Evil Endymion and a crystal
Each of the names of the Senshi mean something literally in Japanese.  Actually, most Japanese names are like that.  And each of their names have something to do with their planet and the element they control.  Below is a chart on the name meanings and how to pronounce the names.
Note: the names are written the correct Japanese way: family name first and then given name.  So when it's written "Kino Makoto," that means that Makoto is the given name and Kino is the family name.  Also, the character "no" is translated as of, but it's not used the way it is in English.  For example (using Jupiter's name again), Ki means wood, no means of, and makoto means faithfulness.  But it doesn't mean wood of faithfulness, it means faithfulness of wood (confused yet?).  It's used more like the apostrophe s in English ('s).  And for the pronounciation, the R sound is pronounced sorta like an L.  Just so you know that...



 
 
 
 

Name Meaning Pronounciation Other Stuff
Tsukino Usagi tsuki = moon, no = of, usagi = rabbit 
so Tsukino Usagi means rabbit on the moon		 SKEE-no ooh-SA-gee (the u in Tsukino is silent) There's a Japanese legend about the rabbit on the moon who sits on the moon pounding mochi.  That's also Luna's password for the arcade game
Mizuno Ami mizu = water, no = of, a = center, mi = beautiful 
so Mizuno Ami means beautiful center of water, but ami means friend in French, so it can also be friend of water.		 MEE-zoo-no AH-mee Another way to say mizu is sui, and the planet Mercury is called Suisei in Japanese (water star)
Hino Rei hi = fire, no = of, rei = spirit 
so Hino Rei means spirit of fire		 HEE-no ray Another way to say hi is ka, and the planet Mars is called Kasei in Japanese (fire star)
Kino Makoto ki = wood, no = of, makoto = faithfulness or wisdom 
so Kino Makoto means faith or wisdom of wood		 KEE-no mah-KOH-toh The other way to say ki is moku, and the planet Jupiter is called Mokusei (wood star) in Japanese
Aino Minako ai = love, no = of, mi = beautiful, na = little, ko = child 
so Aino Minako means beautiful little child of love		 EYE-no MEE-NA-koh The planet Venus is called Kinsei (gold star) in Japanese.  Minako's name doesn't follow the pattern that everyone else's does because she was created for the Sailor V manga before the others were.
Tsukino Chibiusa tsuki = moon, no = of, chibi = small, usa = bunny 
so Tsukino Chibiusa means little bunny of the moon		 SKEE-no chee-bee-oo-sah Her full name is actually Usagi Small Lady Serenity, Chibiusa is just something everyone calls her.
Meioh Setsuna mei = dark, oh = king, setsuna = moment 
so Meioh Setsuna means dark moment king		 MEH-oh SETS-na (the u in Setsuna is silent) In Japanese the planet Pluto is called Meiousei (dark king star), which refers to Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld
Kaioh Michiru kai = ocean, oh = king, michiru = mature 
so Kaioh Michiru means mature ocean king		 KEYE-oh mee-chee-roo Kaiousei (ocean king star) is the Japanese name for the planet Neptune, which refers to Neptune, the Roman god of the sea.
Tenoh Haruka ten = sky, oh = king, haruka = distant 
so Tenoh Haruka means distant sky king		 teh-noh ha-LOO-kah The Japanese name for the planet Uranus is Tenousei (sky king star), which refers to Uranus, the Roman god of the sky, I think.
Tomoe Hotaru to = soil, moe = sprouting, hotaru = firefly 
so Tomoe Hotaru means firefly sprouting from the soil		 TO-MO-eh HOH-TAH-roo Another way to say to (the first kanji of Tomoe) is do, and the planet Saturn is called Dosei in Japanese (soil star).
Chiba Mamoru chiba = earth, mamoru = protector 
so Chiba Mamoru means earth protector		 chee-ba ma-moh-roo
Taiki Kou kou = light, taiki = atmosphere 
so Taiki Kou means atmosphere light		 koh TAI-kee Just thought I'd mention that yes, the Three Lights all do have the same first name (Kou).  They just have different last names, which is what everyone calls them by.
Seiya Kou kou = light, sei = star, ya = field or arrow, so Seiya Kou means star field light or star arrow light koh SEH-yah
Yaten Kou kou = light, ya = night, ten = sky, so Yaten Kou means night sky light koh yah-ten

dub names
Obviously the names that DiC, Cloverway, and Mixx gave the senshi don't have literal translations.  But they do have some symbolism...

