Names in The Owl House: Breakdown and Analysis
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- Say my name, say my name! Today, we will be exploring the fascinating naming conventions of the Owl House--digging into the literal, narrative and meta-narrative meanings and possible reasons behind the many monikers of this show. We covered as many major and a good chunk of minor characters as possible, but if there is anyone we missed you're dying to hear about please let us know in the comments below!
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Thank you to everyone who joined us for the premiere! We are so humbled by the number of people who came to our very first Idle Screening and a thousand Happy Birthdays to @giraffegirl16. We can't wait to see you all in the next one.
I actually like to think the yellow cardinal owned by Dell is named Biscut and is a she like how Flapjack was a he. Its just something funny.
Also....I JUST realized; Abominations magic is just diet necromancy & golem building. No wonder Darius can change his body into a slime monster without the unpleasant effects that belos/Philip went through.
Fun fact, Dana has equiphobia, or the fear of horses. Given that Dana has religious trauma, it makes sense she would name Philip this.
She's scared of horses? Huh. Makes me wonder if she considered making them the banished demons instead of giraffes.
@@dylansharp8471 Let's be honest, giraffes are wayyy weirder than horses.
When did she ever mention religious trauma. I don't doubt this, but where's the information coming from?
Honestly, a horse hater naming the villain of their story “horse lover” is funny as heck
What is religious trauma?
I think another thing worth noting with Raine is that, in D&D, there is a specific subclass of the Bard called the college of whispers. The main function of members of this subclass is to use the status of the bard to get into valuable positions and learn important secrets, only to turn and use what they learned to sow chaos and destruction. This perfectly describes Raine’s role among the covenheads, acting like a normal Bard but secretly plotting to stop the Day of Unity.
AWJEFPEJOSJG THAT IS SOMETHING I TOTALLY MISSED AND WHILE I AM SURE IT WAS A COINCIDENCE GIVEN THE LEAD TIMES ON WHEN THESE THINGS CAME OUT THAT IS A HILARIOUS OBSERVATION. LOVE THAT.
Oooh! Awesome!
...like Zoolander? 🤣
Surprised you didn't mention the other Blights naming convention. It feeds into a fan theory I have that Odalia named the twins while Alador named Amity.
Odalia means "wealth" and due to her obsession with power and status, named her kids Edric and Emira, meaning "rich and powerful" and "princess" respectively.
Meanwhile Alador, meaning "destiny" ,named Amity, meaning "friendship", signifying he wanted more for her than what the familial affiliation offered.
If true it's quite poetic.
That's neat!
Mainly we had to cut for time. This was originally going to be a bonus video. The original target was ten minutes. I wanted to talk about names SO bad. We had to cut a ton of people from the list. But yeah, those are great observations and quite true! Thanks for your thoughtful comment!
Another thing about the Blights is that their names seem just barely off from a sort of putridness/destruction, which fits well with them running an Abomination company. Amity immediately reminded me of the word calamity, frog show aside, a great disaster. Alador looks a lot like malodor, a very unpleasant smell, fitting for the member of the Blight family working with Abominations the most. Odalia also looks a little bit like odor, but that might be a coincidence. Edric and Emira don’t give me these same vibes, but they also aren’t practicing abomination magic, so it makes sense that they wouldn’t follow the same convention
I love this!
I LOVE THIS IDEA!
Also the word "palisman" itself is very punny because it's a mix of "pal" and "talisman". A talisman is a charm, and pal is an informal word for friend. Palismen are magical charms in a way, but they also often develop close friendly bonds with their owners.
Yeah! And I love the silly portmanteaus and while the localizations for this show didn’t localize the names of individual Palismen Spanish and Japanese both basically created similar portmanteaus. Really adorable stuff.
Combining the witch's staff with a witch's familiar was such a clever move on the show's part. So iconic
In portuguese they translated it to "Pairlisman" 59 times less cool, but still a good translation wich has a good way of wirds
The word "pal" comes from the Romani word "phral," which comes from a Sanskrit word that means "brother." So "pal" means "bro." And the Roma are often associated (usually as a negative stereotype) with talismans.
Dana also coined it due in part to her love for Pokémon!
"His eventual successor, Waffles" yep that hit me like a truck
Another thing about Belos is that it kinda resembles the word "bellum". Which means "war" in Latin. And he IS an embodiment of war on a whole kind. I think...
I always thought Belos sounded a lot like bellows, the device used to stoke flames. Which suits the pseudonym's purpose perfectly, Emperor Belos is a tool used to stoke the flames of destruction for the boiling isles. If you want an ironic/funny meaning, it could also be interpreted as "windbag" which Philip himself certainly is. It also matches with the characters introduction which is back dropped by the titan's heart, a kind of bellows themselves and the eventual final gambit Belos makes.
I also thought it sounded like 'bellicose' meaning 'warlike'
He's stoking the flames to burn all the witches
@@Darigosh 😲
I thought it was like boo-los
Each time there is a talk about names in The Owl House, I always think about Belos and the old Latin saying "Si vis pacem, para bellum"
What does that mean?
@@coffetrueno9791 "If you want peace prepare for war"
@@dracorim6370 hoooooooo im totally using that for a fanfic
@coffetrueno9791 in which "bellum", as you can guess, is specifically "war"
@@namawa7779bellum has the accusative plural form "bellos" which closely resembles "Belos". In a sentence, bellos would act as the direct object and be plural (wars instead of war).
Another thing about Amity being a Puritan virtue name-it plays into her family’s heavy association with the Emperor’s Coven, given that Belos himself is a Puritan!
Was. Belos ceased to be a Christian before he even took that name. And taking it solidified him as an apostate.
