Embarrassing First Name: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Zeta Gundam]]'' has a male lead named Kamille, who naturally hates his feminine-sounding name. He eventually falls in love with a girl named Four, who has similar issues with her name (in her case, because it signifies that [[You Are Number Six|she is a number rather than an individual]]). It becomes hilarious when you realize there never would have been a [[Zeta Gundam]] if he hadn't been named Kamille, and the AEUG probably would have lost or at the very least have a longer and bloodier war.

* ''[[Ranma ½]]'' actually uses this as a plot point for one character: one Chinese village has a tradition that the person who gives a newborn baby its first bath must be the one to name it. Unfortunately, this gave [[Panty Thief|panty stealing]] pervert Happosai the chance to name a baby, and since he loves women's garments so much he thought that the ''perfect'' name for a little boy would be Pantyhose Taro. Pantyhose Taro '''hates''' his name, and is on a constant quest to force Happosai to give him a new one, since Happosai is the only one who can change it. Unfortunately, his own choice of replacement first names [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|aren't much better]].

** For the curious, the other names Pantyhose Taro could have ended up with (Happosai begins trying to list some alternatives in Pantyhose Taro's first story before he finally decides that he just can't think of a better name then "Pantyhose Taro"), include, between the anime and the manga, "Loincloth Shiro", "Underwear Saburo", "Cockroach Goro", "Bellywrap Shishiro", and "Heartburn Rokuro". Bear in mind that the two things Happosai did was bathe him in the Jusenkyo Springs and name him, and he finds the ''name'' more offensive than the [[Involuntary Transformation]] bit (then again, he's well aware it's a [[Cursed with Awesome]] situation - he turns into a ''winged minotaur'').

* In ''[[Narutaru]]'', Shiina Tamai writes her first name in katakana (phonetic characters) because she hates the kanji used for it, which is read as "empty husk" or "a seed that shall never sprout". It actually becomes a critical plot point near the end of the manga.

* The male lead of ''[[Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan]]'' is named [[Cherry Blossoms|Sakura]]. Poor guy.

* ''[[Durarara!!]]'' has a running gag of people making fun of Mikado Ryugamine's extremely pretentious name (lit. "The Emperor of Dragon Peak").

* Juliet Nao Zhang of ''[[Mai-Otome]]'' strongly dislikes her first name, and everyone except Shiho (who strongly dislikes her) and some of her gang members call her "Nao".

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* Jughead and Jellybean Jones (from the Archie Comics) are named Forsythe and Forsythia respectively. In one story, Jughead goes out of his way to keep Jellybean's name from being revealed to the public via billboard, and both characters have had stories where people who try to call them by their real names ended up with misfortune.

** Oddly, in Jughead's case, his distaste for his name is partly because any girl who hears it thinks it's suave and romantic and starts chasing him.

* In the ''[[Tintin]]'' comics, the first name of Captain Haddock is only mentioned once (in the last finished album, no less). The Captain gets momentary amnesia after getting hit in the head, and when told by Tintin that his first name is Archibald he snarks and says that the name is ridiculous. Which might explain why nobody ever calls him by his first name otherwise.

** Then again, ''no one'' gets called by their first name in the series, except Tintin, who doesn't seem to have any other name.

* In ''Death: The Time of Your Life'', Foxglove's "minder" is Boris, who partly fits the trope of a [[Scary Black Man]]. Unfortunately, there are some things you can't hide from Death, so when in the course of a conversation she adresses him by his real name, Endymion, he hastens to point out to everyone present that he really prefers to be called Boris.

* [[Quasar (comics)|Quasar]]'s first name is Wendell, and whilst he doesn't exactly hate it, he was apparently called Elvis (his middle name) in college.

 

== [[Fan Works]] ==

* In ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' canon, Sasaki's given name is unknown, so when Fujiwara asked her what it was in ''[[You Got Haruhi Rolled]]'', the writer decided to give her the name of...[[The Legend of Zelda|Zelda]]. She's so embarrassed about this that even her ''mother'' is on a [[Last-Name Basis]] with her.

* In the ''[[Disgaea]]'' fic known as ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6984913/1/Disgaea_Jewel_of_the_gods Disgaea: Jewel of the gods]'', chapter 7 reveals that Epic's real name is Leslie.

 

== [[Film]] ==

*** Mr. Krupp is a [[Hypno Fool]]. He doesn't know he's a superhero and vice versa.

* In ''[[Little Women]]'', Laurie's actual first name is Theodore. That's not bad in itself, but considering that his friends used to call him "Dora", it's not surprising that he went with a variation of his last name, Lawrence.

* ''[[Harry Potter]]'''s Nymphadora Tonks, "who prefers to be known by her surname only" ("So would you if your fool of a mother had called you 'Nymphadora'"). While her mother Andromeda presumably uses this first name, and her father calls her "Dora," everyone else uses Tonks.

