# British Whovians: Question about Nardole's name

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-whovians-question-about-nardoles-name/819689>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 15, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-whovians-question-about-nardoles-name/819689 "2018-08-15T21:35:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-whovians-question-about-nardoles-name/819689/1 "2018-08-15T21:35:05Z")

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Something about the way the actors say Nardole’s name makes me feel like I’m missing a specifically British reference. Does his name mean anything in particular? Is it an actual name in use? Is there some local connotation to it? Or is it just a sort of weird made-up name?

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**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-whovians-question-about-nardoles-name/819689/2 "2018-08-15T21:39:56Z")

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It’s just a made-up name as far as I can tell.

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**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-whovians-question-about-nardoles-name/819689/3 "2018-08-16T13:20:45Z")

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> [@Baron\_Greenback](#):
>
> It’s just a made-up name as far as I can tell.

Actually, it’s not a made up name, per [Ancestry.com](https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=nardole). There is at least one family with that surname dating back at least to 1920, there are probably more.

I don’t think the name has any particular meaning to it, apart from that it’s an unusual name that sounds kind of odd. “Nar-dole” just sounds awkward, which fits the character very well.

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**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-whovians-question-about-nardoles-name/819689/4 "2018-08-16T16:35:23Z")

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It sounds as though it ought to be faintly obscene, but isn’t, so suits the British sense of humour.

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**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-whovians-question-about-nardoles-name/819689/5 "2018-08-16T21:11:29Z")

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Nardol sounds like it should be some kind of OTC medicine.

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**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-whovians-question-about-nardoles-name/819689/6 "2018-08-17T13:58:11Z")

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> [@PatrickLondon](#):
>
> It sounds as though it ought to be faintly obscene, but isn’t, so suits the British sense of humour.

Yes, that’s probably it. It does sound faintly obscene to me as well (perhaps because of the the “Nard” part).

Thanks all, just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something that was obvious to the British viewer.