@@AtarahDerek his actions (colonization and attempted genocide) are completely in line with what the actual Puritans historically did. The first Thanksgiving was a celebration of genocide. Belos absolutely still qualified as a Puritan.
@@EclipseDoesArt 1. The Pilgrims weren't Puritans, they were Separatists.
2. The first Thanksgiving was NOT celebrating genocide. Unless you think Squanto somehow magically genocided his own people from England, where he was a slave. Besides, it was HIS tribe that was known for genocide, and he renounced that line of thinking when he saw the blowback it generated. THAT'S why he gifted his people's land to the Pilgrims, who came to America as refugees from persecution.
3. Belos qualified as a Puritan only in the same sense that Oliver Cromwell did. He did NOT qualify as a Christian. Christians don't deify themselves.
@@AtarahDerekidk if you know this but a lot of puritans did/do very bad non biblical stuff
@@somedragonbastard See my above comment.
It's also worth noting that the origin of the English word "wolf" is "wulf," an anglo-saxon word that means hunter.
Circularity!
Just when I thought Raine couldn't be more awesome in this show, you've given me another reason.
I am so gay for Raine there arent even words. They are seriously one of the coolest characters ever and their VA is phenomenal and has also performed one of my favorite audibooks.
@@idlescree I fell for Raine hard. Started with the blush and little stamp of the foot when Eda unmasked them, grew watching them play the violin (BBC Sherlock got me), and then they plucked a single note on that beautiful red fox palisman of theirs, landed like a graceful ballerina, and sneered a 'come and get me if you dare' greeting. I was in love!
@@shadowfoxgirl im so gay for them too omg
I want to talk a bit about the "Golden Guard" title of Hunter, since I find it interesting.
The Golden Guard title isn’t one of Hunter's names, it's something Belos forced him to have. As such, the meaning of the title doesn’t reflect Hunter himself but rather how Belos sees him.
The Golden part of the title refers to the value that Belos places on Hunter as Caleb's succesor. It also tells the type of value Belos has to him. Belos doesn’t value Hunter as a full person but as more of a possession or a luxury, like gold. There's also the idea of a "golden child", a child onto which high expectations are placed, which certainly fits Belos's ridiculous expectation that Hunter be a better version of Caleb- a golden version if you will.
The Guard part is unusual given what we see of Hunter's actions. Even when loyal to Belos, the Golden Guard doesn’t really guard anything. He's more often out on missions. This could perhaps be the point, showing that Hunter acts contradictory to the title given to him early on. It could also refer to the general relationship of a guard serving a master like Hunter serving Belos. Lastly, the guarding could be metaphorical. Hunter's reason to exist in the beginning is to shield Belos against the fear that Caleb may have been right, or that Caleb genuninely chose the Boiling Isles and wasn't "corrupted" by it, by creating a Caleb that is loyal to Belos.
YESS that's the first thing I thought about when I first heard it, and you put it into words! Thank you!
OvO how did it take me THIS L oNG to realize how terrifying the name Raine would be in the world like the BOILING ISLES. Holy shit good catch
Camila also made me think of two different flowers - camellia and chamomile.
The latter is more due to me being German and Camila sounding very much like the German word for it. Chamomile is probably not what they were going for, but for what it's worth: it is well known as a beneficial herb, has a calming effect and aids in wound healing.
Camellia are Asian in origin. As flowers they symbolise love, unity and faithfulness. In Europe they were linked to wealth, nobility and beauty. They also took on connotations of rebirth because they flowered in winter as well as death because their blossoms were used in funeral wreaths for the same reason.
You are absolutely right! Great additions!
@idlescree In Europe Camomile also have an association with something easy, simple, but still beautiful. It's also a childish (?) thing to picking up Camomile and giving it to your loved ones, it is also cam means love.
About child like things - our mother of six didn't lose her light of life and love to cosmic nerd stuff 😊
One thing about camellias, they flower in winter. One of the best thing about winters in asia is that you can still find beautiful camellia flowers.
They're also associated with the new year so thereyour connection to transformation.
I also immediately thought of chamomile!
Saved
Friendship Plant-Disease is my fave toh character
I always thought that Belos was related to the word "Bellicose" - as a tip of the hat towards the fact that a person who is bellicose is 'favoring or inclined to start quarrels or wars' - which is sorta what he has done and or wants to do. He has waged war on wild magic.
This is such an obvious one that I genuinely can't believe I overlooked it aslfjldsjg you are absolutely right that is entirely possible! Great interpretation, thank you for pointing it out!!
I genuinely believe if we'd gotten a full season 3, Gus would have gotten his chance to really shine. A fan of human suddenly dropped into the human realm, there's no way Gus wouldn't have gotten episodes that centered on him, which would have meant fun AND character development. Still, what we got didn't feel entirely lacking in quality. Like you said, for being a master illusionist, it was a great character choice that Gus was more often than not the truth keeper. What I find interesting is that his strength was revealing the truth to/about others, but one of his reoccurring weaknesses was revealing the truth to himself (e.g. his social anxieties or the times when he doubted his own abilities).
I feel like if we got a full 3rd season he would’ve made his own connections i the human world, either by finding whole new friends or befriending Vees group. I feel like they were originally planned to get more screen time, plus a Gus and Vee centered episode would’ve been so fun, they have a lot of similarities with anxiety and I really wanted to see Gus kinda step into that role that Willow first took when they meet. I feel like that would’ve really ended his character arc in a satisfying way
Regarding Eve: the original Hebrew calls her Adam's "rescuer". She was made to rescue Adam from his loneliness. Evelyn could also be seen as rescuing Caleb from the puritanical culture he was unhappy in.
Hawthorn berries are considered medicinal and good for treating digestion problems and inflammation. I was often told to eat hawthorn tanghulu by my Chinese friend's mother when staying in Shanghai. She said it was good to eat after a big meal to help you digest it.
