Hololive / Holostars Wordplay Compendium
What is this page about? Here, we dive into the extensive world of wordplay when it comes to the names given to Cover's talents, both hololive and holostars. Name wordplay involves hiding various meanings or references in one's partial or full name. This can range from - in layman's terms - alternate/substituted spellings, alternate sounds, homophones, replacement of kanji characters, goroawase (number play) - to name many a few examples.
I will use minimally, language jargon like kun'yomi, on'yomi, ateji, nanori, so that this knowledge remains easy to read by the layman.
Since there's little to no official sources, bear in mind that all of these are surmised from myself, and us as a community, and the rare revelation of their names from the talents themselves. Wordplay in one's name is almost never acknowledged, only meant to be inferred.
There are some caveats to this, based on the examples we have so far-
- All JP talents have 2 kanji characters in their surnames, while their given names are always in hiragana or katakana.
- The exception to the above, are Minato Aqua, Gen 0, ID and EN members
Note: The badly translated English names from the old days have been removed*
=JP Gen 0=
Tokino Sora (ときのそら)
What we simply know about Sora's name, is that blue is her theme colour, matching what the sky is.
Unconfirmed: Her entire name is a mystery. It may be simply that, from the beginning, she was given a nuanced name in wordplay, that wasn't meant to fit any themes as she was merely a solo performer.
Fan-Name: Soratomo - To simply mean, Sora's friends / pals. (tomo - 友)
Roboco(-san) ( ロボ子 )
Her origin name would be considered genderless as ロボ (Robo). To feminise her name, she was given the "子" suffix to indicate her gender. (Like how "太郎" (-taro) is a popular suffix for male names, this is true for females with "子" (-ko). By changing the "K" to "C", her name gets a softer pronunciation as "Roboco" instead of "Roboko".
Fan-Name: Robosa (ろぼさー) - "Sa" comes from Circle (pronounced さくる Sa-ku-ru). A circle also refers to a club, hence, Robotics Club/Circle.
Hoshimachi Suisei (星街すいせい)
(As Suisei was her own proprietary talent before joining Hololive, she is an exception for choosing her own name format)
Kanji Reading: 星 (Hoshi-) 街 (-machi)
Both "町" and "街" are pronounced "machi", but for naming people, the kanji "町" is used, while "街" refers to a street. The choice to use "星街", lit. star-street likely refers to the Milky Way as a band of stars across our skies, which matches her astronomy motifs. Thus the common saying that comets travel across the Milky Way, which is possibly why she named herself Suisei (lit. comet).
Fan-Name: Hoshiyomi (星詠み) - "-Yomi" likely refers to the meaning of composing (music), which is a major factor in Suisei's activities.
Sakura Miko (さくらみこ )
桜(花) (Sakura) 巫女 (Miko). Literal name, but with a slight twist. Her name reflects her motif and colours, but her appearance is modernised as she does not don the traditional white kosode and red hakama that actual shrine mikos wear.
Fan-Name: 35P (MikoP) - Goroawase wordplay where 3 is "mittsu", and 5 is "go" -> "ko". The P stands for Producer (manager), which is a prominent term in Japanese music industries (eg. Idolmaster, Vocaloid)
AZKi:
Because of her colour scheme and the stylisation of her name where the "u" is silent, it is likely to be a play on "azuki beans", or red beans as they are also called. They share the same dark red to brown hues. Azuki (or the bean paste form, anko) is a very popular ingredient in Japanese food culture, and thus carries significant meaning to Japanese food culture.
She confirmed it herself - Azuki without (u). Because of her 1st album "Without U", which significantly influenced the meaning behind her name. Then stylised as "AZKi"
(Stylising names by removing vowels, is a common practice in entertainment industry, and typically do not need any hiragana/katakana to go with it)
Further interpretation thanks to JShay
Fan-Name: Pioneers, or Kaitakusha (開拓者) - It can be inferred that the naming was based off Vtubing's infancy. Since the meaning of "pioneer" has no direct relation to AZKi's music diva identity (at that time).
=JP Gen 1=
Yozora Mel (夜空メル)
Kanji Reading: 夜 (Yo- (yoru)) 空 (-zora (sora))
As a vampire, Mel is certainly a denizen of the night sky.
The 1st Gen MV, Plasmagic Seasons may have confirmed an interesting fact, that the girls after Mel were themed with seasons in mind to match hers, besides Haato. However, the puzzling bit is that Mel's name has nothing indicative of Spring.
Mel's chinese name however, is written as 梅露 (Me-ru), 梅 being Ume, the name of plum blossoms, and the flower of Spring. Together with Matsuri, Aki and Fubuki, they form the seasonal quartet. This in turn, also confirms Aki's name as a representation of autumn, despite not having the character "秋" in her name.
Unconfirmed: Mel's name is conveniently "Honey" in latin. However, Mel has no connection to honey, though her hair is a rather honey-coloured blonde,
Shirakami Fubuki (白上フブキ)
Kanji Reading: 白 (Shira- (Shiro)) 上 (-kami)
Fubuki's naming requires 2 stages of explanation (the 2nd half in the Gamers section). It should be noted that she debuted as 1st Gen, with GAMERS only 6-months later when Mio got involved. This relevant fact explains why some people are confused by her surname, as non-Japanese audiences are mostly familiar with the name "Kami" being "神".
There is a fair distribution between the use of "神" and "上" to write -kami as a name, this makes the choice of her surname all the more intentional.
eg. Hikami (氷上 ), Mogami (最上), Mikami (魅上) (美神), Shirakami (白神), are examples of how names with -kami are written.
Her given name in kanji is 吹雪, lit. blizzard (fubuki). Her white colours are depicted after an Arctic Fox, and this becomes confirmed by Hololive using a video clip of an Arctic Fox in their April Fool's video to represent Fubuki, in the midst of a blizzard.
Natsuiro Matsuri (夏色まつり)
Kanji Reading: 夏 (Natsu-) 色 (iro)
Matsuri's design motif is actually the representation of summer - the sunflower. Put them next to each other (her original costume) and you'll see why her colour design is so. This ties into Natsu Matsuri, a summer festival of energy, cheer and joy that she is named after. Matsuri is conveniently a girl's name, but her surname faces a problem here - Natsu is just "夏". So to make the surname consistent with their naming convention, -iro (色, colour) was added in, and you then get her working surname, Natsuiro - 夏色.
Aki Rosenthal (アキ・ローゼンタール)
Aki's name is stylised in western format as she is a "foreigner", and her given name is due to her "Shallys" name being unpronounceable by us. Their new MV Plasmagic Seasons, confirms that Aki is named with Autumn in mind.
Next is her name - Rosenthal (German) does mean Rose (Rosen) Valley (-thal/-tal). So this naming gives the Shallys MV more meaning due to the abundance of roses. There are many ways to interpret why she has an apple motif. The rose is primarily a spring bloom, so the apple, being a late summer-to-fall fruit of harvest, makes more sense when tied to her seasonal motif.
Unconfirmed: The meaning of the apple can also reflect her exuberant nature, the energy, excitement and cheer that she usually carries. Also, her sensual nature. The apple has traditionally been seen as a fruit of love, desire or lust. And we know Aki is, well, a covert pervert.
Akai Haato (赤井はあと)
Kanji Reading: 赤 (Aka-) 井 (-i)
lit. Red Heart. Haato is basically transliteration of Heart. Because "Aka" is not a surname, she likely had a lighter sounding suffix added that wouldn't ruin the flow of her name to the pun. Hence she was given "井" - also, "赤はあと" would look strange by itself as a full name.
=JP Gen 2=
Minato Aqua (湊あくあ)
Kanji Reading: 港 (Minato)
"港" is the kanji for harbour/port, matching her marine maid theme. Aqua is of course, latin for water. To date, Aqua is the only exception who defies the convention for naming, as she only has 1 kanji to her surname.
Murasaki Shion (紫咲シオン)
Kanji Reading: 紫 (Mura-) 咲 (-saki)
Murasaki (紫) is the colour purple, and the common kanji for Shion's given name is "紫苑", the same name for aster flowers (shion). Rather than wear them, Shion's clothing colours reflects the common hues of asters - white, pink and purple. The minute use of green either reflects plant stems, just like in Matsuri, or a thematic colour of black magic witches, which usually feature green as an ominous colour.
