Firefly family name etymology:
Itβs no secret their names are chosen from stories, a coverup of sorts, but the family does have real names as well, at least for the most part, with the exception of Otis. Thatβs because he chose his own name, giving it at least some significance still.
Weβll start with him, since heβs the oldest of the Firefly children. The name Otis means βleisure.β Heβs a man who doesnβt feel threatened by much. Even when shit starts to hit the fan in the second two films, he remains joking, cocky, and proud. Leisure is in his relaxed bones, even when heβs furious and scolding and violent. Even in the way he stands, with his shoulders sagged and his crotch forward, is a leisurely poster.
The second child is RJ. Full name Rufus Junior. More complicated because of its simplicity, the meaning of his name is βreddened.β While thereβs no personality connections there, it can possibly offer insight on his killings. Blood is red and the Firefly family home is deeply soaked in blood. Itβs assumed theyβve been killing for the entirety of the childrenβs lives, though thatβs somewhat unclear. However if Rufus got his hands βreddenedβ when he was young (accounting for the secondary meaning of junior) then it does imply that the family allows their small children to kill as well. A minor detail, but considering the shared insight on the whole family, shows RJ being dedicated to them first and foremost.
Next is Baby. Of course this, along with Angel Baby, are her nicknames. Her true name is Vera Ellen. Together, the double name has the meanings βtrueβ and βbrilliant.β She was her parents pride and joy and was named βtruly brilliantβ after the way she shined to them. However I see it as a signal that she isnβt just a pretty, happy face too. She's also as intelligent as others in the family, despite her mental health and delusions. Thus it serves as a warning not to underestimate her. Sheβs every bit as cunning as her brothers, in on all the plans, with twice the protection because sheβs her Mama and Daddyβs little star.
As for the Firefly parents themselves, thereβs Mama. Her real name is Gloria, which means βhonor.β Befitting of the common matriarch in the family, everything they do is to her liking. Even Otis comes down to supper and brings Wolf because he knows that would make her happy. After her death, they raise hell and fight to survive and honor her. They made a promise to her, and to the other family they lost, to not go down without a fight. All those bullets they took was to honor her. Her name represents the symbol she presents to the rest of her family.
Except Earl, who we donβt see her interact with. Because of what he did heβs been exiled from the Firefly family, but itβs worth noting that his name can mean βlion.β It would seem the man had a bad temperament to do what he did, and likely without much warning. He pounced and struck and Tiny was hurt, so Earl was no longer part of the family. In that sense, it reflects his nature as a dangerous animal, a monster to them.
His replacement as consistent patriarch and father to Baby is Spaulding. While his nicknames include Captain Spaulding and Cutter, his government name is Johnny Lee Johns. Combining the meanings of Johnny βgraced by godβ and Lee βpoet,β heβs symbolically been gifted his ability to wax poetic and monologue. Spaulding spends his very last moments of life ranting and monologuing in that disturbing and cruel way the Firefly family does. To us, it doesnβt seem like poetry, but his wisdom to the family is important. His poeticism isnβt his word choice, itβs the way he can use words to crush a victimβs spirit, or to scare and unsettle them right into the arms of his waiting family members down the road to be hunted.
The final member of the family, at least in order of introduction, is Foxy. Heβs Otisβ half-brother, so he has his own surname that he doesnβt share with anybody else. His name obviously is not a Marx character like the rest of the familyβs nicknames as well. Foxy is just the shorthand of his middle name, Foxworth, full name Winslow Foxworth Coltrane. Winslow means βgraveβ or βburial.β His rescue of his brother, and thus his entrance into the story, is necessary because of death. Cutter is dead, Mama is dead, RJ and Tiny are dead, and Otis and Baby likely arenβt long behind. Foxy is a figure of the family, who is only essential in the loss of life, so his name is significant in marking him with that death. Foxworth can mean βhomesteadβ which only adds to the tragic meaning there. His family is dead, his home gone and burnt to the ground, and he wasnβt there to see it or defend them too. The death of all those family members and the loss of his home is the reason for his determination to save his remaining two siblings, and be included in the family. Baby and Otis donβt consider him part of that fight, but heβs just as wounded by it. Coltrane is symbolic of βwild energy.β The result of the above trauma for him is his manic attitude. Even as calm and flat affected as he can seem, he turns cruel and sadistic when push comes to shove. All of the Firefly family can fit into that trope, of completely unhinged assholes, but Foxy wears the specific name that says itβs a part of him. Showing that he is a memeber of the family regardless of his prison stint that had him separated from the rest.
Firefly, of course, is a name chosen from characters and likely not their legal name, but itβs the one they use. The little insect fireflies symbolize βhope.β The family reminds each other to be hopeful, because they see themselves as untouchable. Nobody can stop them, it seems at least, and Baby has to be reminded of that when sheβs in Mexico grieving her Mama and Daddy. The love they have and the hope they share exists despite their evil and destructive nature, showing that they are a family unit deep down. Afterall, the point of these three films was to show what happens when the killers have support and love and family behind them for once, and how less likely their victims are in such a case to survive.
