What do the names really mean?

[SamwiseGamgee]

I'm not entirely sure if I'm answering your question here, but it's a thought I've often had and this seems as good a place as any.
The name Samwise in itself is surely no mistake. We all know how famous Dickens was for pouring over his names, for example the Dedlocks in Bleak House were engaged in a long and destructive Chancery case which was going nowhere- hence Dedlock. There are many others, but this isn't Dickens.com! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] Anyway: Samwise. Sam is, of course, a working man's hero- that's fair to say. He is not- when looked at in the same light as Gandalf, Elrond and Celeborn, for example- wise. At least in the classic sense. However, Sam is nonetheless a very wise figure. He, for example, has the wisdom to not try to keep The Ring at Cirith Ungol- contrary to what the film may suggest- because he knows Frodo has been appointed Ringbearer, and while he lives it is his task, not Sam's.
Sam's resilience to the evil sway of magic could perhaps- though tenuously, I admit it- be linked to some kind of wisdom, an inner strength. Sam is the only hobbit not overcome in the Old Forest, and he gives The Ring back to Frodo, as I mentioned above, with it having apparently no effect on him.
To conclude, then, I'm agreeing with you that Tolkien's names have meaning, though perhaps not just in their direct translation from the tongues of Middle Earth.