FF7 Chars Name Origin

Cloud Strife
Both "cloud" and "strife" are English words.

-Cloud’s Christian name alludes to his mysterious, unclear past and his unpredictable development in the future: his memory is ‘clouded’, he has his ‘head in the clouds’ and no one knows what his next move will be. In nature, clouds do not move by themselves but are driven by the wind. Likewise, Cloud’s development is influenced by others rather than by his own decision. At first, Sephiroth/Jenova is controlling him; later, it is Tifa who has to show him his true nature.
-"Strife" illustrates Cloud’s aggressive behavior towards others, as well as his inner fight that is the central conflict of the story. In the last duel between Cloud and Sephiroth, this fight finds its conclusion.

Aeris (Aerith) Gainsborough (Gast)
The Latin word "aeris" translates into "air; atmosphere; cloud; aether".

-"Air" and "atmosphere": this seems to be an allusion to Aeris’ connection to nature and her importance to the planet. Without air and an atmosphere, there would be no life. C.f. her first Limit Break, the "Healing Wind".
~The translation "cloud" implies that there is some kind of mystical connection between Aeris and Cloud Strife; like Cait Sith says, they are "made for each other".
~"Aerith" is an anagram of "I Earth"
~The word Aeris is pronounced similarly to "heiress", which aptly illustrates Aeris’ role as the last Cetra and the rightful heir to the planet.

Sephiroth
This name derives from the Kabbala, a religious lore that has its origins in Jewish mysticism:
"At the Creation," explains Kabbalist spokesman Steve Edelman, "God sent out a pulse of energy into the void. It presently branched and sorted into ten distinct spheres or aspects, corresponding to the numbers 1-10. These are known as the Sephiroth. To return to God, the soul must negotiate each of the Sephiroth, from ten back to one. Armed with magic and faith, Kabbalists have set out to conquer the Sephiroth. Many Kabbalist secrets have to do with making the trip successfully.
"Now the Sephiroth fall into a pattern, which is called the Tree of Life. It is also the body of God. Drawn among the ten spheres are 22 paths. Each path corresponds to a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and also to one of the cards called 'Major Arcana' in the Tarot.
"Some Sephiroth are active or masculine, others passive or feminine. But the Tree itself is a unity, rooted exactly at the Bodenplatte. It is the axis of a particular Earth, a new dispensation, brought into being by the Great Firing."
(Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon, p. 753)

–The character Sephiroth tries to become a god by destroying the planet, hence the religiously connoted name. Also, Kabbalists believe that mastering the Tree of Life is a method to achieve divine enlightenment, and that’s basically what Hojo wants Sephiroth to do: "Ha, ha, ha...... Go beyond the powers of science...Before your presence, science is powerless...". The ‘Great Firing’ that brings a new world into being reminds us of the Nibelheim accident where Sephiroth becomes insane.

Jenova
The Hebrew name of God is Jehovah. The last two syllables of Jenova, ‘–nova’, translate into ‘new’.
Jenova is a ‘new god’, or wants to become one. She’s an usurper trying to rob the powers of the planet.

Tifa Lockheart
‘Tiferet’ is the central aspect of the Tree of Life (see above). Lockheart is composed of the English words ‘to lock’ and ‘heart’.

-The sefirot Tiferet represents beauty, balance and love- a description that applies fairly well to the role of the character, Tifa. Also, Tifa is the one who saves Cloud through her love and Christian Kabbalists believe that Tiferet symbolizes self-sacrifice and "the will to carry one’s neighbor’s cross". On Tarot cards, Tiferet is pictured as a heart (as in Lockheart!), and sometimes as an angel (Tifa’s bar is called the "Seventh Heaven" and her last Limit Break is the "Final Heaven").

-Her surname, Lockheart, illustrates her natural shyness and inability to express her love for Cloud. And the key to Cloud’s past is "locked" in her "heart".

Side Characters:

Vincent Valentine
The Latin verb "vincere" translates into "to conquer, outlast, defeat"; St. Valentine is a Christian Saint protecting lovers.
-"to outlast" would be the most fitting translation for ‘vincere’ since Vincent sleeps in the basement of the Shin-Ra Villa for almost 30 years.
-Vincent’s sub-plot with Lucrecia is a tragic love story, hence his surname.

Yuffie
The prefix "euphe" in Old Greek translates into "joy", "happiness"
–I don’t think it’s too much of a stress to say that Yuffie is a lively, outgoing or downright goofy character, so the name suits her well.

Barret Wallace
Could be a reference to the 13th century Scottish rebel William Wallace a.k.a. Braveheart (yes, the one in the movie).
-After all, both are leaders of an uprising against a tyrant government. Also, both of them are fighting to avenge their dead wifes.