The "-saki" (咲) in her name can be read as 花咲く (hanasaku), which means to bloom, as flowers do.
Nakiri Ayame (百鬼あやめ)
Ayame's name is extremely unique as her surname does not match the pronunciation.
Kanji Reading: 百 (Hyaku) 鬼 (Oni)
To explain, her surname is a reference to the Japanese idiom, "百鬼夜行" (Hyakki Yagyo). Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. This is a procession of youkai, and oni, which Ayame belongs to, hence its use here.
Her alternate surname by sound, is "薙切" (Nakiri). When split into their characters, both have the meaning to cut down something.
"薙ぎ払え" (nagi/nagiharae) and "切" (kiri). This may explain why Ayame has swords instead, as oni of lore are typically depicted as brutish entities with blunt weapons, typically a kanabō iron club. Her swords Asura (Ashura) and Rasetsu (Rakshasa), bear the names of demons in Japanese folklore.
Curiously, instead of iris flowers (ayame), she has Higanbana at the lower half of her kimono, a red spider lily, related to spirits and afterlife that perfectly matches her kimono in colour and meaning.
Unconfirmed: Ayame's given name is a mystery. The Japanese iris is revered as a flower to purify evil energies and protect the wearer. There is the notion that given names bestow the properties of the named object. However again, she doesn't bear the flower on her clothing.
Another interesting fact is the kanji for the flower being "菖蒲", which also reads as "shōbu", the same pronunciation for "勝負" which depicts a match/fight etc. However, this may be irrelevant as Ayame is not a warmonger or battle-hungry character.
As much as all her lore may seem relevant or irrelevant, Ayame's soothing and healing nature subverts all the wordplay references about her, instead being just a comfy, happy Oni.
Yuzuki Choco (癒月ちょこ)
Kanji Reading: 癒 (Yu-) 月 (-zuki (tsuki)
The common kanji for the name Yuzuki has many variations, but is typically related to the moon (月), or the citrus fruit, yuzu (柚).
Hence, the "Yu-" in her name is written as "癒" for healing, befitting her occupation as a school nurse.
Chocolates are viewed as a sensual or pleasure food, coming off as sweet or bitter, which reflects her seductive personality. It can also be regarded as a healing food for the soul.
Trivia: For the sake of this woman, we cannot stress this enough. She is NOT a succubus. Not all busty demons are about sex. She is just designed after stereotypical well-endowed and curvaceous school nurses, who have keen interests in sexuality.
Trivia 2: The graduated Mano Aloe, was to be the succubus of the company's roster.
Oozora Subaru (大空スバル)
Kanji Reading: 大(Oo- (Ō/Ōki) 空 (-zora (sora)
The kanji for Subaru's name would be "昴". The Pleiades star cluster, also called (Subaru) 昴, is significant to Japanese folklore and history, and is also incorporated in the Subaru Corporation's logo, the Japanese automobile conglomerate.
Since stars are only seen up in our wide open sky, that may explain her surname, relating to seeing stars in the wide open sky.
Subaru is a unisex Japanese name, and also used to name quite a few boyish or boisterous girls (fictionally speaking, at least).
=GAMERS=
Shirakami Fubuki 白(神)フブキ
It is likely that Fubuki was the template for GAMERS' naming convention. In Japanese symbolism, foxes are mythical beings (Inari) close to god. This is where her famous name interpretation of -Kami (神) comes into play.
Her proper name, is still "白上フブキ"
Ookami Mio ( 大神ミオ )
Kanji Reading: 大 (Oo- (Ō/Ōki) 神 (-kami)
Mio's surname, Ookami (大神) has the suffix "-Kami", and her surname is a pun for wolf (ōkami). Her given name Mio "澪" (carrying the meaning "beauty" and "cherry blossoms") may or may not have been intentional, as it is understood in Mio's early time she had a bit of a personality crisis before mellowing out into the Yamato Nadeshiko characterisation, and epitome of Japanese, feminine beauty - This theme is further reinforced with Mio's 2nd Anni official merchandise portraying her wearing iro-uchikake (traditional wedding kimono) and holding cherry blossom stalks with said trees behind her.
Nekomata Okayu ( 猫又おかゆ )
Inugami Korone ( 戌神ころね )
Kanji Reading:
猫 (Neko-) 又 (-mata)
戌 (Inu-) 神 (-gami (kami)
Contrary to popular belief, Inugami and Nekomata are youkai spirits rather than gods. We know Korone is named after coronet pastries, from working in a bakery. As for Okayu... that's a real mystery. Also, the mystery surrounding Okayu's singular tail (Nekomata have a two-ended split tail), is simple in hindsight. Gamers have a common theme in their surnames - gods & spirits, and emphasis on the word "theme". Hence all of them are simply anthropomorphic animals, not gods with powers etc.
Unconfirmed: Okayu's name may have less focus on the meaning of porridge, but possibly rice instead. Whether it be her living in a rice ball stall (pun: Onigiri-ya お握り屋 ), or the origins of the fandom name Onigirya, all of these references come from rice, as their object of origin.
=JP Gen 3=
For context, it seems Gen 3 is unique in that Pekora and Rushia played a part in their design. Flare, Noel and Marine were already designed beforehand and later filled in.
Usada Pekora (兎田ぺこら)
Kanji Reading: 兎 (Usa- (usagi) 田 (-da (ta)
Obviously, a rabbit. Pekora may have named herself as such to match the "peko" verbal tic she intended to use. Pekora's original social lifestyle is quite contrary to the nature of rabbits, as they are social animals that seek partnership and company. But her (destructive) mischevious nature is on point with rabbits.
Unconfirmed: Truthfully speaking, the components of her name are not well explained in any manner. It is uncertain why she was given the suffix, -da (田). It is possible that (-da) was the best -suffix to rhyme with (-ra), as many other variations come out strange when you try to pronounce them together.
Uruha Rushia (潤羽るしあ)
Kanji Reading: 潤 (Uru-) 羽 (-ha (hane))
The reading to Uruha (潤羽) also means 麗 (美麗 - Utsukushi), to mean beautiful or grace. It is unclear if Rushia's name is derived from the Lucia butterfly or from an existing butterfly species similar to her dress. Why butterflies? They are also known for their symbolism with death and the departed, appropriate for the necromancer girl.
Unconfirmed: Rushia's name might just be a transliteration from the name "Lucia" (a butterfly genus), and then converting the letters suited for the Japanese vernacular.
Shiranui Flare (不知火フレア)
Kanji Reading: 不知 (Shira- (shiranai/shiranu) 火 (-i (hi)
Shiranui translates into an "unknown fire" (or the Japanese equivalent of will-o-the-wisps). As she is a half-elf and not ethereal, it may be simply wordplay that her name was chosen as both her first (Flare) and last names allude to fire (火).
Unconfirmed: Her elven nature, is absent in any sense from her name. Moreso because Elves in any folklore, generally do not align themselves with "fire" .
Shirogane Noel (白銀ノエル)
Kanji Reading: 白 (Shiro-) 銀 (-gane (gin)
When used in a name, "銀" becomes the suffix "-gane".
The surname Shirogane has two common spellings, "白銀" or "白金". While it is a common trope to name knightly orders after colours, metals or gemstones, hers is just the Order of Shirogane with no further references. Regardless of whether you see it as silver (白銀) or platinum (白金), both metals exist in the white spectrum (silver falls under white). Noel's given name is a curious one as she uses the male version instead of the female "Noelle".
Unconfirmed: The relation to the Saint in regards to her name is debatable as Noel's background revolves around her masculine feminity, than any kind of cultural or religious symbolism. But it is interesting to note that her weapon of choice is a blunt weapon instead of a bladed one despite being a knight - this may be intentional as blunt weapons rely more on brute force (her thematic penchant for muscles and being muscleheaded).
Houshou Marine (宝鐘マリン)
Kanji Reading: 宝 (Hou- (Takara) 鐘 (-shou)
Contrary to belief, bells (鐘) are not involved in her design, but is significant to seafaring, as even modern ships are required by marinal law to have actual bells.
Marine's name is a pun on (pirate) treasure. A treasure is a reward. "褒賞" (hōshō - prize/reward) was the original kanji, but was replaced by "宝鐘". Here, the wordplay has 2 seperate factors. The kanji for treasure is simply "宝" (Takara), with such objects known as "宝物" (takaramono), and is not a proper surname. "鐘" has two readings, shou and kane.
