Named After Somebody Famous: Difference between revisions
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A surprisingly common form of [[Theme Naming]] is the practice of naming characters after real-life celebrities and famous people.
One way this can be done is to give a group of characters a set of names which, when combined, form the name of a famous person. An advanced version gives a person the same first name as a famous person, and has their last name included as a middle name. Another variation is to give a group of characters the first names of a well-known group, such as a group of friends named John, Paul, George, and Richard/Ringo, after [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]].
Compare [[Shout-Out Theme Naming]].
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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* [[Recurring Extra|The three recurring old geezers]] on ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' had thematic
* The same for goes for the adopted children of the eponymous character of ''[[Eureka Seven]]'': Maurice, Maeter, and Linck after the Nobel Prize winning essayist and author of ''[[The Blue Bird Of Happiness]]''.
* Due to [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]] of Medieval Europe that ''[[
** Our main tsundere mage heroine Louise. She is named after [[wikipedia:Louise de La Valliere|Louise de La Valliere]], one of Louis XIV's mistresses who became a duchess.
** Tabitha aka Charlotte Helene Orleans, the [[Captain Ersatz]] mage to [[Rei Ayanami Expy]] Yuki Nagato of ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' fame, is named after [[wikipedia:Princess Helene of Orleans|Helene d'Orleans]].
** The seductive "Subtle Flame" that is Kirche? Her [[Overly Long Name]] is Kirche Augusta Frederika von Anhalt Zerbst. The character sheet mentions her name is taken from Sophia Augusta Frederika of Anhalt-Zerbst, who is none other than [[wikipedia:Catherine The Great|Catherine II of Russia]].
* In ''[[Bakusou Kyoudai Let's & Go!!
* Almost everybody in ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' is named after a band, movie, or rock star. Dio Brando, the main villain, is named after both [[Ronnie James Dio]] and [[Marlon Brando]].
** The [[Action Girl]]-centered ''Stone Ocean'' saga of ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' has characters named after fashion designers
* In ''[[Bleach]]'' the top ten Arrancar, the Espada, are all named after, of all things, Mexican architects and designers.
* In ''[[Cromartie High School]]'', all of the schools, including the titular one, are named after foreigners that played on Japanese baseball teams.
* ''[[Maria Watches Over Us]]'' uses names of [[Samurai]] and noble families for most of its important characters. Exceptions to this rule are specifically pointed out (Yumi and Sei).
* The villainous robots/cyborgs in ''Metal Guardian Faust'' are named after Santa's reindeer, and have name-appropriate enhancements (Vixen has robotic tails, Blitz generates [[Electro Magnetic Pulse]]
* In ''[[Samurai Pizza Cats]]'', the New York Pizza Cats' original Japanese names are as follows:
** Sundance Kid = [[Michael Jackson|Michael]], who even does Jackson's dance moves, including his Moonwalk.
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* Edward and Alphonse from [[Fullmetal Alchemist]] are named after real-life medieval alchemists, as is Hohenheim.
* [[Friedrich Nietzsche|Friedrich]] and [[Voltaire]], Caro's dragons in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]''. If you don't recognize the names, you need to brush up on your European philosophers.
* Mecha pilot Jung Freud from ''[[Gunbuster]]'',
* [[Terrible Trio|Team Rocket]] from the English dub of ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' is made up entirely of this - Jessie + James = Jesse James, Butch + Cassidy = Butch Cassidy, etc.
** Jessie and James's Japanese names also serve, as they were named after samurai: [[wikipedia:Miyamoto Musashi|Musashi]] and [[wikipedia:Sasaki Kojiro|Kojiro]]. Butch and Cassidy are just "theme named" to accompany the original duo: Kosaburo ("jiro": second son, "Saburo": third son) and Yamato ([[wikipedia:Japanese battleship Yamato|the sister ship]] of [[wikipedia:Japanese battleship Musashi|the Musashi battleship]]).
* ''[[Rave Master]]'' had Deep Snow's [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] named after actors who've portrayed [[James Bond]], including [[wikipedia:Timothy Dalton|Dalton]] the Chrysalis, [[wikipedia:George Lazenby|Lazenby]] of the White Flame, Goldeneye [[wikipedia:Pierce Brosnan|Brosnan]], and [[wikipedia:Roger Moore|Moore]] the Full Moon.
* The Paper Sisters in the ''[[Read or Die]]'' TV series are named after the three actresses who played the main characters in ''[[Heroic Trio|The Heroic Trio]]'', shuffling around their given and family names.
* Trowa Barton from ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' was named for [[Tim Burton]]; Masashi Ikeda, the director of ''Wing'', is an unabashed fan of Burton's works and directorial style.
* Two members of the Shrike Team in ''[[Mobile Suit Victory Gundam]]'' are named after Jazz singers Helen Merrill and Mahalia Jackson, just with the surnames switched.
