Name Meanings

We all know that Katniss and Prim were named after plants (Katniss being a root found in wet, muddy areas and Primrose being a flower) but what about the rest of the people in the story? Many of the names used in The Hunger Games derive from the Latin, Greek and Roman languages and more and some of the meanings, matched with respective characters, may shock you. Thanks to member mlwl for the idea and kickstart of this page.

Katniss is not only a plant, but was commonly used as a broadleaf arrowhead for Native American Indians.

Cinna was a poet in one of Shakespeare’s plays who tried to start a rebellion. He conspirated against the leader Julius Caesar and was thus killed… does this give us any hints?

Effie derives from the name Euphemia, or “fair speech” (eu = well, good; pheme = voice) which makes sense, because she is an escort and public speaker. However, there is more to the name Euphemia than just being able to talk well – there is a whole story behind the name that is rather shocking when compared with Suzanne’s Hunger Games. Euphemia was a young christian girl who was martyred because of her faith. Where she lived, the governor made a decree that all citizens had to take part in ritual sacrifices. Euphemia, or Effie, however, refused to take part in these sacrifices, and she and her friends were thereby tortured. One of these tortures; being trapped in an arena with a wild bear; ended up killing Euphemia. So, by refusing to follow in her government’s footsteps and not take part in the sacrifices, she inadvertently brought about her death.

Gale, or “Galel”, is Hebrew for “The wave of God.” Another form of the name, “Galen”, is Greek for “Calm”.

Vick is one of Gale’s little brothers. His name, surprisingly, is Latin for victor, or victory. The feminine alteration of his name; Vicky; means both victor and conqueror. Hmm… any foreshadowing here?

Rory is Gale’s other little brother. His name is Gaelic for “Red King.”

Posy, Gale’s little sister, is Hebrew for “He will enlarge.”

Primrose is fairly simple – it means first rose, “prim” being Latin for “first”.

Madge is Greek for pearl. Fairly simple, but let’s go into detail for the heck of it. The pearl, being a circle, is a symbol of God because it has “no begininng and no end.” The circle, or pearl, is known to represent love and knowledge, which, combined, is symbolic of wisdom.  Also, the 12 gates of the New Jerusalem are apparently each made of pearl. 12, anyone? 12 districts? I don’t know why I wanted to point that out since it’s pointless.

Darius was one of the peacekeepers of District 12. His name means “to possess” and to “maintain well” or “good”. However, Darius was also the name of a Great King of Persia in the 5th and 6th centuries – he was a great financier and fought against the Greeks at marathon. Note that Darius in THG was the peacekeeper who stood up for Gale when he was being whipped.

Flavius is a Latin word that means “Golden”. It almost automatically makes you think of Flavius’s trademark golden lipstick, no? And his bouncy orange-ish curls? As an educational fact, Flavius was also the name of a historical jewish man who survived and recorded the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70.

Octavia literally meants eighth or 8th. Not very interesting. However, Octavia was also a character in a Shakespeare play (like Cinna) who followed the relationship between Cleopatra and Marc Antony from the time of the Parthian war all the way up to Cleopatra’s suicide.

Venia is Latin and short for Lavinia, the Legendary Mother of the Roman people.

Portia means pig in Latin. Plain and simple.

Peeta has no defintion or history unless you type it as “Peta”. Peta is a town in Greece, and is the Buddhist word for “Hungry Ghost.” PETA is also an acronym for People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals. And, we can’t forget that pita bread is pronounced “Peeta” bread!

Cray (head peacekeeper) means curly-headed, and prolific, or abundant, plentiful.

Caesar *snickers* means “Head of Hair.” Other than the famous ruler Caesar, that’s all the relatedness I have.

Seneca means “old”. Seneca was also a Roman orator/public speaker with a son, also named Seneca, who was a philosopher and a dramatist.

Plutarch was one of two priests at the temple of Apollo at Delphi. He was a great and well-known writer. Also, in addition to being a priest, Plutarch was a magistrate in Chaeronia, and held the office of archon in his native municipality. He had several influential friends, including 2 senators, and published a book called “Paralell lives”. He, like Plutarch in the books, obviously was imporant and held a lot of power in his hands.

Johanna is Hebrew for “God is gracious.”

Finnick, along with being a Scottish city, means a variety of things when one “n” is taken away. Finick means “to affect extreme daintiness or refinement”, “to trifle or dawdle”, and finnicky means “excessively particular or fastidious, difficult to please, fussy, exacting, demanding, meticulous, choosy and picky.”

Cato means acute, and shrewd (insightful, wise, clever, on the ball.)

Thresh definition: To beat severely, thrash; to thrash about; toss.

Rue: to feel regret, remorse, or sorrow. To affect with grief, to repent.

Haymitch has absolutely no definition, meaning or history whatsoever. The name is comepletely made up by Suzanne Collins. However, Haymitch’s last name, Abernathy, is the name of a famous Civil Rights Leader.

Cecilia is Latin for blind.

Brutus is Latin for heavy, slow, foolish. Brutus was the name of the murderer of Julius Caesar.

Chaff is the inedible, dry, scaly casings of cereal seeds and grains. In agriculture, it is used as livestock fodder or is a waste material ploughed or burn into the soil.

Blight is a disease that kills plants.

Cashmere is a kind of wool and Glimmer and Clove are self-explanatory.

*These are only the meanings of the characters names. That doesn’t mean they are secret messages that give away what will happen in the third book.