What’s in a Name? Animal Crossing Villagers Finale (U-Z) Plus Special Characters

Ursala

Name (Western/Japanese)	Onomatology (West/JP)	Catchphrase
Ursala; ネーヤ, Neeya	Pun on the Latin and Portuguese word ursa, meaning bear, and the name Ursula; Derived from 姉さん, nēsan, which means big sister. Ursala does have the “sisterly” personality. To be honest, Ursala is a much more inspired name	“grooomph”
Vesta; メリヤス, Meriyasu	Reference to vests, which are sometimes made out of wool; It means knitting in Japanese	“baaaffo”

Vesta

Name (Western/Japanese)	Onomatology (West/JP)	Catchphrase
Wart Jr.; サム, Samu	Reference to how frogs can have warts, as well as a reference to Wart from Mario; I admit that I don’t have any concrete sources for the little guy’s JP name, but I have three guesses. 1. Reference to the early Jim Henson and Jane Nabel live action/puppet sketch show Sam and Friends. 2. Reference to Sam Elliot, who appeared in the movie Frogs. 3. Reference to samurai, considering his outfit and décor. Looking at his house especially, I’m convinced that this guess is the most accurate	“grr-ribbit”
Willow; マリー Marī	Possible reference to the golden willow, a variant of white willow, referencing her golden wool; Reference to Mary Had a Little Lamb	“bo peep”

Willow

Name (Western/Japanese)	Onomatology (West/JP)	Catchphrase
Zucker; タコヤ, Takoya	Reference to the suckers on octopus tentacles; Reference to the Japanese food takoyaki, which he very much resembles. And yes, octopus takoyaki exists	“bloop”

Zucker

Before we bid farewell to this subject in the context of AC, I thought it would be fun to look at the names of special AC characters as well.

Name (Western/Japanese)	Onomatology (West/JP)
Bianca; あやしいねこ, ayashī neko	Reference to her blank face; You may want to sit down for this, because ayashī neko literally means… Suspicious Cat in Japanese. Art.
Blathers; フータ, Fūta	So named for his tendency to, well, blather on; It means hooter in Japanese

Blathers

Name (Western/Japanese)	Onomatology (West/JP)
Booker; おまわりさんB・もんばんさんA, Omawari-san B; Monban-san A	Reference to how police officers book suspects; Literally Policeman A or Gatekeeper B

Booker

Name (Western/Japanese)	Onomatology (West/JP)
Brewster; マスター, Masutā	Reference to brewed coffee; Reference to his status as a brewmaster
C.J.; ジャスティン, Jasutin	Reference to Chip, the host of fishing tournaments in previous games. Could C.J. be Chip’s son?; He’s a beaver. Named Justin. Eh? Ehh?

C.J. is much cuter than Chip. My tea is hot

Name (Western/Japanese)	Onomatology (West/JP)
Celeste; フーコ Fūko	Reference to the stars above, which she helps the player observe via the museum observatory; Likely a portmanteau of the Japanese word for owl and the feminine name suffix -ko

Celeste

Name (Western/Japanese)	Onomatology (West/JP)
Copper; おまわりさんA・もんばんさんB Omawari-san A; Monban-san B	Reference to, well, cops; Literally Policeman B or Gatekeeper A. Jeez, no wonder they were renamed in other regions
Digby; ケント, Kento	Probable reference to how dogs like to bury things; Reference to the Chinese word for dog (ken)
Gulliver; ジョニー Jonī	Reference to Gulliver’s Travels; It means journey in Japanese
Isabelle; しずえ Shizue	Isabelle is a name that references “beauty”, and I thought that in this context it was referencing Isabelle’s cuteness… but take a closer look at her design. Her name is a reference to how a bag of bells looks; Reference to her and Digby’s species (Shih Tzu)
Jack; パンプキング, Panpukingu	Reference to jack-o’-lanterns; It means “Pumpking”
Katie; まいこちゃん, Maiko-chan	Reference to kitty; Reference to maigo (“lost child”, which she frequently is)
Katrina; ハッケミィ, Hakkemī	Reference to “cat” (specifically, she’s a panther, the only one thus far in the series); Reference to the Bagua, the Eight Trigrams in Taoist cosmology
Kicks; シャンク, Shanku	Reference to, well, kicks (shoes); Portmanteau of shoe and skunk

Kicks

Name (Western/Japanese)	Onomatology (West/JP)
Pascal; ラコスケ, Rakosuke	Possible reference to French philosopher, or the unit of measurement of the same name; Rako is Japanese for otter, and -suke is a Japanese masculine name suffix
Tom Nook; たぬきち Tanukichi	Both of his names reference the fact that he is a tanuki
Wisp; ゆうたろう, Yūtarō	Reference to will-o’-the-wisp; Portmanteau of yurei (“ghost”) and the masculine name suffix -taro

Wisp. He kinda looks like a Boo from Mario, doesn’t he?

My takeaway from the special character names is that I wasn’t prepared for how literal a lot of their names are in Japanese.