Hey guys, I have a serious question that's been bothering me for quite some time now: Why is Squidward named SQUIDward, when he's clearly an octopus, not a squid?
For the same reason why TMNT are called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles even thought they clearly Tortoises and not Turtles The author(s) clearly don't know the difference
Some words, in some countries, aren't divided to species. In mine, you can use the equivalent of frog to both name a frog or a turtle, though, you can add the attribute and differentiate between then.
Although his name contains the word "squid," Squidward has been confirmed to be an octopus in many interviews and episodes. The series' animators believed that giving him eight tentacles would have made him look burdened and would be too difficult to animate, which is why he is normally depicted with six limbs. Notable exceptions are the live-action sequence in "Pressure" and briefly in "Sold!," in which he is seen with eight legs. A squid has ten limbs, unlike Squidward. obtained from: https://spongebob.fandom.com/wiki/Squidward_Tentacles
Because instead of a racial indicator his name could have been more that of a profession. His parents had hoped he would ward off squids to help protect the family and their holdings.
The maker just do not want to make another japanese pornostar for hentai and no i do not want to see a rule 34 here.
Hmm, perhaps he is a hybrid. Either his mother or his father was a squid...or maybe he's a robot spy.
It's because the creator wanted to avoid the octopus hentai meme so that they named him squidward instead of octoward