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* ''[[Future GPX Cyber Formula]]'': Knight Schumacher was named for famous [[Formula One]] champion Michael Schumacher and Leon Earnhardt was named for [[NASCAR]] racer Dale Earnhardt, Sr.
* ''[[Speed Racer]]'''s Japanese name, Go Mifune (as well as the last name of the rest of his family), was named for famous Japanese actor [[Toshiro Mifune]].
* ''[[Black Butler]]'': Snake's snakes are named Bronte, [[Oscar Wilde|Oscar, Wilde]], Keats, Wordsworth, and Webster.
** Heck, a lot of characters are either named after someone famous (
* ''[[El-Hazard: The Magnificent World]]'': Katsuhiko becomes the Bugrom's military leader, and gains six Bugrom underlings. In the English dub, he nicknames them [[The Marx Brothers|Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, Gummo]] (after the fifth Marx Brother who didn't appear in any of the movies) and Margaret (after Margaret Dumont, who frequently played Groucho's love interest/straight woman).
* The girls in ''[[Strike Witches]]'' are named after real-life ace pilots.
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* In the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' Archie series, many relations to the main characters are named after historical figures: members of the Brotherhood of Guardians are named after peaceful revolutionaries and/or physicists/philosophers, same as their fire-ant compatriots (Rembrandt, Sojourner, Hawking, Archimedes, etc.), while Tails' father and uncle are named Amadeus and Merlin, respectively.
* In the 3rd Annual issue of ''ALF'', Gordon relates how he met the New Age Melmutant Abstract Turtles, a parody of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, if that wasn't blindingly obvious. Like the originals, they were named for artists: Calder (after [[wikipedia:Alexander Calder|Alexander]], Mondrian (after [[wikipedia:Piet Mondrian|Piet]], Picasso (after [[wikipedia:Pablo Picasso|...you know, or I hope you do]], and Pollock (after [[wikipedia:Jackson Pollock|Jackson]]). Each turtle's weapon's ability was related to their namesake's most well-known art's style (boomerangs that hang villains from mobiles, a t-square that creates abstract geometric walls, a paintbrush that turns villains into cubist creatures, and a bucket of paint that... splatters villains, respectively).
* The main characters in ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' are named after famous [http://xkcd.com/197/ Italian artists] from the Renaissance. In the '80s cartoon, they were briefly joined by a foursome of mutant frogs, who were all named after historical conquerors and warlords (Genghis Khan, Atilla the Hun, [[Grigori Rasputin
** One of the many spoofs and rip-offs of ''TMNT'' back in the day had a set of rabbits named [[Tex Avery|Avery,]] [[Chuck Jones|Jones,]] [[Bob Clampett|Clampett,]] and [[Friz Freleng|Freleng.]] (Alas, Google is no help to aid the troper's weak memory.)
** Another spoof of TMNT was ''Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters'', named after Clint (Eastwood), Chuck (Norris), Bruce (Lee), and Jackie (Chan).
** Yet another parody was from ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' with the ''Immature Radioactive Samurai Slugs'' who were also named after artists - Picasso, Warhol, Rockwell, and [[Odd Name Out| Grandma Moses]].
* The names of the genetically engineered dogs in ''Kingdom'' are celebrity names with canine puns. The protagonist is named Gene the Hackman (Gene Hackman), and there's also Will Feral (Will Ferrall), Dingo Star (Ringo Star), Rex Horizon (Rex Harrison), Holly the Hunter (Holly Hunter), and Clara Bow (same).
* Amadeus Cho, of ''[[Incredible Hercules]]'', is named after Mozart. His sister Maddy's full name? Madame Curie Cho.
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* Stephen Stills of ''[[Scott Pilgrim]]'' is named after the [[wikipedia:Stephen Stills|folk singer]] of the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. There's also a character named "Young Neil", an obvious reversal on Neil Young's name.
* [[Alan Moore]]'s ''[[Promethea]]'' features a female cop named [[Lucille Ball]] in the supporting cast. She frequently has to say, "No relation" and remind people that she has [[No Sense of Humor]].
* James Buchanan Barnes, formerly [[Captain America (comics)
* James Jesse, the first [[The Flash|Trickster]], invoked [[Steven Ulysses Perhero]] when he decided to commit robberies like his "reverse namesake" Jesse James. In-universe, this was definitely not intentional on his parents' part; a later retcon had it that his father was an Italian immigrant who'd Anglicized their names while unaware of the potential implications.
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* In ''[[Office Space]]'' the main character Peter's best friend is named Michael Bolton, like the famous singer.
* ''[[Mean Girls]]'' features Janis Ian, named after the eponymous singer (who was lesbian, something the character is accused of being), whose song "At Seventeen" is even on the soundtrack.
