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. Alternate definitions include dark, raven, gloomy, and pitchy.
 * 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 corruption of the Spanish word muerta meaning "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): Likely a play on "nervous test subject." Nervous generally seems a nervous wreck and is subject to scientific testing by Loki and Circe.
 * For Nervous's mother, Olive, please look under the Specter Family.
 * Bjorn Beaker (Loki's father): Derived from the Swedish word björn meaning "bear."
 * Gundrun Beaker (Loki's mother): Possibly a corruption of 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): Possibly derived from the Irish word ghrian meaning "sun." Grainne had blonde hair so this could a nod towards that. It could also be derived from the Gaelic word grán meaning "grain." In Irish mythology, Gráinne was the daughter of Cormac mac Airt, a legendary High King of Ireland.
 * Andros Salamis (Circe's paternal grandfather): Derived from the Greek word andreios meaning "gallant." Andros is one of the Cyclades islands closest to Athens, Greece.
 * Eurydice Salamis (Circe's paternal grandmother): Derived from the Greek evrýs meaning "wide" and dike meaning "justice." In Greek mythology, Eurydice was the wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music.
 * McGork: Possibly a corruption of the last name "McGurk" which is of Irish origin. It also may be a reference to the McGurk effect, an illusion that results from conflicting information coming from different senses, namely sight and hearing.
 * Gwrtheyrn 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 eldest of the Curious siblings, Jenny, please look under the Smith Family. For Glarn's abductor, Pollination Tech#9, please look under the Smith Family. For the children of Glarn and Pollination Tech#9, please look under the Singles Family.
 * Curious: Means "eager to know or learn something." This is likely referring to this family's curiosity, namely involving aliens. Pascal, Vidcund and Lazlo all have Knowledge aspirations also which naturally makes them more curious about things in general.
 * Pascal Curious: Derived from the Latin name "Paschalis" meaning "relating to Easter." Paschalis derives from the Latin word pascha meaning "Easter." Pascha in turn is derived from the Hebrew word pesach meaning "Passover."
 * Vidcund Curious (Pascal's younger brother): Possibly a corruption of the Norwegian name "Vidkun" which is derived from the name "Víðkunnr." Víðkunnr is derived from the Old Norse word víðkunnr meaning "famous."
 * Lazlo Curious (Pascal's youngest brother): Of Hungarian origin meaning "king of the people" or "glorious ruler." It comes from the King-Knight Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary.
 * Glarn Curious (Pascal's father): Of unknown origin but this name in combination with Curious sounds like "darn curious."
 * Kitty Curious (Pascal's mother): A nickname for the name "Katherine" deriving from the Greek name "Aikaterínē" which is of unknown etymology. Kitty may also be a play on the saying, "Curiosity killed the cat."
 * Notzo Curious (Pascal's paternal grandfather): Of unknown origin but this name in combination with Curious sounds like "not so curious." This contrasts with his wife's name which sounds like "so curious."
 * Zo Curious (Pascal's paternal grandmother): Of unknown origin but this name in combination with Curious sounds like "so curious." This contrasts with her husband's name which sounds like "not so curious."
 * Hogleg: A large single-action revolver of the type carried in the West by cowboys and frontiersmen. Hamm wore a cowboy hat so it's being implied he (and possibly his wife, Annie) were from the Wild West area of the United States.
 * Hamm Hogleg (Pascal's maternal grandfather): Derived from the Old English word hamm meaning "a patch of flat, low-lying alluvial land beside a stream." This is likely a play on his last name, Hogleg, as "hog" means "pig" and "ham" is "meat from the upper part of a pig's leg."
 * Annie Hogleg (Pascal's maternal grandmother): Of English origin meaning "gracious" or "merciful." This name in combination with Hogleg sounds like "any hogleg."

