Strangetown/Onomatology

The onomatology (meaning study of the origin of names) of the Sim characters are sometimes hilarious, but always interesting. Many of the names had been intentionally chosen for etymology reasons. Simmers have found out many of the meanings, although a large-enough portion do not mean as much as 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
The presence of deceased Sims in Olive Specter's garden with names implying suspicious or intentional death is hinting 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 the cryptic family biography you see when you go to play her lot.
 * Specter: Means "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.

For Olive's son, Nervous, please look under the Beaker Family.
 * Nigmos: Possibly a reference to the Spanish and Portuguese word negro meaning "black" for the Nigmos's dark complexions.
 * Ophelia Nigmos (Olive's niece): Derived from the Greek word ophelos meaning "help." Ophelia is also the doomed love interest of Shakespeare's "Hamlet."
 * Willow Nigmos (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 Nigmos (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 Nigmos (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 Nigmos (Ophelia's paternal grandfather): Zog 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 reference to muerta, the Spanish word for "dead."
 * Lerato Muenda (Ophelia's maternal grandmother): Means "love" in Sesotho, an African language.
 * Peponi Muenda (Ophelia's maternal grandfather): Means "paradise", "heaven" and "peace" in Swahili, an African language. The Swahili phrase Mahali pema peponi means "Rest in peace."

The Beaker Family
For Loki's sister, Erin, please look under the Singles 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 Beaker (Nervous' adoptive father): 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 Beaker (Nervous' adoptive mother): 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): Speaks for itself.
 * For Nervous's mother, Olive, please look under the Specter Family.
 * Bjorn Beaker (Loki's father): Derived from the Swedish word björn meaning "bear."
 * Gundrun Beaker (Loki's mother): Based off the Old Norse name Guðrún meaning "God's secret lore." It is derived from 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 Beaker (Loki's paternal grandfather): Derived from the Old Norse word knútr meaning "knot."
 * Gertrude Beaker (Loki's paternal grandmother): Derived from the Germanic elements ger meaning "spear" and thrud meaning "strength."
 * Halfdanarson: Derived from the Old Norse words halfr meaning "half" and danr meaning "Dane." Its literal meaning is "half Danish son."
 * Leif Halfdanarson (Loki'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 Halfdanarson (Loki's maternal grandmother): An Old Norse given name, means God's Salvation.
 * Salamis: 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 Salamis (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 Salamis (Circe mother): Means grain.
 * Andros Salamis (Circe's paternal grandfather): An island of the Cyclades, Greece.
 * Eurydice Salamis (Circe's paternal grandmother): In Greek mythology, Eurydice was an oak nymph or a sweet maiden.
 * McGork: Possibly derived from 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 McGork (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 McGork (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
For the oldest sister of the Curious brothers, please look under the Smith category. For the children of Glarn Curious and Pollination Technician #9, please look under the Singles category. For Glarn's abductor, please look under the Smith category.
 * Curious -- As in curious.
 * Pascal Curious : Hebrew for "associated with Easter (or Passover)". also possibly a reference to the famous French mathmetician Blaise Pascal
 * Vidcund Curious (Pascal's younger brother) : Unknown, possibly a corruption of "Vidkun" a Norwegian name.
 * Lazlo Curious (Pascal's youngest brother) : Means rules with glory. Also spelled Laszlo or Laslo.
 * Glarn Curious (Pascal's father): So the name sounds like darn curious.
 * Kitty Curious (Pascal's mother): Her name might be a play on the saying, "Curiosity killed the cat."
 * Notzo Curious (Pascal's paternal grandfather): So the name sounds like "not so curious" or "is not Zo" as in he is not his wife
 * Zo Curious (Pascal's paternal grandmother): So the name sounds like "so curious".
 * Hogleg -- means leg of a hog.
 * Hamm Hogleg (Pascal's maternal grandfather): Ham, meat of pig.
 * Annie Hogleg (Pascal's maternal grandmother): Means 'gracious', or so the name sounds like 'any hogleg'.