* In ''[[The Last Song]]'', the main character Ronnie (played by [[Miley Cyrus]]) is named after Miley's grandfather, Senator Ron Cyrus
== Live-Action TV ==
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* Alfred Bester from ''[[Babylon 5]]''. At first the name was just a [[Shout-Out]], but then the [[Expanded Universe]] revealed he was also named after the author in-universe.
* In ''[[The X-Files]]'', one of The Lone Gunmen is John Fitzgerald Byers, as he was born on the day JFK died. Also, Scully's name is taken from Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully (in "Irresistible" a character even says "I don't remember his name, but she was Scully, like that baseball announcer.") and John Doggett comes from Vin's partner Jerry Doggett.
* Hawkeye's name on ''[[
* ''[[Star Trek: Discovery]]''
* On ''[[Ivan the Terrible (TV series)|Ivan the Terrible]]'', there was the Petrovskys' dog, [[Grigori Rasputin|Rasputin]]. "The mad dog of Russia," Ivan Petrovsky whispers at one point to a curious visitor.
== Literature ==
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* Napoleon, from ''[[Animal Farm]]'' by George Orwell.
* Practically everyone from ''[[Brave New World (novel)|Brave New World]]'' (how that fits in a historyphobe society, [[Fridge Logic|you ask]]), such as Benito Hoover and Darwin Bonaparte.
* In the sci-fi novel ''[[
* The [[A Nazi by Any Other Name|ReMastered]] in ''Iron Sunrise'' by [[Charles Stross]] seem to be named after notable far-right philosophers. Or people with similar viewpoints; one of them calls herself [[James Bond|Blofeld]]!
* In ''[[Minority Report]]'', the three oracles are named after [[Agatha Christie|Agatha]], [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Arthur]], and [[Dashiell Hammett|Dashiell]], after the mystery novelists
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* When [[Ender's Game|Ender Wiggin]]'s dad gets a name, it turns out that (1) Wiggin isn't his actual name, but rather Wieczorek, and (2) his full name is Jan Paweł Wieczorek, which became John Paul Wiggin when Anglicized, and yes, that's John Paul as in [[The Pope|Pope John Paul II]], who was canonized in this timeline. Something of a subversion in that he is Named After Somebody Famous both in-universe and out of universe (John Paul II was, of course, Polish).
* [[wikipedia:Harry Houdini|Harry]] [[wikipedia:Harry Blackstone, Sr|Blackstone]] [[wikipedia:David Copperfield (illusionist)|Copperfield]] [[The Dresden Files|Dresden]]
* In the ''[[Thursday Next]]'' series, people do this deliberately; it's a world where literature is [[Serious Business]], so people name themselves after somebody famous, most often a classic English writer. After a court case where the entire jury was made up of Christopher Marlowes, a law was enacted to affix a number to the names of people who did this.
* In ''[[The Hunger Games (novel)|The Hunger Games]]'', people from the Capitol are often named after Ancient Roman historical figures: Cinna, Caesar (Flickerman), Seneca (Crane), Coriolanus (Snow), Claudius (Templesmith), etc.
* In addition to Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, the original novel ''[[MASH (novel)|MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors]]'' also had Augustus Bedford "Duke" Forest, named for both Augustus Caesar and Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest.
== Music ==
* "[[The Beatles (band)|Maxwell Edison, majoring in medicine.]]"
* Members of [[Marilyn Manson]] used to be named after sex symbol + serial killer - the namesake singer himself is [[Marilyn Monroe]] + [[Charles Manson]]. The only other two still in the band are Ginger Fish and Twiggy Ramirez.
== Newspaper Comics ==
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*** [[FoxTrot]] once had a parody strip coincidentally also named "Luther and Locke"
** ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'' also made a [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1580.html parody/homage] strip titled "Wittgenstein and Nietzche" (after Ludwig Wiggenstein and [[Friedrich Nietzsche]])
== Theatre ==
* ''[[R.U.R.
* [[wikipedia:J. P. Morgan|J. Pierpont]] Finch, protagonist of ''[[How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying]]''.
== Video Games ==
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* In [[Quest for Glory]] 2, characters of the thieving persuasion can break into a certain house at night where a man lives with his three sons, Kareem, Abdul, and Jabbar, respectively.
* How many real-life [[The Legend of Zelda|Zeldas]] can you think of? [[Word of God]] states that the eponymous princess is indeed named for Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, wife of [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]].
** [[Robin Williams]] named his daughter after the princess. [[Memetic Mutation|Yo dawg, I heard you like naming people after other people...]]
** Also the recurring enemies known as Poes, likely named after the famous [[Edgar Allan Poe]]. Another possible source of the name, however, is the Chinese philosophy of "hun" and "po", similar to yin and yang. "Hun" is the part of the soul that strives for heaven and is associated with life, and "po" is the part of the soul that stays with the corpse and is associated with death.
