# Name of a literary device **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [June 12, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-literary-device/944117 "2021-06-12T15:06:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-literary-device/944117/1 "2021-06-12T15:06:30Z")
The 1989 film [True Believer](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098524/) has a character that is a conniving District Attorney named Robert Reynard, and a derelict from the streets named Cecil Skell. Reynard seems to be a reference to [Reynard the Fox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynard_the_Fox) a character in a very old story, and [skell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skell) means a vagrant or derelict. Some other names may have such connotations as well though I don’t remember the characters well enough to tell. Another use of this I recall from [Snow Crash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash) with the main character named Hiro Protagonist. So what is it called when characters are named after other literary characters or have descriptive names like that? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-literary-device/944117/2 "2021-06-12T15:34:01Z")
Here is a rabbit hole for you: > **[Meaningful Name - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MeaningfulName)** > > A name that has a direct, barely-hidden meaning to it. The first, second/third/middle/nth, last, or full name says something primal about the character. Often has multiple layers. To hide the meaning a bit, use an alternate spelling or foreign … ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-literary-device/944117/3 "2021-06-12T15:35:47Z")
:chin scratch: Broadly, it would certainly be some type of allusion. The TV Trope would be [Meaningful Name](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MeaningfulName). But it does feel like there is or should be some more on point term for this sort of symbolic naming. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-literary-device/944117/4 "2021-06-12T15:57:17Z")
The term I’ve seen used is “nominative determinism”. Though on looking that up, that actually seems to refer primarily to the hypothesis that this really occurs in the real world: That is to say, someone named “Reynard” is more likely, by virtue of his name, to grow up to be conniving. Also, what were the Lupin family thinking, naming their son Remus? The family name alone is bad enough, but when paired with the first name of a legendary figure raised by wolves, the outcome was inevitable. ---
**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:** [June 12, 2021, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-literary-device/944117/5 "2021-06-12T16:10:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Also, what were the Lupin family thinking, naming their son Remus? The family name alone is bad enough, but when paired with the first name of a legendary figure raised by wolves, the outcome was inevitable. I assume that “the names were changed to protect the innocent”: when J. K. Rowling reported what happened at Hogwarts, she changed the names of the characters, spells, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-literary-device/944117/6 "2021-06-12T16:18:50Z")
I don’t know if it has reached the status of a real word in widespread usage, but **aptronym** is a coinage for the “Hiro Protagonist” type of name. I think this fits better in the context of a literary device than **nominative determinism** , which as @Chronos said has always been used to describe real people who seem to have settled into jobs that fit their name; although aptronym is used this way too. > **[Aptronym](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptronym)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > An aptronym, aptonym, or euonym is a personal name aptly or peculiarly suited to its owner. > The Encyclopædia Britannica attributes the term to Franklin P. Adams, a writer who coined it as an anagram of patronym, to emphasize "apt". > According to Frank Nuessel, in The Study of Names (1992), an aptonym is the term used for "people whose names and occupations or situations (e.g., workplace) have a close correspondence." The “Robert Reynard” type of name is different device, and I think is best described as @ASL_v2.0 said as an allusion, even though that’s obviously a broader term. Perhaps we could coin a more exact term like **nominative allusion** to refer to this, since it feels like it deserves a specific name. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-literary-device/944117/7 "2021-06-12T16:20:29Z")
Something in a work that is meant to be a reference to something else is often called an “Allusion”. I think that would be the general word for what you are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-literary-device/944117/8 "2021-06-12T16:26:09Z")
And just to show off that I do in fact know _several_ words of more than two syllables, **antonomasia** is a closely related device, a special case of metonymy. > **[Antonomasia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonomasia)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > In rhetoric, antonomasia is a kind of metonymy in which an epithet or phrase takes the place of a proper name, such as "the little corporal" for Napoleon I; or, conversely, the use of a proper name as an archetypal name, to express a generic idea. > A frequent instance of antonomasia in the Late Middle Ages and early Renaissance was the use of the term "the Philosopher" to refer to Aristotle. A more recent example of the other form of antonomasia (... ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-literary-device/944117/9 "2021-06-12T18:45:23Z")
Lots of useful info here. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Here is a rabbit hole for you: Meaningful name is a pretty broad term that does encompass this. > [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Broadly, it would certainly be some type of allusion. ‘Allusion’ may have been the word I was looking for initially. It seemed fairly broad as I first read this but it fits for a name like ‘Robert Reynard’. > [@Chronos](#): > > The term I’ve seen used is “nominative determinism”. Though on looking that up, that actually seems to refer primarily to the hypothesis that this really occurs in the real world: That is to say, someone named “Reynard” is more likely, by virtue of his name, to grow up to be conniving. This is good to know in it’s own right. Comes up in real life often. > [@Riemann](#): > > I don’t know if it has reached the status of a real word in widespread usage, but **aptronym** is a coinage for the “Hiro Protagonist” type of name. This is the closest to what I was looking for. Your suggestion of ‘nominative allusion’ is apt. I did think there was likely something for ‘Reynard’ and ‘allusion’ would do it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-literary-device/944117/10 "2021-06-12T19:22:44Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Meaningful name is a pretty broad term that does encompass this. But if you look at the link you will see the main term broken down into many sub-categories. Some of which relate to some of your conditions. If there is not a very specific trope for your conditions, you can be pretty sure that there is no very specific literary term either. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-literary-device/944117/11 "2021-06-12T19:33:10Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Reynard seems to be a reference to [Reynard the Fox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynard_the_Fox) a character in a very old story, and [skell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skell) means a vagrant or derelict. > … > Another use of this I recall from [Snow Crash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash) with the main character named Hiro Protagonist. Subtropes that apply include > **[Theme Naming - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThemeNaming)** > > Authors like to use themes to create a sense of unity or cohesiveness within their work. Some extend themes to the names of the characters, often beyond the similarities that would be expected for characters from the same culture or who all speak … > **[Punny Name - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PunnyName)** > > Sometimes, a name isn't exactly meaningful or hiding something, but there's still something about it that is weird. And then you read it really fast, and go, "Oh!" and have your chuckle over the pun. Pun names are just that: Names that make puns … > **[Prophetic Names - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PropheticNames)** > > A variety of Meaningful Name, sometimes an offshoot of Theme Naming, but not always. This describes the situation where what one names someone or something results in that something or someone taking on the aspects of what they are named after. Also, a seperate category > **[Genius Bonus - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GeniusBonus)** > > A joke or tidbit meant for people knowledgeable in a certain field. The rest of the audience doesn't get it, but it's usually subtle enough for them not to care. This is the non-age-related counterpart to Parental Bonus. Genius Bonuses are most … ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-literary-device/944117/12 "2021-06-12T21:26:50Z")
Sure, there is not likely one single term that describes just the cases I mentioned. It will be a broader category or several more specific names. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-literary-device/944117/13 "2021-06-13T05:12:28Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > **aptronym** is a coinage for the “Hiro Protagonist” type of name. I like this too! Tom Pynchon is an interesting example of an author who uses names in some of the ways described here. Some are apt at a pretty basic, even punny level (Geli Tripping, Tyrone Slothrop, “Mucho” Maas); some are evocative of the character’s nature in a more vague, poetic way (Colonel Tchitcherine, Captain Blicero, Brigadier Pudding); and some seem to be just for fun (Dr. Porkyeovitch, “Pig” Bodine). Not to mention Richard M. Zhlubb.