# Fitting characters' names in tv, literature and movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2015, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593 "2015-03-09T13:03:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/21 "2015-03-09T15:46:12Z")
I just thought of this while watching a classic Doctor Who the other day: “Dodo Chaplet. A stupid bird who who walks right up to dangerous people and acts like they’re her best friends. Huh.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/22 "2015-03-09T16:27:32Z")
It was a common feature in early literature. Mrs. Malaprop in Sheridan’s _The Rivals_, who is known for using the wrong word in her speech, has a her named derived from “mal” (bad) "aprop(riate). Just about every character in _The Pilgrim’s Progress_ is named to describe their character. In a more modern example, in _House of Cards_ Frank Underwood (in the US version) and Francis Urquhart (the UK version) were named so that their initials were “FU.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/23 "2015-03-09T16:50:57Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > In a more modern example, in _House of Cards_ Frank Underwood (in the US version) and Francis Urquhart (the UK version) were named so that their initials were “FU.” So, what do we make of Felix Unger? ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/24 "2015-03-09T17:07:25Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > In the first adaptation of Harris’ novel **Red Dragon** his name is given as Hannibal Lektor. Not only is it spelled differently, but there’s no suggestion that he’s a Cannibal – they started calling his “Hannibal the Cannibal” in the second film to use the character, **Silence of the Lambs**. It’s been a while, but IIRC, Lecter isn’t described as a Cannibal in Harris’ original novel, either. Just a psychopath. > > So the name isn’t obvious appropriate, unless you think he resembles a Carthaginian general. > > Of course, “Hannibal the Cannibal” was too good to pass up, once you thought of it. When they remade the film _Red Dragon_, Lecter was definitely a cannibal. I thought the Hannibal was obvious, but the Lecter/Lektor more subtly referred to his “teaching” of Clarice _Starling_. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/25 "2015-03-09T17:10:04Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > So, what do we make of Felix Unger? “It took me three hours to figure out that F.U. was Felix Unger!” Neil Simon has said that being able to make that joke was _not_ the reason for Felix’s name, but I’ve always had my lingering doubts. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/26 "2015-03-09T17:36:40Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Dickens went out of his way to make up names that had the right _sound_, and often weren’t actual names of people. Ebenezer _Scrooge_ being a great example. “Ebenezer” was a nice Biblical name, but I don’t think “Scrooge” was a real surname before Dickens thought it up. But it perfectly describes the character, suggesting “scrounge” and “Squeeze” and other similar associations. \ I don’t have a cite for this, but I believe “Scrooge” comes from _**[screw](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/screw#Noun)**_ - An extortioner; a sharp bargainer; a skinflint. In the 1951 “Christmas Carol,” Mrs. Dilber says that about ES when she’s trying to sell his belongings post-mortem. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/27 "2015-03-09T17:48:00Z")
Every other action hero is named “Jake Striker” or “Rick Hunter” or “Max Power”. Wikipedia has a helpful list of real-life examples: [Aptronym - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptronym) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/28 "2015-03-09T17:58:09Z")
**^** “Nobody _snuggles_ with [Max Power](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GvVbIhKh-M), Marge. You strap yourself in and feel the Gs.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/29 "2015-03-09T18:23:19Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Wikipedia has a helpful list of real-life examples: [Aptronym - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptronym) That list is missing the first real-life example I thought of: poet William Wordsworth. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/30 "2015-03-09T18:25:48Z")
The main character of Neal Stephenson’s _Snow Crash_ is named Hiro Protagonist. I guess Neal didn’t really have the creative juices flowing that day… ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/31 "2015-03-09T18:42:43Z")
I think [Pierce](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_M*A*S*H_characters#Hawkeye_Pierce) is a pretty fitting name for a surgeon. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/32 "2015-03-09T19:08:16Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Did he revise the book after Silence of the Lambs? Because I saw the first film, then read Harris’ book, and I don’t recall any suggestion that he was a Cannibal until I saw Silence. (There definitely was no suggestion of it in _Manhunter_)But I might be wrong. He was referred to as “Hannibal the Cannibal” Lecter from the beginning. Here is a [NY Times book review](http://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/10/books/books-of-the-times-086752.html) from Nov 10, 1981 that refers to him as such. (“Manhunter” came out in 1986.) ---
**Author:** ![Nuveena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@Nuveena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nuveena)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/33 "2015-03-09T20:07:35Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > “A guy named Otto Octavius ends up with eight limbs. What are the odds?” Similarly, I assume Remus Lupin’s parents deliberately let him get bit by a werewolf and had planned to since he was born. For Harry Potter characters it might be easier to list the ones that aren’t deliberately named to fit the character. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Tar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3da27b/32.png) [@Jack\_Tar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Tar)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/34 "2015-03-09T20:57:21Z")
Following on from Mr Atoz in the original Star Trek, there was also Edith Keeler (Joan Collins) in “City on the Edge of Forever”. Her death (or lack of it) was the focus point for a divergent timeline. A ships keel keeps the ship stable. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/35 "2015-03-09T21:18:36Z")
James Joyce’s alter ego, Stephen Dedalus (protagonist of both _ **Ulysses** _ and _ **Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man** _), is an allusion to the ancient Greek myth of Daedalus and Icarus, who tried to build wings and fly away from the island (in their case Crete, in Joyce’s case Ireland) that was their prison. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/36 "2015-03-09T21:32:59Z")
On _ **Big Bang Theory** _, the two male leads were named after renowned TV producer Sheldon Leonard. On _ **Gilligan’s Island** _, the boat was named after FCC Chairman Newton Minnow, famous for referring to TV as a “vast wasteland.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/37 "2015-03-09T21:57:12Z")
Rex Stout, best known as creator of private investigator Nero Wolfe, created another fictional sleuth named Tecumseh Fox. As crossword addicts (and almost nobody else) can tell you, in the 1940s, “tec” was a slang word used for detectives. Stout gave his character the name “Tecumseh” almost solely so that he could be called “Tec” for short. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/38 "2015-03-09T22:14:34Z")
Not being subtle; one of radio’s longest running comedies, “Fibber Magee and Molly,” hit the nail on the head with the male main character. I always thought the main character Sam Spade was an especially good name for a detective who dug up dirt in the “Maltese Falcon.” And the main bad guy, Casper Guttman for a gasping fat man… Of course, there is Major, Major Major Major in “Catch 22.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/39 "2015-03-09T22:15:40Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I almost gave up when Dickens came up with “Peerybingle” as the surname for his main characters for “Cricket on the Hearth”, his follow-up Christmas book after “A Christmas Carol”. It’s just so unbearably _cute_. You could see some plush stuffed bear being named “Mr. Peerybingle”, but not a human character in literature. On the other hand, Benedict Cumberbatch. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/40 "2015-03-09T22:26:22Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I almost gave up when Dickens came up with “Peerybingle” as the surname for his main characters for “Cricket on the Hearth”, his follow-up Christmas book after “A Christmas Carol”. It’s just so unbearably _cute_. You could see some plush stuffed bear being named “Mr. Peerybingle”, but not a human character in literature. Well, before his fall from grace, didn’t “Lance Armstrong” sound just TOO perfect as the name of a noble, heroic sports champion? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593.md?page=3)