The direct reading for "宝鐘" is takarakane. Hence by swapping "-kane" with "-shou", you get a perfect fit for Houshou, while keeping the meanings of both objects, treasure and bell.
By taking the Japanese name Marin (海, lit. sea/ocean) and adding the "e" to anglicize her name, you get Marine with the same meaning and pronunciation.
The debate about how her name is pronunced is simple - Both are correct. This is because the general English and Asian vernacular is different. SEA / East Asians can pronouce MA-rin accurately because we have the vernacular for it. Whereas for the English people, the immediate term familiar to them is MER-ine (Marine(s). This is why conversely, the Japanese talents pronounce Calliope as KA-RI-O-PE by breaking the syllables down into their vernacular, instead of KER-LIE-O-PEE.
=JP Gen 4=
Kiryu Coco (桐生ココ)
Kanji Reading: 桐 (kiri-) 生 (-u)
l've accepted that she named herself after her boyfriend (lol) Kiryu Kazuma. She might have chosen an English name like Coco to reflect her USDA heritage - cute and also fittingly goofy given her dragon form's caricature.
Unconfirmed: Most emphasis on the name "桐", representing the kiri tree (Paulownia). The tree is notable for growing rapidly and really tall, alluding to her majestic height at 180cm. Her name Kiryu can be further broken down into Ki (树 - Tree) and Ryu (龍 - Dragon).
Because of the known history that Coco was asked to try out Vtubing as a talent rather than a staffer, she may have had a say in the naming of her characters, hence the unabashedly direct reference to her idol's name - Kiryu Kazuma (桐生 一馬)
Tsunomaki Watame (角巻わため)
Kanji Reading: 角 (Tsuno-) 巻 (-maki )
Tsuno (角 horn) and Maki (巻 rotation/coiled/spiraled) refers to her appropriately shaped horns. Wata-ame is actually cotton candy, which matches her fluffy and sweet nature, and the visual representation of cotton candy looking like a ball of wool.
Tokoyami Towa (常闇トワ)
Kanji Reading: 常 (Toko-) 闇 (-yami)
"常" has many ways of being read, of which "toko" was chosen.
Her name is a double wordplay on eternity/time in both Japanese and Chinese. Tokoyami means eternal (常 is a word that references a length of time) and (闇 dark/darkness), while Towa bears the meaning eternity, that if written in kanji is just "永", but is usually combined with 遠 to form "永遠" (eien - an eternity)
Himemori Luna (姫森ルーナ)
Kanji Reading: 姫 (Hime-) 森 (-mori)
Her name Hime (姫 Princess) and Luna (lunar), match her theme. But by itself she'll just be called Hime Luna (姫ルーナ).
Unconfirmed: "-Mori" in her name is unsolved. They probably added "Mori" as a suffix to fit naming conventions and made use of vocal alliteration (Me/Mo). It is unlikely to have anything to do with "forests", or "death" - as in memento mori. The name "Mori" has imperial ancestry at least in Japanese historical context, but there's no sound connection to it given Luna's background, which is not explicitly related to Japanese culture.
Amane Kanata (天音かなた)
Kanji Reading: 天 (Ama- (Ten)) 音 (-ne (Oto/On))
Typically read as "ten", when used as a name in kanji, "天" becomes "Ama".
The surname Amane (天音) directly means "a sound from heaven". Kanata's given name bears the meaning (彼方) "beyond", or "far away", alluding to distance since the heavens is the point of reference here. Both names fit her innate singing ability and identity as an angel - A heavenly voice from far away.
=JP Gen 5=
Momosuzu Nene (桃鈴ねね)
Kanji Reading: 桃 (Momo-) 鈴 (-suzu)
Her name Momo (桃) & Suzu (鈴) means Peach and Bell respectively. Nene's name is made entirely of alliterative sounds - Momo / Suzu(su) / Nene.
While it is rarely mentioned nowadays, her homeplanet is "TaoTao" (桃桃) and her nickname was Taoling (A pun on peach-bell - 桃鈴), all to do with peaches. Peaches are significant in both Chinese and Japanese folklore. After her redesign, her motifs are fused into a single peach-shaped bell adorning her neck ribbon, and retains her pastel colours with added browns to accentuate the newly given bear motif.
Trivia: Nene's seal motif is motivated by fans, and is not her official animal affiliation. However, it is recognized unofficially by hololive as they have sanctioned the reference in their own jokes.
Shishiro Botan (獅白ぼたん)
Kanji Reading: 獅 (Shishi-) 白 (-ro (shiro)
Her last name is derived from Shishi (獅子 Lion). Botan's name is the name of peony flowers in Japanese - its significance being "bravery" - also a symbolic representation of lions. The other meaning is tied to her masculine feminity - Botan is actually a unisex name, but more common in females than seen in males.
Unconfirmed: Colour seems to play little part here, as peonies are generally white/pink.
Omaru Polka (尾丸ポルカ)
Kanji Reading: 尾 (O- (shippou) 丸 (-maru)
Her surname refers to the unusual and characteristic large bushy tails of the fennec fox. Usually a tail is called "shippō", but apparently it can be just called ... "O", a kanji that refers to the tail ends of anything, especially animals.
Her given name Polka (ポルカ) seems to stem from her surname itself. Since "尾" is read as shippō (しっぽ), they separated it and retained the "ぽ". This may answer the question as to why she was named Polka, which links itself back to her surname via kanji.
Note: Polka's name is in katakana (ポルカ) because "Polka" is not a Japanese word.
Yukihana Lamy (雪花ラミィ)
Kanji Reading: 雪 (Yuki-) 花 (-hana)
Her name has two meanings depending on the language. In Japanese, her surname is split to spell "雪" Snow & "花" Flower. In Chinese however, it spells snowflake, both of which are matching motifs to Lamy's design.
Assuming that it is mainly read from a Japanese perspective, her name was likely modified from the default kanji, "雪片" (seppen - snowflake)
To give her a more feminine sounding name, they likely chose "花" for flower.
Unconfirmed: Lamy is probably just a fantasy name because of her elvish nature.
Mano Aloe ( 魔乃アロエ )
Kanji Reading: 魔 (Ma-) 乃 (-no)
Typically in names, "no" (野) is replaced with "乃" instead. It's a wordplay on the possessive word "の ". So it would read as 魔のアロエ instead. As Aloe is a succubus, she falls under the demon category, just like Choco herself is a demon academy nurse.
Unconfirmed: Thing is, we don't actually know what "Aloe" means here. As a debutant who was cut off almost immediately, there is nothing more to dig into.
The only thing that has been established, is that she has triangles on the left of her skirt, which is also the Greek alphabetic character for "Delta". A Delta is also a musical term. Moreover, Aloe has musical paraphernalia in the form of a headset and tail-wrapped microphone. Her first and last use of autotune is likely a hint at her direction as a musically-driven Vtuber.
Aloe's PL identity - "Delutaya Δ" is literally, Delta, with the greek symbol Delta as well.
=JP Gen 6 (holoX)=
Sakamata Chloe ( 沙花叉クロヱ )
Kanji Reading: 沙 (Sa-) 花 (ka-) 叉 (-mata)
Her surname is a roundabout spelling for Orca, which uses the name "killer whales" instead. Killer whales are called Shachihoko, with the kanji (鯱), the homophone (same pronunciation, diff meaning) for Orcas. This was necessary because there is no existing kanji for orcas, and their naming conventions (at least for JP talents) prevents them from using only a single kanji for surnames - (鯱), and consistency.
Hence a homophone (逆叉 - sakamata) to mean a "reverse fork" (road terminology) was chosen. "逆" is then further split into "Sa" and "ka". Why this is done is uncertain, besides giving her surname more feminine looking name-kanji. 沙花叉.
Unconfirmed: Further, it is unclear if the kanji 沙 (sa- sand) and 花 (ka- flower) have any bearing on her name as she has no floral motifs. There is a nagging suspicion that the name relates to the Sand Lily. Hence if flowers are involved, her name Chloe, which means "to bloom" in Greek, would then make sense. Yet again, flowers have no relation to Chloe's design motifs.
Chloe's katakana characters are interesting because she uses "ヱ" , an obsolete character in the katakana script and would have been named "クロエ" otherwise. The only people in Japan that still utilise this character, is the Ainu peoples of Japan.
