JoJo Characters Named After Bands, Brands and Food: All 217 Names Traced

The short answer

The rest of this guide goes through the data one Part at a time, then looks at Stand names, the characters whose name and Stand come from the same artist, and why many of these names change in the official English releases.

How we traced every name

Every character page on the JoJo Wiki has an infobox, and most of them include a “namesake” line that lists what the name refers to. We read that line for all 217 characters in the JoJodle roster and for each of their 145 Stands.

Then we sorted every listed source into one of ten groups. A name can land in more than one: DIO is Italian for “god”, a nod to the singer Ronnie James Dio, and a borrowing from the actor Marlon Brando, all at once.

Characters with at least one source in each category (a name can count in several). 35 characters have no documented namesake.

Category	Characters	Example
Musician or band	81	Robert E. O. Speedwagon· REO Speedwagon
Song or album	39	Erina Joestar· Eleanor Rigby (The Beatles)
Italian word	29	Prosciutto· prosciutto, cured ham
Fashion designer or brand	25	Enrico Pucci· Enrico Coveri and Emilio Pucci
Film, art and history	17	Rudol von Stroheim· Erich von Stroheim (actor)
Another JoJo character	15	Johnny Joestar· Jonathan Joestar
Japanese and other words	11	Okuyasu Nijimura· oku, Japanese for "100 million"
Real place	9	Koichi Hirose· the Hirose River in Sendai
Playing cards	5	Daiya Higashikata· diamonds
Something else	2	Emporio Alnino· El Niño, the climate cycle

Music names, Part by Part

Put every character in a single group and the Parts split cleanly into two kinds. In some, almost the whole cast is named after music. In others, a different theme takes over.

Parts 1, 2, 3 and 7 are the music Parts. In each, at least 70% of the cast has a musical namesake. Part 3 has the highest share of any Part: 35 of 38.

Parts 5 and 6 swap music for a single theme each. Part 4 is the odd one out: 19 of its 30 characters have no namesake listed at all, more than every other Part combined.

Music = characters with at least one musical namesake. Part 9 is still running; its cast will grow.

Part	Cast	Music	Main theme	Example
Part 1Phantom Blood	20	14 (70%)	Rock bands and musicians	Robert E. O. Speedwagon
Part 2Battle Tendency	15	12 (80%)	Rock, soul and pop acts	Esidisi
Part 3Stardust Crusaders	38	35 (92%)	Pop stars and bands	Mariah
Part 4Diamond is Unbreakable	30	3 (10%)	Japanese words, Sendai places	Okuyasu Nijimura
Part 5Golden Wind	30	6 (20%)	Italian food and words	Prosciutto
Part 6Stone Ocean	25	5 (20%)	Fashion designers and labels	Enrico Pucci
Part 7Steel Ball Run	28	25 (89%)	Song titles, Part 1–2 names	Funny Valentine
Part 8JoJolion	25	5 (20%)	Playing cards, Sendai places	Daiya Higashikata
Part 9The JOJOLands	6	2 (33%)	Spanish and Japanese words	Dragona Joestar

Parts 1 to 3: the rock roll call

The habit is there from the very first arc. The first three Parts name heroes, villains and extras alike after rock, soul and pop acts.

Phantom Blood: classic rock from the start

14 of the 20 Part 1 characters in our roster have a musical namesake. Robert E. O. Speedwagon is named after REO Speedwagon, and Will Anthonio Zeppeli starts the Zeppeli family's long link to Led Zeppelin.

Dio's two undead knights are both prog rock. Bruford is named after the drummer Bill Bruford, and Tarkus after an Emerson, Lake & Palmer album.

Bands split in two

Part 1 also starts a trick the series repeats: splitting one band name between two characters. The Hamon users Dire and Straizo share Dire Straits. Part 3 does it again with Chaka Khan, split between Chaka and Khan, and Oingo Boingo, split between Oingo and Boingo.

Even a background zombie gets a reference. Page is one of four zombies named Page, Jones, Plant and Bonham, the four members of Led Zeppelin.