** When asked during an online interview why Tonks doesn't just use her middle name, [[Word of God|J.K. Rowling said]], "Her middle name is [[wikipedia:Vulpecula|Vulpecula]]. Its not all that better than Nymphadora, is it?"

** [[Discworld|Moist von Lipwig]]. He's learned to live with it, though.

** And his other half, Adora Belle Dearheart.

{{quote|'''Windle Poons''': Don't tell me, "Two Dogs Fighting"?

'''One Man Bucket''': Two Dogs Fighting? He'd have given his right arm to be called Two Dogs ''[[Getting Crap Past the Radar|Fighting]]''. }}

* The ''[[1632]]'' series features three kids whose parents were hippies, and thus are all named after Tolkien characters (Faramir, Gwaihir and Elrond); their father later sobers up a bit and gives them the pseudonyms of Frank, Gerry and Ron so they don't get beaten up at school.

* ''[[The War Against the Chtorr]]''. [[Colonel Badass]] Elizabeth Tirelli is always referred to by her nickname Lizard (a pun on 'Liz'), even by her boyfriend.

* In ''[[Keys to the Kingdom]]'', the main character's best friends in his new school are called 'Leaf' and 'Branch'. Branch goes by 'Ed' instead.

 

* ''[[iCarly]]'': "Fredward" Benson. No wonder he goes by "Freddie".

* Bill McNeal from ''[[News Radio]]'' was actually Evelyn William McNeal.

** Late in the show's run, Vera reveals that Norm's first name is Hillary.

** Carla's boyfriend Eddie's real name is Guy. (This is a common French-language name, where it's pronounced guh-eee and not guh-eye, but is uncommon in English.)

** In one episode, Dan Fielding reveals that his real name is Reinhold (the creator of the show was Reinhold Weege.) Also, Fielding is actually his middle name; his real last name is Elmore.

** When Mac and Quon Li's daughter is born, she wants to name her after the storybook horse Flicka. They make it her middle name after Renee.

* In ''NCIS'', Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', [[Meaningful Name|Dorothy Gale]] McShane prefers going by 'Ace,' possibly because she doesn't think an [[Action Girl]] should be called Dorothy.

* William Andrew Phillip Bodie, in ''[[The Professionals]]'' only ever went by the name "Bodie".

* In ''[[Mr Beldevere]]'', the title character's first name is {{spoiler|Lyn}}.

* The 'Boy named Sue' from the song of the same name (written by [[Shel Silverstein]] and [[Covered Up]] by [[Johnny Cash]]). Of course, it's stated to have just made him into a badass, by making him get mad and fight everyone who called him that. And trying to kill his dad for naming him that.

{{quote|'''"Sue":''' And if I ever have a son, I'm goinna name him... Bill! Or George! Anything but "Sue"! I still hate that name!}}

 

== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==

'''Frazz:''' Because my first name is Edwin. }}

 

* In ''[[Guys and Dolls]]'', Sky Masterson's real first name is Obadiah.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* On ''[[Kids Next Door]]'', the episode "Operation: SLUMBER" revealed that Numbuh 86's real name was Fanny. Cue butt jokes.

** The jokes would have been considerably worse if she'd lived [[British English|in the UK]]... which, judging fom her Scottish accent, she probably has.

*** Another double whammy here. [[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers|"Ahh! After 10,000 years, I'm free! It's time to wreck the States!"]]

** [[wikipedia:Hurricane Roxanne|Roxanne]]

** [[wikipedia:Hurricane Wilma|Wilma]]

*** Yet another double whammy. [[The Flintstones|Espesically if they get together with a Fred]].

* Phuc (pronounced "fook" with the oo as in food) is a fairly common Vietnamese name that causes pronunciation problems in English speaking countries. {{spoiler|For those who can't figure it out, an unknowing English speaking person might say fuck.}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20140221123533/http://talk.onevietnam.org/hello-my-name-is-phuc-a-bich-or-a-ho/ This article] talks about people with names such as Phuc, Bich or Ho trying to "whitewash" their name.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170806210025/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7522952.stm As mentioned here], a 9-year old New Zealand girl was made a ward of court so that she could change her hated name, "Talulah does the Hula from Hawaii". What she changed it to has not been revealed, but one feels that ''anything'' would have been an improvement. The case also cited other ghastly names that had been used in New Zealand, including Midnight Chardonnay, Number Sixteen Bus Shelter, Violence, and a pair of twins called Benson and Hedges.

* 2012 U.S. Republican presidential candidate, Willard "Mitt" Romney. Though "Mitt" might not be that much better.

** Ironically, some people thought his full name was "Mittens".

* Sunny's, a member of Girls' Generation, real name is Lee Soon-Kyu. Her group members often make fun of her, or embarrass her by saying her name in public.

** Although, because of Korean naming order, Soon-Kyu is her last name.

 

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[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

[[Category:Index of Shame]]