** [[F. Scott Fitzgerald|F. Scott]] himself was named after Francis Scott Key, a distant relative and the lyricist for the national anthem of the US.
* In ''[[.hack GU]] Redemption'', the AIDA-infected weapon wielded by Taihaku is called Maxwell. This is a reference to [[wikipedia:Maxwell's demon|Maxwell's Demon theory]]. Now while the translators does a [[Good Bad Translation]] with a [[Did Not Do the Research]] as a cause, the game self-confirms the reference. How? By naming the identical-looking sword Haseo obtains after defeating Taihaku as Szilard (mistranslated as Silad), the person that [[wikipedia:Leo Szilard|solved]] (or at least offered an explanation to) Maxwell's Demon.
* Speaking of theoretical demons, the online game [[Ace Online]] threw a reference to [[wikipedia:Laplace's demon|Laplace's demon]], by the item called "Soul of Laplace". The item is used to upgrade Legendary Weapons, which is in turn created by merging a weapon with Gematria Scripture, referring it as "being possessed by demonic souls".
* The Koopalings in ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' are named after real life musicians and other celebrities. As is possibly the boss [[Nine Inch Nails|Reznor]] in ''[[Super Mario World (video game)|Super Mario World]]''.
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* In ''[[Donkey Kong Country]] 3'', the twin bears of Razor Ridge are named Benny and Bjorn, after [[ABBA]] songwriters Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus.
* In ''[[Dragon Quest I]]'', there are two characters named Howard and Nester, after the Nintendo Power comic characters.
== Web Comics ==
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** There [[Aint No Rule]] that the "someone" can't be an animal, right?
* In ''[[Penny Arcade (Webcomic)|Penny Arcade]]'', Tycho Brahe is named after an astronomer.
== Western Animation ==
* Lampshaded in an episode of ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'', where the monster that lives in the Aqua Teen's attic is named "Willie Nelson".
* Each of the titular [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] are notably named after famous Renaissance artists.
** Shredder imitates Splinter in one episode of the 1987 cartoon by naming the mutant frogs after [[Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad|historical figures ''he'' admires]], naming them [[Genghis Khan|Genghis Frog]], [[Attila the Hun|Attila the Frog]], [[Rasputin|Rasputin the Mad Frog]], and [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon Bonefrog.]]
** Of course, this is often true with TMNT parodies. For instance, ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' had a cartoon Plucky enjoyed called ''[[Show Within a Show|Immature Oversized Samurai Slugs]]'', where the heroes were named Picasso, Warhol, Rockwell, and [[Odd Name Out|Grandma Moses]].
* Mr. Oskar Kokoschka from [[Hey Arnold!]]! is named after an Austrian expressionist painter.
* Amethyst van der Troll from ''[[Trollz]]'' appears to be named after Anneliese van der Pol (Chelsea Daniels on ''[[That's So Raven]]'').
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** In [[Sequel Series]] ''[[The Legend of Korra]]'' Aang's son Tenzin repeats the motif, while Korra's friend Mako is named after [[Mako]], the prominent Japanese-American actor and voice artist who voiced the original series' Iroh until his death.
** Although Tenzin is a fairly common Tibetan name...
* Francesco Bernoulli, the Italian racecar from [[Cars|''Cars 2'']], is actually named after Dutch/Swiss
* ''[[Frozen (Disney film)|Frozen]]'': [[Hans Christian Andersen|Hans, Kristof, Anna, Swen]] - a [[Shout-Out]] to the writer of the original story.
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* Similarly, a number of too-obsessed Potters have named their sons Harry.
* Tribalistic societies tend to use a famous person of the past as a clan totem. For instance, Children of ''Israel'' (Jews, which also refers to the subtribe ''Judah''), MacDonalds (probably the most prominent non-royal Scottish clan claiming patronage by a warlord named Domhnall), Al-Rashid (the most prominent rival of the Saudis in the formation of Saudi Arabia, descended from a chief named Abdullah Al-Rashid).
* The inventor of the "flying trapeze" act, the man who the song "[[Standard Snippet|The Man on the Flying Trapeze]]" is about, is best-known nowadays for the outfit that he designed and wore during his act. His name was [[w:Jules Léotard|Jules Léotard]].
* American socialite, model and entertainer [[Brooke Shields]] was named after another socialite, [[Brooke Astor]] (née Roberta Brooke Russell).
* Actor [[Leonardo DiCaprio]] was named after painter [[Leonardo da Vinci]].
* Serial killer John Wayne Gacy was named after [[John Wayne]], who was his mother's favorite movie star.
* The Mexican town Piedras Negras is not an example of this trope. The snack created by its most famous citizen, Ignacio [https://www.cbc.ca/radio/undertheinfluence/three-products-you-didn-t-know-were-named-after-their-inventors-1.4577004 "Nacho"] Anaya, is.
{{reflist}}
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