Character Names

The meanings behind the names of people in the game.

Warning: This Content Contains Plot Spoliers. Please be aware of this before continuing.

Many of the character names in Final Fantasy IV do not appear to be chosen at random such as Cain while others appear to be wholly fictitious like KluYa or Palom. Some intended meanings are mostly obvious like Rosa (she is beautiful like the flower which embodies romantic love) but others like Golbez's name are much more obscure. Below I will attempt to catalogue as many of these names as possible. Also note, many name definitions assume that the creators consciously researched this name, or if not the implied meaning is thus fortuitous.

Protagonists

Cecil Harvey

Cecil: (Pronounced either SEE-sal or SES-al) From the Roman name Caecilius which derives as "Blind Sixth".
Harvey: This ancient surname, which is one of the earliest on record, is of English and Irish origin. It is also well recorded in Scotland, although the origin is as for England. The name has the most common meaning being derived from the Breton personal name "Aeruiu" or "Haerviu", composed of the elements "haer", meaning battle, and "viu", - worthy. This was the name of a 6th-century Breton hermit who is the patron saint of the blind.

Based upon these definitions, the name "Cecil Harvey" appears to connote a connection between the concepts of a battle worthy man and blindness. This may be important to the character because he is indeed battle worthy (SSH makes clear his prowess in martial skill) but he is also blind to a number of things; his past, his future, his family, and the quiet usurpation of his royal liege. It is also worthy to note that current canon shows us that Cecil was named for his mother Cecilia. Both names share the same meaning but are simply of different gender orientation.

Cain Highwind

Cain: From Hebrew, it means 'a spear'. In Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition, Cain was the world's first murderer. The biblical Cain betrayed and murdered his brother Abel because he envied Abel's favor with God and his rage over God not accepting his harvest in favor of his brother's livestock.
Highwind: This appears to be a made-up name specifically to define this character; he rides high on the winds to attack from above. However it also was used before in Final Fantasy II for the character Richard / Ricard, also a dragon knight. Indeed as of late Square-Enix has attempted to make a connection between these two Highwind dragon knights as being either father and son, or at least ancestor and descendant.

The connotations here are pretty self-evident without any research; most gamers from a Judeo-Christian or Islamic society easily identify the name and the character's role. Indeed Cain is "the spear" not only does he wield such as his primary weapon (only character in the game to do so) but he is the betrayer. He betrays Cecil and attempts to murder him because of envy. He is jealous of Rosa's affection for Cecil over him and it drives him to Zemus' control (who as we know now can tap into the dark thoughts of someone's mind, inverting emotions such as jealousy and hatred within to gain their obedience).

Rosa Farrell

Rosa: This name has multiple origins, however it can either mean fame and kindness or the obvious connotation to the fragrant flower [the rose] which embodies romantic love and feminine beauty.
Farrell: This distinguished Irish surname, with variant spellings which include O'Farrell, is an Anglicized form of the Old Gaelic O Fearghail. The Gaelic prefix "O" indicates "male descendant of", plus the personal byname "Fearghal", composed of the elements "fear", man, and "gal", valour; hence, "descendants" of the man of Valour". There were two main branches of the O'Farrells, the chiefs of which were distinguished as O'Farrell Boy from "buidhe", yellow or Golden, and O'Farrell Bane from ban "fair" or "white".

This name seems to be quite appropriate for the character. Rosa's family is famous, she is very kind, and very beautiful which rounds out in the meaning of her given name. The surname is of Irish nobility, Rosa's family is noble; her mother was a white mage and her father was an esteemed Dragon Knight (indeed she is a descendant of a man of valour) and the name does not include the masculine "O". Her colors are also Pink (she wears rose-colored clothing), White (she is a white mage, dresses in white, and is of fair complexion), and Gold (hair).

