How did they get their names?
How did all the characters and enemies in the different Nintendo games get their names you wonder, well take a look below for an explanation of some of them!

Mario Game Characters

Mario
Did you know that Mario got named after the landlord in Nintendo of America´s office in New York! The landlord´s name was Mario Segali and he came from Italy so that´s it. If you want to know more, just follow this link to our "The birth of a star" page where you can read all about how Mario was born.

Toad
The name Toad is simply short for 'toadstool'.

Wario
The name Wario derives from the Japanese word 'warui' which means 'bad'.

Donkey Kong
A rumour says that it was meant that Donkey Kong´s name would be Monkey Kong but due to a bad phone connection someone heard wrong and thought that it was Donkey Kong.
A not so fun (but much more true) theory is that Shigeru Miyamoto looked in various dictionaries for a word for dumb because he wanted Donkey Kong to be a rather stubborn/wily figure and found the word "Donkey". The other part of the word, Kong came from the famous King Kong.

Tanooki Suit
'Tanooki' is not Japanese for 'raccoon' as we thought at first, but a japanese mythical raccoon-like creature that can turn itself into stone. Thanks to Adam Magus for pointing this out to us.

Mallow
The marshmallow like figure in Super Mario RPG´s name is just an abbreviation for Marshmallow!

Klepto the Condor
The bird in the Shifting Sand Land course in Super Mario 64 that tries to steal Mario's cap.
'Klepto' is an prefix of 'kleptomania,' which is an "irresistible impulse to steal."

Kamek
The japanese word 'Kame' means Turtle in Japanese.
Kamek is easily derived from that.

Shyguy
Remember the guys draped in big sheets wearing big masks to hide their faces?
Obviously they have masks to hide their faces because they are shy guys...

Dorrie the Sea Dragon
The big friendly sea monster in Hazy Maze Cave
The word 'dory' is in fact the name of a special species of marine fishes that eats small fishes and other invertebrates.

Unagi the Eel
This big eel lives in the Jolly Roger Bay in Super Mario 64 and is a really dangerous beast!
This fellow has really silly name if you know what the Japanese word 'Unagi'  really means.
'Unagi' means 'eel' in English so the enemy's English name is really "Eel the Eel"...! 

MIPS the Rabbit
Anyone who are interested in computers should know that MIPS is an acronym for Million of Instructions Per Second and is a way to measure how fast a CPU is.
What fewer people know is that 'MIPS' is also the division of Silicon Graphics that made the N64 processor.

Boo Diddley
The small irritating ghosts from Super Mario Bros 3 are probably named after the 1950's rock & roll singer Bo Diddley.

Mack the Knife
This Super Mario RPG villain is probably named after the 1960-70's song "Mack the Knife."

Note: there is also a character in Capcom's game Captain Commando that's named Mack the Knife.
 
Frogfucious
This wise frog that can be found in Super Mario RPG is named after the Chinese philosopher Confucious.

Axem Rangers
These Super Mario RPG enemies are obvious parody of The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

Nep-enut
If you reverse the last 4 letters of this big water enemy from Super Mario World 2's name you will get Neptune, the ancient Roman god of the sea.

Hootie the Blue Fish
This Super Mario World 2 enemy is obviously named after the band "Hootie and the Blowfish."

Pidgit
This little bird riding on his flying mat is probably a Pidgeon and if you mix pidgeon with "git" you get Pidgit.

Chibibo
The small Goomba like enemies in Super Mario Land's name might have been derived from the Japanese word Chibi, meaing small.

Smithy
This  Super Mario RPG villians is a smith of some kind, and forges his minions with a big hammer.

Leuko
The Jellyfishes/squids in Super Mario RPG is a bit bland (in color) and the word Leuko means Having little or no color...

Terra Cottas
These enemies from Super Mario RPG might have been named after the ancient Terra Cotta Warriors.

Gorgon
Gorgon is a hideous beast from the Greek mythologhy.
 
Geno
The name Geno probably originates from the prefix 'geno' which means race or genus.
 
Geno
The name Geno probably originates from the prefix 'geno' which means race or genus.
 Amanita - Guerrilla - a person who engages in irregular warfare esp. as a member of an independent unit carrying out harassment and sabotage Punchinello - 1 capitalized: a fat short humpbacked clown or buffoon in Italian puppet shows 2 plural -los : a squat grotesque person
 
Bowyer
A person who makes shooting bows.
Thanks to Dr. cheese for this name origin
 
Amanita
any of a genus of white-spored fungi that includes some deadly poisonous forms.
Thanks to Dr. cheese for this name origin
 
Guerrilla
a person who engages in irregular warfare esp. as a member of an independent unit carrying out harassment and sabotage.
Thanks to Dr. cheese for this name origin
  
