Strangetown/Onomatology

The onomatology (meaning study of the origin of names) of the Sim characters is 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 the onomatology of others. Some of the names came as a shock, other names 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 Strangetown.
==The Specter family==
Specter: "Ghost" or "something widely feared as a possible unpleasant or dangerous occurrence".
* Olive Specter: Means "olive tree." It is associated with the olive branch which is a symbol of peace and victory. Alternatively, it could be a reference to olives which turn bluish black when ripe. This could be hinting at the decay a human body experiences after death.
* Ichabod Specter (Olive's late husband): A Hebrew name meaning "inglorious." It comes from the biblical name of the grandson of Eli the High Priest and son of Phinehas, an evil-intentioned priest. It could also be a reference to Ichabod Crane from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a gothic horror story.
* Rigger Mortis (Olive's first husband): A play on "rigor mortis" which refers to the stiffening of the limbs of a corpse. It is derived from the Latin words rigor, meaning "stiffness" and mortis, meaning "death."
* Hugh Thanasia (Olive's second husband): A play on the word "euthanasia", which means "the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease." It is derived from the Greek words eu, meaning "well" and thanatos, meaning "death."
* Lou Thanasia (Hugh's brother): Rhymes with Hugh Thanasia, a play on the word "euthanasia." Lou is a shortened form of the name Louis, meaning "renowned warrior."
* Earl E. DeMise: (Olive's fiancé): A play on "early demise", meaning "early death."
* Tim Lee DeMise (Earl's brother): A play on "timely demise", meaning "opportune death," contrasting with his brother's name's meaning.
The presence of deceased Sims in Olive's garden with names implying suspicious or intentional death could hint that she murdered them all. Her persistent association with death (including WooHoo with the Grim Reaper and implied subsequent mothering of his child) backs this up along with her cryptic family biography.
For Olive's son, Nervous Subject, please look under the Beaker family.
Nigmos family: Possibly a reference to the Spanish and Portuguese word negro, meaning "black", possibly referring to the Nigmos' dark complexions. Alternate definitions include dark, raven, gloomy, and pitchy. Could also be a play on "enigma", which means “mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand.”
* Ophelia (Olive's niece): Derived from the Greek word ophelos, meaning "help." Ophelia is also the doomed love interest in Shakespeare's "Hamlet".
* Willow (Ophelia's mother, Olive's sister): Refers to the willow tree or more appropriately, the weeping willow tree. This would be more fitting to the Specter family's melancholy name theme.
* Creon (Ophelia's father): Derived from the ancient Greek word kreōn, meaning "ruler." In Greek mythology, Creon was the ruler of Thebes in the legend of Oedipus. He features as a character in numerous myths and their dramatic adaptations, including Euripides's "Medea" and Sophocles's "Oedipus Rex."
* Hecate (Ophelia's paternal grandmother): Possibly derived from the Greek word hekas, meaning "far off." Refers to the Greek goddess of magic, witchcraft, night, the moon, ghosts and necromancy. Could also refer to the ruler of the Three Witches in Shakespeare's "Macbeth."
* Zog (Ophelia's paternal grandfather): Comes from the Dutch word kielzog, which means "wake", the white turbulent water behind a boat. This could be a hint at the more grim definition of "wake" meaning "a watch or vigil held beside the body of someone who has died."
Muenda: Possibly a corruption of the Spanish word muerta, meaning "dead."
* Lerato (Ophelia's maternal grandmother): "Love" in Sesotho.
* Peponi (Ophelia's maternal grandfather): "Paradise", "heaven" and "peace" in Swahili. The Swahili phrase "Mahali pema peponi" means "Rest in peace."
==The Beaker family==
Beaker: A glass container with a flat bottom that scientists use to hold liquids (which is fitting given the science theme surrounding the Beakers).
* Loki: Possibly derived from the Old Norse word lopt, meaning "air" or "sky." It may also derive from the Old Norse word luka, meaning "to embrace closely." Loki is the god of mischief in Norse mythology.