The name Lilith being a representation of transgression and the fact that Lilith is confirmed to be aromantic asexual is such a unique twist so props to you for even piecing that together!!
great video but how DARE you miss the most important name of all........... Hooty, truly there is deeper connotations we dare not dream of hidden behind such a powerful name
Vriska, I will BITE--
I WILL say there is immense amusement to me in that Lilith assigns Hooty a pet name of "Hootcifer" which, yknow. Lilith and Lucifer as buds is methodologically fitting.
I'LL BITE BACK!!!!!!
and of course obviously a nod to calcifer too, howls moving castle my beloved... which like that movies vibes fit in with the whole found family bit@@idlescree
With Belos’ name implying his self-righteousness, it’s also possible that Evelyn is a pun on “a villain,” because she is who ultimately made him decide witches were evil and needed to be exterminated. It creates a sort of ironic naming convention of the true good/evil in this story
Edalyn?
@@Kagomai15 Evelyn is the witch that Caleb eventually “fell in love” with, prompting Belos to kill Caleb, do all the Golden Guard stuff, and so on. Though, given the -lyn ending and Eda’s ties to the portal door, it’s likely that Evelyn was an ancestor of the Clawthornes
I feel there is also something to be said about Belos' similarity to bellows, a device used to stoke flames, mayhaps keep the embers going past their natural fading point? Also to its homonym of a deep loud roar, something made by a powerful beast, an association very useful to someone claiming to be the voice of a titan
I find it unique that Edric and Emira’s names are very similar. Edric meaning rich and powerful. And Emira meaning princess and leader
I wasn't expecting to see a Good Omens clip today but that made me smile really biggly for some reason /ref
We love sneaking in references to our other favourite shows and movies- even if we don't have full videos for them (yet!) it's just so fun when viewers recognize 'em! 😁
you are SO right about gus not having enough time because dear god do i love his character but there was not nearly enough of him to make him beloved as he should have been
I once read the theory that Belos' name is derived from the alleged slavic god Belobog, considering that Kikimora is named after a spirit of the same name in slavic mythology. What's interesting here is that Belobog's status as a real god is unclear, but it's supposedly the god of Light, Good, Order and Virtue, the name itself literally means "White God". All of this could fit into Belos' character, a false ruler with a false name that claims to have a power almost divine (being able to speak to the Titan), and that his own twisted delusion sees himself as the Hero, a Paragon of Virtue and Order, as the Good guy of the story, and was even able to convince everyone that this was true, that he was good enough to be their ruler, powerful enough to hear the titan's wishes. He created a mask of light, virtue, holyness, good, and all so he could eventually destroy them completely
Raine is the physical embodiment of "Be Gay, Do Crime" and I love them so much
A couple of notes that may- or may not- be relevant to names.
The first use of Phillip that I know of- and why it's lasted as a name- was Alexander the Great's father, Philip of Macedon. And he was very similar to Alexander in being warlike and a conqueror... but not a success, especially when compared to his son.
King: There's an old... Superstition? Mystical belief? Not sure of the term... that the health of the land is tied to the king, and it seems to be relevant.
Stringbean: Don't go looking into it- there's a lot of regional variation in common food-plant names. Also that error screen is hilarious.
As always, I thoroughly enjoy your videos!
These are all such good observations, ESPECIALLY that bit with the king's connection to the health of the land...dang. You are correct, and that would have been good to include!!!!
I always felt Belos' name came from bellows, a tool for feeding flames, like one would use for perhaps, heating a crucible? For purifying metals? 👀👀 it's pronounced the same way, and tbh I think fits his whole vibe as someone out to purify the world from all witchcraft (and as someone who tends to steadily and carefully stoke the flames using tools)
Damn I've missed this show. Both the actual owl house show and this channel.
Almost spat out my drink at the picture of Waffles.
And Vee is best adorable shapeshifter.
Hunter may not have an official last name, but I can't view him as anything but a Noceda. Luz already considers him a brother, and Camila is the only adult to treat him with kindness from start to finish which is the kind of guardianship he deserves. Hell, even in the context of this video, pair together the "hunting for his own identity" with "do not yield", and it's really his whole character arc of Hunter and all the people who care about him never giving up on helping him achieve that independence from Belos. And if you wanted to get really meta about it, you could even point out that the absolute peak moment of "hunting for his own identity" was at the moment he was literally refusing to yield control of his body over to Belos, and it was Mama Noceda who "rebirthed" him from his would-be watery grave. "Hunter Noceda" all the way, as far as I'm concerned. 🥰
That said, I like the meta of associating him with "Clawthorne" as a runner up. Not just for the obvious familial connections, but I particularly like the 'hawthorn' relation against his status as a grimwalker. The 'corpse tree' with healing properties. Hunter is literally born from a corpse, yet chooses an identity associated with life and healing. Consider also those bright red berries and a signature magenta eyes marking a grimwalker as such. Also I'm geeking out a little because I googled the 'corpse tree' thing out of curiosity only to discover that hawthorn wood is notably good for CARVING, and the Clawthornes were renowned for their palisman carving skills and it's what Hunter went on to do.
That's a good theory from a naming standpoint
I personally prefer Deamonne because I feel it's implied that Darius adopts him, since, when everyone is going to hug their families at the end, Hunter goes to Darius (and Eberwolf is there, tho that's not the point)
Hunter Noceda Clawthorne it is then! 😊💕
Other things of note regarding the name "Belos":
While "Bael" is a figure in demonology, it originates from the Canaanite "Baal", meaning "Lord". This was not one figure, but rather a title. The most famous Baal was the deity Baal Hadad, who would later gain the epithet "Baal-Zephon", meaning either "Lord of the North" or "Lord of the Heavenly Dwelling". It is from "Baal-Zephon" that we later gain "Baal-Zebul", an insult hurled against Baal Hadad by the ancient Abrahamists. "Baal-Zebul" meant "lord of the flies" or "lord of the feces", and it is from here that we get "Beelzebub", a figure in demonology who is the Demon Prince of Gluttony. Fitting, considering Belos's hunger for Palismans.
