name

Given Name:
竜 (tatsu) - dragon
貴 (ki) - noble; valuable
Family Name:
有 (ari) - have, own; exist
沢 (sawa) - marsh; grace, brilliance

Both 'Arisawa' and 'Tatsuki' are fairly common Japanese names, although there are different ways to write them in kanji. According to Tatsuki's profile in Volume 3, because she doesn't think the kanji for her given name are cute, she writes it in hiragana instead: たつき. When someone says her name, it is printed in hiragana as well. I think the characters for her name are a good choice; they reflect her loyalty and dedication.

There is a running pun in Volume 5 using Tatsuki and Orihime's names. Chapters 41, 42, and 43 are all titled "Princess & Dragon". The 'dragon' refers to the 'tatsu' in Tatsuki's name, while the 'princess' refers to the 'hime', meaning "princess", in Orihime's name. So, Tatsuki is the dragon that protects Princess Orihime. Tatsu are actually a type of Japanese dragon, according to Karl Shuker's Dragons: A Natural History, that are "intimately associated with the sea".

On a side note, the same 'dragon' character used in Tatsuki's name is used for Ishida's given name as well. The difference is that in his name it is read as 'ryuu', Uryuu (雨竜).

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