Gilbart Christopher von Muir VII

Gilbart: is a British Isles given name of Norman-French and Old German origins. Original spellings included Gislebert, Guilbert and Gilebert. The prefix, "Gil-", comes from "gisil", meaning a noble youth, while the suffix, "-bert" comes from "beraht", meaning bright or famous. Variant spellings have evolved throughout Europe, including the Romance language version, Gilberto, and the Latin version, Gilbertus. The diminutive, Gil, is popular as a given name or nickname. The oldest known meaning of the name Gilbert comes from the language records found in an abbey close to the Scottish Isles. Dated from between 115 Bc to 255 Bc the Gilbert name is defined in those records as simply "God of Men." or Gilb-dea-moros. Gilbert, with variant spellings, is also used as a surname.
Christopher: While the SSH lists the name simply as "Chris", that is a shortened form of either "Christopher" or "Christan", both of which derive from the Christian Religion. The former means "to bear" or "to hold" which usually literally means to bear or hold Christ (metaphorically in ones heart). The latter is explicitly to mean the person is of the named faith.
von: In Germany, 'von' means noble, and all persons belonging to the nobility have 'von' before their family names, without any exception. Persons who do not belong to the nobility cannot put 'von' before their names, as they have no right to do so, and would be found out directly if they assumed it, and make themselves ridiculous. But in case of a man being knighted for some reason or other, he has the right to put 'von' before his family name.
Muir: This interesting surname, with variant spellings Mure, Moor, Moore and More may be a Scottish and North English topographical name for someone who lived on a moor or in a fen, from the Old English "mor", a moor or in a fen, from the Old English "mor", a moor (medieval English "more"), or it may also be locational from any of the various places named with this word, for example "Moore" in Cheshire. The surname itself, was first recorded in the 13th Century, in Scotland.

What we appear to have here is simply an attempt to make a very noble sounding name for the prince of a large kingdom. Basically his name means the "Famous Bright Noble Youth, Bearer of the Faith, The Noble From the Moor" where the "von" appears to be employed simply based on it's Germanic origin of being a title and privilege of nobility embedded before one's surname. The Muir surname does appear fitting as the original Gilbart, Daster, was one of the Deracine wanderers from the plains of Damcyan (or anywhere really).

Antagonists

Golbez

Thanks to Subaru, Roundog, & Syntyche for this research.

In the DS version of Final Fantasy IV, there is a cut-scene where you get to be young Theodor Harvey (before he's Golbez). At the end of the scene, right before he goes to dump Cecil in the woods, the voice of Zemus comes to Theodore in a dream. Zemus' voice says something to the effect that he is going to give the child the name of the "bloodsucking insect" from the rotting skeletons:

Voice: (Zemus)You are the venomous insect that comes forth from the rotting skeleton (flesh?)
Child (Theodor): Stop!
Voice: (Zemus) The name of this venomous insect... is Golbez!

This in-game canon (note: translated from the original Japanese) then tells us how Golbez got his name and roughly what it means, but not where it actually came from. However further research provides further explanation.

Apparently (according to Subaru) in the early days of Square, they appear to have gotten a lot of names out of a quasi-occult book called: "Devils" by J. Charles Wall (published in 1904).

The specific reference for Golbez occurs on p. 147: "One legend places the scene of the combat between St. George and the Dragon in one of a range of caves near the castle of Golubaes, in Serbia. These caves are infested by the "Golubaeser Fly," a venomous insect resembling a mosquito, and their presence is accounted for by the assertion of the peasants that the decomposed body of the dragon has continued to generate these insects to this day." Thus the the Golbaeser fly / or Golubac Fly - is what Golbez was named for.

When you look at further research of the time, indeed - there was a set of decades as to which this European fly was a serious problem. It seems like livestock were attacked - and the defense of the time was to coat animals with wormwood, and keep the area covered in a blanket of smoke. Apparently, according to an article in 1841 - the legend was a fairly modern one - the peasants of the time coming up with the legend. (The Saturday Magazine April 17, 1841).

The name Golubaeser though - comes from the world Golubaes - and in modern times the word is known as Golubac. Golubac appears to be a decent sized tourist area in Serbia, containing the Golubac Fortress. In the Wikipedia article - they also mention the fly pestilence - having occured for a few decades, and then possibly overcome.

The name Golubac apparently means "pigeon house" - derived from Golub, which was probably derived from the Latin Columba for "pigeon." Of course, the authors were going for the bloodsucking killer fly thing... But it isn't the name Golubac that makes it "Bloodsucking" even though they probably thought that.

The word Golubaes - I'm guessing, got translated into katakana as Go-Ru-Be-Za, or GO-(RU for the L - RU translates into LU)-BE (BAE)-ZA (for the ES sound). When the translation was turned around into English back in 1991 for the North American release, it's highly likely no one on Ted Woolsey's team went and looked back at the original source when it was (mis)translated into Golbez, since both can be used in a sense.

Therefore if you want to translate it strictly, the name Golbez merely becomes...

PIGEON HOUSE!

Rubicante (Rubicant <sic>)

Coming Soon!

Barbariccia (Valvalis <sic>)

Coming Soon!

Caignazzio (Kainozzo <sic>)

Coming Soon!

Scarmiglione (Milon <sic>)

Coming Soon!