Community:Witch Name Origins
Witches will have a different name than their Magical Girl self, and they will always be written in Runes. A majority of these names will be human names, feminine, different than those of their former Magical Girl selves, and in a language other than Japanese (compared to most known Magical Girls being Japanese), but exceptions to all of these exist throughout the franchise. Most naming conventions established in each entry in the franchise were broken by Magia Record.
Nearly all Witch names match up with a name of a minor planet or asteroid.
In Puella Magi Madoka Magica, the names of all Witches and their Familiars were thematically related to the series and its inspirations. Most Witches were named after women known to have some kind of relationship, direct or indirect, with Johann von Goethe, Richard Wagner, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, or their works. For example:
- Charlotte's name is shared by Charlotte Buff, a woman for whom Goethe had an unrequited love, on which he based his work The Sorrows of Young Werther and also happens to be a dessert, fitting with her food motif.
- Her Familiars, Pyotr and Polina, are respectively named after Pyotr Tchaikovsky (composer for The Nutcracker) and both Polina Semionova (a ballerina in The Nutcracker) and, possibly, Pauiline von Metternich, a woman important in the promotion of Richard Wagner's work.
- Gertrud, instead, is likely named after horticulturalist and garden designer Gertrude Jekyll, after whom Dr. Jekyll (from the novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was named. The novel dealt with a man splitting his mind into two personalities, one embodying his psychological shadow and repressed evil inclinations (similar to Witches).
- One of her Familiars, Adelbert, is named after botanist and author Adalbert von Chamisso, who wrote a story about a man selling his shadow to the devil (similar to Goethe's Faust).
- Elsa Maria, more indirectly, was named after Elsa Maria Asenijeff[citation needed], who suffered many tragedies in her love life, including her husband leaving her for another woman (similar to Sayaka Miki and Kyosuke Kamijo).
The names of the Holy Quintet (sans Oktavia von Seckendorff and Kriemhild Gretchen), as revealed in Madoka Magica Portable and Rebellion, are taken from other sources and are more individual to the character.
- Ophelia is named after the character from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, who drowned herself after suffering from depression and madness caused by her lover (connecting her to Oktavia, the mermaid Witch).
- Homulilly's name is the first to incorporate an element of her human self's name (Homura Akemi), and both her design and her Familiars are also based on The Nutcracker.
Like the original series, all Witches in Puella Magi Oriko Magica are given feminine human names, though the reasoning behind each is unknown.
In Magia Record, the Witch forms of some characters are given names with individual significance and which are written with Greek or Latin origins.
- Pistis is named after the Greek personification of good faith and trust.
- Latria, whose name was given in Magia Record, is named after the Latin word for "adoration".
- Sotria sounds similar to Latria, and is likely a Latinized modification of the Indian Sattriya dance (corresponding to her being the ballroom dancer Witch).
In Puella Magi Kazumi Magica, instead of human names, most Witches' names are descriptive phrases or titles written in German (corresponding to Goethe's language). The exception is Hyades Daybreak, named after the mythological Greek sisters and star cluster, which is in contrast to the protagonist Magical Girl group the Pleiades Saints.
In Magia Record, the Witches of some characters are given names that also break the manga's naming conventions and are all Italian, referencing the frequent use of Italian in the manga. Carola is named after an Italian variant of Sleeping Beauty, Caterina may be named after the Italian fairy tale Catherine and her Destiny, and Antonio (a masculine name) may be named after the city of San Antonio, Texas.
In contrast to all other entries, few Witches in Puella Magi Suzune Magica are given names, but none are named in Suzune Magica. They appear to a lesser degree than in any other series and tend to have human characteristics.
In Magia Record, the Witches of some characters are given names with individual significance.
- Carmen is potentially named after a Latin term referring to a poem, song, or prayer (referencing Suzune Amano's name meaning "heavenly bell sound"), or the titular character of Prosper Mérimée's novel who was headstrong and independent but stayed with an abusive man who ultimately killed her despite her knowing it would happen.
- Odette is named for the main character of Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake, a woman who fell in love with a prince who vows only to love her, which will eventually break a curse placed on her. Ultimately, the prince instead decides to marry the black swan Odile (sometimes interpreted as being identical to Odette) instead of Odette, who (along with the prince) decides to commit suicide rather than remain cursed forever.
- Renard references the French word for "fox," derived from the Dutch trickster figure Reinaerde—a name so iconic it replaced the Old French word goupil. It may also allude to Jules Renard’s story Poil de carotte, about a redheaded boy using cunning to endure humiliation, mirroring Arisa’s wish for strength.
