#temporaryturtleheadcanons

[temporaryturtlebrainrot]

My fun little headcanons regarding names in TMNT (everything about turtles refers to a situation in which they were pro-mutated/turned human) (all headcanons apply to my works/AUs):

all of Aprils across multiverse have different flowers as middle names; '07 is April Rose, '12 is April Iris, Rise is April Lily, Bay is April Daisy and Mutant Mayhem is April Poppy (others I'm not sure of because I'm not very familiar with them, but I was thinking Dahlia for '03) (obv I'm not really with MM either for now but 1. it was my brother's suggestion and 2. honestly, the vibes are there, I think)

Casey Junior's full name is actually Cassandra as well, because Cass senior would not care for gender norms, especially in the apocalypse. They haven't been going by Cassandra since she died though. (before they both found it hilarious to confuse people with their names and nicknames).

speaking of, his middle name is Raphael (I headcanon that Raph died very shortly before CJ was born)

generally, most Casey's aren't very fond of their middle names, for various reasons; Junior - because it feeld like an expectation of greatness (not that it didn't achieve it, but still), '07 Casey - because the name is old-fashioned and pretentious (Ferdinand), Bay Casey because the turtles clown him for it (John; "boring, basic, straight, white church boy"), '12 Casey because it's too masc for his genderfluid ass and the turtles clown them for it (Nicholas; "saint Nick/Santa Claus") and Ex-Foot Recruit is the exception because she is Trans of Gender™ and chose the name herself (Anne)

even excluding the two Cassandras, not every Casey is actually Casey - some of theirs full names are Cassius (*cough '07 cough*)

if they were to be legally recognized, you'd think most of the turtles would wear the surname Hamato or Splinterson, depending on their Splinter's origin, and you'd be right. but, there are exceptions; Bay turtles use O'Neil, per April's suggestion, due to their pre-mutation history with her family; Rise gang were debating between Hamato and Jitsu, ended up hyphenating and using both; the ones that met Batman had to come up with an excuse for suddenly knowing the Waynes, so after a long and complicated discussion they settled on being Jason's (who at that point was legally un-dead and is a natural ginger (because I have them humanized as gingers, also I'm a ginger!Jason truther)) cousins adopted out and discovered through ancestry or some shit like that, and given that that would mean they had a choice in surnames, everyone ended up with something slightly different: Leo kept to being just Leonardo Hamato, as he was the closest with Splinter, Raph went Raphael Todd just to be annoying, Donnie decided on Donatello Todd-Hamato because they always wanted a hyphenated last name and assuming Todd was their "original" surname, it should go first, and then Mikey choose to be Michelangelo Hamato-Todd, just to finish out the options.

Rise turtles think of their colors as middle name, but because they aren't actual names, they figured they could find something similar in pronunciation, spelling or meaning and thus ended up with: Raph - Reed, Leo - Bloom, Donnie - Violet and Mikey - Orane.

in a multiverse/crossover scenario, Aprils use their middle names, Caseys go long ways to avoid using middle names (they are all thankful for Junior bc that's one less nickname they have to come up with). Donnies collectively refuse to use their full name, which isn't really a problem because there's a lot of nicknames that can come from Donatello, especially if the only person that cares about the designated gender of the name is the transfem; Mikeys also avoid their full name, but unlike Donnies - who do it on principle of Donatello being an artist and not a scientist - they just don't want to make the effort of saying the whole thing. again, not an issue since there's a lot of ways to shorten Michelangelo. unlike those two groups, the Raphs realised the need for full name almost immediately after meeting, because there isn't that much to do with Raphael, and they had to resort to non related nicknames in some cases, and finally, the Leos - also known as the Biggest Trans Conglomeration™, mostly don't care what they're called, as long as it's the right gender, but they don't necessarily struggle with coming up with nicknames - at least not as much as Raphs and Caseys.

on this note, might as well give out the decided on nicknames like it's candy on halloween lmao

2007: Cass, Rose, Leonardo, Raphael, Don, Mike

2012: Case, Iris, Lea, Raph, Dee, Michael

Bayverse: Casey, Daisy, Leo, Rafa, Danni, Mikey

Rise: Cassie, Lily, Nardo, Red, Tello, Angel, Junior

Batverse: Leon, Ra, Donnie, Angelo

that's it, I don't really know why I wrote it all out, goodnight 💚