The Name of the Game: How the West Was Named in Red Dead Redemption 2
Spoiler Alert: At time of writing, the author had completed half of Red Dead Redemption 2’s primary story. While this article does not explore plot points of the game in depth it could contain some spoilers based on descriptions of characters, items, and locations in the game.
Naming in video games is important — because characters’ names and environments aren’t passively presented, you actively control characters and spend dozens of hours in their worlds. Effective character and environment naming helps gamers emotionally reinvest in the experience time and time again — and that is particularly important when the game at hand has 60 unique hours of story gameplay.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is the product of the nimble fingers and screen-soaked eyes of some 3,000 developers, and made more than a billion dollars in its first week. When you spend nearly a decade making a game you want to make sure the naming is dialed in. It’s fair to say that all of the names in the game function at the most cursory glance — they’re roughly period correct and don’t break the fourth wall — but once you dive into the names with any depth, you are rewarded, mightily.
In RDR2, the naming goes beyond any budgetary requisite or “fanfolk” expectation. Just like watershed works of fiction in literature or film (from To Kill a Mockingbird to The Usual Suspects), the game developers use great care in naming the characters, the surroundings, and various items that your character uses throughout your adventure. RDR2’s developer, Rockstar Games has a long history of clever (and sometimes outlandish) naming that parodies real-world figures, products, and cities. In RDR2, they set their sights on postbellum America and created a game that uses beautiful, flexible, and thoughtful naming to tell a captivating tale.
Characters
Let’s start by meeting the characters in play. RDR2 follows a group of outlaws who vacillate between committing vicious crimes, and opining on their desire to simply be free and live a self-sustaining frontier lifestyle without the expansion of industrialized America hemming them in. In the case of the characters’ names the elements that shine brightest are their memorability and the way they support the characters specific, unique traits. If you take even a quick look into their etymologies or think about them in context you’re rewarded with meaningful and clever character development.
The leader of the gang is Dutch Van der Linde who is the source of the primary action and story-driven crime missions of the game. It’s referenced that Dutch is, well, half Dutch — his father was from Holland — and Van der Linde translates to “from the lime tree.” His name could be a metaphor for the fact that he’s the source of the most lucrative crimes committed in the game and the gang’s general pursuit to save riches and move to some “paradise in the West,” Australia, or Tahiti.
Hosea Matthews is Dutch’s closest friend and right-hand man for more than twenty years. Hosea’s first name fits naturally as a reference to the biblical Prophet Hosea who was the “prophet of doom.” Hosea, much like that prophet, often warns about the bad situation that any given criminal scenario presents, but tends to help solve major problems — similar to the Prophet Hosea’s prevailing promise of “restoration” underneath his message of destruction. Some members of the gang have names that are more playful and indicative of a particular style that fans have come to expect from Rockstar.
- The cook for their traveling camp is named Pearson. He takes great pride in his short time as a cook in the Union Navy — his time in the galley amounts for most of his dialogue throughout the game. Etymologically “Pearson” comes from “Piers son,” this is a nice way to support his main narrative and call out a bond with the Navy.
- Karen Jones is the gang’s “consummate scam artist…who can drink pretty much anybody under the table.” Her behavior around the camp is evidence of her love for the drink — you can find her drinking (and defensive about it) most days and nights. It’s only logical that her name is a homophone for “caring for a jones,” playing off of the American slang for an addiction or intense craving.
- Reverend Swanson is perpetually on his last legs. He is a former clergyman who is now lost to various forms debauchery and sometimes complicates criminal affairs for the gang. We’re told that Rev. Swanson once saved Dutch’s life, which is the only reason Dutch and the gang tolerate his poor behavior and let him stay around. I posit his name is a play on “swan song” as it seems like he’s perpetually on his last act.
Tilly Jackson’s first name is a strong reflection of her personality and story. Tilly is short for Matilda which comes to us by way of Old French Mathilde and Old German in which maht+hild roughly translates to “mighty battle.” Tilly has a lot of fight in her—she is outspoken, resilient, and dependable, and your gang isn’t even the first group of outlaws she has run with.
Another strong woman in the outfit is Sadie Adler. Sadie’s first name is possibly a reference to Wyatt Earp’s wife, Josephine “Sadie” Earp. Adler comes from Middle High German with edel+Aar meaning “noble eagle” and used to distinguish eagles from other hunting birds such as falcons and hawks. This moniker suits Adler’s traits and motivations, which are a cut more noble than some of the other outlaws — her primary goal is to avenge her husband’s death, and in that pursuit she’s afraid of nothing and no one.
