Pleasantview/Onomatology

The onomatology (meaning study of the origin of names) of the Sim characters are sometimes hilarious, but always interesting. Many of the names had been intentionally chosen for etymology reasons. Simmers have found out many of the meanings, although a large-enough portion do not mean as much as others. Some of the names came as a shock, while others didn't seem to have an onomatological relation. Not all of the names were intended for the definitions researched, but it is still interesting (and sometimes coincidental) to see what the name meanings are. This onomatology is only for the residents of Pleasantview.
==The Goth family==
Goth: Relates either to medieval times or means "an uncivilized person" or "a person without culture". The Goth name in general has some resemblance, as well. The family seems to be the oldest (making it "medieval").
*Mortimer: In French, "mort" means death. Could also mean "still water". Mortimer's name is fitting as he is an elder and technically near death.
*Bella: In Italian, "bella" means beautiful. Bella's name seems fitting because, for a Sim, she is supposed to be very beautiful (considering Don Lothario tried to "Make-Out" with her).
*Cassandra: Of Greek origins which means "One who helps mankind" or "She Who Entangles Men". In Greek myth, Cassandra was a Trojan Princess who had been given the gift of prophecy by Apollo. She spurned his advances, and Apollo cursed her so that nobody would believe her prophecies. Cassandra's name is confusing because she doesn't predict anything that nobody believed. Having two men love her could be considered entangled.
*Alexander: "Defending man". Alexander the Great was the leader who created an empire through Greece, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India. Several other rulers and kings bear the name Alexander. Alexander's name seems fitting as well. He is the smart one and the first son; meaning he could have power to take over the family (if Dina Caliente doesn't do so first).
*Gunther (Mortimer's father): "War" and "army, warrior."
*Cornelia (Mortimer's mother): From the Latin derivation cornu, which means "horn." Or possibly, Cornelia is supposed to refer to "corn" because of the rural landscape of Pleasantview's past.
*Hecuba (Cornelia's cat, female twin Siamese): Variant of the Greek name 'Hekabe' which itself is a variant of 'Hecate' and can possibly mean "Far-off". From Greek Mythology - the wife of Priam and mother of Hector, Paris, and Cassandra (along with 16 other children) in Homer's Iliad.
*Menelaus (Cornelia's cat, male twin Siamese): From Greek origin it means "withstanding the people". From Greek Mythology - the king of Sparta at the time of the Trojan War; husband of Helen and brother of Agamemnon.
*Victor (Mortimer's paternal grandfather): One definition is "a person who has overcome, a conqueror". Another definition is "a winner in any struggle or contest".
*Gretle (Mortimer's paternal grandmother): Commonly spelled Gretel; Possibly derived from a Greek work meaning "pearl". Also, in a fairy tale, Gretel and her brother Hansel were captured by witches but managed to escape. If there was a witch-like character in the Sims' games that may have kidnapped Gretle Goth, this name would make more sense.
*Frida (Mortimer's paternal aunt): "Peace".
*Lolita (relation unknown): A Spanish pet name derived from Lola, which itself is derived from Dolores ("sorrows") or Charlotte. Also refers to Gothic Lolita, a gothic variation of the Japanese fashion style Lolita.
Crumplebottom family: "Crumple" means "to bend out of shape". "Bottom" refers to "the lowest or deepest part of anything" or a but.
*Simon (Mortimer's maternal grandfather): "Hearkening" or "listening".
*Prudence (Mortimer's maternal grandmother): "Good judgement". Also connects to the word "Prude", adding to the belief that she is Ms. Crumplebottom.
*Agnes (Mortimer's maternal aunt, and supposedly Mrs. CrumpleBottom from Downtown): Meaning "chaste" or in other terms: "refraining from WooHoo which is regarded as immoral". These names fit Miss Crumplebottom. The surname, although, has not made any logical sense so it is theorized it is used only for comical reasons. She is also called "The Old Prude". A prude (Old French prude) is a person who is described as being concerned with decorum or propriety.
*Mrs. CrumpleBottom: A married woman.
*Robert Crumplebottom (Unknown relation): Popular name meaning bright fame/dull life.
Clamp family: probably from clamb, "clamp, cleat." clinch, clench, secure.
*Elmira (Mrs. Crumplebottom's niece): Shortened form of Edelmira, Spanish feminine form of Adelmar, which is the combination of adal "noble" and mar "famous". It appears in the play 'Tartuffe' (1664) by the French playwright Molière.
Darling family: "Beloved one", or "dear".
*Erik (Agnes Crumplebottom's husband): "One, alone" in Old Norse. Also perhaps he was named after musician Erik Darling.
*Ian Arneson (Elmira Clamp's nephew): The Scottish Gaelic version of John, which means God is Gracious.
