Names in That Which Binds Us

The characters of That Which Binds Us come from a variety of backgrounds and have a colorful constellation of names. Some of their names have significant meaning, one just sounded nice, and one or two are completely made up. Put the four characters’ names together for one epic combination!

Mei

Of course, I have to start with Mei. To be perfectly honest, her name was quite random. I looked up a list of Chinese girls names and I liked Mei. It’s simple and sweet. It translates to ‘beauty’. Interestingly, Mei-mei is a familial term for ‘little sister’ or ‘young woman’.

It was only after I decided to name her Mei, that I discovered the delightful puns intrinsic to ‘May’. Hence, Mei Day and Mei the Force Bee, with you! Groan-worthy? Yes, but how could I resist?

Devi

With Devi’s name, I was at least a little more intentional. I wanted to name her after a Hindu goddess. There are many such deities to choose from, so I somehow ignored all of them and just went with the literal translation of goddess: Devi.

In hindsight, it was possibly a strange thing to do and definitely a lazy thing to do. Oh well, deal with it. Besides, come on, Devi is a goddess.

Ailani

Hopefully, you’re sensing a pattern of arbitrariness here. Yes, for Ailani, I looked up a list of male Hawaiian names. I actually had a list of about 5-6 names that I liked. They pretty much all translated to either ‘power’ or ‘leader’. Ailani just really stuck out to me – I’m a sucker for names that end in vowels (just ask my daughter, Naomi)!

As mentioned, it translates to ‘chief’ or ‘leader’. This is actually much more in line with my original personality for Ailani. I shudder when thinking of him. He was, in the very beginning, supposed to be incredibly serious, never smiling, and a military man through-and-through. I know, hard to believe, right? The exact opposite of how he ended up. I actually wrote the first scene with this character, when he introduces himself to Coach M, and found it incredibly boring. I knew I needed to tweak his personality slightly. And that’s the story of how I radically changed every facet of his personality…

Taz

At this point, if you’ve read the book, you’re probably thinking I named Taz just for the joke of putting all their names together. To jog your memory, Mei realizes that if she calls Ailani, ‘Nia’, then their group name could be Taz Mei-Nia Devi (Tasmanian devil! Uh, kinda.).

To be completely honest, I had the realization much like Mei – completely spontaneously, but with equal excitement. The reason I named Taz, Taz, is… no reason at all. It’s a made-up name, at least to me. I just felt like it sounds like someone who’s really energetic. Taz the spaz.

Then, he needed a ‘full’ name. Tazmodeus just popped into my head. I found it hilariously formal sounding, like Amadeus (Mozart). The exact kind of name someone would shorten.

Bonus: side characters

Haunani: of all the names in the book, hers was the most intentional. It is Hawaiian for ‘beautiful snow’. If you’ve read the book, and know Ailani’s backstory, then this is a perfectly pure and tragic name. Honestly, knowing that her name means ‘beautiful snow’ kinda makes me sad…

Coach M: let’s end on a bright note! Coach M has two hidden names because his first and last names are revealed separately. I’ll go out of order (per the reveal in the book) – his first name is Artillius. This name has absolutely no significance at all. I either made it up or have confabulated it, but it is what it is. Ok, so his last name, which Taz states when they first meet him. M is for… Morbo! Morbo ‘the Unnecessarily Violent’. If you’ve watched Futurama, then you may recognize the name of the news anchor alien: Morbo the Annihilator. If you don’t watch Futurama, then shame on you. Your taste in TV is bad and you should feel bad. If you don’t get that joke, then go watch Futurama. You’re welcome.