Aeris/Aerith

[Ryushikaze]

i remember in the gamepro (i think) walkthrough alot of the screenshots had characters calling her aerith. i guess they had an early version of the game or something.

Or they renamed her to Aerith.

Actually, a good number of the english release of the game have her name as Aerith as well.

Yeah, and Sephiroth was misspelled as well. It was meant to be Thephiroth. :p

Your sarcasm aside, Sephypoo helps the "Aerith" cause. In Japanese, Sephirosu. In English/Romanized, Sephiroth. In Japanese, Aerisu. In English/ Romanized, Aerith.

Aerith is officially her name, and all the recently released products back that up.

I understand the recent release of the products have her name spelled as aerith. But is her name pronounced like that, making it sound like a lisp?

Yes. But it doesn't sound like a lisp. You only THINK it sounds like a lisp because you got used to pronouncing her name with an S.

Because in english you can't have her name spelled like that and pronounce it with an "S". And it's "earisu" in the japanese

Yes. And Sephiroth is Sephirosu in Japanese. Meanwhile, even her original Japanese character sheet has her name, in English, as Aerith.

EDIT: Some things i found

"Aeris" is a really roundabout variation on the English word "Earth", referring to her role as the last of "the ancients", a race that's in touch with the spirit of the planet. In Japanese characters, her name is written "Earisu", and when they brought it back to English, they swapped the "A" and the "E". Also note that in Japanese, the character "su" can stand for a trailing "th" (like "Sumisu", for "Smith"), or for a trailing "s" (like "Kurisu" for "Chris"). So that's how we go from "Earth" to "Earsiu" to "Aeris".

Because of the s/th ambiguity of "su", some marketing materials turned her name into "Aerith", which she's also called in her cameo in the game "Kingdom Hearts".
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Which, wouldn't you know it, supports what I'm saying. Smisu is a mispronunciation of Smith. Same with Aeris and Aerith.
And no, she was "Aerith" before they brought her over. Blame the Japanese on that one, not the localisers.

Aeris (Aerith) Gainsborough (Gast)
The Latin word "aeris" translates into "air; atmosphere; cloud; aether".

-"Air" and "atmosphere": this seems to be an allusion to Aeris’ connection to nature and her importance to the planet. Without air and an atmosphere, there would be no life. C.f. her first Limit Break, the "Healing Wind".

And interesting notion, but background materials confirm that "Earth" is the source of her name.

~The translation "cloud" implies that there is some kind of mystical connection between Aeris and Cloud Strife; like Cait Sith says, they are "made for each other".

This, meanwhile, is laughable C/A nonsense. Cait Sith's predictions are untrustworthy, and in the same prediction he says that they're perfect for each other, he also says they'll have a long life together. Guess how wrong that one turned out to be.

~"Aerith" is an anagram of "I Earth"

True, but irrelevant.

~The word Aeris is pronounced similarly to "heiress", which aptly illustrates Aeris’ role as the last Cetra and the rightful heir to the planet.

Wow. That's just silly. How does one confused a long e or a short i (depending) with a short e?
And, as said, Aerith. TH.