Trivia: Orcas had 4 genuses, of which 3 are already extinct. The remaining one is Orcinus Orca, which she belongs to.
Takane Lui (Rui) (鷹嶺ルイ )
Kanji Reading: 鷹 (Taka-) 嶺 (-ne (takamine))
"鷹" represents primarily the eagle, but in the case of Japanese kanji - The hawk (taka). Further confirmed by the fact she specifically calls her eye-change "Hawk-eye Mode".
Her name Takane (Taka / 高) could be a name wordplay that can mean either height, elegance, nobility or status.
(eg. Takane no hana (高嶺の花) - a woman of high status or beauty, unreachable by the common man)
"嶺" - This kanji "-mine-", comes from "高嶺" (takamine), to mean a high peak, where birds of prey may reside. This kanji fuses in perfectly to form her surname, Takane.
Further into the New Year, her reveal of a mature-lady kimono also reinforces the nature of her name, as a lady of status. It's also not a coincidence that she's the tallest at 161cm of the group. The arc numbers 61 are also part of her identity and name as "Roku" and "Ichi" come together as goroawase to become (Ru) and (I) - (61). This includes her birthday June 11, written with 611
Unconfirmed: Her name Rui (typically 琉) seems to take on multiple meanings from different Kanji because "琉" (Ruri) is part of the kanji for Lapis Lazuli, might explain her blue eyes, and "依" (CN: 依赖) for reliance and dependance, her XO role in covering La+.
La+ Darknesss ( ラプラス・ダークネス )
An immediate name play on Laplace (pronounced as La-Plus). It likely references Laplace's Demon (which is too complex to talk about here, and out of my league), suggesting at her vast universal intellect and power, which we confirm is now sealed by the shackles on her body.
Laplus is also unique for sharing the same foreigner name format as Aki, as a JP talent.
Unconfirmed: Darkness(s) may have multiple meanings based upon the dark, infinite void of the universe, or of the crow companion, symbolic of omens, of darkness. Or, it is simply to replace Demon with something synonymous - darkness, but with an extra "s" for some chuunibyouness.
Hakui Koyori (博衣こより)
Kanji Reading: 博 (Haku- (haka/haku)) 衣 (-i (isho))
A pun on "博士" (JP: Hakase or Hakushi), which can interchangeably refer to a scientist/professor-like character. "博衣" is also a double pun on their stereotypical lab coat, and the colour white (haku).
Her name Koyori is a phonetic play on Coyote (JP: ko-yo-te). And to the above, Coyotes are extremely curious and intelligent canines, befitting her scientist role.
Unconfirmed: The pink in her outfit may have been a simple, but very convenient feminine touch, as it is not the colour of coyotes. In Japanese context, it bears significance - to say something is "pink, or dyed pink", has a naughty or perverted connotation, which explains Koyori's now at-large perverted nature.
Kazama Iroha (風真いろは)
Kanji Reading: 風 (Kaza- (kaze) 真 (-ma)
Kazama has different kanji suffixes based on the gender, but the prefix remains as "風". 真 is the common kanji for the syllable "ma".
Iroha is generally a name with a strong correlation to nature and sometimes wind. Her garments are reminiscent of shinsengumi samurai, with a modern, feminine design via inner bodysuit and wind/cloud patterns. Her name can be split to mean 彩 (iro - colour), 叶/葉 (ha - leaf). While not all colourful (mainly greens and browns), she has leaves bound to her hair tie, almost shaped to the point of being tanuki ears.
The appearance of her pet Pokobe confirms her Tanuki characteristic. This also ties into her hair ornaments of leaves, as tanuki draw their power from nature, via leaves.
Lastly, her pet tanuki's name Pokobe, comes from "Pom Poko", which has everything to do with tanuki racoons in Japanese folktales.
=EN 1 - Myth=
Calliope Mori (森 カリオペ) (formerly: 森 美声)
Her name Calliope is a reference to Greek mythology and the muse, Calliope. While "Mori" is latin for death. Hence she is musical death incarnate.
The kanji "森" (mori), is to mean forests. However, it is not a reference to forests, but rather the use of existing name kanji for the affix, "Mori"
Takanashi Kiara (小鳥遊キアラ)
Her surname, "Takanashi", is written with the kanji for 小鳥, "kotori", meaning "little bird", and "遊", meaning "to play" (asobi - 遊び), meaning "little bird at play". It is read as "taka-nashi" (鷹無し), literally meaning "no hawks", a pun meaning that there must be no hawks for the little bird to play.
Unconfirmed: Her name "Kiara" remains uninterpreted. No relevant meanings have been found to this name.
Trivia: Together with Calli, it is likely that due to their prior residences being in Japan at the time of creation and debut, that they have Japanese names, which the other 3 based in the USA do not have.
Watson Amelia (ワトソン・アメリア)
Amelia's name is based on the combined relationship between Sherlock Holmes and his assistant, Dr Watson. The name Amelia, comes from Dr Watson's second wife, Amelia Watson. Hence, she is seen thematically as a detective, while curiously, having a stethoscope around her neck.
Further reading
Gawr Gura (がうる・ぐら)
Her surname Gawr comes from the gar, an ancient holosteian order of ray-finned fish. Her first name Gura comes from the Latin gula, meaning "gluttony."
Gura's name is curiously written in hiragana, instead of katakana for most foreign sounding names. This is consistent with her childlike demeanor and academic skills, since hiragana-only writting is usually reserved for children's books as they have little to no knowledge about kanji.
Excerpt taken from
Ninomae Ina'nis (一 伊那尓栖 / にのまえいなにす)
Her surname, Ninomae, is simply written with the kanji 一, meaning "one." This is a kanji pun, where "ni no mae" means "before two."
Her first name, "Inanis," is written with the kanji 伊那尓栖, which phonetically spell "inanisu". Inanis is also latin for "empty", or "void". This is likely in relation to her eldritch lore, regarding ominous terminology. Her book, the "Ancient Ones" is also a term used to describe Elder Gods and such. (eg, Cthulhu etc)
Trivia: Tentacles are very common appendages seen on eldritch abominations. So Cthulhu need not be the sole example, despite being the most famous in common knowledge.
Trivia 2: Ina's name is not kanji, despite looking like one. It is phonetic spelling to make a foreign name readable.
=EN 2 - Council ->Promise (sans Sana)=
Tsukumo Sana (九十九 佐命), Speaker of Space
Tsukumo is read as Ninety-Nine (九十九) in kanji. This one was a complex breakdown that even I couldn't figure out on my own, and required a copy from online searching, which follows-
Tsukumo
The above link leads to an explanation of what Tsukumo means to the Japanese. It also bears a simpler kanji - "white" (白). This is in line with Sana's thematic colour, whites and off-whites.
Unconfirmed: The reason behind her entire name (九十九 佐命) isn't clear. What is certain as usual, is that all the kanji used deviate from the norm. It would be written in general as "津雲 紗愛", were it a normal name.
Basically, all we know is that Sana's name is an anagram of NASA.
Ceres Fauna (セレス・ファウナ), Keeper of Nature
Taken from Roman mythology and religion, the goddess Ceres bears reference to agriculture, but the key point here is motherly relationships (Mother Nature). Another goddess, Fauna bears meaning to animals, and she has the signature antler-horns of the Japanese mythological creature, the Kirin.
Trivia: A kirin is also the name for real-life giraffes in Japan. What sets them apart is their written name. "麒麟" when refering to the mythological creature, "キリン" for the zoological animal in Japanese, though they seem to be used interchangeably somehow.
Ouro Kronii (オーロ・クロニー), Warden of Time
The name "Ouro" can refer to how some languages refer to Ouro (or Auro) as "gold", as seen on her minor accessories. It is also her thematic colours which feature prominent blues, whites and gold accents. It also refers to Ouroboros, the Eternal Serpent, also meant to depict Eternity, or endless time.
Kronii is likely wordplay on Chronus/Chronos/Khronos, Greek god of time, and converted to a feminine name.
(The reference to Ouroboros was confirmed much later, after her personal pet Boros, a snake no less, came into existence)
Nanashi Mumei (七詩ムメイ), Guardian of Civilisation
There's some fancy wordplay here. Her name is actually a palindrome (can be spelt forwards and backwards) in kanji. First, the original kanji-
Nanashi "名無" (namae - name, nashi - to mean, none)
Mumei "無名", (Mu - nothing 无/無 , Mei (名) seems to be used when describing nouns, and a name is a noun itself.)