When I first watched the Owl House however, I made a different connection entirely. When I first heard the name "Belos", I near instantly thought of the Latin "Bello", meaning "to war, to fight". Considering Belos's initial stance of antagonism against personal identity, and later against the Boiling Isles as a whole, this too feels fitting.
And for Lilith:
The name actually predates Abrahamism, and can be traced back, in some form or another, to ancient Mesopotamia. According to translations from Samuel Noah Kramer, Lilith appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh, as "Kisikillillake", albiet this was not in the original tablets (the original being Sumerian, these tablets being either Assyrian or Akkadian). Variations of the name are associated with a number of often aggressive female night, wind, and water spirits, along with associations with snakes, "zu birds", and indeed owls. Others have theorized a Lilith figure as a priestess of the goddess Inanna, who is better known as Ishtar. Like most mythological figures from other cultures, the Abrahamists had a field day with Lilith. Honestly, I think it a shame she is most known as the biblical "first woman, turned demon" - there's far more fascinating history and symbolism to be found here. There is a lot of meaning one can unpack here from pre-Abrahamic sources, and too from modern sources and interpretations.
I love how Steve is such a well written and deep character AND MOST OF IT IS ON ACCEDENT!
No mention of Barcus or Mattholomule Tholomule? I want my money back.
An interesting wrinkle with Lilith is that she's the older child, which means Gwen and Dell likely had some particular reason to like the name Lilith over applying the family naming tradition. Maybe there was an older family member or friend she was named after.
Ironically Barcus, derived from Marcus and Matt (Matthew) are both names associated with deities aifkjgsadfj
I mean Barcus is obviously Bark (because he’s a dog) + Marcus.
@fictional-girl_05 it could also be a reference to Bacchus the God of wine and with him being in the potions track that would make sense
@@oreoeater6615 Let's gooooo I love sneaking greek/roman myth anywhere
I was very surprised to see you not include 'bellows' for the meaning of Belos because I personally saw a huge connection between Belos and the word. Although many people consider bellows as a wind related thing, bellow has a meaning in a loud roar or scream that also comes from Old English. I personally thought that the disparity between the shy and manipulative Phillip and the loud and bombastic Belos was very intentionally connected to the definition. It also would apply to his final monstrous roar and outbursts of violence against Hunter. Regardless, I absolutely loved this video. It was an instant like and sub to your channel.
That is certainly a valid interpretation! Names are fun like that--everything in here is an interpretation and in order to keep it under 2 hours long we had to pick and choose details. I appreciate your thoughts, the word "bellows" hadn't really occurred to me. Very interesting! Thank you for subscribing!
Belos always reminded me of the Spanish word "bélico", which means "warlike" or "related to war".
Reminds me of the English word bellicose, or the Latin root of all the words mentioned, Bellum, meaning war
23:43 Today I learned Darius' last name is Deamonne, which I think I might've known at some point but forgotten.
A thought on Camilla: if it means “care” (17:27) her name could possibly translate to “care, do not give in” and I think this is extremely fitting, she cares for Luz through others disapproval and sent her to camp for her own sake, despite obviously loving her daughters weirdness. she cared for vee even after she posed as Luz for months. She cared for the hexsquad even as she struggled to do so, “care, do not give in” much like “light, do not give in” is a perfect reflection of Camilla’s role in the story.
Couple of other possible affiliations:
Philip could be a grim reference to “phileo,” a Greek term sometimes translated to “brotherly love” (why Philadelphia is the “city of brotherly love” etc.)
And Clawthorne could also be evocative of Nathanial Hawthorne, who was an American author from Salem, MA. His ancestor, John Hathorne, was a hanging judge during the Salem Witch Trials and Nathanial Hawthorne hated that aspect of his lineage.
Those are also really good. Clawthorne /N. Hawthorne is an aspect I thought to stick in there but cut it for time, I'd love to talk more about the Puritanism things running around in TOH at some point...
@@idlescree Oooh I'd be so stoked to watch that!!
The only one I knew of before hand was Luz, and by extension Noceda from your Belos video. But this is inspiring me to think more about names and what that means for my own characters. And if I had to pick a favourite off the top of my head because they are all so good. I’d say Willow and Lilith are utterly fascinating to me
I'm actually amazed with how consistent in quality and deep with thought all your videos are! Nearly every single aspect is so well presented and explained. Most people (I feel, I guess?) don't usually look very deep into names when it comes to character analysis. Seeing something analytical of something that comes off as so surface-level or simple is so interesting to me! Also I got really exicted when you got to the Collector! I knew if they'd be brought up, it probably wouldn't be too in-depth since there's not that much to talk about with his name, but it still feels so satisfying to me to finally see him being included in analytical content on the show.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment! We waffled on including the Collector but in the end it didn't feel right doing King without including them, because of how powerful their thematic connection is. Sun/Moon, semi-immortal being to immortal being, past and future, singularly alone but having company in each other no one else will ever be able to understand etc. I am so glad you found the inclusion meaningful!
I can certainly appreciate that frustration with certain terms getting bandied around to the point of meaninglessness! Nothing wrong with having a preference or a pet peeve.