Bachelor family: "an unmarried man".
*Michael (brother of Bella Goth): "Who is like God?"
*Simis (Michael's father): Pun on "Sim is" so that the name reads "Sim is Bachelor".
*Jocasta (Michael's mother): Latinized form of a Greek name. It means cheerful. Possibly used here as a pun, like Simis. Jocasta is a prominent figure in Greek mythology as the queen consort of Thebes, notorious for her role as the unwittingly incestuous wife and mother of King Oedipus in Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex".
*Milton (Michael's paternal grandfather): Old English place name from mylen + tun "mill settlement" and middel + tun "middle settlement".
*Enriqueta (Michael's paternal grandmother): A female given name, cognate to English Henrietta, which is the female form of Henry, which means home ruler.
Dina Caliente was married to Michael Bachelor before his death. Michael Bachelor's tomb remains in the Caliente home. Michael Bachelor was single in the The Sims game and was living at the time. It is seen here that there is no onomatology relationship with the game. Just a few puns, and a popular name. Another few puns are in Strangetown: "Notzo Curious" and "Zo Curious".
==The Lothario family==
Lothario: "A man who obsessively seduces and deceives women" or "a man who behaves selfishly in his WooHoo relationships with women". Lothario is also a term for any man who behaves in a way that he does. The names seem fitting, seeing as Don probably has a Spanish or Italian descent. Also, the Lothario theme still holds true for one or two of the names.
*Don: A "Don Juan" is basically a synonym for Lothario. Also, Donald (which Don is a common nickname for) means "ruler of the world". Don Lothario's name seems to be very fitting to him.
*Nicolo (Don's father): "Victory of the People".
*Adriana (Don's mother): "From Hadria". Hadria is a town in northern Italy.
*Carmelo (Don's paternal grandfather): "cultivated terrain" Spanish from Hebrew.
*Mama (Don's paternal grandmother): Slang for an attractive woman. Could also mean mama, as in a child's biological female parent.
Fiorello family: "Fiorella" is Italian for "small flower". Also, Fiorello was a name of a musical in 1959. Again the Italian/Spanish descent holds true. Notice Fiorella ends in an "a". Maxis probably wanted the name to be more masculine, changing the "a" to an "o".
*Primo (Don's maternal grandfather): Italian for "First," Spanish for "Cousin."
*Isabella (Don's maternal grandmother): Latinate form of Elizabeth
==The Caliente family==
Caliente: Literally "hot" in Spanish. Of course this literal term was comically taken for the slang term meaning "attractive". Also, in the word 'Caliente' there is the word 'alien' possibly referring to Dina and Nina's parental grandfather.
*Dina: "Judged".
*Nina: "Little girl" in Spanish. Could also possibly mean "fire" or derive from the Babylonian fertility goddess.
The Caliente surname fits both the Spanish descent inferred to this family and the attractiveness the twins have on the community. Dina and Nina's names are partially fitting, but were probably only made so that they'd rhyme for comical effect.
*Flamenco (the twins' father): Flamenco is a type of music that is a very cultural tradition to Spaniards. Flamenco sounds sort of like Flamingo, which would reflect his daughters' personalities well.
*Nighat (the twins' mother): An Arabic name meaning "sight" or "glance".
*Nestor (the twins' paternal grand"father"): "Traveler" in Greek.
*Dulcinea (Nestor's wife): Of Latin or Spanish origin, meaning sweet. Also, the name of the heroine in the book, "Don Quixote".
*Tango (the twins' paternal half-uncle): A dance originating from Spanish-colonized countries in South America.
The Caliente's sure love to dance, seen by their names. Also, the Spanish/Mediterranean descent still holds true in all of the above names. Nestor had been impregnated by aliens, making the relationship to Dulcinea and Tango seem confusing, as written above.
*Technician: Someone whose occupation involves training in specific technical process. In the Sims; the Pollination Technician is an alien that operates a UFO and abducts Sims. Somehow (using advanced technology?) these Technicians can make male Sims pregnant with an alien-like form.
*Pollination: The process by which flowers reproduce.
This was only added to note that the twins have an alien descent, and to show the etymology of the Pollination Technician name. Other known alien names (Colony Drone and Birth Queen) seem to all have to do with reproduction. It is assumed that aliens in the Sims live only for the purpose of reproducing, although it cannot be determined exactly.
Al Mahmoud family: Arabic word meaning "praiseworthy".
*Tariq (the twins' maternal grandfather): "He who pounds at the door". It is the Arabic name of the morning star.
*Benazir (the twins' maternal grandmother): An Arabic name meaning "incomparable". Benazir was the name of the prophet Mohammed's daughter.