Both names come together as "名無無名"
Her name is deliberately written differently to conceal this.
Unconfirmed: Additionally, "七詩" directly reads as "Seven Poems". Until now, nothing about her reveals why her name "Nanashi" has the kanji that it has. She is also more of an artist, and not a writer unlike the much more poetically inclined Pekora.
Hakos Baelz (ハコス・ベールズ), Chaos
If you anagram her name, Hakos can be spelt as Khaos (alternate spelling to Chaos). Her chaotic and non-conforming fashion sense definitely depicts that. Interestingly, Hakos has a couple of dice as part of her hair accessories. This is because dice can be subjected to chaos theory (please read it up yourself if interested, too in-depth to do so here)
Unconfirmed: While we can see the demon's name, Bael, in her name, there is nothing about her that matches the demon, nor the anagram "Blaze", for fire. No attempt has been made to verify it.
IRyS (███████ Irys) (アイリス), Hope
Like her namesake, Irys' name derives from the Iris flower, which is the floral accessory that adorns her neck. The Iris flower has many symbolic meanings - Hope, being one of them.
Like AZKi, her name is stylised as IRyS due to their thematic titles as VSingers.
Unconfirmed: Her redacted surname is a great source of mystery, and to date, as not been emphasized on or revealed.
=EN 3 - Advent=
Nerissa Ravencroft (ネリッサ レイヴンクロフト), The Demon of Sound
Nerissa's name is derived from Greek mythos - Nereids. Her name is also representative of sea nymphs, of which Nereids are called. Nereids are known for their melodious singing, which matches her title. Nerissa itself, is also a name for sea nymphs.
Furthermore upon revelation, Nerissa's outfit is decked with musical symbols, of which the most prominent is the golden "Bass Clefs" - it is in her white feather trail, her belt and her hair pin (animation reveals it's also on her instrument). Further inclusions are a "Quarter Rest" hanging on a metal loop, the "repeats" in her collars and "staff" in her white blouse, only vertical instead of horizontal. Animation also reveals she has an ornate tuning fork that seems to morph into a microphone-like state.
Her surname Ravencroft is a hint at her avian characteristic and fashion - jet black feathers, which are often a mark of ravens, and just a lot of black wear.
Unconfirmed: Ravencroft has a Scottish history to the name, Nerissa's revealing of her Celtic roots (Scottish/Irish) may suggest that her surname may have been deliberately considered rather than just a random combination.
The other funny detail is the sound ravens make - often like a "kraw". "Ravenkraw"oft?
Koseki Bijou (古石 ビジユー), Jewel of Emotions
Kanji Reading: 古 (Ko-), 石 (-Seki / -Ishi)
Her name has a Japanese meaning for ore (Kōseki 鉱石), and her surname Bijou (pronounced without a hard "J" as "Bee-zhoo") has two meanings between French (small, exquisite jewel), and wordplay in Japanese, Bijin (美人) - in this case, 美 (bi), 女 (jousei) - Bijō (beautiful girl). Additionally, Bijou has a flow that sounds like bejeweled (adorned with jewels), which is also true since crystal growths are part of her body.
Her name Koseki, ties in to her lore of being forged into human form under pressure. It's also very close to the name for gems - Hōseki (宝石), which like most metamorphic rocks (and ore), are formed by intense heat/pressure.
Only instead of geological, we're talking about magical.
She has kanji in her surname - 古石. Apart from 石 which we already know as "rock", the keyword seems to be "古" (Ko). This character suggests something that is aged or old. But a more accurate meaning seems to be "inishie" - which refers to something of antiquity, or ancient.
How does this tie in her background? For minerals in general to metamorphosize, it takes a reallllllly long time for it to happen, and I think "time" is the concept they're pointing to.
And... "Ko", is a descriptive prefix for something that is small (小), and also a term for something young (子), in this case, her physical appearance. It's a deceptively clever double-pun.
Koseki Bijou - A bejewelled lady of many descriptors - small, pretty, ancient.
Fuwawa Abyssgard, The Fluffy One (older (blue) sister)
Mococo Abyssgard, The Fuzzy One (younger (pink) sister)
Using onomatopoeias, fuwa fuwa (ふわふわ) and moco moco (モコモコ) are words to describe fluffiness, appropriate for these canine twins.
Interestingly, is their surname, Abyssgard. However, it draws the name from Norse mythos - where "gard" is a representative suffix for a realm (Asgard or Midgard in this case). Abyssgard does not exist in the "Nine Realms", and given their titles as Demonic Guard Dogs and motifs, we can infer that Abyssgard is also technically, Hell.
Trivia: Regarding their surname - The "Abyss" is pronounced with an emphasis on "Ab" (think abdominal, abs), rather than the common word abyss, which emphasises the "bys" part. "Abyss" naturally has a darker meaning which runs contrary to the twins' cute and soft image, and their clarification is an effort for them to preserve it.
Which realm does their surname come from? It depends on where you look. Niflheim describes a dark, dead abyss. While Helheim is an icy cold, land of the dead - guarded by a monster hound - Garmr. It could be a mix of both.
Their mentor Pero (full name: Perroccino), is also an onomatopoeia for "licking", like what canines commonly do.
Shiori Novella (シオリ ノヴェラ), The Archiver
Shiori's name bears multiple Japanese meanings, of significance is their link to books and texts. First, there is an important keyword - 織 (ori - to weave). To weave, is also to impart into something.
This ties into two other meanings - 詩織 & 史織 - both of which are pronounced shiori and broken down into poems (詩) & history (史). The weaving of poems and history as records.
Shiori's name is also representative of bookmarks - 栞.
Her surname Novella is likely a deliberate choice for a feminine name, as the other close term is "novel". Whether the difference between novel and novella matters will remain to be seen. But the book in her hand, can be considered relatively small enough to consider it novella-sized.
Both bookmarks and stories tie into her lore as a person who "saves her favourite stories and memories, into bookmarks" - Shiori Novella
Interestingly as well, her thick sleeve lining features a fabric weave that's reminiscent of Victorian era upholstery - of study/library room chairs.
=EN 4 - Justice=
Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame, The Scarlet Queen
Everything about Elizabeth is red - down to her primary colour, title, key features (hair and eyes) and oshi mark (red lipstick)
Her name is very likely in reference to the British monarch - Queen Elizabeth. A leader to her bunch, but draped in a regal warrior dress. She distinctively carries a sword, which can be an allusion to the Elizabeth Sword (ceremonial blade to the queen monarch) and to the sword-carrying Lady Justice. Her given name Elizabeth Rose, also matches with the monarch's royal cypher (monogram), stylised in text as EIIR (II in between to signify Elizabeth II, R - Regina/Queen))
The (Tudor) Rose, is Britain's national flower, and her middle name.
Bloodflame maybe be a reference to her royal background, and thus alluding to royal bloodlines. The wordplay to this name thus grants her a curious blue flame adorned at her neck.
Trivia: Elizabeth's right stocking, has a symbol that looks almost exact to Big Ben's hour hand. (now Elizabeth Tower)
Gigi Murin, The Chaser
Little is known about Gigi's name origin.
It can be surmised that based on design elements, she could be a Greater Mouse-eared Bat (FR: Grand Murin), and has prominent fang motifs adorned on her clothing, but the lack of bat elements to her body or clothing make it difficult to pin down decisively.
(They could have been removed to make her silhouette convenient for a land-roaming body)
Gigi's name could also be a Japanese onomatopeia for bat calls kii-kii / gii-gii.
That or she just wants to call us "GGnoobs - work hard play harder!"
Cecelia Immergreen, The Ancient Automaton
Cecelia's name may pay reverence to Saint Cecelia, patron saint of music. Particularly being the only one with an explicit display of musical interest.
Immergreen carries the German meaning of "Evergreen", which represents four significant design traits of Cecelia -
- Her green colour palette
- An "evergreen" girl - one who hasn't experienced (or newly experiencing) many a particular things in life.
- Her floral motif, the (white) evergreen flower.
- Evergreen in terms of permanence, as her appearance does not change through the passage of time.
Raora Panthera, The Artist with the God Eyes
Raora's name is very likely to be a wordplay onomatopeia of "rawr/roar", basically the growl of felidae. Her oshi mark makes an obvious reference to her being a cat. It was shown that her irises can become vertically slit, and she carries the distinct yellow of feline eyes.