God this video is so good, I CRAVE Owl House content
I went to a classical school for my entire life, and as a result, I’ve read all of the ancient epic poems. One such poem being the Aeneid. In the Aeneid, there’s a Character named Camilla (double l). Camilla is the warrior queen of the Volscians (a tribe of all female warriors, kind of like the Amazons) and she fights alongside Turnus, who’s the king of the Rutulians. In the Aeneid, Aeneas (destined founder of Rome) leads the escaped Trojans to Italy so they can Found their destined city. However, there’s already people living there. Turnus refuses to give up his land and power to Aeneas and they wage war on each other. Camilla fights with Turnus to try and drive out the Trojans and she‘s all around a badass. She does end up perishing during the battle but she is regarded and a great and badass ruler. I think her Story of power and bravery could have helped Name Camila. Camila grows into a badass protector, kind of like the mythological Camilla
Excite!
10:10 I thought I'd throw out one of my own thoughts on Emperor Belos. I always thought his name was meant to be a nod to "bellows" As a noun it is a device used to pump air usually used to stoke fires, while as a verb it is a deep rumbling cry or roar. When we first encounter Belos he is beneath a giant beating heart, much like a lung would be. His words feed the fires of hate and fear toward Wild Magic, and in the finale he literally breaths life into the Titan's corpse. When he speaks it is often in hushed and muttered tones, though they are intermixed with cries of anguish or hatred. He is a bellowing bellows, not just the "Voice of the Titan" but a sort of "Lung of God"
Oh my God
This is a perfect video topic. I looked up the characters names and loosely looked the meanings and there's some though put into them for sure. It's anazing
25:23 To be fair to him, the illusions _were_ convincing enough to _everyone_ except Gus.
20:10 THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND!!!
I like to imagine that after the events of the show, when Luz and Amity are married, Amity sheds the name Blight and takes on Luz's own family name. Symbolically, this could be her no longer being bound by the toxicity of her dysfunctional family home, or it could be her as the Amity that didn't give up. The Amity that let the light in. The Amity that found peace and restored her friendships, now living in harmony with the people she loves, all because she didn't give up.
Bellos could also derive from the latin "bellum", which means war given that he's literally at war with the witches. It's so fascinating to see how much thought was put into all these details ofthe show
Fun fact the name Lilith has been translated as screech owl
Yep! It's a squishier translation but absolutely a thing.
@@idlescreeOr only, Owl.
@@idlescreeSince Lilith Clawthorne, is a Boiling, Isles History Enthusiast, future Historian/Museum, Curator and owls, are associated with knowledge; Tis a fit, Name for Nerdy, Aunt Lily.
11:54 The Welsh ending is pretty funny, considering Matthew Rhys is Welsh.
LMAO nice!
Thanks for a very well done video on the names of all the characters. As someone who's written a few fanfics, I know very well the power behind names and it is more often a roadblock than actual writing since their name can guide how they exist in the story. (I know not everyone does this, nor cares but I do.) Please keep up the great work!
Thank you so much! 🥰
@@idlescree You're very welcome!
I do want to mention that the name Caleb, while meaning wholehearted, also ends up being extremely close to the Hebrew word for dog, which could be a neat connection to Hunter
In Dante’s “Inferno”, Saint Lucy is described as “The enemy of all cruelty”.
Bak Hyeokgeose was also the first King of one of Korea’s original dynasties, and Willow is of course the first friend of all the characters.
Augustus was of course not the First Princeps’ birth name. He was born as Gaius Octavius and changed his name to Augustus later on in life. So his name and association with illusions is a subtle indicator to us that says “the First Emperor of the Boiling Isles is a liar hiding under a false name”.
Aveline is a surname of French origin, derived from a given name, a diminutive of Ava. The surname is in turn the origin of the given name Evelyn.
In modern French, aveline means "a kind of big hazelnut". This is derived from the name of the Italian city of Avella, via the botanical name of the common hazel, Corylus avellana.
-Wikipedia
Vee could also be a reference to Saint Veronica, she who is said to have wiped Jesus’ face to create the Shroud of Turin.
Possible Collector/Jack Skellington parallels?
The literal meaning of Darayavahaush/Darius in Old Persian is “Hold fast to the good”, which is what Darius does throughout the series.
Stringbean could be a reference to String Theories.
*sinks teeth in and enjoys chewing through another thoughtful and well crafted video* I never knew stringbeans had multiple names!
Love the breakdown and consideration from the various language points, including who has what and from where - showing the most likely origin paths not only from our world, but the in-world perspectives.
One day, I will name a character something like Vulture and they're going to be a horrid little man who eats trash and wears the most colour-clashing outfit you've ever seen.
I always thought Amity's name might have some connection to the word “animosity” as well. Animosity generally means hostility, which for Amity can both represent her hostile nature or, similar to her being a “blight on friendship”, a blight on hostility, since it's revealed that much of her early hostility isn't due to actual anger but instead her upbringing.
I think Edalyn's and Evelyn's names being so similar might be intentional as they have a few interesting parallels, most notably their love for humans and how they both led to the deaths of the Wittebane brothers. There's also other parallels, but that's what I mainly wanted to point out.
I like how the Clawthornes are named after the corpse tree since they all have connections to death, be it physical or metaphorical. The two physical deaths are Evelyn and King, with Evelyn directly being the cause of her lover’s death and King with his dead(?) father/race, who are now corpses. Gwen is directly tied to the “death” of the Clawthorne family with her driving away Eda and neglecting Lilith. Dell however is tied to rebirth/healing, with him helping rekindle the family and the palistrom population. Lilith is the death of purpose/meaning, since she strived her whole life to get into the Emperor's Coven, so much as when she lost the job she quickly spiraled into depression. Eda is the death of self. She allows the curse to define her and control her life, holding her back from truly being able to be Eda. She even places so little value on her own life she was prepared to sacrifice herself despite having two kids. It isn't until she lets herself “die” and embraces the Owl Beast that she truly starts living.