Punchinello
1.) capitalized: a fat short humpbacked clown or buffoon in Italian puppet shows.
2.) in plural -los : a squat grotesque person.
Thanks to Dr. cheese for this name origin
 
Artichoker
named after the vegetable, Artichoke.
Thanks to Elizabeth Wilbanks for this name origin
 
Enigma
(that thing that looks like a gorgon, but is
found elsewhere) means a mystery.
Thanks to Elizabeth Wilbanks for this name origin
 
Pandorite
Pandorite came from the fable of Pandora's Box.
Thanks to Elizabeth Wilbanks for this name origin
 
Mad Adder
From Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter.
Thanks to Elizabeth Wilbanks for this name origin
 
Torte
Is actually the name of a type of cake.
Thanks to Elizabeth Wilbanks for this name origin
  
Jugem's Cloud
This item can be found in Super Mario Bros 3, and helps Mario to skip over one level. The name might seam cryptical, but is really quite simple. That is, if you know your Japanese. 'Jugem' is the Japanese word for Lakitu. So what Mario really finds is Lakitu's Cloud.
 
Kuribo's Shoe
Another one of those weird things in Super Mario Bros 3. On one of the courses a Goomba in a big green boot attacks Mario. Mario can then steal the Goomba's shoe and use it himself. The logical name for this item would be Goomba's shoe, don't you think? Well as a matter of fact, it is. The Japanese name for a Goomba is a 'Kuribo'...

Zelda Game Characters

Poe
These ghosts from Zelda : Ocarina of Time, whose soul you can catch in a bottle and then sell, has obiously got their name from the eraly 18:th century horror writer Edgar Allan Poe...
 
Kakariko Village
Why is the chciken filled village in Zelda : Ocarin of Time named Kakariko"?
Well the answer would be animal noises. Chickens go "Cucco!" hence the name of the chickens. Just like dogs go "Woof" and cats go "Meow"
However, in other countries, animals make different sounds. In France, they don't say that chickens go "Cucco", instead they say they go "Kakiriko".
Thanks to Bateau for this piece of information
 
   

Characters from other Nintendo games

Pac Man
Pac Man got his name from the japanese word "pacu", meaning "to munch". Since "pacu" is pronounced the same as "f--- you" is (only with a 'p' sound), his name was changed to "Pac Man".
 
Kirby
Miyamoto named him from the Kirby brand vacuum cleaner.
 
Ness and Nester
Ness the pleiosaur from Super Mario 64, Ness the boy from the Earthbound (Mother) series, and Nester from the Nintendo Power comics, Nester's Funky Bowling (VB), and Pilotwings 64 (under the nickname Lark), were all named after the ancronym, NES, short for Nintendo Entertainment System.
 
Falco Lambardi
Miyamoto named this Star Fox wingman after French actor Carlo Lombardi.
 
ROB 64
The Robot in Star Fox 64 that flew the Great Fox is named after the robot ROB, which originally came packaged in with the NES in 1985. ROB stands for the Robotic Operating Buddy. The "64" was added in to announce the ROB's Nintendo 64 incarnation.
 
Arbok
The snake Pokemon Arbok got its name from the spelling of "Cobra" backwards. It was changed from Arboc to Arbok for pronunciation clarification..
 
Ekans
The Pokemon Ekans got its name from the spelling of "Snake" backwards.
 
Kangaskhan
This Pokemon was named after both a kangeroo and Genghis Khan, the Mongolian who invaded China (and starred in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure).
 
Hitmonlee
This Pokemon is a kicker and was named after Bruce Lee.
 
Hitmonchan
This Pokemon is a puncher and was named after Jackie Chan.
   
Pikachu
"Pika" is Japanese for "to electrify".
'Chuu' is how Japanese describe the sound a mouse makes.
(Pika, in the English dictionary, actually means "A small rodent found in the northern parts of North America.")
 
Misty
Misty is the water badge holder in Pokemon. Mist is a form of water.
 
Brock
The earth badge holder in Pokemon, Brock is "rock" with a "b" added.
 
Lt. Surge
The word "Surge" means a large influx of electrical power, with a army-type prefix.
   
Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard
Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard come from "Char" which is when something is burnt to a crisp. The suffixes however are taken from different lizard animals. CharMANDER is after SalaMANDER, CharMELEON is after CheMELEON (the lizard how can change colors according to the thing its on) and ChariZARD is after LiZARD.
 
Ivysaur
Ivysaur comes from Ivy, a type of plant vine.
 
Venosaur
Venusaur probably comes from the famous fly-eating plant the Venus fly-trap.
 
Cloyster
This name obviously comes from the fact that the pokémon is an Oyster.
 
Chrono
The hero of the time travelling RPG 'Chrono Trigger' is abviously short for Chronology i.e. the study of time.
 
Epoch
The time travelling vehicle from above mentioned game is named 'Epoch' which means "A period of time".