Her surname is also the name of the genus Panthera, within the Felidae family - of jaguars, lions, tigers, and leopards. Panthers are actually the same species as leopards, but with different physical builds. Panthers are way stockier and bulkier (meatier you might say).
(This might also align with her first X post emphasizing her gloriously thick thighs.)
=ID Gen 1=
Ayunda Risu (アユンダ・リス:
Risu is "squirrel" in Japanese. It is said that Ayunda can mean a older sister or "pretty", in Indonesian. Hence, when Risu brings out the mature voice, she claims that "Ayunda" has taken over.
Further reading
Moona Hoshinova (ムーナ・ホシノヴァ)
Her name is made up of astronomy terms - Moon, Hoshi (Star), and Nova (explosion after star-death). There is an apparent distinction in personalities that is split into Moona, the default personality of hers, and Hoshinova, her alter-ego. This makes sense, as stars and novae are a matching pair of terms, that is separate from the moon.
Airani Iofifteen (アイラニ・イオフィフティーン)
Her name is a pun for Area 51, the mysterious place on Earth that purportedly hides aliens. But instead, she has her own version called Area 15 to match her own name.
=ID Gen 2=
Kureiji Ollie (クレイジー・オリー)
Kureiji is a transliteration for Crazy. Besides this, there are no further references. We can simply infer that Ollie is her name, and has no known further meaning.
Anya Melfissa (アーニャ・メルフィッサ)
Unconfirmed: Nothing in her name has any relevance to her as an anthropomorphic keris.
56) Pavolia Reine (パヴォリア・レイネ)
The name "Pavolia" comes from the Latin "pavo," meaning "peacock." Pavo is also the genus that peafowl fall under.
Unconfirmed: Reine might loosely be read as "reign", due to her royal background.
=ID Gen 3=
Kobo Kanaeru (こぼ・かなえる)
The name (Kobo Kan)aeru is a pun on kobokan, Indonesian for "finger bowl," and air, Indonesian for "water." A kobokan is a bowl of water used to rinse one's fingers at the dining table. This is due to their dining tradition of eating food with their right hand/fingers.
"Kobo Kanaeru" can also be read as an abbreviation for the Japanese 「零せば叶える」, "kobo(seba) kanaeru," meaning "(if you) spill it, it will come true." In Indonesian culture the meaning of this phrase is "If the shaman spills the water from their mouth to their patient, their request will be granted."
Perhaps not surprisingly, Kobo also writes her name in hiragana characters, like Gura does. Despite not revealing her age, this is in line with Kobo's bratty and childish nature.
Vestia Zeta (ベスティア・ゼータ)
Zeta's name and the arc number "7".
Zeta may be the sixth Greek alphabet, but it comes with the value of 7.
Her birthday is "7" November. 7/11
Following her birthday, the band that runs through a lock of her hair has "VII" in roman numerals.
Her agent code name is V.7, as the 7th member of the SAU (lore).
Her electronic tablet has the number "7", but is written in Javanese script as "꧗"
By order of debutants, she is the 7th member of HoloID.
Unconfirmed: Her surname Vestia, doesn't have much relation to go by. There are loose readings in Latin, none which come close to her themes.
Trivia: Because Indonesians pronounce alphabets differently, Zeta's name, when spoken in Indonesian tongue sounds like "Jeta" instead. Otherwise in English, her name remains accurately as Zeta.
Kaela Kovalskia (カエラ・コヴァルスキア)
Kovalskia has close readings to the Polish name Kowalski or Kowalska, meaning "blacksmith, in line with Kaela's profession.
Unconfirmed: Her name Kaela is quite uncommon and does not bear much known meanings. One of the closest references, of Irish/Gaelic origin is to mean slim and fair. For a woman of her stature, Kaela is not only exceptionally thin and slender, but also a tad fairer than her counterparts - her facial skin tone, is paler and lacks the beiges that other girls have. For assumption purposes, Kaela may have been designed with European traits in mind - in name origins and appearance.
Trivia: Intentional or not, Kaela's colour scheme is evocative of crested penguins, specifically - the Rockhopper penguin owing to the presence of reds and yellows. It should however be noted that Rockhoppers, are still the smallest of crested penguins, contradicting Kaela's majestic height. The penguins from Madagascar, including Kowalski himself, are Adélie penguins, hence unrelated.
In short: Every trait that should link her to penguins, are completely misplaced or absent.
=HoloStars JP=
Not all Holostars talents have distinctive wordplay in their names, so only those with obvious ones will be mentioned (Full wordplay becomes more prominent starting from UPROAR and TEMPUS)
Hanasaki Miyabi (花咲みやび)
Kanji Reading: 花 (Hana-) 咲 (-saki)
Miyabi's main motif is florals, and his feminine appearance. His name, Hanasaki means to bloom, relating to flowers. Miyabi is generally a female's name. His name Miyabi, can mean "elegance", which describes him well.
Together, his name spells out - "to bloom with elegance".
Kanade Izuru (奏手イヅル)
Kanji Reading: 奏 (Kanade-) 手 (-te)
One of the meanings of his surname Kanade (奏), means to play music. As it is a single kanji, he likely had (手, -te) added in, as a phonetical replacement on "-de". Fitting, as his combined surname spells out - "to play with the hand"
His name Izuru bears the kanji "弦", and has the meaning, "string".
This name makes more sense as he is a string instrument player, specifically the guitar.
Kageyama Shien (影山シエン)
Kanji Reading: 影 (Kage-) 山 (-yama)
Unconfirmed: Shien's name is almost unheard of as a common name. His name may be a wordplay on colours alone, his major and sub colour theme of black and purple.
Kage- could refer to black, as the kanji "影" (kage), suggests. Whereas Shien is likely to be a deviation from the name Shion. "Shi-" in Japanese names, can bear the kanji "紫", to mean purple. Yama (山), may have been added to pad out his surname into a proper Japanese one.
Kishido Tenma (岸堂天真)
Kanji Reading: 岸 (Kishi-) 堂 (-do) 天 (Ten-) 真 (-ma)
The wordplay comes from replacing his kanji surname "騎士" with "岸堂" - "騎士" is knight, while "岸" (kishi) means "shore". Since replacing his kanji leaves him with only one character, "堂" (-do) was added to it. Though the meaning behind this character is not certain.
The other replacement is "天真". By replacing this kanji, you can also get "天馬", to mean a heavenly horse (tenma - tengoku, uma). Unlike Kanata's "天", they use the phonetic reading (on'yomi) of this character, not the meaning (kun'yomi)
Jokingly, Tenma made an entrance during his 3D debut with a white stallion... atop a bicycle. Whether he actually possesses a stallion is up to question.
Yukoku Roberu (夕刻ロベル)
Kanji Reading: 夕 (Yu- (Yuu)) 刻 (-koku)
"夕刻" has double meanings. As a pair, it means "evening". And both individual kanji means (夕/夕日 - yu/yuuhi) the setting sun (analogous to evenings) and (刻 - koku) to mean hour. The evening hour.
Hence, his profession as a bartender, matches how bars typically operate from the evenings onwards. This may also extend to his colour schemes which involves a strong divide between vibrant orange and blue, as the evening sky has a blue hue while divided by an orange skyline. This further extends to his heterochromatic eyes, one orange and blue.
What his given name Roberu means, is up for debate, as he does not have kanji to his given name for interpretation, nor is his name common enough to have meaningful examples.
=HoloStars UPROAR=
Yatogami Fuma (夜十神封魔)
Kanji Reading: 夜 (Ya-) 十 (to-) 神 (-gami (kami) 封 (Fu-) 魔 (-ma)
His surname is a mix of wordplays put together. Seperately, they form "夜" (Ya-, (yami) to mean darkness), "十" (to) from goroawase of the number ten, and "神" (-gami (-kami), a variation of spelling. The use of "十" is likely for consistency, as 夜卜神封魔 would look strange due to the standout katakana.
And also by sheer coincidence or not, Fuma is now considered the tenth (十) existing HoloStars member, by order of current day membership.
