly powerful personality.

For a bonus, naruto is also a type of pink and white spiral-patterned kamaboko, or fish cake, which is very popular in soup in Japan.

[priordivergence]

Kamaboko, particularly naruto, are pretty much my favorite ramen topping ever and it deeply saddens me that most of the time I only get two slices.

[goodfella]

Robin is a diminutive of Robert, which means ... famous, basically. Thurman clearly named him after the existing public domain character, Robin Goodfellow, from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Goodfellow is more of a title than a name. The name itself means a ... good companion, obviously. But used as a title it more often means you're being ironic and calling someone a crook. Which is what Robin is. So.

CASSANDRA CAIN

[tempusfrangit]

What does your character's name mean: It means shining upon man.
What language is it in?: Greek!
Do you like what it means?: Yes. There is this sort of thing in the comics where Cassandra was made from duty and by design. She is a creation. She is born to literally become one thing. I kind of like the idea that the Cassandra that Cain thinks about is One Who Is All, a gift that shines down upon the League.
Creator Intent: IT'S COMICS SO CLEARLY THEY JUST WENT HER DAD'S SURNAME BEGINS WITH C SO GO THROUGH C NAMES FOR DOUBLE INITIALS.
MISC: The name she is known by the assassins is One Who Is All. Which to me means the perfect weapon, the perfect assassin who embodies everything.

[guidedrecall]

Barnaby means 'son of encouragement.' Which ... actually fits really well, as both of Barnaby's parents hoped for him to grow up to help the world and were kind, wonderful, loving individuals who encouraged him in every way until they got murdered.

Apparently Barnaby is a pretty popular name in Hungary. Who knew?

[phosphor]

奥村燐

In Japanese, okumura means 'the heart of the village' and rin, in this case, means 'phosphorus.' Phosphorus is from the Greek, meaning morning star, which is also what lucifer means. Lucifer is one of Rin's brothers.

As a bilingual bonus, the character for rin is made up of two other characters, oni (which means demon) and bi (which means fire.) 'Onibi' is a popular Japanese term for what in English we call a will-o'-the-wisp.

[daughterofushas]

Rayo's name was made up for her canon, and as far as I can tell it doesn't mean anything. Yay fantasy literature.

INCIDENTALLY THOUGH her mother's name does have real-world meaning. Ushas is the name of a Vedic goddess, which is appropriate because Rayo describes her at one point as her only true goddess.

[a_littlefaith]

Beth means God is my oath, which surprises me not at all. I expect it was picked deliberately, given her father's devotion to religion. Of his children, Beth seems to be the one most willing to live with her father's overprotective nature and, like him, would consider herself a fairly religious person.

She is all about faith; faith in God, in the kindness of others, in herself, in her family. It's a big deal for her and I think her name is pretty fitting.

[cest_la_v]

Well for me, that's a bit of a cheat as Naoko Takeuchi actually gave every Guardian's name a specific meaning, and Minako's full name Aino Minako can be translated as "Beautiful Child of Love," rather fitting for the guardian of Venus.

Here's An Etymology

[neither_a_nor_b]

Bay's name, I'm pretty sure, refers to the Bay or Laurel Tree. I have no idea if the creators of Switched at Birth planned this but what's interesting is that, in Greek mythology, the nymph Daphne was transformed into a Bay tree.

The original name Bay would have had if she hadn't been switched in the hospital? Daphne.

[consciencedcowardice]

Jax's full name is Jackson Nathaniel Teller. Nathaniel, his middle name, apparently means "Gift of God," which suits him if you squint. Both he, his brother, and son were born with a heart defect and while his brother Tommy died, Jax lived.

Jackson, of course, means Son of Jack, which is a nickname for John. A lot of the conflicts in Jax's life have to do with whether or not he's John Teller's son or Clay Morrow's and what his role is among the Sons of Anarchy.

[ghost_holder]

So, Agatha's first name actually means "good" and is shared with more than a few Christian martyrs. What a fitting name for a young Puritan girl.

Aggie's last name, Prenderghast, is also the origin of her username. It can translate as "ghost catcher" or "ghost holder."

[priordivergence]

So, per behindthename.com, Beatrice's name derives from the Latin word Viatrix, a female traveler, but was probably changed to sound like the Latin Beatus, meaning blessed. Beatrice has gone through quite a journey in the last year and her blessedness suits her in a family that prizes goodness and selflessness.

[marsflamesniper]

Though there is some debate over this since her given name in written in katakana, Hino Rei generally is agreed to mean "soul of fire." Which is fantastic, considering her main attack is Fire Soul. Another translation is also "cool (冷)," which I enjoy as an alternative, given her nature.

The Chinese version writes her name with the character for beauty (麗), which fits as well as she's referred to in the series as a "cool beauty with a hot temper."