This still retains the Mediterranean origin, seeing as the Arabic language is near the Middle-East, which is at the very east tip of the Mediterranean. Anything else about this family is unknown.
Tango is a popular dance in the Spanish-speaking countries of South America. "Tango Caliente" is when the dance turns hot. The same is true of Flamenco Caliente. In the Spanish version, however, Flamenco is changed to Farruco, and Tango to Salva, so it doesn't make much sense.
==The Broke family==
Broke: To go broke is "to become destitute of money or possession". The last name could also be a reference to "her water broke", since Brandi is pregnant when the game starts.
*Brandi: Derived from "brandy", the English name of an alcoholic drink.
*Dustin: "Thor's stone" in Old Norse.
*Beau: "Beautiful" in French.
Other than the surname, there is probably not much relation to their name meanings at all.
*Skip (Dustin and Beau's father): "To pass from one point to another, disregarding what intervenes."
*Ruby (Skip's sister): Ruby, as in ruby.
*Flat (Skip's father): Pun on Flat Broke, meaning "completely penniless".
*Flo (Skip's mother): Short for names that mean "flower, prosperous, flowering."
*Buck (Skip's paternal uncle): Old English buc, from Proto-Germanic *bukkaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bhug̑- (“ram”).
*Mary Lu (Skip's paternal aunt-by-marriage): "Bitter fame warrior"
*Trigger (Skip's paternal cousin): "To pull"
*Susie (Skip's paternal cousin:- Short for Susan, meaning "rose, lily".
Flat's name is simply to exaggerate how poor the Brokes have been in a comical way. Skip's name could have some etymology, though. According to Brandi's memories, Skip died before Beau was born. Using the definition, this means Skip passed from death to impregnate Brandi again, even though his death intervened.
Newbie family: "A newcomer or novice, an inexperienced user of computers in general".
*Bob (Brandi's father): Short for Robert, meaning "bright fame".
*Betty (Brandi's mother): Short for Elizabeth, meaning "my god is oath".
*Robert (Brandi's paternal grandfather): Short for Robert, meaning "bright fame".
*Mags (Brandi's paternal grandmother): Short for Margaret, meaning pearl.
The Newbie family was the tutorial family of the Sims 1 for "novice and inexperienced" users of the Sims. Bob's name fits, seeing as he had fame since every novice Sims player eventually played him (that is, if they followed the tutorial and the arrow pointing toward the Newbie lot). Mainly, this family has been added so that players could relate to Sims 1.
Simovitch family: "Ovitch" is a Russian suffix which means "son of". So Simovitch means "Son of Sim". 
*Vadim (Brandi's maternal grandfather): "Attractive" in Russian.
*Fatima (Brandi's maternal grandmother): "To abstain" in Arabic.
Known members of the Simovitch family have little to no relationship to their names, other than a possible Russian ancestry. The reason this family was placed here was to fill up a space for Brandi's grandparents.
==The Pleasant family==
Pleasant: "Pleasing, agreeable, enjoyable". This name was likely chosen due to the disconnect of the dysfunctional family and how they're considered to have the perfect life.
*Daniel: From a Hebrew name meaning "Judged by God" or "God is my judge".
(For Daniel's sister, Jennifer Burb, and her side of the family, please look under the Burb category)
*Mary-Sue: Mary Sue is a term for fictional characters in fan-fiction that are portrayed in an overly idealized way, and lack noteworthy or realistic flaws. Also, one of the main characters of the film Pleasantville (as opposed to Pleasantview) became named Mary Sue when she entered the titular neighborhood.
(For Mary-Sue's adoptive parents etymology, please look under the Oldie category)
*Angela: Derived from the heavenly angels.
*Lilith: "Of the night". This name was a demon in ancient Assyrian myths. In Jewish and Islamic tradition, she was Adam's first wife but was replaced by Eve. Offspring of Adam and Lillith were the evil spirits of the world.
All names seem to fit in quite nicely. The name Lillith seems to be very fitting to her character, but holds a really bad reputation. Angela's name is the most obvious, but fitting. Mary-Sue can be seen as the "wanting-to-be-perfect" role in the family. And Daniel is "judged by God" for cheating on his wife.
*Jeff (Daniel's father): Means either "territory peace", "stranger peace", "hostage peace" or "god's peace".
*Diane (Daniel's mother): Meaning "heavenly, divine"
*Les (Daniel's paternal grandfather): A pun to suggest that he was "Less Pleasant".
*Kynda (Daniel's paternal grandmother): A pun to suggest that she was "Kind of Pleasant".
No real relation there. The puns are quite hilarious, seeing as Les is a real name, short for Lester or Leslie.
Dander family: "loose scales formed on the skin and shed from the coat of feathers of various animals".
*Marshall (Daniel's maternal grandfather): Means "horse servant".
