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Meaningful Name/Live-Action TV: Difference between revisions
corrected errors of fact in Wednesday Addams entry
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* On ''[[Angel]]'' a wizard who intended to [[Virgin Sacrifice|sacrifice his virgin daughter]] to a demon on his 50th birthday named said daughter ''Virginia''. It didn't work out, as his efforts to isolate her were extremely unsuccessful.
** And Gwen Raiden, named for the Japanese god of lightning. [[Shock and Awe|Guess what ability she has.]]
** Angel, named because his sister though he'd returned to her from the dead as an angel. Historical volumes describe him as "the one with the angelic face" and "the demon with the face of an angel". (In the opinion of some viewers, though, this was a case of [[Informed Attractiveness]].)
** Jasmine, so named because she loved the smell of Jasmine flowers, which in itself is meaningful, as The Language of Flowers states that the Jasmine flower symbolizes "attachment and amiability". [[Makes Sense in Context|Trust me, this is a
* ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' had Eve, who was destined to bring about the "Twilight of the Gods". ''Eve''ning and ''Twilight'' are both times of day. Or... night I suppose...
** This is more of an out of universe example, as In Universe, Eve was named by her {{spoiler|dead older brother, who was completely unaware of Eve's destiny}}, during one of [[To Hell and Back|Xena and Gabrielle's many day-trips to the Underworld.]]
* ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'' had George Michael's love interest Maeby, who was his [[Incest Is Relative|cousin]]... ''maybe.'' (By the end of the series, {{spoiler|we know they're not blood related}}.)
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* ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' is full of examples of meaningful names.
** ''[[Kamen Rider Kabuto]]'' has a couple of characters whose [[Catch Phrase]] contains the kanji of their own name. This includes protagonist Souji Tendou ("Walking the path of heaven, ruling over all") and [[The Rival]] Tsurugi Kamishiro ("The man who replaces the gods with a sword's slash"). Parodied in the Hyper Battle video, when [[The Lancer]] Arata Kagami asks for a [[Catch Phrase]] of his own, and Tendou suggests "The man who washes his face in front of a mirror (kagami) every day."
** ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]'': Protagonist Tsukasa's name contains the kanji for "gate", befitting his status as a dimensional wanderer; Kamen Rider Decade is the tenth main Rider of the Heisei era of the franchise (from 2000
*** [[Kamen Rider Kuuga|Yuusuke Onodera]] is named for ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' creator [[Shotaro Ishinomori]] (birth name: Shotaro Onodera).
*** [[Kamen Rider Agito|Shoichi Ashikawa]]'s name is a combination of the names of the three ''Agito'' Riders: '''Shoichi''' Tsugami (Agito), Ryo '''Ashi'''hara (Gills), and Makoto Hi'''kawa''' (G3). {{spoiler|The ''Decade'' version of Shoichi was once G3, evolved into Gills before Tsukasa arrived, and became Agito by the end of the arc.}}
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** Captain John Sheridan, who according to [[Word of God]], was a direct descendant of US Army General Phillip Henry Sheridan. Who is best known for fighting in the American Civil War.
** Delenn of the Family Mir, whose family name comes from the Russian word for "Peace".
***That is a zig-zag. She is a diplomat by trade and certainly desires peace. But she is better associated with war, both because of her mistakes in her younger years, and her inspiring war-leadership during the show.
* ''[[Sesame Street]]'': Abby Cadabby's shy classmate Gonnigan has the ability to become invisible... which he does quite often.
* The TV series of ''[[The Walking Dead]]'' has a Centre for Disease Control scientist named Edwin Jenner. His namesake, Edward Jenner, was the first person to successfully and scientifically inoculate against smallpox. Subverted in that the Dr Jenner from the show has no idea how to go about curing the plague.
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* Kurt Hummel from the musical tv show ''[[Glee]]'' is named after Kurt Von Trap from the musical ''[[The Sound of Music]]''.
** Might count for some if not all of the other Glee-club members too. Rachel's full name is Rachel Barbra Berry. She is a huge Barbra Streisand fan. Quinn's name rhymes with Finn and sounds like Queen. Santana Lopez is probably be named after the guitarist Carlos Santana and the singer Jennifer Lopez. Brittany S. Pierce's name is already explained on Glee; Britney Spears. Also: Kurt rhymes with Burt. As of season two: coach Bieste, which is pronounced "beast" and fits with her manly personality. Puck's first name, Noah, is slightly ironic. Noah is a typical [[Nice Jewish Boy]] name and contrasts with Puck's bad-boy attitude.
* The witty writers of ''[[Barney Miller]]'' had a bit of fun with this. The [[Lovable Borderline Pedophile]] director of the Rainbow House children's home, which housed a disproportionate number of child prostitutes, was named [[It's a Wonderful Life|Gower]]. A man who was desperate for a seat on the space shuttle's first commercial flights was named [[Eager Young Space Cadet|Corbett]]. Recurring character Frank ''Luger'' liked to talk about the olden days when cops used a lot more gunplay to subdue malefactors.
* Jeff Winger on ''[[Community]]'', he's spent his adult life, well, [[Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught|winging]] [[Hard Work Hardly Works|it]].
* ''The Fresh Beat Band'' is filled with these. Two band members are Twist and Shout. Their music teacher is Miss Piccolo. Their friend Reed owns a music store. Another friend is named Melody, and sings.
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* One episode of ''[[Austin and Ally]]'' features the vile, unscrupulous music manager, '''Demonic'''a Dixon.
* ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV series)|Once Upon a Time]]'' lives and breathes this trope. Snow White is Mary Margaret ''Blanc''hard ("blanc" is French for white), Red Riding Hood is ''Ruby'', the Evil Queen is ''Regina'' Mills...
* In ''[[Westworld]]'', the name ''Dolores'' refers to her status as a 'doll' or plaything for her human creators. Her partner, ''Teddy'', is likely a reference to 'teddy bears', the soft and cuddly toys for kids. (Maeve's daughter is seen playing with dolls).
** The name of the company behind Westworld, ''Delos'', is taken from the Greek for 'visible, manifest',<ref>[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B4%E1%BF%86%CE%BB%CE%BF%CF%82#Ancient_Greek δῆλος in Ancient Greek] ''wiktionary.org''</ref> which is where the word 'psychedelic'<ref>[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/psychedelic psychedelic] ''wiktionary.org''</ref> (mind-manifesting) comes from. A slightly more obscure reference would be to the Greek island of Delos<ref>[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Delos Delos in Greece] ''wikipedia.org''</ref> which alludes to the fact that Westworld is an isolated location, cut off from the world. Combine these two concepts together and you get ''an isolated location where artificially intelligent minds are made manifest''.
* When asked by the producers of ''[[The Addams Family (1964 TV series)|The Addams Family]]'' to name his heretofore-unnamed cartoon characters, [[Charles Addams]] included several meaningful names, such as Fester and Morticia. But the most prominent such name (and ironically the least noticeable as such) was that of daughter Wednesday -- one of Addams' friends suggested her name, inspired by the third line of the nursery rhyme [https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Monday%27s_Child "Monday's Child"]: "Wednesday's child is full of woe"; that does indeed seem to describe Wednesday Addams. In the pilot of the [[Netflix]] series ''[[Wednesday]]'', Morticia claims that is why she named her, citing the rhyme as her favorite, making it a [[Prophetic Name]] as well.
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