Lakitu's Japanese name, 'Jugemu' (ジュゲム); or 'Jugem' as it was romanized in later games of the series, comes from a rakugo folk tale. In the tale, a couple could not think of a suitable name for their newborn baby boy and so the father went to a temple and asked the chief priest to think of a name. The priest suggested several names, but they couldn't decide on one, so they decided to mix all of those names into one, the final result being:

Jugemu-jugemu Gokonosurikire Kaijarisuigyo-no Suigyomatsu Unraimatsu Furaimatsu Kunerutokoroni-sumutokoro Yaburakojino-burakoji Paipopaipo-paiponoshuringan Shuringanno-gurindai Gurindaino-ponpokopino-ponpokonano Chokyumeino-chosuke