*Melinda (Daniel's maternal grandmother): Combination of "Mel" as in Melanie or Melissa and the popular suffix "inda". Means "honey" in Greek. Also means "sweet", "dark" and "serpent" in other languages. Might mean "horse" in Simlish.
==The Burb family==
Burb: Slang for "suburb" which describes Pleasantview.
*John: Popular name meaning "Yahweh is Gracious".
*Jennifer (Daniel's sister): Popular name meaning "fair, white, smooth".
(For Jennifer's side of the family, please look under the Pleasant category)
*Lucy Burb: Popular name meaning "light".
The only repetitive thing here is that all of the names are popular. John and Jennifer don't have a relation between their names' meaning and their life. Since Lucy is still young when the game starts out, her name could mean something.
*Brad (John's father): Popular name meaning "broad".
*Tiffany (John's mother): Popular name meaning "manifestation of god." It was probably chosen due to the popular stereotype of fashionable girls being named Tiffany.
*Benjamin (John's paternal grandfather): Popular name meaning "son of the south".
*Susan (John's paternal grandmother): Popular name meaning "lily" or "rose". Also, since Susan can be abbreviated as Sue, it could be a play-on-words of "suburb".
*Tucker (The Burbs' pet dog in The Sims 1): Tucker is perhaps related to the German word 'tucher', which means 'clothweaver'.
Again, there is a repetitive occurrence of popular names. Of course, due to how little is known about these characters, there is no real relevance to their etymology.
Marsh family: "A tract of low wet land, often treeless, and periodically flooded".
*William (John's maternal grandfather): Popular name meaning "will, desire" and "helmet, protection".
*Anastasia (John's maternal grandmother) "Resurrection".
Marsh and Burb are both habitational words.
==The Oldie family==
Oldie -- slang for a person who is "far advanced in the years of his/her life". The term "chronologically challenged" could also be used.
*Herb (Mary-Sue's adoptive father): A flowering plant whose stem above ground does not become woody. Such a plant valued for medical properties. Short for Herbert, meaning "Illustrious warrior" in German.
*Coral (Mary-Sue's adoptive mother): The rock like composite found in a reef.
*Myron (Herb's father)" Means "Myrrh" in Greek. Myrrh is a fragrant resin obtained from the bark of an Arabian tree.
*Irma Oldie (Herb's mother) -- Means "whole, universal".
All of the Oldie names were popular in earlier times, thus making them a play on the meaning of Oldie.
Ruggbyrne family: A rug burn is a rash/burn-like injury resulting from the friction of rubbing bare skin on a rough surface, commonly a rug, hence the name.
*Bruno (Coral's father): "Brown".
*Mamie (Coral's mother): Short for Mary or Margaret.
==The Dreamer family==
Dreamer: A person who lives in a world of fantasy; one who is impractical and unrealistic. This was likely chosen to reference Darren's wish to make a living painting, which was viewed as a hobby when The Sims 2 first came out.
*Darren Dreamer: "Great". Combined with his family name, could mean "great dreamer".
*Dirk Dreamer: A type of dagger. Also perhaps German (i.e. Dirk Nowitski).
There is no relation at all to the etymology of the Dreamers, except for the surname. The only interesting bit is that all of the names start with the letter "D". To follow that, there would be a limited choice of the names they could be, and an even more limited choice of etymology references.
*Darleen (Dirk's mother): A slang-like term for "Daring" From combination of darling and popular name suffix -leen.
*Davis (Darren's father): Derived from David, meaning "beloved".
*Delilah (Darren's mother): Means "delicate".
*Dalmar (Darren's paternal grandfather): Form of Delmar, meaning "of the sea" in Spanish.
*Dacia (Darren's paternal grandmother): Could be a form of Daisy. It also could refer to Dacia, an old Roman province, now Romania and Moldova.
Darong family: No information found, but Darong is an anagram of Dragon.
*Sef (Darren's maternal grandfather): Could be a form of Seth, an Egyptian god of the desert, the night and enemy of the sun, or Seth, the third son of Adan and Eve.
*Lina (Darren's maternal grandmother): Means either "palm tree" or "tender" in Arabic.
Matlapin family: "The different, difference" in Swahili.
*Omar (Darleen's father): "Speaker" in Hebrew.
*Mariana (Darleen's mother): "Of the sea".
==References==
The Sims 2 forum and others who participated in the thread, notably the user by the name of "Dom829P" who was the original poster of the thread and provided most of the information, as can be seen here at the original source: The Sims 2 BBS: "Premade Sims Etymology" (Pleasantview Thread) [Archived]
These are sources Dom829P claims to have used in order to determine etymological references:
https://www.dictionary.com/
https://www.behindthename.com/
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_txt
https://www.google.com/
Onomatology