- Spica derives from the Japanese pronunciation of "speaker" (スピーカー, supīkā), reflecting its megaphone form and Chisato’s self-imposed justice, which deafens others with its noise. The name also evokes shion (紫苑), a blue aster flower symbolizing remembrance, tying into her guilt over her father’s lost dreams, as well as Chisato's own last name.
- Elise likely references the German dancer in Mori Ōgai’s The Dancing Girl, whom the protagonist abandons—paralleling Matsuri’s own abandonment by her loved ones.
- Clothette echoes Tinker Bell’s French name, Clochette ("little bell"), alluding to both its bell-adorned form and the mayfly’s (kagerou) fleeting lifespan.
Similar to Kazumi Magica, while most Witches in Puella Magi Tart Magica are unnamed, those that are have descriptive titles (this time in French) instead of human names. The only Witch named in the original manga is Crépuscule de la Reine (Twilight of the Queen).
In Magia Record, the Witches of some characters follow the manga's naming convention of descriptive French terms and phrases with one mild exception. La Pucelle de Blancheur (The White/Pure Maiden), Obscurite (Darkness), Enfant Terrible (Unruly Child, which is also a French term for a candid child who says embarrassing things). The exceptions to this rule are, Crépuscule de La Reine, which Magia Record establishes as a false name for Isabeau's Witch form, which actually shares her human name, and Pernelle's Witch, named after Hermes.
Magia Record Witches
The Witches of both the Magia Record game and anime adaptation mostly adhere to human feminine names, but also frequently use names and terms in the Japanese language, that refer to non-human subjects (places, objects, animals, etc.), or are masculine. All names have individual significance to each character.
Many Witch names reference the works of and people related to Kenji Miyazawa and Oscar Wilde, both of whose work inspired and are frequently referenced throughout the story. For example:
- Giovanna and Campanella are named after the two main characters of Miyazawa's Night on the Galactic Railroad.
- Box Wood is named for a plant, which is the translation of the Japanese name Tsuge, taken from an author who Miyazawa admired and who taught at his school.
- Shitori Egumo is a Japanese phrase meaning "I'm going alone", taken from one of Miyazawa's poems; Shitori Egumo's Familiar, Oscar, is named for Oscar Wilde, the author of The Happy Prince, which Egumo is inspired by.
- Wilde also write The Portrait of Dorian Gray, after which Old Dorothy is partially named (along with a woman who was identified as an alleged leader of a Wiccan cult).
- Giovanna, Pennen Nolde, and Pennen Nenemu are simultaneously named after Miyazawa's works and inspired by Wilde's The Happy Prince.
Witches whose names have individual significance and break the original anime's conventions make up a majority of Magia Record's Witches.
- Dee and Dum are references to Tweedledee and Tweedledum, twin brothers from Through the Looking-Glass that alternately get along and fight each other.
- Lakehurst is named for Naval Air Station Lakehurst, the site of the Hindenburg disaster.
- Breadman is named for the fairy tale The Gingerbread Man, about a living gingerbread man who cannot be caught.
- Cyan is likely intended to be short for cyanide, a poisonous chemical.
- Hund Balou is a combination of German and Portuguese that translates to "sheep dog".
- Halomonas Titanicae is the name of a protobacteria that feeds on the rust of sunken ships and is projected to cause the complete deterioration of the RMS Titanic.
- Zipzap is taken from the game Zip (also known as Zip Zap Zop) used as a theatre practice exercise.
- Slave of Anima is likely short for "Slave of Animation", referring to poor working conditions in the Japanese animation industry.
Magia Record is the first instance of numbers and Cyrillic letters being included in Witch names, as with 10^-43, 9daime Nue, Made in 168, and Маруся.
Familiars
As with the names of Witches, the names of Familiars in Madoka Magica relate to the works or themes of Johann Goethe, Richard Wagner, or Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Albertine is named after one or two women by that name that Goethe was known friends with, and her Familiar Anja is named after a titular character of a play by writer Klaus Mann, who like Goethe wrote an adaptation of the legend of Faust. Charlotte's Familiars, Pyotr and Polina, are respectively named after Pyotr Tchaikovsky (composer for The Nutcracker) and both Polina Semionova (a ballerina in The Nutcracker) and possibly, Pauiline von Metternich, a woman important in the promotion of Richard Wagner's work.
In Magia Record, it is more common for the names for the Familiars to more closely relate to the name of their master Witches, which themselves tend to be named for more personal reasons outside of the game's larger inspirations. For instance, Zenobia is a revered Syrian queen, and Zabaii comes from Zenobia's birth name or an ancestor. Shin, a babysitting-themed Witch, may be named after the television character Shin Takonara who is herself a babysitter; her Familiar, Kotori, is named after a Japanese children's game. This may also explain the aforementioned characterization of Familiars are projections of the Magical Girl's heart.