The Grunt Family

 * Grunt -- Means to grunt. "Grunt" is also slang for "infantry".
 * General Buzz Grunt : his proper name could be Edwin, after Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin (1930- ). Edwin means rich, blessed friend. The name Buzz also might have something to do with the "buzz cut" haircuts worn by some military personnel.
 * Lyla Grunt (Gen. Buzz's ex-wife) : Persian for "dark princess'", Hebrew for night.
 * Tank Grunt (Gen. Buzz's oldest son): Probably a reference to his father being in the Army. Can refer to tanks, the weapons vehicles often in the army.
 * Ripp Grunt (Gen. Buzz's middle son): To rip or to tear. Possibly short for Tripp, means travel.
 * Buck Grunt (Gen. Buzz's youngest son): A young buck; an adventurous, impetuous, dashing, or high-spirited young man. Or refers to the male deer.
 * General Chip Grunt (Gen. Buzz's father): His given name is a short form of Charles, which fittingly means "warrior."
 * Missy Grunt (Gen. Buzz's mother): Short form of Melissa, which means "bee."
 * General Rock Grunt (Gen. Buzz's paternal grandfather) : Rock, as in hard as rock, because he is in the army.
 * Wanda Grunt (Gen. 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 (Gen. Buzz's maternal grandfather): Mike is short for Michael, 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 (Gen. Buzz's maternal grandmother): Mary means "to be bitter", while Melons as in melon, a type of fruit. Also possibly a reference to a slang term for breasts
 * The reason why Mary does not have the same last name as Mike is that Missy was an illegitimate child. She was born outside marriage.

The Smith Family
This was only added to show the etymology of the Pollination Technician name. Other alien names we know of (Colony Drone and Birth Queen) seem to all have to do with reproduction. It is assumed that aliens in the Sims live only for the purpose of reproducing, although it cannot be determined exactly. For Jenny's side family, please look under the Curious category.
 * Smith -- An English surname derived from the trade name smith. Also, the surname Smith is a common name for "normal" and "average" families, and the Smith family is the, or at least one of, the most normal families in Strangetown.
 * Pollination Technician #9:
 * Technician -- Someone whose occupation involves training in specific technical process. In the Sims; the Pollination Technician is an alien that operates a UFO and abducts Sims. Somehow (using advanced technology?) these Technicians can make male Sims pregnant with an alien-like form.
 * Pollination -- The process of which flowers reproduce.
 * Jenny Smith : Short for Jennifer, means "white" or "smooth."
 * Johnny Smith : A diminutive of John, meaning God has favoured/God is merciful.
 * Jill Smith : Short for Gillian, which is the English form of Julia, which is the feminine version of Julian which means downy beard.

The name "Smith" happens to be the commonest name in the United States. This is quite ironic, seeing is the Smiths are anything but "common". It is rather likely that Pollination Technician #9 chose this name with such in mind, as he might have wanted to seem normal in some ways despite being an alien.

The Singles Family

 * Singles -- Because they are all Singles.
 * Erin Singles : From Eireann, meaning "child of Ireland"
 * Lola Singles : Diminutive of Dolores, meaning grief.
 * Chloe Singles : Greek, green shoot.
 * Kristen Singles : from Christina/Christian meaning a Christian.
 * Loste -- Lost
 * Arty Loste (Kristen's father) : A diminutive of Arthur, meaning bear. Could mean "already lost".
 * Daisy Loste (Kristen's mother): Means 'day's eye'. Could mean "days he lost".
 * Goshem Loste (Kristen's paternal grandfather): As in " Gosh I'm Lost", considering he got abducted by aliens.
 * Vera Loste (Kristen's paternal grandmother): Borrowed in the nineteenth century from the Russian virtue name Вера, means 'faith'. Or could mean Very lost
 * Simnitch -- 'Nitch' a common misspelling for 'niche', means 'nest'. So perhaps the name means 'A Sim's Nest'.
 * Leonard Simnitch (Kristen's maternal grandfather): From Germanic leon, lion + hard, hardy.
 * Petunia Simnitch (Kristen's maternal grandmother): A flower.

The Loner Family

 * Loner -- Because he is on his own at the beginning of the game.
 * Ajay Loner : Indian, unconquerable/invincible.
 * Vikram Loner (Ajay's father) : Vikram may mean brave or victorious in Sanskrit.
 * Madhuri Loner (Ajay's mother) : Sanskrit for "sweetness."
 * Kavi Loner (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 Loner (Ajay's paternal grandmother): Unknown
 * Frehndly -- friendly
 * Bhu Frehndly (Ajay's maternal grandfather) : the act of becoming or arising, the place of being, space, world or universe or the earth.
 * Milony Frehndly (Ajay's maternal grandmother) : Form of Melany/Melanie meaning Black, Could also mean Melon.