The Mystery of Spopovich and Yamuu's names.

I solved the mystery of Spopovich's name earlier this year. It's obviously a pun on Popovich, alternatively spelled Popović, Popovytch, and Popovitch. In katakana, it's spelled as ポポビッチ (Popobitchi). Spopovich's name in katakana is スポポビッチ (Supopobitchi). We can see for ourselves that Spopovich was designed as a European man. I'm surprised so many people didn't realize this was the inspration for Spopovich's name.

As for Yamuu, it's not clear, but these are probably the only candidates as to what his name is based on. The katakana for his name is ヤムー (Yamū):

1. 病む (yamu): "To be ill", "to be sick", "to be suffering", or "to have something wrong with you, him, her, them, etc" in Japanese. Both Spopovich and Yamuu sort of look physically ill in the manga, as they completely lack hair (even eyebrows). They also have grayish skin in the anime and colored manga, although they were never colored in the original manga. The excessive veins don't look healthy, either. 病む (yamu) can also be used for mental illness and they were obviously mentally ill as they were brainwashed slaves. 病む (yamu) can also be used for suffering in general as sickness and suffering go together; obviously Spopovich and Yamuu were suffering due to Bobbidi's spell, both physically (excessive muscle and veins showing that they were physically strained) and mentally (a state of perpetual anger). I think this is most likely to be it.
2. 悩む (nayamu): "To be worried" or "to be troubled" in Japanese. Although Yamuu was levelheaded compared to Spopovich, they both looked like very stressed people at first glance and obviously they were dealing with mental strain as Bobbidi's slaves. 悩む (nayamu) can also be synonymous with 病む (yamu); both terms can be used for sickness/suffering and worry. I would say this is the second most likely option.
3. 止む (yamu): "To stop" or "to halt" in Japanese. The very first thing Yamuu does in the story is stop Spopovich from continuing to torture Veedel, so I thought this might be it, but 止む (yamu) is used for something stopping on its own, mainly for stuff like rain and snow, not someone stopping somebody else. It's probably a reach to say this is it.
4. ヤム (Yamu): The vegetable yam in katakana. A lot of people assumed this was it, but Yamuu isn't a Saiyan, so I highly doubt it.
5. むやむや (muyamuya): Japanese onomatopeia for muttering or sleeptalking. I don't think is it lol
6. むやむや (muyamuya): Japanese onomatoepia for being very jealous about something. Although we never saw Yamuu literally express jealously for him to have been a slave of Bobbidi means he was probably dealing with negative feelings like jealousy when he got taken over. I guess this might be it, but we don't know anything about his background, so this seems too speculative.
7. 任 (Yam/Yum): Cantonese surname. In Mandarin, it's Ren, but in Cantonese, it's Yam or Yum. Since Spopovich is clearly a pun on a European surname, maybe Yamuu's name is a pun on this? But I dunno. "Popovich" is the only thing Spopovich's name could possibly be a pun on, whereas there are multiple possibilities for "Yamuu". You can tell from his design that Spopovich is based on European bodybuilders, so his name makes sense, but why would Yamuu's name be based on a Cantonese surname? I mean, I guess he looks like he does kung fu, but his outfit is so generic; he's just shirtless in black harem pants.
8. Yum Woon Sen: Thai dish. "Yum Woo" is approximated as ヤムウ (yamuu), which looks similar to ヤムー (Yamū). But nothing about Yamuu comes off as Thai-inspired, so I doubt this is it.
9. Tom yum: Another Thai dish. I don't think this is it lol

Some people also think Yamuu is a pun on 闇 (yami), meaning "dark" or "darkness", but I doubt that. Yeah, I don't think we'll ever know for sure what Yamuu means lol. There's a chance his name may not even be inspired by anything at all; there's nothing that makes me think "aha!" like there is with Spopovich. I personally think it's just a pun on 病む (yamu) and/or 悩む (nayamu).

For a long time I've assumed spopovich was Croat/Serb/Bosniak. They have a lot of tall guys. (edit: and have the same ich/ić name ending)

Where do you look for research? You speak Chinese?

I just look up Japanese fansites and dictionary websites. Basically, google the katakana, type a question in Japanese using Google Translate, rearrange the katakana into something that I think will get me hits, convert the katakana into hiragana, etc and make sure to select "Translate Page" lol

I also read a theory on one that says Spopovich and Yamuu were inspired by Ginkaku and Kinkaku from Journey to the West. The way they suck up Gohan's energy with a container is supposedly similar to how Ginkaku and Kinkaku would suck up their enemies into a container. Seems like a reach lol if the only similarity (and a vague one at that) is they suck something into a container.

Do you know any Japanese? That sounds rough...the translations are awful (probably why Japan has t-shirts and signage with English like "make future so round", "only the person who ordered a buffet is eaten" (lmao) https://blog.gaijinpot.com/these-to...-signs-in-japan-have-us-scratching-our-heads/

Forgot to say with spopovich the same ending is from those groups (it's not only that he's tall lol) eg Marina Abramovic, Mirko Filopovic, Ibrahimovic.

There's Kinkaku in Naruto (googled it) and he holds a gourd like Spopovich. What are the Chinese name of those characters? This is the Chinese Wikipedia page https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hans/金角大王和银角大王
Badly translated:"The servant is responsible for guarding the alchemy furnace and hiding to the lower realm after stealing too old monarchy treasures" - Babidi was underground (lower realm). It could be they were inspired by those characters, since they've appeared in other anime too, meaning they're prominent enough that mangaka think about them. AT could've known he wants characters to steal energy and decided to pay homage to those JttW characters.

My understanding of Japanese is surface level, but stuff like Google Translate and DeepL usually give a general understanding of the text. Sometimes you have to break up the text and translate in bits and pieces so the result is more legible. And of course, you have to rely on your own common sense.

Ginkaku in Chinese is Yíngé. Kinkaku is Jīngé.

Oh, Spopovich may also be a pun on "Raspopovich", which is approximated in katakana as ラスポポビッチ (Rasupopobitchi). Compare that to スポポビッチ (Supopobitchi). But Spopovich is probably just a pun on Popovich, which is a more common surname than Raspopovich.

Some more interesting info I've found.

In the manga, there's an unseen character with a similar name to Spopovich. His name is Gerinovich and he's a philosopher mentioned by Gohan's teacher in chapter 424. In katakana, his name is ゲリノビッチ (Gerinobitchi). His name is clearly a pun on 下痢 (geri), which means "diarrhea". Obviously, Toriyama combined the Japanese term for diarrhea with the Slavic suffix "vich" to make his name sound European. His name was localized as "Diarrheus" by Viz.

Japanese:


Z Quality Scans translation:


Viz:


(the correct translation is, "... and so, the philosopher Gerinovich had a very interesting statement ...")

We even get to see what he looks like in the videogame Dragon Ball Online. It's a statue of him reading a book while sitting on the toilet:

Chapter 424 came out on June 1, 1993. Spopovich debuted in chapter 438, which came out a few months later on September 14, 1993. So, it's clear that Toriyama had European surnames on his mind in 1993. Gerinovich is a pun on European surnames that end with "vich" and Spopovich is a pun on "Popovich" and/or "Raspopovich".