You know MMM, I am thinking that the reluctance to accept that a name may just be a name in Japanese is because kanji have meanings. And we both know how strange beliefs can be about the deep "mystical" meanings of those.
Usually, the only people who think about the meaning of a name are parents. Just like in other places, they buy baby name books and look up names. And then if they find a name they like - just like elsewhere - they may change the way it`s written/spelled to be more "unique". Or they may just think up a cool sounding name and use it (applying kanji that will make the right sound).
Really, if you have to look your name up to figure out what it means, or do some research into it... The name doesn`t have a
real life meaning. It`s just a name. This is the same in Japan.
Asking what the names of certain anime characters mean is really along the same lines as looking up the names of characters on a US sitcom to see what they mean. Imagine someone doing that then going on and on about how perfect the meaning was for the character or how cool it was for the character to have a name meaning such-and-such like is common with anime names.
It sounds a bit silly when put into those terms, doesn`t it?