I like that Lilith's name doesn't have the same convention as the others because it's just another part of her that makes her an outsider in her family. Her name, color scheme, her hair, even which one of her lips that's pronounced isn't like any of her family's.
Hooty's nickname of “Hootsifer” is really interesting to me because not only does it give him a thing with Lilith, but it also ties into his connections with the Titan. Lucifer is commonly known as a fallen angel cast out by God, however for Hooty it's actually the opposite. The Titan fell and seemingly left him behind, if his “corpse"'s (ha, another corpse reference for the Clawthorne's) presence with the Titan is any indication.
I would also like to point out that “Raine” is a homophone of “reign”, which is interesting since not only are they fighting against Belos's reign, they also are seemingly the leader of the only organized resistance, “reigning” it.
I think it's interesting that Steve is typically a shortened form of a different name, as it could represent that not only is he incomplete, but that he's not even who he actually wants to be. Conversely his younger brother Matt typically has his name elongated, which could represent his usually “larger than life” persona and the presence of his last name in it could be a sign that he feels pressured to live up to some legacy, likely his brother's.
Honestly you can find meanings in pretty much everyone's names. Even someone like Morton, who could possibly be connected to Immortan Joe from the Mad Max series. Both have similar first names (with “Joe” being like how Morton is kinda just some guy in the Boiling Isles), but also they provide necessary liquids for a price. Morton with his elixirs that are super important to Eda for a firm price and Joe with him trading water for servitude.
Woo this got a lot longer than I intended, and no one will even see this. Damn
For what it's worth, I saw this, and I really liked it
the quality of these videos keeps going up! i am really glad i found this channel and im gonna keep recommending it until it gets the recognition it deserves.
Thank you so much, that is such a high compliment and so appreciated!!!!
3:30 I think every problem in owl house can be summed up with "If only we had more time."
Amazing!! I specially loved Willow :00 Also I think that for spanish meaning of Belos "velo" would be more accurate in pronunciation instead of bello. Velo is a thin fabric made for hide something, sometimes metaphorical, and that's exactly what he's doing
But I think that the other comment said about the latin phase it's cooler and probably where it comes from hahaj
Eeee!!!! I’ve been hoping for this one I’m so exited
THANK YOU FOR BRINGING UP KIKIMORY
13:13 i didnt even think about that but it could work cuz edd clothes is based on one of the ways to my a philosopher stone
The word "Bellus" is one letter away from "Bellum", meaning war, conflict or army. I just can't imagine Dana and the others naming this guy "Belos" without that at least partly in mind.
My favorite detail of The Owl House is the bird imagery all over and how the Coven Scouts have bird like masks while working in a prison like castle and how birds symbolize freedom has irony when putting in account that it is basically a death wish to disobey or disagree with the Emperor.
AGGSRSFF I love your guys analysis videos they’re so good!!!
Fun fact. The etymology of flapjack is common man, as the older use of it having oats, reflecting how in a world of witches, caeleb was just a normal guy.
Also Raine's name could be an allusion to Lena Raine, who also is a musician (she made the score for "Celeste" and partially "Minecraft" and "Deltarune") AND is transgender. Also Wikipedia says her father plays the violin which corresponds with Whispers' main instrument.
let me overanalyze a little about Camila, one little thing that even no many hispanic knows is about names with an origin of being a "patronal name" basically in many countries in the past you middle had to be the first name of your father and in the case that you were born female it would be the "female version" of your father's name, Camila isn't directly from Camillus as you explain is the female version of the name Camilo (who has the Camillus origin) given to the girls who fathers were named like that. So what I want to say with this is that maybe Camila was given because of her role as a single mother, about having to fill that space that her partner left, about she having to be in part "Luz' father" but also not being that hipotetically "Camilo" she is Camila, she is the mother of Luz, yes it would be fantastical to have Luz father but she don't needs to be her father she just needs to be her mother.
OOOOHHHHHH. Excited!
12:51 Orrrrrr a lake of power representing the titan blood lakes showing her connection to king with him being a Titan
As someone from not English-speaking country but loves watching show in English, I miss a lot of subtle meanings, so I love when someone point them out!
As obvious as it might be to others, I didn't know that King was a common dog name before watching your video, and now it makes so much sense how King is portrayed or treated as doglike at times!
The fact that i heard *THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGEND* and immediately went *STEVEEEEEEE* is why i love myself
The hog's editing strikes again, that was 100% his idea
Your videos are always delicious, thank you for the good food.
Eda is a direkt reference to the garden of eden in that Way Lilith, evalyn and edalyn has a theme of the story of Adam and Eve
So excited gahhhh
Also I call flapjack "the pancake" when in conversation with my friend 😭
Wonderful watch 😃 love the energy that's running through this one, that technical difficulty card was 😘👌
Thank you so much! The Hog is truly a fantastic editor.
One idea that I always liked for Belos was that it kind of sounds like "Bellows" which is a tool that is used to help feed a fire and keep it burning. Fire is a very interesting symbol as fire can be used to nurture, provide warmth and safety, and act as a spark to innovation, all of which are what Belos claims to be, and perhaps genuinely believes about himself. However, if unchecked or in the wrong hands, fire can cause massive amounts of destruction, which is what he actually ends up doing to the boiling isles.
Regarding Willow - I’m wondering about the similarities with Willow Rosenberg from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Another, at first, unassuming and shy Willow, turned incredibly powerful and dangerous Willow. The tree can be incredibly destructive, like you said, but not only to man-made stuff! Also to ecosystems. They can make it impossible for other organisms to live where they are. The big difference here ofc is that Willow Rosenberg became a genuine danger to the whole world in season 6 of Buffy and Willow Park, even when she loses control, doesn’t exactly go truly “dark”. But. I do think it’s interesting. I wonder if the iconic character development of Buffy’s Willow partly inspired The Owl House’s Willow. There’s something incredibly empowering about seeing a character who is underestimated and sort of relegated to the background, come to be recognised as a genuine powerhouse, and even someone to be feared. I love it.