[vivememorleti]

浦原 喜助

The characters in urahara are ura, or sandy beach, and hara, or grassy plain, but when read together, urahara is the Japanese word for something that appears different than what it is, or something contrary. The name Kisuke means 'fond assistant,' or 'pleasant helper.' In this case, what you see is pretty much what you get. As an archetypal trickster mentor, Kisuke will help you, you're just going to wish he'd stop helping you.

[daughterofushas]

I read that description of what urahara means and my brain is instantly like, "So basically, calenture. Be very afraid."

[reformingfury]

David is old Hebrew for "beloved," and is of course the name of the Biblical king. The David of the Old Testament is also known for having been a shepherd, a soldier, a musician and a poet. Dave isn't really kingly, in that he's more a follower than a leader, but he was (horrifically) crowned king at his junior prom.

Honestly, I like the idea of him as a shepherd and a soldier more. Ever since he Bullywhips, he loves protecting people, especially the ones he cares about.

[godless_son]

Castiel is Enochian...I guess?

He's the Angel of Thursday or the Angel of Tears and Solitude if you go from the original Cassiel.

Uhhhhhhh he really isn't much of a crier and is more the Angel of Following Dean Around and Making Poor Decisions.

[spirit_of_vitriol]

The Angel of Thursday is making me crack up.

[selfmadevamp]

Well, what do you have to say, behindthename dot com:

From the Greek name Αικατερινη (Aikaterine). The etymology is debated: it could derive from the earlier Greek name ‘Εκατερινη (Hekaterine), which came from ‘εκατερος (hekateros) "each of the two"; it could derive from the name of the goddess HECATE; it could be related to Greek αικια (aikia) "torture"; or it could be from a Coptic name meaning "my consecration of your name". In the early Christian era it became associated with Greek καθαρος (katharos) "pure", and the Latin spelling was changed from Katerina to Katharina to reflect this.

Each of the two works for a doppelganger; torture works because haha she is a bad person; pure we commence laughing hysterically.

if it's "torture" than her name is "torture pierce" ha ha

[herownway]

Things I am learning today! "Jessica" was first used in Merchant of Venice as the name of Shylock's daughter. So, uh... I got nothing.

no wait I got it check it: DOC SHYLOCK i am a riot

Uh, and it comes from "Iscah" which means "to behold," so, BEHOLD I guess. Iscah was the name of Abraham's niece, who does not have any Arcade Fire songs written about her.

[kaitmaree]

ABBY – probably short for 'Abigail', although I like to run with whatever canon gives me and so I just kept it at that. It, traditionally, means father's joy and in a biblical context refers to King David's third wife in the Old Testament, described as 'good in discretion and beautiful in form.' The beautiful part fits, but the rest I'd say not so much. Matches Amy well, though! Probably chosen for that reason.

KATHY H - Pure. NLMG names break my heart because they are assigned pretty arbitrarily, a means of keeping track of clones until they are old enough to serve their ultimate purpose. For a good part of the book Kathy is pretty pure, and pretty naive at that, and I'd say this suits her pretty well. She's a very good person, even if it often works against her and means others get the upper hand.

MINDY LAHIRI - Mindy Kaling was named after Mork and Mindy, the only US television that her Indian immigrant parents had seen. I'd say in canon this is probably the same. Lahiri was inspired by Jhumpa Lahiri and is of Hindu origin.

FINNICK ODAIR - Finnick is a made up name. Some attribute this to "Finicky" in reference to his finickiness re: his appearance, but as I know that he's not actually at all self involved, I think it's probably a play on Finn (apt for a boy from a fishing district). Finn is of Gaelic descent and means "small, blonde soldier" (apt for the youngest THG victor in the history of the Games) and Odair is probably a spin on Adair, meaning "spear" in Old English.

AVERY CROSS - Avery was derived from Alfred, fitting as his father is named Al. It derives from elf and counsel. The counsel part fits, at least.

AIMEE FINECKY - Beloved. She'd argue it doesn't fit, but here's to that changing in Darrow.

And, for fun,

TOBIAS EATON - Tobias means the goodness of God. Fear God Alone is painted on his apartment wall back in Dauntless, and as someone who fights to overcome his fears though they never go away, to live in spite of them, I think it's pretty accurate.

[fundamentally]

John means God is gracious. It's originally a Hebrew name, Yochanan which was Latinised to Iohannes. John is the English version but nearly every romance language (and quite a few other languages) have some sort of version of it. I knew what it meant beforehand and I don't think the meaning of it fits him much, but the fact that John is so very common is fitting. He's meant to be a sort of generic everyman type character. So, in that way it's very fitting.

[criminal_love]

Eric is from the Old Norse name Eiríkr, derived from the elements ei "ever" and ríkr "ruler". Preston is an English surname that means priest town. Neither really feels particularly fitting to me. He's no kind of ruler, nor is he religious. I don't really think Scott heim picked the name with the meanings in mind. I don't know, though.