Couldn't say. I'm guessing he gets to write the book on that one anyhoo.

Here we go:

Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway got the name Anfernee because his mom couldn't say Anthony and the doctor wrote down Anfernee when he asked Anfernee's mother her baby's name. His mother had to work long hours so he was raised by his grandmother until high school.

My grandmother gave me the nickname. It was "Pretty" though. She called me Pretty, as in pretty baby. My friends with her southern drawl thought she was saying "Penny". I accepted Penny over Pretty. Right now the nickname has been big for me because I had the Little Penny doll and that's why I wear the No. 1, for one cent.

The diminutive is how I've always thought of it (I don't know why eitehr. But if you can go from Henry to Hank, why not?). I'm interpreting the page to imply that "Buffy" is a name in its own right, not just a diminutive.

Well, as a Hebrew dabbler, I'm fairly certain that Buffy doesn't mean anything close to either G*d or promise in that language. I believe Elizabeth comes from the Hebrew name, Elisheva, which translates into Eli(G*d)-Sheva(Oath).

Sigh. The internet has led me astray again.

And then set me right.

Hmm.

Wow, Mr. Hardaway's got a family full of mumblers, that's for sure. Anthony became Anfernee and Pretty became Penny.

I'm now imagining a little Charles Schultz version of Penny hearing his folks talk in the Peanuts teacher's voice.

Personally, Joss' idea for bringing Tara back gave me shivers when I heard it. Then again, I am a complete and utter sap.

I think one of the differences between Buffy and Tara would be that Buffy sacrificed herself. As far as she was concerned, she was done. She'd been fighting the forces of darkness since the age of 15 and she was finally at peace. She was not only forcibly ripped away from that, but she woke up buried alive which just compounded the trauma. (Especially since if we go back to Nightmares in season 1, the Master does this to her, which puts it high on her list of fears considering the concept of the episode.)

Tara was killed by a stray bullet shortly after reconciling with her love. There's some unfinished business there. And I'd imagine Buffy would take pains to make sure Tara's arrival in the world of the living would be a little nicer than hers was.

Also, Buffy could easily have added an "if she is willing" clause to her wish.

As for why Tara and not Joyce or a life with Angel, by season 7 Buffy has come to grips with the loss of her mother. While she would love to her have her back, she's no longer hurting from the loss. Secondly, from a completely tactical perspective, facing off against the First Evil, Tara is more useful than Joyce. Tara not only can help them magically, but she could also help Willow with her confidence, which was still pretty shot magic-wise until the very end of the season.

As for a life with Angel, cookie-dough speech aside, Angel also has his own life right now. Wishing him away from that would be unfair.

As for wishes going wrong in the Buffyverse, our only evidence is has been those granted by Vengeance Demons, who are not the nicest of people by nature and have a good degree of leeway when granting a wish (see Anya turning the cheating boyfriend French when his disgruntled ex wished that he turn into a frog.) I'd imagine this wish would have been more stringless, or at least not actively vindictive.

Secondly, from a completely tactical perspective, facing off against the First Evil, Tara is more useful than Joyce. Tara not only can help them magically, but she could also help Willow with her confidence, which was still pretty shot magic-wise until the very end of the season.

Well, and then Kennedy could have turned to the dark side, and we could have watched Buffy kill her, or maybe Willow could have just made her mute. t /issues

Or Faith could have stabbed her to death before making some quip about the difference between an actual tough rebel slayer and an really annoying brat.

Well, didn't Joss say we ended up with Kennedy because Tara wasn't coming back?

I think the character could have worked with another actress. Wouldn't have minded watching the character we ended up with die painfully, though.