22:45 Yeah. When I heard that Dana Terrance was inspired by Hieronymus Bosch art. When I heard his surname was Bosch I thinked it's that how Boscha was named?
Amazing as always!! I love you guys’ essay styles of videos, that still manage to keep my hooked from the beginning.
Holy moly that was 27 minutes?! Seriously?! It felt like 5…
So much effort you put in.
I love looking at name meanings
I'm going to share some of my DnD characters' names and their meanings, bc I like them sm
Estelar Xilnorin was my first, a nonbinary wood elf ranger. Tbh I just liked how the name felt when I chose it. It feels like something an elf would be named. I love shortening Estelar to Estel. The name feels like stars, which is also what it can mean. I picked up on the similarity, and I thought it fit this elf far from home that slept best under the stars
Sunshine At Night was the 2nd character I made, a tabaxi rogue, but I never ended up playing them. Sunshine At Night is technically their full name, to go along with tabaxi druidic naming traditions, and they're called Night most commonly. I went with a theme for every name related to him, and I was also quite literal. They have a fascination with the night sky, and named himself after it as an orphan on the streets (I just realized a lot of my characters chose their own names lol, elves chose their adult names in DnD lore). Their swords are called Starlight and Sunshine, one of their nicknames as a teen was Shine along with Night. His cat is named Shadow
Night was part of a pirate crew pretty much their entire adolescence, and I came up with names for some of them too. Niklas Bjørnsen was the captain, a Nordic inspired human who has a "pet" crow that he calls Fret or Fretr (which means fart). I pulled from Norse/Norwegian naming conventions until I found something that flowed well and fit the vibe. Elorin Niklassen is the captain's half elf son who ran away from his mom's court to be a pirate, becoming an older brother figure for Night when the young tabaxi stowed away on their ship. Adding -sen to make a surname is similar to English surnames like Jackson and Davidson, and I thought the vaguely medieval vibes of DnD would fit Elorin taking that surname upon finding his father. Elorin is the navigator for the Gilded Blades, and that pirate crew name makes more sense alongside the ship name. The Sólskin Death, or The Sunshine Death. Niklas will sometimes slip into his native tongue and call it Solskinndøden. Sólskin is pronounced like soul shin in English, but faster bc it's one word. I used Norwegian for most of my specific translations, but vaguely Scandinavian is how it ended up with my multitude of sources
Kaid Arrnaro is my centaur barbarian for a feywild oneshot/mini-campaign where plans fell thru. Kaid is just the first name I liked best, while his surname is a little more special. Arrnaro means Summer Storm. A lot of fey stuff has extra emphasis and meaning on the seasons, and summer fit Kaid best for this setting. I thought of storm bc of the chaos inherent in the character himself and his abilities (wild magic). I used a Common to Elvish translator to get storm = arrn and summer = aro, then combined them for Arrnaro. My summer storm, Kaid
Tsunami is my water genasi monk, and I actually got to play him. They've had many names, and again 2 out of 3 were ones he chose himself. His given name was Zinfir, an elven name from his sea elf mom. No special significance, just something from a fantasy name generator. As an angsty teen, he went by Drown. They lived underwater and are amphibious, but angsty (depressed) teen wanted to drown. He's embarrassed about it now, but it's actually rather dark and sad when you think about it. Tsunami is what they settled on after a period of silence following exile from their hometown (selective mutism bc trauma hehe). Tsunami, a quick, destructive force that cannot be stopped, only prepared for (direct quote from character doc). Tsunami has anger issues. He's a good person, but was dealt a terrible hand and hasn't quite healed from everything he went thru
Tsunami has backstory characters I've named. Faera Oceanflower is their mom, the reasoning is mostly sea elf vibes (also she's nice). Typhoon is his absent father's name, Tsunami (rightfully) hates the guy. Natural disaster theme, with meanings behind the choices. Tsunamis are one of the fastest traveling natural disasters, and they can completely destroy a city in minutes. They're a lot rarer and usually unexpected, and severe ones can rack up massive death tolls bc it's too fast to evacuate. Typhoons can last for hours and days, but they move a lot slower and are far more predictable. Typhoons are essentially hurricanes that form in a different part of the world, and they usually don't kill many bc evacuation is very effective. Tsunami, fast and deadly. Typhoon, slow and devastating. Blizzard technically isn't a name, but a title. She's a "leader" at the monastery Tsunami trained at, which has elemental themes. Her best move is called Breath of Winter and that's where her title came from (she's pretty good with fire too, but she keeps that on the down low)
Kaos is a wild magic sorcerer tiefling, who chose their own name (surprise, surprise). They were kicked out of their home for their magic being too wild, and decided to embrace the chaos. One problem tho, they're 5 years old and can't spell or pronounce chaos right, so they get stuck as Kaos bc they don't feel like changing it later (tho he's secretly embarrassed about it and doesn't tell anyone). I just searched names that meant chaos or wild until I found something that looked cool
Varian Baudelaire is my changeling rogue, and they were made for a modern era oneshot. Varian means variable (bc changeling but also they embrace their chaotic nature) and Baudelaire means dagger. They're 18 and like daggers, it's a thing that they always carry their daggers around in their boots. Their appearance as Varian (they have more names and masks) is a gender non-conforming half elf with a vaguely goth aesthetic (it was set in early 2000s). Also their hair color was different every day bc why not. They sometimes shorten their name to Var or Vari
Wildfire is the name of a fire genasi monk that I made for my little brother, who wanted something like Tsunami bc I told him about them. I poured all of my affection into writing a backstory using the guidelines he gave me via character choices, and I made Wildfire a lovable ball of pure chaos. I almost want to start calling my brother wildfire as a nickname bc it fits his personality so well
That's all the names I have that have meanings, most of my character concepts aren't named bc I put way too much thought into naming things lol
15:34 lol the obly damien i ever met was my kind old irish tutor who goes kayaking and makes pancakes every Sunday, im saved from the curse of hearing damien and thinking edgy
I look forward to seeing what the bird does next. I don't watch any live action so haven't watched Tokyo drift (never even heard of it) but I hope their video get some exposure.
