Sunset Valley/Onomatology

The onomatology (study of names) for Sims in Sunset Valley.

The Alto Family

 * Alto: "lower range of a woman's voices" "the range between soprano and tenor," "a singer whose voice lies within this range." "High" (Spanish/Portuguese). A pun on "The Sopranos", a television drama series depicting mobster life and organized crime in the family
 * Nick Alto: short for Nicholas (or Niccolo, as it seems they have Italian antecedence), which means "the victorious". Nicholas also refers to Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory. "Steal" (informal)
 * Vita Alto: "life." A variation of Victoria, or Vittoria, which means literally victory in Italian. That said, her name means "High victory" or "High life."
 * Holly Alto: A type of flower or "to prick," or "ear of corn". May be a reference to holy, as she is good while her parents are evil.
 * All the names seem fitting to the Sim. Notice than both Nick and Vita names are closely related to victory, and they both are short forms, which could be translated to "the little victory of evilness". Also, Nick Alto could be a pun on the notorious Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli.

The Andrews Family

 * Andrews-- A patronymic surname derived from Andrew, which means "manly man".
 * Beau Andrews -- Means "the masculine form of beautiful" in French
 * Victoria Andrews -- Meaning "Victory"