His given name "封魔", is a replacement for the kanji to this name "楓". Its direct translation means "to seal demons". 封 (fuuin) 魔 (akuma)
Trivia: While he doesn't seal demons for a business (only referenced in Hologras), his character design is based on a similar character, Yato, from the anime "Noragami". A self-proclaimed "god" who does odd jobs while having the actual power to seal evil and demons (ayakashi, in his case). His eyes are originally yellow, but changes to a icy blue when in his Ayakashi (spiritual yokai) state - like Yato's blue eyes in original colour.
Fuma is clearly designed after Yato, in both profession, appearance and name.
Utsugi Uyu (羽継 烏有)
Kanji Reading: 羽 (U-) 継 (-tsugi) 烏 (U) 有 (-yu)
"烏" is read as "u", based on phonetic reading (on'yomi), not "tori" (kun'yomi)
The true meaning behind his name can be difficult to interpret, due to lacking information.
His motif is related to birds, evidenced by his kanji "羽" and "烏". (feather and bird).
His other kanji refer to inheritance (継承 - keisho), and "烏有" may refer to having a bird. (有 literally means "yes", a positive for reinforcement). This bird refers to Jyako, his talking Jacobin pigeon.
The inheritance may refer to riches instead, owing to his phantom thief persona.
Hizaki Gamma (緋崎 ガンマ)
Kanji Reading: 緋 (Hi- (Hiiro)) 崎 (-zaki (saki)
His name relates to colours. "緋崎" has the kanji for scarlet (緋), his primary colour scheme. Unsure what "崎" might mean, could be used to pad out his surname as a single character if so.
His given name Gamma (colour gamma), is a term in digital artistry and technology- how smoothly black transits to white on a digital display.
(Please note that this has no relation to the greek character, gamma)
Trivia: His name is read as "Ganma" instead, as this pronunciation is more suited to the Japanese vernacular. Additionally, pronouncing his name backwards gives you "Manga", which is his primary medium of artistic expression. Interestingly, if you also reverse his surname Hizaki into Kizai (h is silent here) - it becomes "機材", equipment.
Manga Equipment
Minase Rio (水無世 燐央)
Kanji Reading: 水 (Mi- (mizu) 無 (na- (nashi) 世 (-se (sekai) 燐 (Ri- (rin)) 央 (-o)
His surname "水無世" (Minase), is derived from the common spelling that is "水無瀬", replacing the same syllable (-se) "世" with "瀬". "世" comes from the root word "世界", to mean "world". It could mean his departed connection to this world, as a ghost.
His given name "燐央" (Rio) is also replaced. There are many versions of "Rio" in kanji, but the consistent suffix here is "央". The kanji "燐" (Rin) means phosphorus. How this relates to him is uncertain. As Rio's colours are primarily gradients of blue, and phosphorus is naturally white.
=HoloStars TEMPUS=
TEMPUS has a collective relation to astronomy. Which will be explained at the end of this section.
The first 4 members, collectively known as TEMPUS HQ.
Regis Altare (リージス・アルテア)
Latin: Regis refers to "Kingliness", the ability to lead, the mark of a leader. While not an actual king, the guild he leads is his role.
For specific reasons, his name Altare corresponds to his motifs - the eagle. The star he is named after, Altair, has the name of "Flying Eagle". Moreover, it belongs to the Aquila constellation, which in Latin, is "eagle".
Magni Dezmond (マグニ・デズモンド)
Latin: Magni refers to his "Greatness". This is in line with his personality, where he flaunts his greatness. The root word here, is magnificence.
His given name Dezmond, is a variation of the common name Desmond. Whether it has significance is unknown.
Noir Vesper (ノワール・ヴェスパー)
Latin: Noir refers to "Black". This is in line with his colour scheme, mainly of dark colours.
His given name Vesper has a variety of religious meanings, all pointing to the core meaning of "evening" and "prayers".
While played for laughs, Vesper is said to resemble a rather famous vampire, which he vehemently denies. A type of bat called the Vesper bat, exists.
Note: Despite the visual change to his model, his colour scheme remains prominently dark and fitting.
Axel Syrios (アクセル・シリオス)
Axel's name does not have any direct Latin origin. This may be intentional as he shares this similarity with Bettel and Flayon.
His given name, Syrios, is a play on the Dog-Star, Sirius, belonging to the Canis Major constellation (Greater Dog). Hence, he has canine motifs.
Trivia: Given that their surnames come first, Axel is actually his surname. However, Axel himself has also preferred he be addressed as "Axel" instead, which is also conveniently a given name at the same time.
The next 4 members, collectively known as TEMPUS Vanguard.
Gavis Bettel (ガビス・ベッテル)
I have very little idea of what his name entails, as none of the parts relate to his theme or jesters.
Say his name fast, and Bettel Gavis sounds like Betelgeuse.
(For those who pronounce -geuse (as juice), it won't sound right unless you pronounce "G" with the hard sound.
Machina X Flayon (マキナ・X・フレオン)
Flayon's name format is a play on "Deus ex machina", a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly and abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. As we now learn from his... backstory. Flayon is a person with a lack of accolades in his life growing up. Seeking to resolve this, he made a deal with the devil to C-TRUS - and ironically, becoming the Deus Ex Machina to his problems.
Its loose translation is also "God from (out of) a Machine". Given his bratty personality, slightly haughty character and power dependance in his mech, it sort of checks out.
The "X" in his name was stated by him to be "chi" (22nd Greek alphabet). Conveniently enough, "Chi" is also in his surname Machina. Whether it has further relevance is not known.
Say his name fast, it sounds like "Machina is Flying"
Trivia: Since Flayon is aware of Super Robot Wars - Super Robots are the kinds that utilise fantastic powers and energies as their abilities. Whereas Real Robots are grounded to elements of reality (Physics, real world weaponry). R-Trus is confirmed by him, as a Super Robot type. It's also probably why he's really loud - Super Robot attacks are traditionally done by yelling out your attacks.
Xenokuni
Hakka and Shinri are considered a foreign pair in their world setting, hence their names are in Japanese format.
(Xenokuni is a wordplay for Foreign Country). Xeno has no kanji, but kuni (国) means country.
The link to "Stars" is seemingly inconclusive with Hakka and Shinri, however, both of them have the naming suffix for temples in them, (院 -in) and (寺 -ji), as befitting their (Japanese) background.
Banzoin Hakka (万象院ハッカ)
Kanji Reading: 万 (Ban-) 象 (zo- (zou)) 院 (-in)
Despite all his wild cool-guy antics, his name seems to all be linked to life and spirituality.
His name comes in part from Shinra Bansho (森羅万象) - All creations of the universe. For the context of spirituality, "院" (-in) is a naming suffix for temples (if used in another context, it is a surname suffix for nobility). While not emphasized in any manner, Japanese exorcists (at least for fictional settings) can be said to reside in temples for spiritual reasons and training.
Hakka (or Haka) can mean "墓 " for grave/tomb. Possibly just loose wordplay as Exorcists deal with incorporeal beings, and not putting things into a grave.
Josuiji Shinri (定水寺シンリ)
Kanji Reading: 定 (Jo-) 水 (sui-) 寺 (-ji)
"水" is read phonetically (on'yomi - sui), rather than its meaning (kun'yomi - mizu)
As his theme, background story and character type suggests, his name is tied significantly to Buddhism and archery. First to break down his name components.
"定水" means still water / calm water. "寺" (-ji) is also a suffix for temple. His name "Shin-" has two meanings with this context - "真" for its relevance to Buddhism, and "心" for heart.
All these elements are then extended to Kyudo (Japanese art of archery). Unlike medieval-styled archery for combat, Kyudo emphasizes form, almost to a meditative-like quality. Where meditation is involved, you need a still/calm mind and heart. (Either way, archery requires a calm state of mind to focus).
Where does the religious element come in? Japanese monks also practice kyudo as a meditative martial art. And where do they live? Temples. And what can you find in temples? Still water ponds, and also koi if they have them. (Still water is an important theme because Japanese temples emphasize zen and tranquility, and ponds aerators are largely not used because they disturb the water surface, and add to the ambient noise which goes against the purpose of Zen)
Astronomy references
Each of the 6 original guild members via lore - excluding Hakka and Shinri - have a star to their name. However, not just any star, but a category known as First-magnitude stars, a group of 20 stars that are the brightest in the night sky. There is no specific order to their names chosen.
ALTARE - ALTAIR
DEZMOND - DENEB
VESPER- VEGA
SYRIOS - SIRIUS
BETTEL - BETELGEUSE
FLAYON - PROCYON
Impressively, they also hid one more star reference. His mech R-TRUS, is ARCTURUS
There are two asterisms involved. Asterisms are star formations that are not constellations themselves.