Arthur Morgan needs no introduction to players of the game. He is, after all, the protagonist who you control throughout the adventures. The closest explanation for the etymology of Arthur is probably Old Welsh in which arth meant “bear” and ur meant “man.” Arthur is certainly a beast of a man with a gruff voice, a durable constitution, and a mighty temper if provoked. Of course, the most famous Arthur in literary history, King Arthur, lends a quick, memorable connection as well — this Arthur is our hero, and many times he is asked to draw his six-shooter from his holster, the Reconstruction era equivalent of pulling a sword from a stone. Interestingly, Morgan also comes from Welsh with mawr+cant meaning “great circle” or when referencing a powerful Welsh family in the 1300s “great kingdom.” I like to think of Arthur being the strong, reliable character that helps gang stay strong together and build their kingdom.
The RDR2 world is populated with more than a 1,000 speaking characters including these real world analogs or amalgams…
Marko Dragic: he is a rambunctious analog for Nikola Tesla. They both emigrated to the US in the late 1800s, are of slavic origin, and experimented with electricity — Dragic’s laboratory even closely resembles Tesla’s Wardenclyffe Tower. Dragic is derived from the slavic term for “precious,” which electricity definitely was in the time that the game is set, and Marko is derived from Marcus for which Mars, the Roman god of war is the root. Marko’s first name is a dose of nominative determinism because throughout the missions you complete with him there are many references made to using electricity to wage war.
Braithwaites and Grays: these feuding families are fictional versions of the Hatfields and McCoys. The Braithwaites’ name comes from the Old Norse words for a “broad clearing” which could make reference to the Braithwaite Manor, their massive mansion and former slave plantation. The Grays are likely named for the nickname for the Confederate army in the Civil War — it’s implied that the Grays owned slaves for the production of tobacco and cotton.
Dorothea Wicklow: she is an outspoken activist of the women’s suffrage movement in the game and her surname could be a period-appropriate phrasing for a number of modern feminist movements, as in “the wick is getting low on the candle and it’s time for women to have the vote.” Further, her first name comes from Ancient Greek for “gift of god,” which could be a suggestion that the right to vote ought to be God-given and inalienable.
Weapons and Resources
Of course, to survive a western adventure game you’re going to need a few weapons. There is much debate about which particular makes and models of these guns are used in the game. I’ve done an immense amount of research and found enough design or contextual clues to make me eagle-eye confident of my assertions.
The Buck Cattleman Revolver from RDR2 is almost certainly the Colt Single Action Army Revolver. Rockstar often plays with syllable matching for its naming (for example the Lannahechee appears to be a purely syllable-based, playful name for the fictionalized Mississippi River) and Colt to Buck is perfectly in step with that premise. The description of the Buck Cattleman Revolver also matches some important details of the its equivalent Colt Revolver. Both were amongst the most prevalent firearms in the American West (fictional or not) and both were in existence at the time that the game is set, circa 1899. As one of the first guns you find in the game—and one that is ubiquitous from then on out—the Buck Cattleman Revolver is a good, frontiersman rebranding of the Colt.
The Hutton & Baird Volcanic Pistol is a design and name dead ringer for the Smith & Wesson Volcanic Pistol — in fact, one of Smith & Wesson’s companies was once dubbed the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company. Hutton is Old English for “farm on a hill” and Baird is a city in Texas that was named after Matthew Baird, a director of the Texas and Pacific Railway and sole proprietor of the largest locomotive firm in the United States in the late 1800s. The Hutton & Baird brand directly references two important pieces of the game and the frontier west: the frontierspeople and their agricultural lifestyle, and the ever-expanding network of railroads that were the forefront of urban, technological expansion at that time.
The Lancaster Springfield Rifle’s name makes only a slight modification from the real world Springfield Model 1865. The game developers deliver a historical punch with the inclusion of Lancaster as an arms manufacturer with this weapon. The House of Lancaster was a dynasty of English kings who made up one of the opposing factions involved in the 15th century Wars of the Roses — a series of English civil wars for control of the throne of England. Since Rockstar’s cofounder, vice president of creativity, and head writer for all games Dan Houser is an Oxford-educated Brit, it’s reasonable that he draws a name from the UK’s historical civil war to name the fictional weapon that would have seen the most use in the American Civil War.
Using a bit of playful rhyme the Peeters & Janssens Sawed-Off Shotgun (real life: Remington Model 1889) takes its name from the famed arms designer John Pedersen. He worked for Remington Arms and later the United States government, and was regarded as “the greatest gun designer in the world” by his peers. Even though Pedersen’s designs would not be used until after the timeline of this game, it makes sense to have a brand that honors such a prolific figure in firearms.
Finally, the Litchfield Arms Company Repeater is the fictional counterpart to the Winchester Model 1873 Rifle. The real life Winchester was the most recognizable rifle of America’s frontier period, was Winchester’s first centerfire weapon, and was .44 caliber — all these details are identical for the fictional Litchfield. The Litchfield’s etymology comes from Old English and packs a poetic punch. In pre-Roman Britain the root of Litchfield, Letoceton, meant “grey wood,” but by the Old English period it had evolved to a phrase that meant “open country” or “an area cleared in a wood.” This name presents a weathered, gray image of the frontier and how the people using this weapon would move from place to place making their home in the wilderness.