* Circe: Derived from the ancient Greek word kírkos, meaning "falcon." In Greek mythology, Circe is a sorceress known for her vast knowledge of potions and herbs. Through the use of these and a magic staff, she would transform her enemies into animals.
* Nervous Subject (Olive's son, Loki and Circe's adoptive son): Likely a play on "nervous test subject". Nervous generally seems a nervous wreck and is subject to scientific testing by Loki and Circe.
For Nervous's mother, Olive, please look under the Specter family.
* Bjorn (Loki and Erin's father): Derived from the Swedish word björn, meaning "bear."
* Gundrun (Loki and Erin's mother): Possibly a corruption of the Old Norse name Guðrún, meaning "God's secret lore." It is derived of the Icelandic words guð, meaning "God", and rún, meaning "rune." In Norse legend, Guðrún was the wife of Sigurðr, a hero who killed a dragon and was later murdered.
* Canute (Loki and Erin's paternal grandfather): Derived from the Old Norse word knútr, meaning "knot."
* Gertrude (Loki and Erin's paternal grandmother): Derived from the Germanic elements ger, meaning "spear", and thrud, meaning "strength."
For Loki's sister, Erin, please look under the Singles household.
Halfdanarson family: Derived from the Old Norse words halfr, meaning "half", and danr, meaning "Dane." Its literal meaning is "half Danish son."
* Leif (Loki and Erin's maternal grandfather): Derived from the Old Norse name Leifr, meaning "heir," "descendant," and "beloved." This is a possible reference to the well-known Leif Erikson, a Norse explorer who is the first known European to have set foot on continental North America.
* Ingibjorg (Loki and Erin's maternal grandmother): An Old Norse given name which means God's Salvation.
Salamis family: Of Greek origin deriving from the nymph Salamis, the mother of Cychreus who was the legendary first king of the island of the same name.
* Xanthos (Circe's father): Derived from the Greek word xanthos, meaning "yellow" or "blond." Xanthos was a city in ancient Lycia, the site of present-day Kınık, Turkey.
* Grainne (Circe mother): Possibly derived from the Irish word ghrian, meaning "sun." Grainne had blonde hair, so this could a nod towards that. It could also be derived from the Gaelic word grán, meaning "grain." In Irish mythology, Gráinne was the daughter of Cormac mac Airt, a legendary High King of Ireland.
* Andros (Circe's paternal grandfather): Derived from the Greek word andreios, meaning "gallant." Andros is one of the Cyclades islands closest to Athens, Greece.
* Eurydice (Circe's paternal grandmother): Derived from the Greek evrýs, meaning "wide" and dike, meaning "justice." In Greek mythology, Eurydice was the wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music.
McGork family: Possibly a corruption of the last name McGurk, which is of Irish origin. It also may be a reference to the McGurk effect, an illusion that results from conflicting information coming from different senses, namely sight and hearing.
* Gwrtheyrn (Circe's maternal grandfather): Of Welsh origin and a possible reference to Brenin Gwrtheyrn, a disgraced Kentish king who ruled ancient Britain early in the 5th century.
* Moira (Circe's maternal grandmother): Derived from the Greek word moíra, meaning "destiny," "share" and "fate." In Greek mythology, the Moirai were the white-robed incarnations of destiny.
==The Curious family==
Curious: Means "eager to know or learn something." This is likely referring to this family's curiosity, namely involving aliens. Pascal, Vidcund and Lazlo all have Knowledge aspirations, which naturally makes them more curious about things in general.
* Pascal: Derived from the Latin name "Paschalis" meaning "relating to Easter." Paschalis derives from the Latin word pascha, meaning "Easter." Pascha in turn is derived from the Hebrew word pesach, meaning "Passover."
* Vidcund (Pascal's younger brother): Possibly a corruption of the Norwegian name "Vidkun" which is derived from the name "Víðkunnr." Víðkunnr is derived from the Old Norse word víðkunnr, meaning "famous."
* Lazlo (Pascal's youngest brother): Of Hungarian origin meaning "king of the people" or "glorious ruler." It comes from the King-Knight Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary.