Battle Tendency: the Pillar Men are a playlist

All four Pillar Men are named after music acts, and so are Lisa Lisa's two assistants. Loggins and Messina were a real 1970s duo, and in Part 2 they train Joseph together.

Part 2 characters with a musical namesake (selection).

Character	Named after
Wamuu	Wham!
Esidisi	AC/DC
Kars	The Cars
Santana	Santana
Lisa Lisa	Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
Loggins	Kenny Loggins
Messina	Jim Messina
Smokey Brown	Smokey Robinson; James Brown
Suzi Q	Suzi Quatro; Susie Q

The exceptions are telling. Rudol von Stroheim borrows the name of the actor and director Erich von Stroheim, and Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli mixes Julius Caesar with Led Zeppelin. The wiki lists no namesake for Joseph Joestar himself.

Stardust Crusaders: the most musical cast

Part 3 is where the pattern peaks: 35 of 38 characters, or 92%. Almost every enemy Stand user the Crusaders meet on the road to Egypt is named after a pop star or a band.

• Singers: Mariah (Mariah Carey), Midler (Bette Midler), Nena, Enya the Hag and Anne (Anne Murray).
• Bands and duos: Steely Dan, ZZ (ZZ Top), Hol Horse (Hall & Oates), Pet Shop (Pet Shop Boys) and J. Geil (The J. Geils Band).
• The heroes' side: Muhammad Avdol (Paula Abdul), Jean Pierre Polnareff (Michel Polnareff) and Iggy (Iggy Pop).
• Albums and songs: Rubber Soul (The Beatles), Forever (Wu-Tang Forever) and Mannish Boy (Muddy Waters).

Only 3 Part 3 names step outside music. Jotaro ends in the common Japanese name ending -tarō, Kakyoin is a district of Sendai, and the wiki gives no namesake for Holy Kujo.

Part 4: the music moves to the Stands

Diamond is Unbreakable is set in a Japanese town, and its cast gets Japanese names. Only 3 of 30 characters have a musical namesake: Shigekiyo Yangu (after Neil Young), Anjuro Katagiri (Angelo, after the composer Angelo Badalamenti) and Stray Cat.

The music didn't go away. It moved. Every one of the 23 Part 4 Stands in our roster is named after a band, a song or an album.

Numbers, killers and Sendai

Where Part 4 names do have a source, it is usually a Japanese word or a real place. The Nijimura brothers are both big numbers: oku in Okuyasu Nijimura is a hundred million, and chō in Keicho Nijimura is a trillion.

Yoshikage Kira's surname reads like the English word “killer”, and Shizuka Joestar, the invisible baby, is named after the Japanese word for “quiet”.

Koichi Hirose takes his surname from the Hirose River, which runs through Sendai, Araki's birthplace. That idea returns in a big way in Part 8.

Two names from Japanese history and books

Rohan Kishibe shares his given name with the Meiji-era writer Kōda Rohan, and Yoshihiro Kira echoes Kira Yoshinaka, the Edo-period noble at the center of the Forty-seven Ronin story.

Part 5: an Italian menu

Golden Wind moves the story to Italy, and the names follow. 26 of the 30 Part 5 characters have an Italian word in their name. Many of those words are things you would order in a restaurant.

The food squad

15 Part 5 characters are named after food or drink. The assassins of La Squadra are the clearest case: their leader is a rice dish, and his team includes ham, melon and cheese.

Every character whose name includes a food or drink, as listed by the JoJo Wiki.

Character	Food or drink in the name
Bruno Bucciarati	cuccidati, a Sicilian fig cookie
Narancia Ghirga	arancia, "orange"
Leone Abbacchio	abbacchio, "lamb"
Pannacotta Fugo	panna cotta, a dessert; fungo, "mushroom"
Risotto Nero	risotto, a rice dish
Prosciutto	prosciutto, cured ham
Melone	melone, "melon"
Formaggio	formaggio, "cheese"
Cioccolata	cioccolata, "chocolate"
Secco	Prosecco, a wine
Zucchero	zucchero, "sugar"
Sale	sale, "salt"
Carne	carne, "meat"
Vinegar Doppio	vinegar
Scolippi	scaloppine, a meat dish

Team Bucciarati is on the menu too. Narancia contains arancia (orange), Fugo is named after the dessert panna cotta, and Abbacchio is lamb. Bruno Bucciarati's surname is close to cuccidati, a Sicilian fig cookie.