Dub name Mixx Name Original name Meaning/connection to the original name
Serena still Serena, but everyone calls her Bunny Tsukino Usagi short for Serenity, I guess.  Bunny is the literal translation of Usagi
Amy Anderson same Mizuno Ami Amy means friend, so does Ami...but they're not pronounced the same
Raye Hino same Hino Rei pronounced the same, just spelled differently and luckily DiC kept the name Hino
Lita Lita Kino Kino Makoto a twist on Leda, one of the moons of Jupiter
Mina same Aino Minako Mina is short for Minako, they even call her Mina-chan sometimes in the original.  Also the name Mina means love in German.
Darien Darien Shields Chiba Mamoru Darien means king, I guess that refers to him being King of Earth.  His last name Shields is in Mixx only, but since shields are used to protect people, I guess that's what it means, he being earth's protector
Rini Rini Tsukino Chibiusa seeing that Reeny is Serena's daughter, I assume Reeny is short for Serena
Corinn (doll box only), Amara Tenoh Alex Haruka Tenou Haruka apparently the translators have a sense of humor, because Corinn means "maiden."  As for the Mixx name...ICKY!  What's the point in messing with her name like that?  Amara seems like a pretty random name, dunno where they got that from.
Nerissa (doll box), Michelle Kaioh Michiru Kaiou Michiru Nerissa means "of the sea," and it loosely sounds like Nereid, a sea nymph in mythology (also like Narcissus, which is what Michiru is like).  Michelle, I'm not sure if it means anything, guess they were just going for something that sounded the same.
Celia (doll box), Trista Meioh Setsuna Meiou Setsuna Celia I think means something like "from the stars".  Trista sounds like the Spanish word for "sad" (triste), which would make sense...I guess...
Hotaru Tomo Hotaru (except I heard that a couple times they call her Jenny) Tomoe Hotaru Wow, they gave her the same name... wonder what's up with that.  Except they pronounce it wrong and I guess they've decided to drop the "e" at the end of Tomoe.  Oh yeah, and Jenny is about the stupidest name for Hotaru I've ever heard, but at least they don't call her that all the time.

Villain names
Usually the villains are named after gemstones, but not always (Alan and Ann, for example).  So here are the origins of the villain names:

Name DiC name meaning/origin
Queen Beryl same as original beryl is a real gemstone, there's also an element called beryllium
Jadeite Jedite jadeite is a type of jade
Nephrite Neflyte um..nephrite is a mineral.
Zoicite Zoycite zoicite is also a type of mineral
Kunzite Malachite  kunzite is a mineral, it was named after a person so that's why DiC had to change it
Earl and Ann Alan and Ann in Japanese Earl is pronounced like ail, so if you say their names really fast it sounds like alien...see?
Rubeus same as original ruby (I suppose that explains the weird hair then...)
Cooan Catzy (because of her hairstyle and claws) kermesite (it would be called cooan in Japanese)
Beruche Bertie berthierite
Calaveras Avery calaverite
Petz Prisma petzite
Esmeraude Emerald emerald :p
Sapphir Sapphire sapphire *g*
Demando Diamond diamond (obviously)
Souichi Tomoe Souichi Tomo dunno, I guess it's just a name
Kaolinite Kaori Night (or Knight) (pronounced kay-oh-ree) kaolinite is the name of a mineral
Eudial Eugial eudialyte
Mimete Mimete mimetite
Tellu Telulu tellurite, there's also an element called tellurium
Viluy villiaumite
Cyprine sapphirine (?)
Puchirol puchirite
Zirconia same zirconia is a real mineral
Hawk's Eye, Fish Eye, Tiger's Eye Hawk-Eye, Tiger-Eye, and Fish-Eye *nitpicknitpick* fish eye is a mineral, and hawk eye and tiger eye are the names of minerals
CereCere same named after Ceres, an asteroid and a Greek goddess
PallaPalla same named for Pallas, an asteroid and a goddess, Pallas Athena
JunJun same named for Juno, an asteroid and also a goddess, just I don't know which one.
VesVes same named after Vesta, an asteroid and the goddess of the hearth
Nephrenia Neherenia nephrite, I assume (I'm not sure how exactly to spell her name)
IronMouse iron
AluminumSiren aluminum, and a siren is a mermaid who sings
LeadCrow lead
TinNyanko tin, and nyanko is Japanese for cat
 Note: I didn't list the villains that I didn't know what their name origins are (Wiseman, Black Lady, Souichi, Mistress 9, and Galaxia).  The rest of these that I did list I got from the Sailormoon FAQ.  And if there's nothing in the DiC name column, that means that DiC hasn't gotten to these villains yet (and I don't want them to either)
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