Character names often carry extra meanings used to describe a characters personality or other traits. For example, the name Ataru Moroboshi refers to being hit by a star, a reference to the aliens and other people who gather around him. The name Shinobu suggests a patient character; however, this in contrast to the character's actual personality. In a similar way, the setting for the series is "Tomobiki", which means "friend taking". Tomobiki is also the name of a superstitious day in the old Japanese calendar system considered to have "no winners or losers" and occurred on every sixth day. Funerals rarely took place on this day as it was believed more deaths would soon follow. Lum was named after Agnes Lum, a bikini model during the 1970s. Lum's use of the English word "Darling" in reference to Ataru was to emphasize her status as a foreigner, as well as a play on the name Darrin, the husband figure from "Bewitched".