Everyday Italian words

The other Italian names are plain vocabulary, often matched to the character. Diavolo means “devil” and his other self, Vinegar Doppio, is “double”. Squalo is “shark”, Ghiaccio, who uses an ice Stand, is “ice”, and Guido Mista is “mixed”.

Music still sneaks in

6 Part 5 names have a musical source as well. Giorno is partly a nod to Giorgio Moroder, Bucciarati to the Rolling Stones' Brown Sugar, and Zucchero shares his name with the Italian singer Zucchero. The Part's Stands, meanwhile, are all named after music, mostly bands such as Aerosmith, Sex Pistols and King Crimson.

Part 6: a fashion show in prison

Stone Ocean is set in a Florida prison, yet its cast reads like a fashion week guest list. 22 of its 25 characters are named after a designer or a label, the strongest theme outside music in any Part.

Part 6 characters named after fashion designers or labels.

Character	Designer or label
Ermes Costello	Hermès
Weather Report	Domenico Dolce, Emilio Pucci and Blufin (his real names)
Enrico Pucci	Enrico Coveri and Emilio Pucci
Narciso Anasui	Narciso Rodriguez and Anna Sui
Foo Fighters	Fendi's FF logo
Emporio Alnino	Emporio Armani
Jongalli A	John Galliano
Miu Miu	Miu Miu (Prada label)
Donatello Versus	Donatella Versace and Versus
Sports Maxx	Sportmax (Max Mara label)
Kenzou	Kenzo
Guccio	Guccio Gucci
Viviano Westwood	Vivienne Westwood
Gwess	Guess
Lang Rangler	Helmut Lang and Wrangler
Rikiel	Sonia Rykiel
Ungalo	Emanuel Ungaro
Thunder McQueen	Alexander McQueen
Miraschon	Mila Schön
D an G	Dolce & Gabbana
Atroe	Etro
Loccobarocco	Rocco Barocco

Names that mix two designers

Several names blend two sources into one. Narciso Anasui combines Narciso Rodriguez and Anna Sui, Enrico Pucci Enrico Coveri and Emilio Pucci, and Lang Rangler Helmut Lang and Wrangler jeans.

The music exceptions

Only 5 Part 6 names reference music. The biggest is the heroine herself: Jolyne Cujoh comes from Dolly Parton's Jolene. Weather Report and Foo Fighters are named after bands, though the wiki also ties both to fashion, through Weather Report's real name and the Fendi “FF” logo.

Part 7: song titles and old names

Steel Ball Run brings music back to the cast: 25 of 28 names, or 89%. But the kind of reference changes. Earlier Parts mostly borrowed artists' names. Part 7 borrows song titles: 17 of its characters reference a song or album, against 13 that reference an artist.

• Funny Valentine: My Funny Valentine.
• Hot Pants: James Brown's Hot Pants.
• Mrs. Robinson: Simon & Garfunkel's Mrs. Robinson.
• Oyecomova: Oye Como Va, best known through Santana.
• Pork Pie Hat Kid: Charles Mingus's Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.

A new universe, borrowing old names

Part 7 starts a new continuity, and 7 of its characters are named after characters from the first one. The wiki lists each of these links:

Part 7 characters whose wiki namesake is another JoJo character.

Steel Ball Run	Echoes
Johnny Joestar	Jonathan Joestar
Gyro Zeppeli	Caesar Zeppeli (his real name is Julius Caesar Zeppeli)
Diego Brando	Dio Brando
Lucy Steel	Erina Pendleton
Pocoloco	Poco (Part 1)
Urmd Avdol	Muhammad Avdol (Part 3)
Alternate Diego Brando	Diego Brando

Most of these names carry a second, musical source as well. Johnny is also Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode, and Lucy is also the Beatles' Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

Parts 8 and 9: cards, Sendai and The Smiths

JoJolion returns to a Japanese town, and music almost disappears from the names again: only 5 of 25. Three other themes take its place.

