This list isn't exhaustive, and I shall try and edit when I can, to make it easier to read and also include names I forget to list here. If I don't list a name, it's probably most likely that I've forgotten it, or I spell it standardly anyway. (Note, there are some Chinese character names. I may inconsistently use the Japanese transliteration, due to laziness of looking for the accents on the letters, etc. Pinyin is fun.)
To show the names, I shall spell it out the way I spell it and then put in brackets the more standard spellings people use.
Main Characters
- Son Gokuu (Son Goku/Gokou/Gokuh - in other words, our main monkey dude, the retarded hick)
- Kurilin (Kuririn/Krillin - in other words, the little short dude who just wants to get married for once) - Spelling it like this allows for the "Kuri" part of the name to stay in tact, as well as the "lin", as in "shaolin". In other words, we see that Kurilin is a "chestnut shaolin disciple", "chestnut-lin" if you will. Incidentally, this spelling also allows for a fun little pun, in that Kurilin could be translated as "chestnut forest".
- Yum-Cha/Yǐnchá (Yamucha/Yamcha) - I spell it like this because this is the more Chinese spelling, which does work in that he appears at the very start, when the manga has more of a Chinese feel (Journey to the West and all).
- Tiānjīnfàn (Tenshinhan) - Again, going with the Chinese feel, as the food's name comes from a Chinese city. Plus, I like the idea of having him with a Chinese style name, along with Jiaozi.
- Jiǎozi (Chaozu) - Once again, going with the Chinese naming.
- Vegeeta (Vegeta) - I've been spelling it as "Vegeta" for so long, and yet I just realised. ベジタブル is the katakana for "Vegetable" ("Bejitaburu"), and Vegeeta has the katakana ベジータ or "Bejiita". So the "Vege" part has an elongated second "e". Therefore I spell it as "Vegeeta".
- Blooma (Buruma/Bulma) - I use this spelling to bring out the "Bloomers" pun more. That said, there is the song "Koi no Nazonazo" which has the spelling "Bulma". However, at the same time, we're talking about the same country that brings us spellings like "Gokou" and "Frieza", alongside other spellings.
- Cacarrotto (Kakarotto/Kakarot) - I went with the way of spelling this, to highlight the "Carrot" pun. However, noticing that the katakana has an extra stress on "to", i.e. it is "rotto", I used to spell it "Cacarott". And then I figured "Well, there's already an extra 'ca', so what harm will an 'o' do at the end?" Plus, it fits lip flaps so much easier.
- Raditts (Raditz) - Simply put, I'm going off the katakana.
- Burdack (Bardock) - Again, going with the katakana and the most like "Burdock" that the name can get with its little tweaking.
- Pumbkin (Panbukin/Shugesh) - Reflecting the change from "P" to "B". Simple as that.
- Totapo (Totepo/Borgos) - Again, just making the name look as much of an anagram of its original word "Potato".
- Brolee (Broli/Broly) - I used to spell it "Broli" to highlight the "Broccoli" pun, but I use "ee" to highlight the extended "ii" at the end of "Burorii".
- Tarble (Table) - Again, like his big brother, Tarble has an extended "a" sound, "Taaburu", so I put it in the "R" to reflect this.
- Freeza - Simple. I'm using the most liked spelling, and I am pointing out the "Freezer" pun, while not going against the katakana.
- Coola (Cooler) - Same as with Freeza.
- Kewi (Cui) - I wanted to reflect the "kyu" in Kewi's name, and also reflect the "Kiwi" pun, so I used the spelling "Cew", which can be pronounced like a "Cue", and used a "K" at the start, to make the whole name look like "Kiwi".
- Duduria (Dodoria) - Dodoria's name comes from the durian fruit (pronounced "Dorian" in Japanese), so again, we're highlighting the name of the original fruit.
- Jarbon (Zarbon) - This one was interesting. It comes from "Zabon", which in turn comes from "Zamboa", "Jabong", and different variations, all stemming from the fruit pomelo/grapefruit/shaddock. I decided it was best to go with a combination of all, and the extra "R" comes from the extended "a" in "Zabon" ("Zaabon"). As it happens, "J" should be softened, like in French.
- Appoole (Appule) - Highlighting the "Apple" pun and using "oo" instead of "u" because "pule" could be read as "Pyul".
- Thouser (Salza/Sauzer) - Highlighting the thousand island dressing pun.
- Naise (Neiz) - Highlighting the "Mayonnaise" pun.
- Drre (Doore) - The "dressing" pun, with an extended sound on the "Do".
- Ginyuu - Going with this spelling is the way it is in the katakana, but also the word "ginyuu" is in the word "ginyuushijin", which is a "minstrel". That kinda works out conveniently.
- Ghurd - Reflecting the pun on "Yoghurt", keeping the "H" in.
- Reacoom - Reflecting the "cream" pun.
- Jhees - A reflection on "Cheese" and how the softened "se" comes a hardened "s". Incidentally, the "Jh" should be pronounced softly, to further reflect how the softening of the "s" has been moved.
- Bertta - An anagram of "Batter", admittedly, but as the "u" in "butter" would be rendered "aa" in Japanese, I went with the single "a" present in the katakana. Hence, it looks like "batter" instead. It was that or the very odd looking "Berrtu/Berttuh".
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