At the Risk of Angering the Hardcores...

[TheBlackPaladin]

...I have a question that I'm sure will anger the hardcores if only for the fact that I can't be the first one to ask this.

Anyway, my question: what is Krillin's name?

Let me elaborate. Is his name Krillin, Kuririn, or Kulilin? I don't know! I was introduced to him as Krillin, of course, so that's what I call him by instinct. When I heard people referring to him as "Kuririn," I assumed at first that it was in some sort of stubborn obedience to the pronunciation of "Krillin" with a Japanese accent (similar to people insisting that "Dragon Ball Z" is actually "Doragon Boru Zetto," and that Freeza is actually "Furiza"). Of course I know that FUNimation changed some names a bit like "Ten/Tenshinhan," being changed, but the "Kuririn" thing struck me as...well, like I said, overly strict obedience to the Japanese pronunciation of a word that's supposed to be "Krillin."

However, I was re-watching some early episodes and saw that Kri...okay fine, "Goku's Bald Friend," clearly has a hat when he first arrives on Planet Namek that says "Kulilin" on it. That made me think--"Maybe his name really is Kuririn...or is it actually Kulilin because the Japanese language doesn't naturally have the 'L' phonetic in it and therefore comes out sounding like 'Kuririn'?"

So...who knows for sure?

[Herms]

Well, those are all technically valid ways of transliterating his name. But to get into why people hold to “Kuririn”, perhaps it’s best to explain where the character's name comes from, and what better way to do that than to quote my Name Pun Round-up? (I know, I have no shame)

Kuririn
There are a few things going on with Kuririn’s name, though Toriyama doesn’t really explain any of it (see below). First, kuri-kuri bouzu means a clean-shaven head, which certainly fits him. Second, 栗/kuri is Japanese for “chestnut”, which besides tying back into his “smooth head” image, is carried over into the name of his daughter (and in the anime, his early girlfriend). One of the title pages also shows Kuririn riding an air bike with the 栗/kuri kanji on the front. Finally, the “rin” on the end of his name may be a reference to the Shaolin monks (少林/Shourin in Japanese), a staple of martial arts films. “Shaolin” more or less translates to “little forest”, and the temple where Kuririn trained prior to become Kame-sennin’s pupil was called the Oorin Temple (多林寺/Oorin-ji), “big forest temple”, an obvious play on the name Shaolin. The Oorin uniform worn by Kuririn and his formal seniors at Oorin Temple are also clearly based on the Shaolin uniform.
Toriyama Explanation: “This is a name that I decided completely based on just the ambience from the character’s image. At that point, I didn’t think this was going to be a character that would continue to appear for a long time afterwards, so I used this half-baked naming.” [DBF]
Source Spelling:: くりくり/kuri-kuri 栗/kuri, 少林/Shourin
Name Spelling: クリリン/Kuririn

[TenshinFan]

Kuririn is what most people tend to call him. I like to use Kurilin, as it's easier to pronounce yet still accurate to the pun

[Fin]

Kuririn is what most people tend to call him. I like to use Kurilin, as it's easier to pronounce yet still accurate to the pun

I'd probably use that, if I ever remembered to. I prefer the idea of taking the last syllable from Shaolin than from Shourin. I've been conditioned to think of him as Kuririn though.

[MCDaveG]

In original/katakan it's Kuririn and I call him Krillin same as I don't call Trunks - Torankusu or Yamcha - Yamucha.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

People call him "Kuririn" because it better keeps with the pun of "kuri" (chessnut). I call him "Krillin" because it is easier to say and is an acceptable transliteration of his Japanese name.


For the record, "Kulilin", "Kurilin" and "Kulilyn" are all also acceptable transliterations.

[Kaboom]

"Krillin" is an acceptable romanization. It's also kind of interesting how it swaps out one applicable pun (the "Kuri" part, in reference to his bald, shiny head) and inserts a new one of its own ("Krill," like the tiny shrimp-like creatures; essentially in reference to his shortness), while still leaving the part from "shaolin" intact.

[Amigo Ten]

"Krillin" is an acceptable romanization.

I don't think so. Romanized it should always be Kuririn/Kulilin/Kurilin/etc, right?

[VegettoEX]

Never fear risking an "angering" of anyone by asking a legitimate question . It's not like you came in with steamrollers and charged forth an endless pro-name-change brigade when asking the question!

I don't think so. Romanized it should always be Kuririn/Kulilin/Kurilin/etc, right?

Something I've written up before...

The "kuri", when pronounced more natively than most folks (myself included), comes out with the "u" being short enough that it may as well just be "kri" (almost the same way that the "sasu" in "Sasuke" loses the "u"). That's not entirely an accurate way of describing it, but it's not as if it's "Kuuririn".

Swap the L/R dealie with the end (from "rin" to "lin"), and you've got "Krillin".

It may seem like it's a little bit of mental-and-romanization-gymnastics to get there, but it's not so far-fetched.

I always thought this example from DBZ episode 95 sounded very "Krillin"-esque.

[Amigo Ten]

But Krillin isn't a romanization is it? Romanized, クリリン should be either Kuririn or Kulilin I believe.

[VegettoEX]

But Krillin isn't a romanization is it? Romanized, クリリン should be either Kuririn or Kulilin I believe.

Well, then we get back into the definition of what a "romanization" actually is. On a very basic level, it's the process of taking the one language's alphabet and turning it into ours -- we could romanize it as "Poopie Head" if we wanted to, since it's literally nothing more than taking Japanese letters and turning them into Roman/English letters.

Then you get into "standards" of romanizations such as the Hepburn system... which is where the term "correct" might come into play a little more accurately.

[Amigo Ten]

Well, when the term "romanization" is used, it's generally referring one of the standard systems. To take it as otherwise just seems to be willfully causing confusion, whatever the precise technicalities may be.

[Olivier Hague]

Well, when the term "romanization" is used, it's generally referring one of the standard systems.

In that case, I wonder what romanization system you were thinking of when you mentioned the spelling "Kulilin"...

[Amigo Ten]

Honestly, I don't know. I'm just parroting stuff. What I was saying was that, at least in my experience on this site, in discussions like this terms like "romanized" and "transliterate" are used in pretty specific ways in regards the certain systems, etc etc. To start using them in a different context for no apparent reason seems intentionally confusing.

[Dayspring]

This is pure opinion on my part, but 'Kurilin' makes the most sense to me as a translation, being 'Kuri' (chestnut pun) and 'lin' (from Shaolin).

However, I'm so used to 'Krillin' that I'll never say nor write it the other way unless EX swaps it into the word filter.

[Amigo Ten]

However, I'm so used to 'Krillin' that I'll never say nor write it the other way unless EX swaps it into the word filter.

I'm on the same boat. I don't think any amount of reading the manga is going to stop me typing "Krillin".

[Gaffer Tape]

It should also be mentioned that Viz spells it "Kuririn" as well as also using things like "Tenshinhan" and "Freeza." Not that Viz using it automatically makes it right (the H-word anyone?), but there is an official English language precedent for it. Make of that what you will.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

But Krillin isn't a romanization is it? Romanized, クリリン should be either Kuririn or Kulilin I believe.

As VegettoEX said, a romanization is just taking another language's alphabet and changing it into ours. Keep in mind there are certain systems so you can't romanize クリリン as "Poopie Head" or whatever.


The standard system of Japanese romanization is Hepburn and going by this system, クリリン becomes "Kuririn". "Krillin" is a transliteration of "Kuririn" which adapts in into English more and makes it easier to say.