The Higashikata family is a deck of cards

Norisuke Higashikata IV's family is named after a deck of cards. His former wife Kaato is the card itself, his daughters Hato and Daiya are hearts and diamonds, his daughter-in-law Mitsuba is clubs and his grandson Tsurugi is spades.

Playing-card names in the Higashikata family, as listed by the JoJo Wiki.

Character	Card reference	Stand
Kaato Higashikata	card	Space Trucking
Daiya Higashikata	diamonds	California King Bed
Mitsuba Higashikata	clubs	Awaking III Leaves
Hato Higashikata	hearts	Walking Heart
Tsurugi Higashikata	spades (tsurugi, "sword")	Paper Moon King

The only two Stands in the whole roster with no listed namesake belong to this family, and both follow the card theme instead of a song. Hato (hearts) has Walking Heart, and Mitsuba, whose name sounds like the Japanese for “three leaves”, the clover of the clubs suit, has Awaking III Leaves.

A map of Sendai

Araki's birthplace, Sendai, supplies 5 Part 8 names: rivers, hills and a hot-spring town.

• Yasuho Hirose: the Hirose River in Sendai.
• Aisho Dainenjiyama: Dainenji-yama, a hill in Sendai.
• Yotsuyu Yagiyama: Yagiyama, a hill area in Sendai.
• Karera Sakunami: Sakunami Onsen, a hot-spring area in Sendai.
• Suzuyo Hirose: the Hirose River in Sendai.

Names that echo Part 4

Part 8 also recycles Part 4 names. Josuke Higashikata (Gappy) is another Josuke, Yasuho Hirose echoes Koichi Hirose, and Kei Nijimura is named after Keicho Nijimura.

Part 9 so far

The JOJOLands is still running, and only 6 of its characters are in our roster. They already mix the old habits. Charming Man is The Smiths' This Charming Man, Dragona Joestar is Spanish for “dragoness”, and Jodio Joestar combines JoJo and Dio.

How Stands are named

Character names drift between themes. Stand names hardly drift at all. 110 of the 145 Stands in our roster are named after music, and from Part 4 onward the share is 109 of 114.

Part 3: tarot cards and Egyptian gods

Part 3 is the exception. 21 of its Stands in our roster are tarot cards, from Jotaro's Star Platinum (The Star) to DIO's The World. Add Joseph's Hermit Purple (The Hermit) and the whole 22-card Major Arcana is there.

The second half of the journey brings DIO's Nine Glory Gods, whose Stands are named after Egyptian gods such as Anubis, Horus and Osiris. The only Part 3 Stand named after a band is Vanilla Ice's Cream, and the wiki points out the joke: Vanilla Ice plus Cream.

From band names to song titles

The type of music reference shifts over time, the same way the character names do. In Part 5, 20 of 25 Stands are named after bands or musicians. In Parts 7 to 9, 39 of 45 are named after songs or albums.

The few exceptions

• Dragon's Dream (Part 6, Kenzou): Dragon's Dream, Roger Dean's publishing company.
• Mandom (Part 7, Ringo Roadagain): Mandom, a Japanese grooming brand.
• The World (Part 7, Alternate Diego Brando): The World, the same tarot card as DIO's Stand.
• Awaking III Leaves (Part 8, Mitsuba Higashikata): no namesake listed.
• Walking Heart (Part 8, Hato Higashikata): no namesake listed.

Characters who share an artist with their Stand

For 19 characters, the name and the Stand point to the same artist. Sometimes the two are simply identical, as with Weather Report. More often the pairing is a hidden second joke.

Characters whose namesake and Stand namesake come from the same artist or band.