The Grunt Family
The reason Mary does not have the same last name as Mike is that they were never married. Their daughter, Missy, was born outside of marriage.
 * Grunt: Means to "make a low, short guttural sound." It is also military slang for "a low-ranking soldier or unskilled worker."
 * General Buzz Grunt: Possibly a reference to Buzz Aldrin, a famous astronaut who had a lengthy career in the U.S. Air Force. Buzz may also refer to "buzz cut" which is a "short hairstyle designed with electric clippers." They are standard in the U.S. military.
 * Lyla Grunt (Buzz's ex-wife): Derived from the Arabic word leila meaning "night" or "dark beauty" and the Persian word leila meaning "dark-haired." Lyla wore a lilac dress so the name could be a reference to that.
 * Tank Grunt (Buzz's oldest son): Means "a heavy armored fighting vehicle carrying guns and moving on a continuous articulated metal track."
 * Ripp Grunt (Buzz's middle son): Means "to tear or pull (something) quickly or forcibly away from something or someone."
 * Buck Grunt (Buzz's youngest son): Means "the male of some horned animals, especially the fallow deer, roe deer, reindeer, and antelopes."
 * General Chip Grunt (Buzz's father): A nickname for "Charles" which derives from the Germanic karl meaning "full-grown" or "man," which is a cognate of the Old English ceorl meaning "man," "freeman" or "peasant."
 * Missy Grunt (Buzz's mother): A nickname for "Melissa," derived from the Greek word mélissa meaning "bee" which in turn comes from the word meli meaning "honey."
 * General Rock Grunt (Buzz's paternal grandfather): Rock, as in hard as rock, because he is in the army.
 * Wanda Grunt (Buzz's paternal grandmother): From Polish, possibly derived from an ethnic term for " a Wend",a member of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland; a Sorb; a Kashub.
 * Mike Steel (Buzz's maternal grandfather): Mike is short for Michael, means "who is like god", and steel as in steel,a metal alloy of mostly iron plus carbon, harder than pure iron but malleable when hot.
 * Mary Melons (Buzz's maternal grandmother): Mary means "to be bitter", while Melons as in melon, a type of fruit. Also possibly a reference to a slang term for breasts

The Smith Family

 * Smith: Derived from the Middle English smyth and from the Old English smiþ meaning "a worker in metals or wood." Smith is a very common, normal name which is quite ironic given that the Smiths are anything but common or normal. It is likely Pollination Tech#9 chose this name with this in mind, as he may have wanted to seem normal in a way despite being an alien.

Other alien names we know of, e.g. Colony Drone and Birth Queen, all have something to do with reproduction. It is assumed that aliens live only for the purpose of reproduction in The Sims 2.
 * Pollination Tech: Pollination means "the transfer of pollen to allow fertilization" and technician means "a person skilled in the technique of an art or craft." This is referring to his abduction and impregnation of Sims as an alien.
 * Jenny Smith: A diminutive of Jennifer which is the Cornish form of Guinevere, derived from the Welsh windo meaning "white," "fair," and "holy" and sēbarā meaning "magical being."
 * Johnny Smith: A diminutive of John derived from the Latin name Ioannes, which is a form of the Greek name Iōannēs, originally borne by Hellenized Jews transliterating the Hebrew name Yohanan meaning "Graced by Yah."
 * Jill Smith: A diminutive of Gillian which is of English origin meaning "youthful".

For Jenny's side of the family, please look under the Curious Family.

The Singles Family

 * Singles: A reference to the fact Erin, Lola, Chloe and Kristen are all single.
 * Erin Singles: Derived from the Irish word "Éirinn" which is the dative case of the Irish word for Ireland.
 * Lola Singles: A diminutive of the Spanish name "Dolores" meaning "sorrows." It is taken from one of the title of the Virgin Mary: Nuestra Señora de los Dolores meaning Our Lady of Sorrows.
 * Chloe Singles: Derived from the Greek word chlói meaning "grass." It was one of the many names of the goddess Demeter and refers to the young, green foliage or shoots of plants in spring.
 * Kristen Singles: Of Danish origin meaning "a Christian," from the Latin christiānus which is from the Greek christianos meaning "a Christian, a follower of Christ."
 * Loste: A corruption of "lost" meaning "unable to find one's way."
 * Arty Loste (Kristen's father): A diminutive of Arthur which is derived from the Roman last name "Artorius," which could possibly be derived from the Celtic patronym Arto-rīg-ios meaning "son of the bear" or "warrior king."
 * Daisy Loste (Kristen's mother): Derived from the Old English dæges ēage meaning "day's eye," referring to the fact daisies open in the morning and close at night.
 * Goshem Loste (Kristen's paternal grandfather): Possibly a curruption of "Goshen" which refers to the "Land of Goshen," the place in Egypt given to the Hebrews by the pharaoh of Joseph. This name in combination with Loste sounds like "Gosh, I'm lost" which is fitting considering he was abducted by aliens.
 * Vera Loste (Kristen's paternal grandmother): Of Russian or Latin origin. It coincides with the Latin verus meaning "verity." In Russian, vera means "faith." This name in combination with Loste sounds like "very lost."
 * Simnitch: This name hints at Russian ancestry through this section of the family tree. It's not uncommon for Russian surnames to end in "ich."
 * Leonard Simnitch (Kristen's maternal grandfather): Derived from the Old High German name "Leonhard," from levon meaning "lion" and hardu meaning "brave" or "hardy." It may also be derived from the Latin leo meaning "lion."
 * Petunia Simnitch (Kristen's maternal grandmother): Of English origin referring to the petunia 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.