What the Heck is a Vanburace, Anyway?
(permanently under construction)

Please note:  These are all based on the English version, since I don't speak Japanese, and in most cases, don't even know what the original name WAS.
Each game is in its own table.  Elements that appear in all games (i.e, Filgaia, Tony, Zephyr) will be in the first one.

I owe credits to several people on ROFF, and am waiting for them to e-mail me so I can give credit where it's due.  :)   Thanks to Wasteland Planet Forums for letting me use info from a whole thread on WA3 names.

I haven't been able to find many references on the Guardians, so if you know anything about where their names came from, please e-mail me or post it on ROFF.
Thanks!

	50's sitcom	Mentioned by one of the horses in Surf Village if you whack him with Cecelia's wand, he has just got to mean Mr. Ed.
	Adlehyde	German Adelheid is the same as English Adelaide, royal or noble.
	Alhazad	Fritz Fraundorf of the GIA got an e-mail claiming this means "the sinner" in Arabic, but the name is probably derived from Alhazred, the author of the Necronomicon in H.P. Lovecraft's books.
	Arnica	Homeopathic remedy for bruises, sprains and heart or immune problems.  Since it's also in an online directory of poisonous plants, I wouldn't self-medicate with it.  There are a couple of ROFF members who may know it as etelänarnikki.
	Azrael	One of the Angels of Death in the Quran.
	Barbados	Portuguese for "bearded"; tropical island.  You can find more info about it here.
	Bartholomew	Means "son of Tolmai" in Aramaic, but could have been put in because there seems to be a "Bart" in every Western, an idea masterfully spoofed by Mel Brooks in Blazing Saddles.
	Belselk	Japonification of berserk.
	Berial	Japonification of Belial, one of the titles of Satan in the Bible.
	Calamity Jane	Click here for her encyclopedia entry.
	Cecilia	Latin name meaning "blind."  St. Cecilia is the patron of music.
	Centour	They mean centaur.
	Contrail	Vapor trail left by a jet airplane.
	Diablo	Spanish for "devil."
	Drake	A dragon, a duck or Old Norse for "mooring place."
	Emiko	Oddly enough, a Japanese girl's name that means "blessed, beautiful child."  I think they used it to make the Elw seem more exotic or alien.
	Fast Draw	Today the gun version is a sport.
	Fenril	Also known as Fenrir or Fenris, an evil wolf monster from Norse mythology.
	Filgaia	Probably from Greek phil, "love," and Gaea, the Earth goddess, for a name roughly translated "Love the Planet."
	Glumzamber  !	Niu reports that this is supposed to be translated "Glam Saber," but I've wondered if it might translate into some language into "Dark Spear" (Glum = Gloom?).
	Harken	Variant of archaic hearken, to listen.  Click here for more info.  Also, harkin is Gaelic for "dark red" (Thanks, LH!)
	Harpy	Half-woman, half-vulture monster from Greek myth.
	Hiades	Very likely a Japonification of Hades, Greek god of death (and his abode).  The Hyades are a star cluster in the constellation Taurus.
	Ione Paua	A tribute to General Paua of the Philippines?  I gather Paua must be a Chinese last name, but I have no idea what it means.
	Jack (and Johan)	Both variants of John, "God is gracious."
	Justine	Feminine form of Justin, "just."  No surprise here.
	Leviathan	A sea monster in the Bible.
	Lolithia	A Japonification of Lilith?  Found in the Apocrypha, she was Adam's first wife but refused to be subordinate to him, so Eve was created.
	Lucifer	"Light Bearer," one of Satan's titles before he rebelled against God.
	Malduke	Japonification of Marduk, Babylonian god of creation and the sky.
	Mariel	A variant of Mary?  There is some controversy over whether the name means "wished-for child," "sea of rebellion" or "bitterness."  The folks at Contrail are very fond of Marys; witness Marivel and Mirabelle.
	Maya	Hindu for magical power, or Buddhist for the illusory "real world" that practicioners try to pierce through meditation.
	Ocarina	A type of flute with four to twelve holes.  You can buy one here, and even listen to samples of ocarina music.  (Click "About" to go to their start page).
	Pandemonium	The dwelling the demons create for themselves in Hell in Milton's Paradise Lost.
	Rosetta	Seaport city in Egypt where the Rosetta Stone was discovered.
	Rudy	Diminutive of Rudolph, literally "fame wolf."
	Sado	An island off Japan, used ages ago as a place of exile, now a scenic tourist spot.
	Shazam	The magic word that transformed mild-mannered Billy Batson into the original Captain Marvel.
	Tony	From Antonio, a Latin name of unknown meaning.
	Turrask/Trask	A very, very difficult-to-beat AD&D monster.  (Click on the black-and-white illustration to see it full-size).
	U.S.S. Missouri	The battleship upon which Japan signed its surrender after World War II.  You can find a lot more info on it here.  You can still tour the ship if you happen to be in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where it has been turned into a memorial.
	Van Burace	The closest "armor" word in English is vambrace, a forearm guard.  Zed wears an orange vambrace on his left arm. (And that armor on his shoulder is a pauldron).
	white monkey	In Japan, supposed to bring peace; figure in Buddhist legends; may be related to Hanuman in Eastern mythology.
	Yggdrasil	The "World Tree" of  Norse mythology.
	Zed	Derivative of Zedekiah, "the LORD is just."  Could this be a reference to Zed's "happy ending?"
	Zeikfried	Variant of Siegfried, hero of the Niebelungenlied.  Ironically, behindthenames.com says the literal translation is "victory peace."  That's right, Zeikfried is named for a good guy and the Fenril Knights after a monster!
	Zepet	I always thought this was related to Pinocchio's Gepetto, but have no way to prove it.  They sure sound similar.
	Zephyr	From Zephyrus, Greek god of the west wind.  He's not depicted as a dragon, though.