Character	Name source	Stand	Shared artist
Shigekiyo Yangu	Neil Young	Harvest	Neil Young
Stray Cat	Stray Cats	Stray Cat	Stray Cats
Bruno Bucciarati	Brown Sugar (The Rolling Stones)	Sticky Fingers	The Rolling Stones
Coco Jumbo	Coco Jamboo (Mr. President)	Mr. President	Mr. President
Weather Report	Weather Report	Weather Report	Weather Report
Foo Fighters	Foo Fighters	Foo Fighters	Foo Fighters
Lucy Steel	Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (The Beatles)	Ticket to Ride	The Beatles
Blackmore	Ritchie Blackmore	Catch the Rainbow	Rainbow (Ritchie Blackmore)
Axl Ro	Axl Rose	Civil War	Guns N' Roses
Oyecomova	Oye Como Va (Santana)	Boku no Rhythm wo Kiitekure	Santana
Benjamin Boomboom	André 3000; Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (OutKast)	Tomb of the Boom	OutKast
Andre Boomboom	André 3000; Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (OutKast)	Tomb of the Boom 2	OutKast
Sugar Mountain	Sugar Mountain (Neil Young)	Sugar Mountain	Neil Young
Pork Pie Hat Kid	Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Charles Mingus)	Wired	Jeff Beck
L.A. Boom Boom	L.A. Reid (producer); Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (OutKast)	Tomb of the Boom 3	OutKast
Urban Guerrilla	Urban Guerrilla (Hawkwind)	Brain Storm	Hawkwind
Damo Tamaki	Damo Suzuki (Can)	Vitamin C	Can
A. Phex Brothers	Aphex Twin	Schott Key No.1 & No.2	Aphex Twin
Charming Man	This Charming Man (The Smiths)	Bigmouth Strikes Again	The Smiths

A few of these are easy to miss. Bucciarati's surname nods to Brown Sugar, the opening track of the Rolling Stones album that gives his Stand, Sticky Fingers, its name. Blackmore is named after the guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and his Stand, Catch the Rainbow, is a song by Blackmore's band Rainbow.

Pork Pie Hat Kid is the deepest cut. His name comes from Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, and his Stand, Wired, is the Jeff Beck album that includes a cover of that tune.

The most referenced artists

Across names and Stands, the wiki credits 155 different artists. Most appear once. These 14 appear three times or more:

OutKast tops the list because of one Steel Ball Run family. Benjamin Boomboom and his sons Andre and L.A. take their names from OutKast, their three Stands are all Tomb of the Boom, and Pocoloco's Stand, Hey Ya!, is an OutKast song too. The Beatles and Led Zeppelin are spread across the whole series instead.

Why the English names are different

If you read the official English manga or watch the English release of the anime, many of these names look different. The JoJo Wiki records the official English name next to the Japanese one, and the pattern is clear: names taken from real bands and brands are often changed.

Renamed characters

English names as recorded on the JoJo Wiki.

Character	Named after	Official English name
Vanilla Ice	Vanilla Ice, the rapper	Cool Ice
Oingo and Boingo	Oingo Boingo, the band	Zenyatta and Mondatta
Midler	Bette Midler	Rose
Steely Dan	Steely Dan, the band	Dan of Steel
Captain Tennille	Captain & Tennille	Captain Teneil / Captain Dragon
Tonio Trussardi	Nicola Trussardi	Tonio Trendy
Miu Miu	Miu Miu, the Prada label	Mew Mew
Enrico Pucci	Emilio Pucci	Pucchi
Blackmore	Ritchie Blackmore	Darkmore
Sugar Mountain	Neil Young's song	Snow Mountain
Pork Pie Hat Kid	Goodbye Pork Pie Hat	Bamboo Hat Kid

Renamed Stands

Three ways the joke survives

• Synonyms: Killer Queen becomes Deadly Queen, Whitesnake becomes Pale Snake and Purple Haze becomes Purple Smoke.
• Sound-alikes: Miu Miu becomes Mew Mew and Blackmore becomes Darkmore.
• A different reference: Oingo and Boingo become Zenyatta and Mondatta, from the Police album Zenyatta Mondatta, which the wiki also lists as a source. Midler becomes Rose, after her song The Rose.

If you are looking up a character you met in the English anime, our character directory uses the Japanese names and lists common English names as aliases, so either spelling will find them.

Frequently asked questions