Altair, Deneb and Vega form the Summer Triangle
Sirius, Betelgeuse and Procyon form the Winter Triangle
Besides Altair and Sirius (Axel), the constellations that the others reside in have no relevance to their talents - Cygnus, Lyra, Canis Minor and Orion
Sirius may be the outlier in this final factor, but there is one more very genius move on Hololive's part.
The Summer Triangle group, debuted in July - the season of SUMMER
The Winter Triangle group, debuted in January - the season of WINTER
The timeliness of their debuts, is no mere coincidence.
=ReGLOSS=
Hiodoshi Ao (火威青)
Kanji Reading:
火 (Hi) - the kun'yomi reading for fire, instead of "ka"
威 (odoshi) - Multiple meanings of pointing to dignity, majesty and intimidation. Referencing to her cool and dignified self in public.
青 (Ao) - Blue, her primary motif colours.
A manga artist alluding to "Fire" in their name... where have we heard of this person before.
Otonose Kanade (音乃瀬奏)
Kanji Reading:
音 (Oto) - Sound.
乃 (no) 瀬 (se) - Kanji characters for these syllables in names.
Otonose is rarely or never even heard of. So the name doesn't have much of an actual history.
奏 - Kanade, which means "To play music".
Trivia: Kanade shares the same name as Izuru, except Kanade is her given name; while Izuru's "Kanade" is his surname, written as "奏手"
Ichijou Ririka (一条莉々華)
Kanji Reading:
一条 (Ichijou) - Unclear. The surname has no significance or relation in respects to her business, hint of regality or success. It's only literal meaning is "1st Street", like in a Japanese street address.
莉々(Riri) 華 (-ka) - Her name Ririka is specifically chosen with the kanji for "Jasmine" flowers, which bears the meaning for friendliness or gracefulness. This gracefulness is reflected in her onstream demeanour and relatively posh attire.
々 - Denotes a repetition of kanji in a name. Hence 莉々華 instead of 莉莉華.
Juufuutei Raden (儒烏風亭らでん)
Kanji Reading:
儒 (Ju) - To mean "Cultured", likely to do with her interest in all things cultural.
烏 (U) - This refers specifically to her yatagarasu monsho (emblem) that's on her haori.
風 (Fuu) - Unclear what this refers to, possibly related to the yatagarasu - as it is the symbol of the crow.
亭 (Tei) - An often used pseudonym for writers and performers - in her case, as a rakugoka.
(For eg, her idolised rakugoka - Shunpuutei Shoya (春風亭 昇太))
らでん (Raden) - her name is based on a decorative technique for traditional craftwork and woodwork. Further integrating to her background as a traditional crafts woman. Raden involves the use of shells or pearlescent materials to indent into craftwork.
Trivia: Rakugoka adopt a stage name typically, and do not use their real names.
4th wall disclaimer: Since this is a virtual talent - Juufuutei Raden is essentially her real name.
Todoroki Hajime (轟はじめ)
Kanji Reading:
轟 (Todoroki) - Excitement, possibly referencing to her restlessness and keenness for physical activity. This is best seen in her stream elements which depict her as physically capable and agile. After her 3D came about, her dancing prowess became well, and memetically known in the entertainment space.
はじめ - Hajime's name is unfortunately one of the few with an extensive list of possible kanji, that makes it impossible to decipher, what her name really signifies.
=HoloStars ARMIS=
Jurard T Rexford
A simple wordplay combination on Jurassic Park and T-Rex combined. He has a reptilian tail too, nuff said.
The name Jurard might be influenced from "Gerard", a name that signifies hardiness and strength.
Goldbullet
A likely reference to GoldenEye, and possibly James Bond films, where gold and guns are a recurring theme, even right down to his title and eye colour.
Octavio
A reference to music, as his profile and name implies (Octave). It is also a Spanish name, which also backs up his language proficiency of Tagalog (as a Filipino), where Spanish influences and history prevail.
Crimzon Ruze
A wordplay on "ruse" and "rose". A clear indication of the reds in his colour scheme, with the "scarlet" in his title.
=FlowGlow=
Rindo Chihaya (輪堂 千速)
Kanji Reading: 千 (Chi-), 速 (-Haya ((Hayai/Hayasa))
Chihaya's name is a wordplay on the common kanji for the name Chihaya (千隼/千早), replacing the suffix with "速", which represents speed.
("Chi" is the kun'yomi reading of "千", which uses its meaning, rather than sound)
For her surname, the common kanji for Rindo replaces "竜胆 (Rindo/Rindou)", with "輪 (Rin) 堂 (Do)". The key character is "輪", which at its core, represents a cycle or anything thematically circular (in this case, wheel, due to her theming).
Since she is the driver for the group, and that her profile states clearly that the vehicle is a prized possession, her name has everything to do with cars and speed. Also, because she is the DJ, her musical role leans into the wordplay of her name, as the pacemaker of the group's musical rhythm and tempo (at least in lore).
Kikirara Vivi (綺々羅々ヴィヴィ)
Kanji Reading: 綺 (Ki-) , 羅 (-ra)
々 - Denotes a repetition of kanji in a name. Hence like Ririka's "莉々華", she uses "綺々羅々"
The kanji 綺, denotes beauty, fitting for her role as the make-up artist. While it's not very clear what "羅" refers to, there are two ways to interpret it -
- She never lets beauty escape her grasp (encapturing net)
- She connects FlowGlow's make up aesthetics together as the make-up artist (connection)
Trivia: In an exactly similar fashion to Nene, both their names are made completely alliterative (same sounds) - Momosuzu Nene / Kikirara Vivi. If you further misread her name as "Kirakira" (sparkling), it still becomes an allusion to beauty.
Additionally, if you take the first syllables of her alliterative name, you can spell out "綺羅び"(やか) - (Kirabiyaka -> gorgeous)
Unconfirmed: For her name Vivi, there is currently no interpretable clue since it's not a common Japanese name.
Isaki Riona (響咲リオナ)
Kanji Reading: 響 (I- (Hibiki)) , 咲 (-saki)
Riona's profile reveals her to be the key singer of the group, which then opens up the meaning of her surname.
"響" refers to echoing or reverberating sound, whereas "咲", when attached as a suffix to a name, suggests an increasing emphasis - in this case, sound.
This is unlike Shion's (紫咲) and Miyabi's (花咲) surnames - The former is a wordplay on the kanji for purple, while the latter is a literal emphasis on flower blooming.
Curiously, her name does not use the common Japanese spelling of "Reona", and neither does it contain a kanji character. However, if taken from European meanings, her name suggests "Queenliness", which may reflect her leading role of the group.
Mizumiya Su (水宮枢)
Kanji Reading: 水 (Mizu-), 宮 (-miya)
"水" is read based on its kun'yomi (by meaning, instead of phonetics)
Su's motif and name clashes wildly, depicting the meanings and colours of water, while sporting electrical symbols over her attire and ahoge. Two dichotomic themes that don't exist coherently in general.
The most puzzling choice of kanji comes from "枢", which of all things, refer to a core or pivotal centerpiece in meaning, and cannot be read as "Su" in any manner. If her role as Publicity Manager is anything to go by, then her name is a far-reaching wordplay on the ability to influence (power) the masses with publicity.
Trivia: The kanji "枢" is actually used for the name "Kaname", which obviously cannot be applied in any manner to Su's name.
Koganei Niko (虎金妃笑虎)
Kanji Reading: 虎 (Ko- (tora)), 金 (-gane), 妃 -i (hime))
"虎" is read based on on'yomi (phonetics), while "金" is read based on kun'yomi (meaning). These two tie in well due to her thematic colours which is yellow/gold, typical descriptive colours for a tiger.
"姫" is similar to "妃", in that both can be read as "hi/hime" and bear similar meanings, but "妃" is not commonly used.
Typically, Koganei is formed by two known variations, "小金井" or "虎金井", which obviously based on Niko's theme, "虎金井" is chosen. "妃" replaces "井", but the reason for this is unclear.
"笑" (niko) takes on the onomatopoeic reading from niko-niko, a smile. Since the standalone kanji "笑" is not used for names, "虎" is added back as an extra character to conveniently take the place of "ko" of her given name.