Character Name meanings?, Ideas/research on what they might mean Options

[Mizukithepanda]

After playing this game for a while I started wondering, "Just what do these names mean? Why were they named the way they were?" And so I started researching to see what I could find on each of their names. Obviously, some aren't as common as others and on some you can't be sure whether it was derived from a European/"Western" language or from Japanese and just butchered to make a western sounding name. And then there's characters like Chen whose names are obviously Chinese or some other non-Japanese Asian language. I've made a list with every character that I know of in the game and a possible name meaning, but I'd like to hear if y'all know other meanings or can clear up some areas where I'm not certain.



Bachelorettes:

Freyja: lady, mistress (the name of the Norse Goddess of Love and Beauty)

Anemone: wind (the name of a nymph who was turned into a wind-flower)

Enju: If related to the western name "Ange" then "angel", if derived from Japanese Enju then it could mean "flame gem", "flame tree", "princess gem", or "angel" (using the kanji for tenshi). In this case, angel seems most likely.

Kagetsu: bright moon, sweet moon, summer moon, flower moon, etc. most often seen with "月" as one of the kanji

Shelfer: since there's no one really named this... I derived it from the literal word "shelf" which is something upon which you place an object. Shelfer could be a misspelling of "shelver" which means one who makes shelving or it could mean something along the lines of "one to sit things upon" and thus "one to place others' burdens upon" or "one who will take on others' burdens" (please keep in mind that I'm being quite liberal here - this is nothing but conjecture)



Bachelors:

Juris: depending on whether you go "JuRis" or "JuLis" it could mean either "farmer" or "descended from Jupiter" - personally, I think both of these are wrong.

Lloyd: gray-haired

Agi: if western, from Agnes - good, honorable, pure; if from Japanese - throne/crown, Asia-ceremony, a Catalpa tree

Dirka: if from Dirk - king of nations. "Dirka dirka" is also a nonsense word from a movie to simulate "Islamic" speech.

Schmidt: blacksmith, worker - a very unusual name to give to an obviously non-European boy



Townspeople:

Clare (alternatively Claire, Clair, or Crea): clear, bright

Wilbur: wild boar

Kevin: little comely one

Erich: ever-ruler

Merini: a tough name to place... if from Melanie - black, dark. Otherwise, I have no idea.

Mina: short form of Wilhelmina meaning "will-helmet" or an unusual name meaning "mine", also has many prettier meanings in Japanese

Felix: happy, lucky

Isaac: he will laugh

Nerine: if European - sea sprite or water; if Japanese - no known meaning, used for phonetics only

Sigyn: possibly from Norse root sigr meaning "victory"

Laramie: tears of love

Sania: splendid

Stewart: house guard, steward

Pierre: rock, stone

Chen: true, real

Goran: mountain man (can also be a form of George, meaning farmer)

Mucho, Hucho, and Lucho: I am of the honest opinion that they were named this purely based on the fact that they are "Mexican" and the names rhyme, not because the names have any particular meaning. However, "mucho" means "more, very much" in Spanish while "lucho" reminds me of "lucha" which is wrestling. Hucho, strangely enough, is a genus of fish. Who the heck knows what they were thinking when they named these guys...

[Harvest Sprite]

I'm amazed I skipped over this topic, its a really interesting read. There is an Anju in Zelda Majora's Mask, which may be similar to Enju. I like when they keep the romanized japanese names in games.

[showchoirgirl]

I was able to find:

Freyja: woman; Norse origin
Anemone: breath; Greek origin
Juris: earth worker; Greek and Latvian origin (form of Georg)
Lloyd: gray; Welsh origin
Clare: clear; English origin
Wilbur: trusted; German origin (corresponds with the English name Gilbert)
Kevin: handsome, beautiful; Celtic/Gaelic origin
Mina: south; Japanese origin
Felix: happy and prosperous; Latin origin
Issac: he will laugh (same thing you got); Hebrew origin
Laramie: tears of love (same); French origin
Stewart: keeper of the estate (pretty much the same); English orgin (adaptation of Stuart)--- I think he's an innkeeper, right? So this would make sense.
Pierre: a rock (same); French origin
Chen: dawn; Chinese origin

I'm guessing knowing the origin could help understand the meaning a little...

I'm just using www.name-meanings.com, though... I'll edit if I can find anymore.

[Mizukithepanda]

Yeah, most of those meaning are essentially the same, with the exception of Wilbur, I guess. (And Chen, but that name is obviously Chinese, so pretty much any meaning is just one of many.) As for Mina, I think I mentioned that there were loads of prettier meanings in Japanese. South (from the word Minami) is only one.

Actually... there was a reason I didn't post the Japanese meanings. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cowclosed.gif) There are like... 85+ different kanji spellings for Mina. It was just way too much to put into a single post for a single character. However, I have compiled here a list of all the different Japanese variations of Mina that I know. You'll have to forgive me for not adding the meanings, but it was hard enough to compile this list without succumbing to the urge to kill myself. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cowclosed2.gif)

水
未来
水無
聖
み菜
果菜
海夏
海花
海七
海渚
海那
海南
海名
観奈
見奈
見名
己奈
光夏
光奈
光那
三菜
三七
三尚
三奈
実菜
実成
実奈
実那
実名
珠菜
心奈
心那
臣奈
身奈
水菜
水雫
水奈
水南
瑞七
聖菜
聖奈
聖名
聖和
瞳奈
南 - this is the one you pointed out.
南凪
美夏
美菜
美七
美樹
美成
美直
美奈
美那
美凪
美捺
美南
美波
美苗
美名
美娜
峰奈
望菜
望奈
望凪
満菜
未菜
未成
未奈
未那
未凪
未南
未納
魅茄
魅己
魅菜
魅奈
魅那
巳奈
民河
弥菜
弥奈
弥那
陽夏
緑奈
茉奈

*dies* There are just too many! *wracking sobs*

I'm sure you'll notice though, that there are several general kanji they stick to in their variations. That's because the Japanese name Mina is comprised of two solitary syllables, not just a word. "Mi" is a reading (or a partial reading) for many different Kanji as is "Na". Most will just be combinations of these kanji and their meanings. It's kind of like on Kagetsu. There were actually many more meanings for Kagetsu that I didn't list because it was just too much work for one character.

Anyway, thank you for the awesome input! I had been thinking that I was the only one who would do any research on this topic. :D

[showchoirgirl]

Whew, that's a lot of different ways to spell Mina!

Ah, you're welcome. I like looking up the meanings of names. It's interesting (especially if the meaning is a character trait) to see if a person (or in this case game character) conforms to the characteristic of their name.