Like most things in Naruto (susanoo, izanagi etc...) they are based/inspired by the japanese and chinese mythologies.
The sanins are based on the tale "Jiraiya the gallant"
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So like in the other cases Son Goku is based on the Chinese character "The monkey king - Sun Wukong" (Sun Wukong is called "Son Goku" in japanese) in the tale "Journey to the West"
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But while this is true, it's also true that DBZ is one of Kishimotos great inspirations - and his alltime favorite mangas. And that combined with his mythology themed characters/jutsus might very well have been the reson for him choosing the name/color scheme
