Donkey was chosen because Miyamoto wanted a name that meant stubborn and looked it up in a dictionary.

Pac-Man was originally called Puck Man but was changed to Pac-Man when it came to the U.S. due to Puck rhyming with a particular swear word.

Mega Man is actually called Rockman and which is why all his companions have music reference names. Protoman's Japanese name for instance is Blues which if you know your music history, was the genre of music that inspired Rock n Roll.

Seven is the fan-nickname for the seventh party member in Xenoblade that joins you who happens to be a surprise.

Terra and Fang from the FF series both started out as males before getting a gender change.