The Bird has a lot of amazing ideas cooking and we are SO excited to share them with you!
Never forget that the "Owl house" as a show is a member of the "Flapjack" family tree. Alex Hirsch himself worked on both shows so I think it's an hommage as well
Thank you so much, this video made me smile during a hard time and it made me realise that names should mean something and so, I decided to do the same with my story as an aspiring novelist.
Thank you so so much for making this 🤗💕
not willow as a fever reducer XD - really brings back the Warrior Cats memories
my favorite is willow, because Willow branches are very flexible but strong. They've been used in basket, wreath making and fence making, there are things called wattle fences which are flower bed borders usually made by branches, but willow is very popular to make a living fence, and they take root every easily. Willows are also such a recognizable tree that even at a distance can signal to a person that water is nearby. So the functionality of Willows name describes Willow well.
I normally listen to your videos, but I glanced at the screen and saw good omens and sjejfhksjejf currently hyperfixating on that, it’s SO GOOD- I can’t believe that s2 ended like that. We’re gonna have to wait 3 YEARS for another season, at the bare minimum. You should do a video essay like you do for the owl house on it! ^^
I made a comment about Owl House content containing my utter queer neurodivergent joy- but now I give my neurodivergent rant WHY
Firstly, I write a decent amount, fanfic, DnD, etc- and I've never really tried hard when it comes to names. Maybe a smaaaall amount of contextual resonance within the most important character? Usually not even that
But watching this has opened my eyes to how incredibly useful names can be in a narrative context- how it can builds narratives within readers heads to be subsequently knocked down or reinforced, or maybe recontextualized. Without meaning to this video convinced me that names are just as vital as character design in terms of storytelling. Maybe that's obvious, but I don't think so, I think a lot of people - including formerly me- tend to dismiss names when it comes to analyzing stories.
Secondly, OMG the actual naming conventions used in Owl House are sooo good, Amity has always tickled the back of my head as a good name- but I've never really thought about why and this context absolutely fills me in and explains. I've already heard and agreed to how great Hunter and Luz are as names, and I think it makes sense that the rest of the names are really good.
Willow in particular, it both met my expectations and surprised me- yeah, a willow- sad but strong, a tree- but specifically grief and particularly how Willows character develops over time to reveal the strength she has is just so good.
Absolutely agree about how sad it is Gus never got to really complete his arc, but I think he's such a great character even without it Gus is a solid A tier in terms of characterization.
I wasn't sure about the Clawthornes, I hadn't ever heard of the Hawthorne tree but everything explained fits so perfectly with Eda's and eventually Gwen's characterization..
Probably my most favorite naming convention has to be Hunter and Liliths tho, giving us a name that fits so perfectly into an archetype only to recontextualize that name to fit a different interpretation OF the same archetype, brilliant stuff.
There will absolutely be a Morgan in my DnD campaign that tried to fit the same level of recontextualization!
I almost didn't click on this video, I only did because as far as I'm concerned your videos have been 100% hit rate (also I'm STARVED for Owl House content) will absolutely be checking out the other videos, thanks for the great video!!
Names have power. Think about how hard people fight for names in real life! How a major character is named in a story has a big impact on how they are received (even/especially if you're doing fantasy kitchen sink names like Kissen--from the book Godkiller by Hannah Kanner or something--depending on the language you are writing, even the syllables can have connotative power).
Word names like the Owl House are SUPER deliberate and can really take a character name to the next level because when used carefully they can basically hook a reader instantly by prompting a question. For example, a protagonist in one of my favorite books--I referenced it in another comment earlier--has a protagonist who calls themself Misfire (Ophelia was Murdered, by Draikinator). Why the hell would you call yourself that?? That question prompts interest, which gets someone to turn the page.
Eeeee I'm so glad that the video meant something to you, and truly that is a very high compliment. Thank you for the vote of confidence, and we hope to see you in the next one!
@@idlescree I appreciate the feedback and advice! I'll definitely be tuning in for other stuff, can't wait to see more
Thanks for the video I did know the meaning of the names.
Also if we’re saying “lyn” connects all the Clawthorne women, and Eve is the first woman, Evelyn might refer to her being the ancestor of the Clawthornes.
Just gonna say this, don’t know if you touched on it but I’m at the beginning of the Evelyn portion, her name could be because she tempted Caleb, I think that’s where it’s going but figured I’d say it here
While they can break foundation, willow trees are used around farmland to stabilise the ground and provide a foundation. Given the right environment, willow can really uphold others!
THIS IS MY FAVORITE KIND OF FACT. I didn't know that, THANK YOU!!
I have see the tumblr exclusive video you post on there.
I just finished Owl House and am loving your breakdowns!❤❤
I'd love a followup to this with more of the names.
(Also, my favourite name HAS to be Amity Blight. It's just such a fascinating name meaning-wise, and it rolls off the tongue so well. Bonus given to it due to the fact that in FFXV (one of my favourite games), there are a pair of siblings named Iris Amicitia and Gladiolus Amicitia, meaning rainbow friendship and knife friendship respectively.)