# Punny character names **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982 "2017-10-04T20:30:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [October 5, 2017, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/41 "2017-10-05T12:22:28Z")
Also not character names exactly, but there have been plenty of punny names in the [Car Talk credits](https://www.cartalk.com/content/staff-credits). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/42 "2017-10-05T12:31:33Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I think Hiro Protagonist from Neal Stephenson’s **Snow Crash** deserves a mention. Then there’s Goto Dengo in _Cryptonomicon_. A book that has quite a bit of programming stuff in it. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/43 "2017-10-05T12:41:08Z")
If OP isn’t limited to literature, how about The Simpsons? Nearly all the names involve clever worldplay. I’ve often thought it probably isn’t appreciated by those who haven’t had extensive contact with US culture. Imagine explaining to someone why “Clancy Wiggum” or “Waylon Smithers” are funny names. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/44 "2017-10-05T12:56:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I think Hiro Protagonist from Neal Stephenson’s **Snow Crash** deserves a mention. And that reminds me that Hiro Nakamura from “Heroes” is a little bit punnish. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2017, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/45 "2017-10-05T12:59:00Z")
> [@jerez](#): > > If OP isn’t limited to literature, how about The Simpsons? Nearly all the names involve clever worldplay. I’ve often thought it probably isn’t appreciated by those who haven’t had extensive contact with US culture. Imagine explaining to someone why “Clancy Wiggum” or “Waylon Smithers” are funny names. I’ve lived in the US my entire life, and I think I need you to explain to _me_ how Clancy Wiggum and Waylon Smithers are wordplay. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/46 "2017-10-05T13:27:39Z")
Who would have thought that a guy named Roy G. Bivolo would become a criminal called Rainbow Warrior. Then There’s Edward Nigma, Harley Quinn, Scott Free, and Joker aliases Joe Kurr and Jack Napier. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/47 "2017-10-05T13:47:11Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Mr. Atoz? Yes? ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/48 "2017-10-05T13:55:47Z")
Really? You don’t see any irony in those names? ---
**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:** [October 5, 2017, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/49 "2017-10-05T14:08:58Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > More than a few of us remember it, I hope. It was published in 1973 and I still have my copy. My long-time faves are: **Amanda B. Reckonwith** and … drumroll … **Theophilus Punoval**. > It’s a treasure, can be read cover to cover almost like a novel, with dozens of little storylines running simultaneously. > > And while I’m here, a fave from my childhood (although I was in college before I got the joke): > Rocky and Bullwinkle’s **Boris Badenov**. Nobody’s mentioned **Lee der Hosen** or **Hugh G Rection** yet. 😃 I started watching R&B when I was four. I didn’t get **Boris Badenov** or **Natasha Fatale** until many years later. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/50 "2017-10-05T14:10:52Z")
> [@jerez](#): > > Really? You don’t see any irony in those names? No, I really don’t. They are kind of odd-sounding and unusual, but I can’t for the life of me see any deeper meaning, puns, or irony in them. Okay, maybe “Wiggum” in the context of “wigging out”, but I don’t know of any explicit or implicit meanings behind “Clancy”, “Weyland”, or “Smithers.” ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/51 "2017-10-05T15:59:01Z")
Many years ago I watched an episode of _The Electric Company_ while I was babysitting. I knew I was going to love this show when it introduced a character called **Fargo North, Decoder.** ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/52 "2017-10-05T16:22:47Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > No, I really don’t. They are kind of odd-sounding and unusual, but I can’t for the life of me see any deeper meaning, puns, or irony in them. Okay, maybe “Wiggum” in the context of “wigging out”, but I don’t know of any explicit or implicit meanings behind “Clancy”, “Weyland”, or “Smithers.” Count me in as baffled also (and also USAian) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/53 "2017-10-05T16:36:59Z")
A pun I didn’t notice util decades after I read the book. In Kurt Vonnegut’s “Cat’s Cradle,” the deadly weapon Ice Nine is developed by a mad scientist named Felix Honneker. Since “Felix” is the Latin word for “happy,” the doctor’s name is actually “Happy Hanukkah.” ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/54 "2017-10-05T16:47:09Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > No, I really don’t. They are kind of odd-sounding and unusual, but I can’t for the life of me see any deeper meaning, puns, or irony in them. Okay, maybe “Wiggum” in the context of “wigging out”, but I don’t know of any explicit or implicit meanings behind “Clancy”, “Weyland”, or “Smithers.” It’s mosly association with cultural references, not necessarily puns or direct borrowing or even homophones (OP says “punny”). I associate “Clancy” with old-time policemen, like the Keystone Cops, although that may just be me. “Wiggum” is reminicent of wiggle (as in a “pig’s” wiggle), and the “-um” ending sounds like the object pronoun “them,” as in the unfortunate recipients of his ineptitude (“wig” them). “Smithers” because he’s a yes-man. I don’t where that comes from; maybe a character from some old TV show. “Waylon” may be a reference to Waylon Jennings, who was a notoriusly tough guy, in juxtaposition to just about everything Smithers says and does. I find it surprising that I have to explain this. Maybe some of them are just me, but I think there are other names with obvious irony. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/55 "2017-10-05T16:48:00Z")
Lots of punny names in comics, as pointed out, but I think they were really reaching with **Turner D. Century** > **[Turner D. Century](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turner_D._Century)** > > Turner D. Century is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. > Turner D. Century first appeared in Spider-Woman #33 (December 1980). The character later appeared in Marvel Team-Up #120 (August 1982). Turner was killed by the Scourge of the Underworld in Captain America #319 (July 1986) but resurrected by The Hood in Punisher Vol. 7 #6 (2009). He was created by J. M. DeMatteis, Steve Leialoha, and Bruce D. Patterson. > Turner D. Century received an en... ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/56 "2017-10-05T16:51:54Z")
Simpsons creator Matt Groening’s mother’s name Margaret Wiggum Groening. No pun intended. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/57 "2017-10-05T16:56:45Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Simpsons creator Matt Groening’s mother’s name Margaret Wiggum Groening. No pun intended. (My) ignorance acknowledged. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/58 "2017-10-05T17:04:06Z")
> [@jerez](#): > > I find it surprising that I have to explain this. Maybe some of them are just me, but I think there are other names with obvious irony. I think that you are reading way, way, _way_ more into it than is actually there. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/59 "2017-10-05T17:06:11Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I think that you are reading way, way, _way_ more into it than is actually there. I dunno. Three is a lot of ways… ---
**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:** [October 5, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982/60 "2017-10-05T17:14:52Z")
More from anime: Naruto Uzomaki = Willpower Swirl Kakashi = Scarecrow Inuyasha = Dog Demon Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon) = Rabbit Moon (The Japanese see a rabbit in the moon rather than a man in the moon.) Fans of the Usagi Yojimbo comic will also appreciate this pun. Really obscure: In _One Piece_ Luffy visits Lilly Island where only women live. In Japanese Lilly is translated as Yuri and Yuri can also mean lesbian. Son Goku literal meaning is “awaking to emptiness” but the pun is “Enlightened Monkey” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-character-names/797982.md?page=4)