Why is fruits basket named fruits basket?

Answer 1

Because in the past when Tohru Honda was little, they played a game called Fruits Basket.

In the game, children would sit in a circle, with one less chair than there are players. The child not sitting in a chair is "it" and stands in the middle of the circle. He names everyone by a fruit. When a fruit is called, those of that name would get up and run around and the last person to find a seat is now "it".

Her classmates always told Tohru she was a riceball (Onigiri) and never called on her (since riceballs don't belong in a fruits basket), so she was left out. Tohru never realised she was being bullied by her classmates - she didn't mind though, since she thought riceballs were delicious.

Even when she met the Sohmas, Tohru was still the riceball in the fruits basket because the Sohmas shared a part in their curse and Tohru was only an outsider. It was only when the curse finally broke and she became friends with all the Sohmas that she felt like they finally called the riceball and she was no longer left out.