Hojo
Goes back to a family of hereditary regents to the shogunate of Japan who exercised actual rule from 1199 to 1333. During that period, nine successive members of the family held the regency. The Hojo took their name from their small estate in the Kanogawa Valley in Izu Province.
-Hojo = power. There may be a more subtle meaning to this, but I fail to see it. Any Japanese out there willing to help me?

Cait Sith
The name is of Gaelic origin and translates into "fat cat".
-In Irish fairy-tales, Cait Sith is the protagonist of countless "King of the Cats" stories. That’s why Cait Sith in FF7 is carrying a crown.

Reeve
An English word meaning:
1. The local representative of the king in a shire until the early 13th century.
2. (In medieval England) A manorial steward who supervised the daily affairs of the manor.
3. (In Canadian government) A president of a local council, especially in a rural area
4. (Formerly) A minor local official
-I think that most of these descriptions match up with Reeve's position. He's the representative for the Urban Development area for Midgar, under President Shinra who is more or less the 'King' of Midgar. He supervises the day-to-day running of the city, he's the president of the 'local council' of Urban Development and as such is a minor local official.

Palmer
-a person wearing two crossed palm leaves as a sign of a pilgrimage made to the Holy Land
-wife of G. H. American educator; president, Wellesley Coll
-American chiropractor; founder of chiropractic in America
-American scholar & educator; author of The Odyssey of Homer (translation), The Field of Ethics, etc.
-Several geographic areas are named Palmer (all in the antarctic region)
-The Palmer in the game seems to be the direct opposite of these definitions (Palmer was not a man with two crossed palm leaves, or a scholar, and certainly not the author of a book about ethics). Unless the Square designers thought Palmer looked like a penguin from the Antarctic region, I don't see a connection.

Lucrecia
Lucrecia was a woman who was raped by Tarquinius, the last Roman king. "The Rape of Lucrece" is a poem by Shakespeare based on this.
-This is a strong allusion to the way Lucrecia conceives her child, Sephiroth. Either Hojo raped her (which the story does not necessarily suggest) or the name is just intended to show that Hojo’s experiment are "a rape of nature", an unnatural act.

Rufus
Latin for "the red one".
-Rufus has red hair.

Reno
"Leno" is Latin for "brothel keeper", "squanderer" or "pimp" (the letters R and L and monophone in Japanese).
-well...

Rude
English Synonym for "impolite"
–Rude doesn’t like to socialize and isn’t very talkative at all, so the name befits him quite well

Elena
An alternate form of Eleanor, meaning light.
–Perhaps because she has blonde hair?

Scarlet
A bright shade of red.
-She wears a red dress. This also suggests a connection to Rufus (see above). The Shin-Ra logo is also red, so maybe the colour red is meant to represent Shin-Ra.

Heidegger
Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) was a famous German philosopher best known for his existentialist theories. Also, during World War II, there was a Wehrmacht general called Heidegger.
-Maybe Shin-Ra’s Heidegger was modeled after the Wehrmacht general. I don’t know much about the general, but if he was part of the nazi war machinery, he most likely committed war crimes.
~Some of Martin Heidegger’s existentialist theories could have influenced the authors of Final Fantasy VII. It would take too long to explain this in detail, but if you are interested in Heidegger’s works, simply do a Yahoo! search.

Don Corneo
"Corneo" is Latin for "made of horn" or "horny" (sic!).
-Umm... err...
~The name Don Corneo also bears a vague resemblance to Don Corleone from The Godfather

Shin-Ra
~Probably of Egypt origin, translates into "Dark God" and is used to describe a mythological creature similar to a vampire.
-Shin-Ra, Inc. is evil, hungers for power and seeks total world domination- hence "dark god". Also, they rely heavily on Jenova’s powers.
-Barret: "It [Mako energy]'s the life blood of the planet. But Shinra keeps suckin' the blood out with these machines." Quite vampiric.

Bugenhagen
Johannes Bugenhagen (1485-1558) was one of the "founding fathers" of the early Protestant church in Europe and a close friend of Martin Luther. He helped organizing the Reformation in Northern Germany and Scandinavia and became a famous theologian and scholar as well as an expert in matters of public education and social questions.
-Bugenhagen’s name illustrates his wisdom and his reputation as a man who is master of both religious lore and science/technology.

Cetra
In Latin, the nomen "cetra" describes a small military shield that was used in the Roman army.
-The Cetra are the defenders of the planet.

Gorky and Chekhov
These two bosses appear in Yuffie’s pagoda. Their names derive from the famous (dead) Russian writers Anton P. Chekhov and Maxim Gorky.
-One of the other bosses in the pagoda is called Shake- possibly an allusion to Shakespeare, making the pagoda a veritable Dead Poets Society. Another boss, Yuffie’s father, is called Godo. This may be a stretch, but he could be named after Godot from Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot".