# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/81 "2015-03-12T18:52:44Z")
The protagonist of Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood is anti-God evangelist Hazel Motes. His first and last names both suggest a man who’s blind to the truth. Hazel suggests “Haze,” while “Motes” makes us think of Jesus’ admonition not to point out the motes in others’ eyes while you have a plank in your own. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/82 "2015-03-12T18:57:04Z")
The heroine of Thomas Hardy’s _ **Far From the Madding Crowd** _ was Bathsheba Everdene, who is lusted after by several men, two of whom are doomed by love for her. In the Bible, David defied God and committed murder for love of Uriah’s beautiful wife Bathsheba. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/83 "2015-03-13T02:36:20Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > The Amazing Race’s oft-maligned “Family Edition” featured an African-American family named – **the Blacks.** > > Sadly, they were eliminated in the first episode. I love that in the Johnny Test cartoon Mr. Black was white and Mr. White was black. An earlier post mentioned Kamandi. Actually Kamandi’s real name was Buddy Blank (also an appropriate name) he was named Kamandi beacause he was found in Command Bunker D. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/84 "2015-03-13T14:54:19Z")
I don’t think Professor Pangloss from _Candide_ has been mentioned yet. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/85 "2015-03-13T15:08:19Z")
Originally, cartoonist Chester Gould entitled his crime/action strip “Plainclothes Tracy,” and the hero didn’t have a first name. Since detectives were sometimes called “dicks” in slang, his editor, Captain Joseph Patterson, convinced him to call his hero “Dick” Tracy. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/86 "2015-03-13T15:42:46Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > An example is the lead characters from the tv show _Will and Grace._ > Will Truman - True Man. The character is a genuinely good guy and always manages to redeem himself on the few occasions he acts like a jerk. > > Grace Adler. She’s somewhat addled and also causes others to be addled. I think it was on this board that someone pointed that Will has no will (always doing whatever Grace tells him to do) and Grace isn’t very graceful. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/87 "2015-03-14T23:33:51Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > In the Matrix series, Thomas Anderson (aka Neo) has a name indicative of his status as a Christ figure in the pseudo-Gnosticism that forms the background of the movie’s universe. Thomas means ‘twin’ in Greek, and Thomas the apostle in Gnostic tradition was the twin of Jesus. Since Anders is derived ultimately from the Greek for a male person, ‘Anderson’ can be construed as ‘Son of Man’, a name Jesus used of himself. (Although it should be noted that in the Bible, the ‘Man’ in ‘Son of Man’ refers to mankind.) > > Just about every other name in the movies has meaning as well. Even the merely descriptive name ‘The Architect’ evokes another figure in Gnosticism, the Archon. I’m surprised you didn’t mention that “Neo” is an anagram of “One” - and much of the movie revolves around figuring out if Neo is “the One” or not. Personal theory I’ve never heard anywhere else: Peter Parker (Spiderman) has a girlfriend who he can’t quit, even though he knows he should. He is addicted to Mary Jane (aka, his marijuana, his drug). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/88 "2015-03-14T23:39:25Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > …Also, Wesley Mouch in _Atlas Shrugged_. There are a lot of other similar names in Rand’s novels, but that one’s probably the most apropos for this topic. Howard Roark was hard as a rock. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/89 "2015-03-16T14:46:11Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Howard Roark was hard as a rock. The most despicable character Rand ever created was Roark’s nemesis, Ellsworth M. Toohey. “Toohey” is onomatopoeic; it sounds like someone spitting. And Rand probably spat every time she thought of that character. ---
**Author:** ![funky\_little\_lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@funky\_little\_lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funky_little_lee)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/90 "2015-03-16T17:19:09Z")
Hopefully I haven’t been ninja-ed on this, but on _Without a Trace_, Poppy Montgomery played an investigator named Samantha Spade. ETA: besides the character reference, “Spade” is a good name for an investigator, since they spend their time unburying and turning over evidence, the same sort of tasks a gardener does with a spade. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/91 "2015-03-16T17:38:53Z")
> [@Tess](#): > > Calvin and Hobbes were named after John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes, respectively. > > Both Calvins are interested in destiny while both Hobbeses (Hobbi?) have a pretty jaded view of mankind. Calvin’s imaginary younger brother is _Melville_. I couldn’t help noticing that all three are notable authors, although their names don’t all appear, contiguously or otherwise, in the Harvard Classics or the Great Works series. Maybe they’re in some other collection in Waterston’s bookcase. ---
**Author:** ![Levolor\_the\_Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@Levolor\_the\_Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Levolor_the_Blind)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/92 "2015-03-17T04:01:04Z")
I always thought ‘Verbal Kint’ from _The Usual Suspects_ was one of these. Kint is the Hungarian word for ‘out’ (making him ‘Mr. Out’) and obviously the writer was familiar with the language. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/93 "2015-03-17T04:12:40Z")
Dorothy Gale. ---
**Author:** ![jrbor76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9e8a1a/32.png) [@jrbor76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrbor76)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/94 "2015-03-18T19:00:09Z")
Jake and Elwood Blues. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593/95 "2015-03-18T22:46:08Z")
In _Salt and Pepper_ and _One More Time_ Peter Lawford played Chris Pepper and Sammy Davis, Jr. played Charles Salt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fitting-characters-names-in-tv-literature-and-movies/714593.md?page=4)