Guns aside, there are other resources in RDR2 that help Arthur throughout the game including…
Edna McSweeney Brand Canned Corned Beef: seems to be an equivalent for the real-life Libby, McNeill & Libby Corned Beef brand. Edna McSweeney’s first and last names come from the Hebrew root for “pleasure or delight” and Old Gaelic for “easy-going or pleasant” — that definitely sums up corned beef for this Irishman.
LeBlanc Crackers: naming crackers “LeBlanc,” French for “the white,” gave the game developers a chance to playfully purvey “white crackers” in this Southern postbellum story.
Schmitz Baked Beans: is a syllable and logo play on the American staple Heinz Oven-Baked Beans, which were launched right around the turn of the century when the game is set.
Locations
When it comes to naming the environment in which the activities of RDR2 take place, the writers wove a veritable American patchwork quilt of real U.S. towns, etymological metaphors, and historical references.
One of the early places you visit is the town of Valentine. The town is nestled in The Heartlands (the real world American Great Plains) and functions mostly as a location for livestock auctions that attract ranchers, cowboys, and outlaws alike. Interestingly, the town seems to be based off of Valentine, Nebraska a town with a similar history, culture of railroad expansion, and surrounding geography, including The Grizzlies (read: the Rocky Mountains). Rockstar has used some other real world names exactly as they are in games recently, including Blackwater, Missouri and Armadillo, Texas in Red Dead Redemption 1. These names ground the narrative of the games and show that some, if not many, of their plot points have occurred in American history.
The southern town of Rhodes is straddled by tobacco growers and moonshiners, and seems to be a nomenclature analog for Athens, Georgia. Tobacco and cotton were the major crops of Georgia between the American Revolution and the Civil War, and moonshine has been made in Georgia since the late 18th century. Arthur first encounters moonshiners around Rhodes and can even lend a hand to their efforts. Near Rhodes, is also where Arthur might encounter members of the Ku Klux Klan, which aligns with the fact that in the early 1870s the klan joined forces with moonshiners to combat the IRS and its “revenuers.”
Saint Denis is the modern, cultural crown jewel of the game and is a clear portrayal of Reconstruction-era New Orleans, Louisiana. Saint Denis was actually referred to as “New Bordeaux” in a game map that leaked while the game was being developed — this naming style would have mirrored Liberty City (New York City) and Los Santos (Los Angeles) in other Rockstar games. Saint Denis’ name corresponds to its real world counterpart’s French language relationship. The real New Orleans or, La Nouvelle-Orléans, was founded in 1718 and was named for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans. Saint Denis is named for the Christian saint and third century bishop of Paris who was martyred for his faith by decapitation. Christian lore holds that Bishop Denis, having been decapitated by a Roman governor, picked up his head and walked several miles while preaching a sermon on repentance—out of his own decapitated head! This is just the kind of morbidly thought-provoking story that Rockstar would use to name such an iconic and important city.
The aforementioned towns and city are situated in territories that appear to be named for real world American states. Ambarino is Portuguese for “amber” or “brownish yellow color” and Spanish for “amber colored” — its name and geography make it a perfect fit for Colorado, which was named for the “red, ruddy color” of the clay-colored dirt beneath its rivers and streams. New Hanover is an amalgamation of German-American histories that tend toward the history of Ohio. Hanover being a large city in northern Germany, it makes sense to honor the midwest with a “new” German name. A large group of the German diaspora indeed settled in the Midwest during Westward Expansion and specifically most of them lived there during the Civil War. Et fin, Lemoyne is the game’s analog for the state of Louisiana and is a great historical reference. While Louisiana was named to honor King Louis XIV of France, Lemoyne makes reference to the first French settler to build a permanent fort in that region: Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, a French military officer from Canada. This name does a great job of honoring the spirit of the game and the major action of your adventures to explore uninhabited frontiers — not just the king sitting at home in his cushy castle.
A True Masterpiece
All of these names work to create powerful stories, memorable experiences, and playful moments of joy when we discover the deeper meaning of a name or forge a stronger relationship with the characters on the screen. Memorable and meaningful character names create ease, phonetically similar names to real life give us our bearings, and a little bit of research gives deeper meaning to almost every proper name in the game. Video games like Red Dead Redemption 2 are rich and enriching adventures that can entertain, inspire, and maybe even educate.
“The Name of the Game” is a serialized, first-person look at the world of video game naming by Liam Humble of A Hundred Monkeys. You can read more of his thinking on video game mascot naming or video game franchise naming architecture on Medium.