 

	Amy	"Beloved"
	Anastasia	"Resurrection"
	Antenora	Place in hell for traitors to their country, from Dante's Inferno.
	Argetlahm  !	Niu says this should be "Argent Arm."  Mangled into "Airghet-lahm B/V2" in WA3.
	Ashley	"Grove of ash trees."  I wonder if they picked this because it starts with "Ash," in keeping with the "fire" theme?  Blazer -->fire -->ash.
	Bernadette	Old German for "strong bear."  Someone on ROFF pointed out that St. Bernadette was the patron of Lourdes.
	Billy	Diminutive of William, "will helmet."
	Brad	"Broad clearing."  Well, he is the party brick!
	Caina	Place in hell for traitors to their relatives, found in Dante's Inferno.
	Cocytus	The frozen river of hell in Dante's Inferno.
	Colette	Variant of Nicolette, "victorious people."
	Golgotha	The spot where Jesus Christ was crucified.
	Guild Galad	I've often wondered if this is a tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien's Gil-galad.
	Kanon	Perhaps derived from Kannon, a deity of the Buddhist pantheon?
	Irving	Derived from a Scottish place-name.
	Judecca	The worst plane of hell, reserved for traitors to their benefactors in Dante's Inferno.
	Kate	Diminutive of Katherine, "pure."
	Kuiper Belt	a ring of space debris beyond Neptune
	Lilka	Variant of Lily?
	Marina	Filgaian for "insipid love interest."
	Marivel	Probably another variant of Mary; this name is actually used in Spanish-speaking countries.
	Odessa  !	A secret society that supposedly helped high-ranking Nazis escape to safety after World War II (not proven to exist).
	Pooka	A Welsh spirit creature.  Supposedly "Harvey" the invisible rabbit from the movie of the same name was one.  Could also be a type of  "ghost horse" (Thanks, DWD!).
	Ptolomea	Section in hell reserved for traitors to guests in Dante's Inferno.
	Rhadamanthus	Minor Greek deity of hell.
	Sabrina	An ancient Celtic name of unknown meaning.
	Scott Summers	The secret identity of Marvel Comics' Cyclops.  This can't be a coincidence.
	Tony Stark	The secret identity of Marvel Comics' Iron Man.  Gotta be a tribute; just look at the similar colors the characters are wearing.
	Vinsfeld	AFAIK, a rough translation would be "hell's vineyard."  The folks at Contrail just LOVE those diabolical references!
	Winchester	Proud manufacturer of firearms, and a natural choice for a gunner's name.

 

	Alcahest	Super Nindendo game released by Squaresoft in 1993.  Also the "universal solvent" sought by alchemists (?)
	Alan Smithy	"Alan Smithee" is a psuedonym used by film directors when they're not happy with the finished product; in fact, union rules prevent them from using any *other* psuedo.
	Alfred	"Counselor"
	Asgard	Literally, "Fortress of the gods," which is very close to the Earth Golem's nickname in WA1.
	Boot Hill	Nickname of the cemetery where Calamity Jane is buried.
	Caradine	Maybe a tribute to David Carradine, who starred in the early East-meets-Western, "Kung Fu."
	Cascade	a small waterfall.
	Clive	"A cliff"
	Dario	"Affluent"
	Dukakis	Maybe Contrail got this from the news, since Michael Dukakis unsuccessfully ran for President back in 1988.
	Gallows	Hangman's platform, and an odd name for a priest.
	Gungnir	Odin's spear
	Janus	Ancient Roman god of doorways and beginnings; the month of January is named after him because it is the first month of the year.
	Jet	Could be a reference to a plane or the black stone.
	John Dee	"An alchemist and astrologer who lived in sixteenth century England. He also served as an advisor to Queen Elizabeth. Dee tried his hand at scrying, but was not particularly good at it. Eventually he met Edward Kelly, who was adept at scrying, and the two teamed up. Unfortunately, Queen Elizabeth withdrew her support of their activities, and Dee and Kelly drifted around Europe looking for new patrons. Years later they split up; Dee went back to England, but died in poverty." -- Usagi
	Malik	Middle Eastern title, something like "sheikh" or "caliph."
	Martina	"One who loves everyone" or "warlike"
	Mimir Well	Watered one of the roots of Yggdrasil
	Nidhogg	Serpent that killed Yggdrasil
	Schrodinger	Probably after Erwin Schrödinger, physicist, whose "Cat Paradox" has been most entertainingly explained by Cecil Adams.
	Shane	Overrated, critically acclaimed Western from 1953, starring Alan Ladd.
	Todd	"a fox."  (He's not).  Does anyone else think he was separated at birth from Disco Stu?
	Virginia	"A virgin."
	Virginia Maxwell	"The real life Virginia Maxwell was the wife of Captain Alexander S. B. Keyes of the Tenth Cavalry which was stationed at different locations along the American western frontier from 1866. Instead of catching the train to new postings like many of the men's wives she traveled with the troops to the postings, even when she was still recovering from childbirth she chose to travel with the troops rather than catch the train."  and "Born in New Mexico to a wealthy family, eloped with Alexander Keyes, and spend most of her life traveling and living with the companies that Alexander Keyes worked in. She did make up with her family a year or so after she eloped with him for marrying someone they didn't agree with, and there is a museum in New Mexico which is supposed to have some dresses and stuff belonging to her in it." --Anastasia Demi, www.filgaia.com
	Werner	From Warren, "to preserve"
	Winslet	After Kate Winslet?
	Yggdrasil	"tree of life" in Norse mythology

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