Meaning behind Names

Daenerys

Daenerys

The Last Dragon
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All final Fantasy games have a character whos name has a subtle meaning to something, so this thread is to discuss them :P

FFVI

Terra - in Latin Terra means Earth, which i think is a reference to the fact that Terra is the bridge between two worlds, esper and human.

FFVII

Aerith - in japanese Aerith means Earth, a rather obvious reference to the fact that Aerith is important to the planet and the fact she saves the world and all that :P also - Additionally, in Greek mythology, Aeris (Eris) is the goddess of Strife, adding a subtle layer to her connection to the game's hero, Cloud Strife, which just gives the whole Clerith thing an extra boost :P

Cloud - possibly because he wanders lonely as a cloud? okay, that sucked. i know Cloud was called cloud for some reason. i just can't think of it right now.

FFVIII

Squall - means Wind or something right? why do you think Squall was given this name?

FFIX

Vivi - as pointed out in the Vivi name thread. Vivi in spanish and Vivre and french mean "to live" which i think is a cruel Irony, if you think about it.

FFX

Tidus - means Tide? connection to Blitzball? and his connection to the Moon...

Yuna - Means Moon? which shows her connection to Tidus?

okay my summaries suck. its too early in the morning :lol: come up with your own or discusss the ones i brought up :)
 
Squall means a gush of wind, not lightning.
Yeah, I read the dictionary, so sue me. XD

Anyways, yeah, I've practically heard all of the different explanations behind the names before already. I just don't get the hiatus for Zidane, when all the lead characters from VI onward to X, and now XIII (with Lightning), have 'elemental' names.
But yeah, it's quite noticeable that Square puts these references to the name.

Vivi's is pretty ironic, in my opinion, he 'lives' yet apparently he doesn't (from that one time with the Vivi clones)..

I can't really comment on Squall's because squalls are naturally pretty
violent and Squall was just kind of aloof to the world around him until the end and all. So it's pretty hard to make a connection there.

Tidus is the only one (quite wrong I'm sure) that I actually see something that is related to his character. The blitzball connection, in my opinion.

I'll post more later, but I can't lay my finger on all the other connections myself.
 
Cloud: Due to his obvious unstable and unpredictable mood, Cloud was given this name since weather can't be fully predicted without having a big chance of failing. That's what I think.

Squall: The heck, lightning? well there was a thunderstorm during his battle with Seifer in the FFVIII Intro Movie. And mostly the mixture of feelings inside him are unstable and unpredictable as well making Squall a really emotional character, though he hates to show freely express his feelings.
Added: Gush of Wind huh? That could apply with how unpredictable he is as well XD...

Tidus: though the apparent relationship between the meaning of his name and the water sport in which he is one of the best, I think that Square-Enix thought it was cool to add a meaning to his name related to Blitzball.

Yuna: I might be wrong but I think I read somewhere that Yuna means "moon flower". Yes, maybe it could be because that the Moonflow, the place in which Tidus and Yuna had their lovely moment (if my memory doesn't fails me), was a place that a great and deep meaning to both Tidus and Yuna.

Wakka: his name in the old Japanese dialect, means "Sun" if my memory doesn't fails me. Well he lives near the sea, and his attitude is as explosive and energetic as the Sun. Wakka always knows how to turn negative situations into positive ones (though he has problems dealing with the past).
 
Nice, apparently, you've been doing your research on everything Clerith related.
Until I read this thread, I thought her name should have been Ikebana. (Japanese word for flower arranging hobby) Eris, the goddess of Strife is a heavy blow to Cloti's, and Cluffie's like me everywhere.
 
Ah yes, I remember something now.

Tifa.
Tifa was most probably taken from the German word tiefer meaning 'deep', as in her deep personality and the (seemingly) deep qualities that she displays when she was nursing Cloud back to health.

Tiefer is pronounced exactly the same as Tifa. Ti-faa, by the way. ;)
 
So that could explain why Tifa had such a way to hold her deepest feelings to herself, even though he was actually a "Cloud" fan XD.

Yes, Tifa may seem a bit tomboy and strong at first but deep inside she is kind and cares for others greatly.
 
I'm sure Tidus comes from the Japanese "tiida" which means "Sun". So, it goes hand in hand with "Yuna", "Moon".
 
We would be best just looking at FFCompendium as they have a whole list of characters and possible meanings behind their names.
 
You forgot to mention Sephiroth.
Sephiroth supposedly has this HUGE description of meaning. Something about angels and whatnot. =x
 
Grand_Lethal said:
I'm sure Tidus comes from the Japanese "tiida" which means "Sun". So, it goes hand in hand with "Yuna", "Moon".
Click to expand...
yup they're Okinawan dialects. I guess that explains why Tidus is read as "Tee-dus". It's not very common of square to change names of leading characters in different versions. Maybe it's bcoz Tiida doesn't sound appealing for english gamers.
 
Cloud: Meaning poor, overcast weather. Showing the dark side of his life (i.e. Sephiroth)
Zack Fair: Contrast to Cloud. Good, bright weather.

Squall: Sort of like a flood, so to do with water. I'm not sure what the meaning is there though. Something to do with a flood of emotions or something? Yes, that was an emo joke =P.
 
Sorry Aerith Gainsborough, VIVI doesn't mean "Live" in spanish (only in Past time, and it's Viví)...well...althought your theory it's not too far...

Sephiroth, in greek mythology, is one of the 4 winds. Sephiroth is the wind of East.

Aerith....compared with Eris, greek godness of discord....I don't know what to say....Eris was bad, very bad...and Aerith is good!!! :(

And that's from myself: Ashe may means "ashes"...cuz she returned from death, like a Phoenix returned from its ashes to life again.


 
Vincent was named after an old actor named "Vincent Price". I'm not sure where the "Valentine" came in though, if it's because Square knew he was"hot" or they did it to combine his involvement with Shinra as a Turk and the "St. Valentinesday Massacre", which was done by real life gangsters.
 
I theorize Kuja's name might possibly be from the japanese word "kujaku" w/c means peacock. His hair and clothes look like a bird though. lol
 
Yuna : Japineese for beauty

Rufus: Is the color red in latin (macropus rufus is the Red Kangaroo)

Tifa: the name of a Russian desease :nerd:


Gainsborough: Aerith's surname is a second name of a famous English painter and poet
 
Name Meanings

I was wondering if anyone knew the meanings to any of the names used in the FF games if they even have meanings that is.
 
Hivan Dragonheart said:
I was wondering if anyone knew the meanings to any of the names used in the FF games if they even have meanings that is.
Click to expand...
Do you mean names in general (so like summons etc) or just the character names like; Tidus, Squall etc etc.
I'll be able to help once I know. ^_^

-Threads Merged-

Actually, I found a thread pretty much the same as this one. Feel free to continue and include the meanings behind summons etc.
 
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opps i did do a search before i posted my thread but i obviously didn't search hard enough lol. A few websites i've looked at say that Rinoa is derived from Lenore which in turn comes from Eleanore which apparently means "the other Aenor" (Aenor being an old french name cant find what it means). How confusing!
 
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