Об именах и их владельцахOkay, since it seems like activity here has died down a bit I thought I may as well attempt to be useful - however all I have to offer is some trivia.
Even so, it seems that there are a few people curious about the characters' names, and chapter 26 provided a useful hint for one in particular, so I thought I might as well explain them as best I can. (I think it has been brought up previously, but we have more characters to work with now.)
For best results it may be necessary to have your computer able to display Japanese fonts correctly, just in case.
Spoilers ahead up to the most recently scanlated chapter, and possibly minor ones for events after that. You have been warned.
First of all, we have the setting to think about - Thanatos is a fairly obvious choice of name for an assassins' guild, as he is the Greek personification of death. Yggdrasil is equally obvious - it's the tree of life in Norse mythology, and is also an ash tree (this will coome up later)
The world that all of this takes place in (at least I asssume it's the whole world and not just the island thingy shown on the map in chapter 4-5 or so?) is called Midgard, which in Norse myths is the name given to the world of humans. Asgard, likewise, is the capital city belonging to the Norse gods and is surrounded by an "incomplete wall" (I'm working with Wikipedia for this, bear with me here). On the one hand it's kinda fitting given that it will be granted to whoever manages to be Number 1 for a long enough time (in other words, they become a god) but then none of it really seems to match with Tekirai's idea of building a new realm, so we'll just have to wait and see (Toneriko thought it was somewhere you would go to have your wishes granted, which is more in line with the myth.)
Anyway, now for the bits you're really interested in :P
Ageha (アゲハ: Comes from ageha-chou, or swallowtail butterfly. Considering the flower names a lot of the Numbers have, this has...interesting...implications (or squicky ones, take your pick) In Japan, swallowtail butterflies are quite common. I couldn't find any symbolism for that particular kind of butterfly, but in general butterflies are symbols of death and rebirth, or reincarnation.
No.1, Tekirai (テキライ: I had absolutely no idea if there was any meaning to his name until chapter 26, when we get a hint: the kanji 摘雷, which mean to cut/trim/pluck/sever/etc. can be read as "tekirai" (more specifically, the first character is "teki" and the second "rai")...Mizuto mishears this, of course ("Eh? Tekirai-san?") Given everyone else's names this is definitely not a coincidence...(or is it?) It's certainly very fitting, anyway.
No.2, Kuchinashi (クチナシ: "Gardenia". In Japanese flower symbology (hanakotoba), they symbolise secret love. We've only seen him(?) in one chapter, so I have no idea if this has anything to do with his(??) character.
No. 3, Aralag/Araragi (蘭: Means "orchid". I can't find any meaning for it in Japanese culture, so if anyone knows feel free to tell me OTL The first romanisation is Osuwari Team's, while the second is the one given on Wikipedia.
Edelweiss (エデルバイス: In hanakotoba edelweiss stands for courage/power. Given that she seems so devoted to Aralag...
No. 4, Sakura (サクラ: We should all know this one :P In hanakotoba cherry blossoms symbolise kindness/gentleness. Sakura's name is possibly written in kana because it was a name given to him by Ageha (from the previous No.4, whom he killed)
No.5, Toneriko Furoribanda/Floribunda? (フロリバンダ トネリコ: "Floribunda" is a type of rose, bred to provide abundant flower growth. The meaning of this depends on the colour - white roses symbolise innocence, silence or devotion, red roses symbolise love or being in love, yellow roses are a symbol of jealousy and pink roses symbolise trust. In the Victorian language of flowers, we get even more to choose from, which I'll just link here... OTL
The interesting bit, however, is that "toneriko" (also written 秦皮 means "ash tree", whhich as mentioned above is the same type of tree as Yggdrasil is said to have been. Hmm. This is probably not a coincidence. Foreshadowing, perhaps? I'd like to hear any theories :P
No.6, Zakuro (柘榴: "Zakuro" means "pomegranate". In Greek mythology pomegranate seeds are used by Hades to trick Persephone into comsuming food (since seeds are food?) and thus dooming her to imprisonment in the Underworld. They feature in many other myths and have elaborate flowers, which is fitting for Zakuro's personality.
No.9, Anzu (杏: Means "apricot". It's a fairly common girls' name. I can't find any symbolism attached to it, unfortunately...
Tamamushi (玉虫: "Jewel beetle". Since she's got the job of cleaning up after the assassins, it makes sense...
Edit: ffff forgot Mizuto. I have no idea how I managed that, he's adorable.
Mizuto (水都: Literally, "water capital". I suppose with the Mizuto=angel thing then at a stretch it could be because flowers=garden=needs water but idk. I also don't really know what "Mikuria" could be.
I won't be doing the members of "mitsubachi" (Akagane etc.) because we only have the names of three of them so far and at least one makes no sense whatsoever as a name (or I just fail. :P) mitsubachi itself means "honey bee", which seems a little odd for a group that's trying to kill the Numbers (who have flower names...)
So, if anyone's got any theories/corrections, post them! XD Please forgive me if I overlooked anything, I'm typing this last bit in a rush.
I have no idea what to tag this as. OTL