For the eldest of the Curious siblings, Jenny, please look under the Smith family.
* Glarn (Pascal, Vidcund, Lazlo, and Jenny's father): Of unknown origin but this name in combination with Curious sounds like "darn curious."
* Kitty (Pascal, Vidcund, Lazlo, and Jenny's mother): A nickname for the name "Katherine" deriving from the Greek name "Aikaterínē" which is of unknown etymology. Kitty may also be a play on the saying, "Curiosity killed the cat."
For Glarn's abductor, Pollination Tech 9, please look under the Smith family. For the twin daughters of Glarn and Pollination Tech 9, please look under the Singles household.
* Notzo (Pascal, Vidcund, Lazlo, and Jenny's paternal grandfather): Of unknown origin, but this name in combination with Curious sounds like "not so curious." This contrasts with his wife's name.
* Zo (Pascal, Vidcund, Lazlo, and Jenny's paternal grandmother): Of unknown origin but this name in combination with Curious sounds like "so curious." This contrasts with her husband's name.
Hogleg: A large single-action revolver of the type carried in the West by cowboys and frontiersmen. Hamm wore a cowboy hat so it's being implied he (and possibly his wife, Annie) were from the Wild West area of the United States.
* Hamm (Pascal, Vidcund, Lazlo, and Jenny's maternal grandfather): Derived from the Old English word hamm, meaning "a patch of flat, low-lying alluvial land beside a stream." This is likely a play on his last name, Hogleg, as "hog" means "pig" and "ham" is "meat from the upper part of a pig's leg."
* Annie (Pascal, Vidcund, Lazlo, and Jenny's maternal grandmother): Of English origin meaning "gracious" or "merciful." This name in combination with Hogleg sounds like "any hogleg."
==The Grunt family==
Grunt: Means to "make a low, short guttural sound." It is also military slang for "a low-ranking soldier or unskilled worker."
* General Buzz: Possibly a reference to Buzz Aldrin, a famous astronaut who had a lengthy career in the U.S. Air Force. Buzz may also refer to "buzz cut" which is a "short hairstyle designed with electric clippers." They are standard in the U.S. military.
* Tank (Buzz's oldest son): "A heavy armored fighting vehicle carrying guns and moving on a continuous articulated metal track."
* Ripp (Buzz's middle son): "To tear or pull (something) quickly or forcibly away from something or someone."
* Buck (Buzz's youngest son): "The male of some horned animals, especially the fallow deer, roe deer, reindeer, and antelopes."
* Lyla (Buzz's ex-wife): Derived from the Arabic word leila, meaning "night" or "dark beauty", and the Persian word leila, meaning "dark-haired." Lyla wore a lilac dress so the name could be a reference to that.
* General Chip (Buzz's father): A nickname for "Charles", which derives from the Germanic karl, meaning "full-grown" or "man," which is a cognate of the Old English ceorl meaning "man," "freeman" or "peasant".
* Missy (Buzz's mother): A nickname for "Melissa," derived from the Greek word mélissa, meaning "bee", which in turn comes from the word meli, meaning "honey."
* General Rock (Buzz's paternal grandfather): Rock, as in hard as rock, because he is in the army.
* Wanda (Buzz's paternal grandmother): From Polish, possibly derived from an ethnic term for "a Wend", a member of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland; a Sorb; a Kashub.
* Mike Steel (Buzz's maternal grandfather): Mike is short for Michael, which means "who is like god", and steel as in steel, a metal alloy of mostly iron plus carbon, harder than pure iron but malleable when hot.
* Mary Melons (Buzz's maternal grandmother): Mary means "to be bitter", while Melons as in melon, a type of fruit. Melons is also possibly a reference to a slang term for breasts.
The reason Mary does not have the same last name as Mike is that they were either never married or got divorced.
==The Smith family==
Smith: Derived from the Middle English smyth and from the Old English smiþ, meaning "a worker in metals or wood." Smith is a very common, normal name which is quite ironic given that the Smiths are anything but common or normal. It is likely Pollination Tech 9 chose this name with this in mind, as he may have wanted to seem normal despite being an alien.
