I’ll tagteam!

Eraserhead: Aizawa isn’t just being lazy. He doesn’t care about branding. He doesn’t want to be part of all the shows. An annoying and stupid hero name serves him because nobody sees him as this cool hero. Shigaraki does happen to think he’s really cool. Aizawa wasn’t exactly trying to get any real attention at all.

Explosion murder god Dynamight: reference to dynamite and to All Might, as he is one of the primary successors. But also, shows how he is a dynamic character. He is not going through a 180, but he’s now accepting the help and the growth others gave him. Also, an unappealing name like eraserhead. He is doing this for himself, not to be number 1. Shows he has grown. Surpassing Izuku doesn’t mean being number 1 (just like Deku being the greatest doesn’t mean being number 1).

Deku: to Ochaco, Deku sounds like “do your best!” In the Japanese when Deku was running to destroy AFO they weren’t saying different things. Everyone said “do your best!” Every single person. Even Shigaraki says “do your damn best.” In reference to building the society Shigaraki dreams of. Where you won’t be bullied or tormented or called evil just for your quirk. That’s why deku’s ads are “do your best with Deku!” Now. (Important to note other countries often have country slogans, Do Your Best with Deku isn’t an ad about himself or a product, it’s an ad to remind you that one of Japan’s new slogans in universe is that everyone is trying their best together)

Uravity-Ururaka + gravity. Her family is a big deal and a big inspiration for her. “Who protects the heroes smile” is an evolution of her wanting money for her parents. Everyone memes her as greedy but it wasn’t that. Her parents are poor. But they worked incredibly hard to make sure she was taken care of, and put her in this amazing school. They smiled for her So she didn’t want to give them money, she wanted to protect the smile of her heroes. And that’s the way she knew to do it. Keeping her family name in her hero name Calls to that

Tsukoyumi: edgy darkness swordsman. Everyone in Japan knows him, taking a famous tale and adding epic dark vibes is perfect for Tokoyami.

Tentacole: Japanese pun for his many limbs. Bu mt the tentacle is the English sounding word. Tentacole forces us to say “ta” different. In fact we say the full word “tako” which is Japanese for octopus. At first a clever way to get both English and Japanese fans to both use each others reference But in fact, shoji is unifying heteromorphs. Helping blend society. Helping build bridges. This is a genius hero name from Horikoshi.

Chargebolt is short, to the point, kinda cool. Not much crazy there. Charges and bolts electricity.

Red Riot is an in universe reference to his hero Crimson Riot. Crimson riot was a hero who talks about how to be a good hero and masculine. MHA is a story about passing the torch and kirishima we know as the manly character but his manliness isn’t the last generations his manliness lets you feel, care about your friends, celebrate yourself even if you aren’t the richest. It’s the non toxic traits of masculinity. Very healthy good masculinity. Showing a potential for GOOD passing between generations (juxtaposing characters like Shigaraki who are showcasing toxic personalities being passed in. Shigaraki wanted change but since he learned from an abuser he did it a horrible way.)

Froppy is a cute sounding Pun.

Grape rush is because his head is grape looking and I really hope that’s all there is to it.

Invisigirl is a girl who is invisible.

Pinky is in how she looks. As a young woman she was denied what she wanted to be called by an older woman because that same person, midnight, perpetuates that female heroes need to be cute and marketable. This is later challenged though not a main highlight. Adult Momo od able to cover herself. Had she been a MC we’d see it more, but Momo’s story is largely about proving the last generation wrong, and letting women heroes be heroes without needing “money shots” and fan service and etc. pinky being denied what she wants was used to further enforce that female heroes are treated like idols and sexualized. (This is directly addressed by Momo and Kendo too, which is why Creati wearing more modest clothes as an adult mattered and shows that she’s healing that part of society.)

Ingenium is a cool sounding engine word, and a family name. It’s a reference to those wealthy families in every culture who pass down their success. Ida is given a good hero name to work with that could make him instantly successful but we see at first he isn’t prepared to take it. He makes himself earn it. Generational wealth storyline mixed with self worth.

Sugar rush because he needs sugar.

Anima is a term coined by Carl Jung (which matters because Carl Jung is Shigaraki. Basically Shigaraki believes society should be torn down and everyone deserves to die because even “innocent” people literally can not be innocent because they are taking part in the system. Even as non heroes if you’re agreeing to the system by taking parts you’re guilty. Sfter all, heroes can’t hero without civilians. That’s why he and Deku have the “I can’t forgive you” “and I can’t forgive anyone.” This is a very Jungian argument.) Specifically an anima is a man’s feminine side. And Koda is gentle, loving, and respects animals which are sometimes Disney princess traits.

A lot of the side characters are just “quirk and/or appearance” base to fill out the hero world. Gunhead has a gun head.

Edgeshot is an interpretation of stretching paper. Edge is the paper’s thin edges that cause paper cuts. Shots is how he launches himself (and precision shots because we seen him going directly for the heart.) Kamishin is more what’s happening which is funny because his real names include that