Summary
- Oda chose names for Straw Hat Crew members with specific reasons, like Luffy’s manly-sounding name.
- Names have hidden meanings and puns, like Zoro meaning “fox” and Sanji translating to “3 o’clock” for snacks.
- Rest of the crew names, like Chopper and Brook, have references to reindeer and Greek mythology.
While it’s never explored directly much in the series of One Piece, names are an incredibly important aspect of any story. Names, in many ways, have to perfectly represent a character, capturing the essence of what they strive for and desire. At the same time, names can also be funny jokes, puns, something that One Piece has a lot of or something that just sounds right. Either way, the reason behind a name is usually an interesting look into the creation and development of a character.
As for One Piece, although the names can be a bit bizarre at times, especially for the series’ strongest characters, Oda had a specific reason for choosing each name he made. This is especially true for the Straw Hat Crew, the characters that are arguably the most important in the series. Behind each of their names lies a hidden meaning and reason for choosing it, something that One Piece fans would never know just by reading through the series.
This article will cover the main given names of the characters, and won’t explore any nicknames the characters are given. Additionally, this article will explore the meta story reasoning behind the names, and not the in-story reason.
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Oda Named Each Straw Hat In One Piece For A Specific Reason
This Isn’t An In-Story Reason For Their Character Names
For the crew members of the Straw Hat Pirates, as most long-time fans already know, there’s the captain, Luffy, swordsman Zoro, navigator Nami, sniper Usopp, and cool Sanji, who are the original East Blue members of the crew. On One Piece’s Grand Line, the crew found Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, and then finally Jinbe, who joined in the New World. Though these characters obviously have reasons for their names within the context of the story, like Usopp being named after his father, Yasopp, or Chopper being named by Dr. Hirilurk, this article will deal with the hidden meaning behind each name from the author, Oda.
One day I’ll have a ship and a crew better than yours! – Luffy
The East Blue Crew Have Names Based On Hilarious Puns
These Names Are Sometimes Goofy Representations Of Their Characters
- Luffy’s Name Sounded Manly To Oda
- Many Straw Hats Are Named After Puns
First and foremost, the captain of the Straw Hat Crew, Luffy, has a simple meaning behind his name. During the development of his character, Oda wanted a manly-sounding name and chose Luffy. He felt this name worked for the character and stuck with it ever since. However, the name “Luffy’s” closeness to the word, “laughing” or the sailing term, “luffing” is purely coincidental.
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As for the Pirate Hunter Zoro, Zoro’s name simply means “fox” in Spanish, whereas his surname, Roronora, is a reference to the French pirate, François l’Olonnais. Nami, on the other hand, very fittingly for the world of One Piece, means, “wave.” Usopp, also fittingly for his character, is a combination of the word for “lie” in Japanese, “Uso” and Aesop, an author who wrote many fables. Finally, for the East Blue Crew, Sanji, strangely enough, translates to mean, “3 O’Clock” in Japanese, a time that Oda considers to be perfect for snacks.
The Rest Of The Crew Has Less Clear Name Origins
Some Fans Have A Few Theories About The True Meaning Of Their Names
As for the rest of the crew, Tony Tony Chopper is named that way since the word for reindeer in Japanese, “Tonakai” sounds very similar, whereas the given name of the One Piece doctor, Chopper, is in reference to his strong antlers. Robin, being one of the simpler answers on the list, is named after the common bird. Franky, on the other hand, some fans feel it may be a reference to “Frank”-enstein, though it’s most likely due to the American-sounding nature of the name.
I’ve set myself to become the King of the Pirates, and if I die trying, then at least I tried. – Luffy
As for the Straw Hat musician, Brook, though Oda hasn’t discussed this, many fans believe, since the name is a type of river, it references the River Styx. This links perfectly with Brook and his undead powers since it is the main underworld river in Greek Mythology. Finally, Jinbe’s name simply comes from a term in Japanese meaning “whale shark.”
Although some of the meanings behind names in One Piece are more interesting than others, it’s still interesting to see what led to each of the character’s iconic names. Most of the names for the characters being puns is extremely fitting for a goofy story like One Piece and perfectly captures the essence of the Straw Hat Crew. Although some of the meanings behind these character names are still just theories, hopefully, before the end of One Piece, Oda will directly explain his thought process that led to the creation of the characters and their excellent names.