* Pollination Tech 9: Pollination means "the transfer of pollen to allow fertilization" and technician means "a person skilled in the technique of an art or craft." This is referring to his abduction and impregnation of male Sims as an alien.
* Jenny: A diminutive of Jennifer, which is the Cornish form of Guinevere, derived from the Welsh windo, meaning "white," "fair," and "holy", and sēbarā, meaning "magical being".
* Johnny: A diminutive of John derived from the Latin name Ioannes, which is a form of the Greek name Iōannēs, originally borne by Hellenized Jews transliterating the Hebrew name Yohanan meaning "Graced by Yah".
* Jill: A diminutive of Gillian, which is of English origin meaning "youthful".
Other known alien names, e.g. Colony Drone and Birth Queen, all have something to do with reproduction. It is assumed that aliens live only for the purpose of reproduction in The Sims 2.
For Jenny's side of the family, please look under the Curious family.
==The Singles household==
Singles: A reference to the fact Erin, Lola, Chloe and Kristen are all single.
* Erin: Derived from the Irish word "Éirinn", which is the dative case of the Irish word for Ireland.
* Lola: A diminutive of the Spanish name "Dolores", meaning "sorrows." It is taken from one of the titles of the "Virgin Mary: Nuestra Señora de los Dolores", meaning Our Lady of Sorrows.
* Chloe: Derived from the Greek word chlói, meaning "grass." It was one of the many names of the goddess Demeter and refers to the young, green foliage or shoots of plants in spring.
* Kristen: Of Danish origin meaning "a Christian", from the Latin christiānus which is from the Greek christianos meaning "a Christian, a follower of Christ."
Loste family: A corruption of "lost", meaning "unable to find one's way".
* Arty (Kristen's father): A diminutive of Arthur, which is derived from the Roman last name "Artorius," which could possibly be derived from the Celtic patronym Arto-rīg-ios meaning "son of the bear" or "warrior king".
* Daisy (Kristen's mother): Derived from the Old English dæges ēage, meaning "day's eye", referring to the fact daisies open in the morning and close at night.
* Goshem (Kristen's paternal grandfather): Possibly a corruption of "Goshen" which refers to the "Land of Goshen", the place in Egypt given to the Hebrews by the pharaoh of Joseph. This name in combination with Loste sounds like "Gosh, I'm lost".
* Vera (Kristen's paternal grandmother): Of Russian or Latin origin. It coincides with the Latin verus, meaning "verity." In Russian, vera, means "faith." This name in combination with Loste sounds like "very lost".
Simnitch family: This name hints at Russian ancestry through this branch of the family tree, as it's not uncommon for Russian surnames to end in "ich."
* Leonard (Kristen's maternal grandfather): Derived from the Old High German name "Leonhard" from levon, meaning "lion", and hardu, meaning "brave" or "hardy". It may also be derived from the Latin leo meaning "lion".
* Petunia (Kristen's maternal grandmother): Of English origin referring to the petunia flower.
==The Loner family==
Loner: A reference to the fact Ajay is the only one in his household at the beginning of the game.
* Ajay: Derived from the Sanskrit word ajaya, meaning "unconquered," "unsurpassed", or "invincible".
* Vikram (Ajay's father): Derived from Sanskrit root words vis, meaning "to work", and krama, meaning "a step, stride, or path".
* Madhuri (Ajay's mother): A Sanskrit name meaning "sweetness." In Hindi, madhuri can also mean "mellowness" or "lusciousness."
* Kavi (Ajay's paternal grandfather): Kavi (from a root kū "to cry out") is a Sanskrit term for thinker, intelligent man, man of understanding or a leader.
* Jeevika (Ajay's paternal grandmother): Unknown.
Frehndly: A corruption of the word friendly, meaning "kind and pleasant".
* Bhu (Ajay's maternal grandfather): The act of becoming or arising, the place of being, space, world or universe or the earth.
* Milony (Ajay's maternal grandmother): Form of Melany/Melanie meaning Black, could also mean Melon.
Onomatology