Ask John: Are Anime Characters Named After Food?

Question:
I heard that a lot of the characters in Dragonball Z are named after foods like Gohan means “rice” or “cooked rice” and that Kuririn means “chestnut.” Is this true and is there a reason for naming characters after foods and other things?

Answer:
I’m honestly not sure why anime characters are occasionally named after food, but the event is not all that uncommon. Akira Toriyama and Akahori Satoru are the main two creators responsible.

Many of the character names in Dragonball are based on the names of food. Here are just a few examples.

Kakaroto (Goku): carrot
Gohan: cooked rice
Vegeta: vegetable
Raditz: radish
Lunch: self explanatory
Garlic Jr: self explanatory
Baata: butter
Ginyuu: milk (gyunyuu)
Freiza: Freezer
Cooler: self explanatory
Sangria: an alcoholic drink

For a longer, more detailed list of the name puns in Dragonball, visit Planet Namek:

Comedy king Akihori Satoru also commonly uses food names for his characters. In Bakuretsu Hunter (Sorcerer Hunters) many of the characters are named after desserts:

Carrot Glaces
Chocolate Misu
Tira Misu
Torte, Zaha
Gateau Mocha

And in his Lamune & 40 series, which includes the American release Knights of Ramune, many characters are named after drinks, including Lamune (a Japanese soda), Cocoa, Parfait and Milk.