Meaningful Name/Film

In film, the name of a character can at times foreshadow a deeper connection to the plot itself.

---

Animated Films

• Princess Mononoke has Lady Eboshi, who commands her troops with ruthless efficiency. Her name refers to the high hats traditionally worn by Japanese military commanders and nobility.
• Kung Fu Panda
  • Not only does the eponymous panda have a name which reflects his personality yet is contrary to his destiny (Po means "peace"), but his master is named Shifu ("teacher" or "master"). Meanwhile, the facility where the villain is held, Chorh-Gom, means "sitting in prison" while Tai Lung himself translates very close to "Cat Dragon"... the latter having a rather effective if Anvilicious double meaning.
  • Oogway (Wu Gui) means "turtle". Tai Lung means "Ultimate Dragon". With a name like that, it's no wonder Tai Lung grew up convinced he was meant to have the Dragon Scroll. What else was he supposed to do with his life, read tea leaves?
  • In the sequel, Lord Shen's name means either "divinity" or "flame". The former relates to his quest for power. The latter, quite obviously, is a reference to his obsession with cannons.
• The Disney Animated Canon has a few. In Beauty and the Beast, Belle means "beauty", Lumiere is a candelabra, Cogsworth is a clock, Mrs. Potts is a teapot, Chip has a chip in him...
  • LeFou's name sounds similar for "the fool", indicating his clownish and stupid behavior. In addition, as a Bilingual Bonus, the names translation from French means "the mad, the insane, or insanity", hinting that he is Gaston's Psycho Supporter.
  • The Beast's official name (only given in an online quiz), Adam, is also similar to the name of the first human, Adam, from the Book of Genesis. Adam fell from God's graces and ended up punished along with Eve after being seduced into eating from the tree of knowledge, similar to how Prince Adam ended up turning into a Beast for falling from the sorceress's favor due to his selfishness.
• In The Little Mermaid, Ursula's disguise, Vanessa, derives from the latin word Vanitas, which means Vanity, Worthlessness, Emptiness, and Nothingness. Although the Vanity part is extremely obvious, the latter three also have a meaning in there as well, as it hints at Vanessa being Eric's false savior.
• The Lion King:
  • Simba means "lion", Mufasa means "king", Nala means "gift", Rafiki means "friend", Sarabi means "mirage", Sarafina (Nala's mother) means "bright star".
  • Word of God has it that before Scar received his scar and his subsequent name change, his name was Taka which means "trash". If my parents named me this, I would be a bit put off as well.
  • It gets better with some of the other names. Timon means "spirited" and Pumbaa means "simpleton".
  • There are the hyenas Shenzi ("savage, pagan, uncouth"), Banzai ("skulk, lurk") and... Ed (who was named after Ed McMahon, whose job was to laugh at all of Johnny Carson's jokes). There is also a word in English, 'Eddy', which is a synonym of 'whirlpool'.
  • Scar's mate is Zira which means "hate".
  • Her daughter Vitani, who was originally going to be Shetani, meaning "demon" or "devil". Someone worried about Unfortunate Implications so they changed it to something that sounded similar but didn't mean anything.
    • Vitani comes from "vita", which means "war".
  • Zira's sons are Nuka, which means "stink", and Kovu, which means "scar".
• One Hundred and One Dalmatians: Cruella de Vil (actually from the original book, The Hundred and One Dalmatians).
  • Horice and Jasper are actually named "Baddun" (bad one(s)), both in the book and the live action version.
• Sleeping Beauty: Maleficent.
• Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs: Sleepy, Happy, Grumpy, Dopey, Sneezy, Bashful, Doc.
• Chi Fu from Mulan. His name actually means "to pester or annoy" in Chinese.
• Pixar likes to do this a lot. In Toy Story, most of the toys are like this (including our hero Woody, who is a wooden cowboy puppet). Crosses also to Punny Name territory. Though, they are toys.
• Finding Nemo: Nemo is Latin for nobody and it doubles the meaning of the title, because Marlin also finds the courage to be not-so-overprotective towards to his son. The name also alludes to Captain Nemo.
• The Incredibles:
  • Violet is a "shrinking violet" with issues of shyness, and has powers that include keeping people away with purple force fields. Violet could also refer to the fact that she can turn invisible, like ultraviolet radiation.
  • Dash has super speed. (Brad Bird, on the DVD Commentary, says that this was deliberate; the children were given names and powers to match their ages.)
  • In the animated short about Jack Jack, he seems to possess many powers, thus making him a "Jack-of-all-trades".
  • The family's surname, Parr ("par"), reflects how their secret identities are an attempt to blend in with "average" society. This is irony and juxtaposition since the Parrs are Supers, and are therefore not 'par'.
• Ratatouille gives us a few examples, such as the protagonist Alfredo Linguini, a "master chef" whose name means a type of pasta, and the film's antagonists; Anton Ego, who is British critic, who has almost impossible standards and takes offence if someone dares to disagree with his opinions, and chef Skinner, a reference to B. F. Skinner, who invented the Skinner Box, a device for torturing lab rats animal behavioural studies. (Or the name can refer to someone who skins rats.) This being a Pixar movie, it's unlikely that these are the only examples.
• WALL-E has quite a few of these, starting with the title character whose name sounds like "Wally" (and is referred to as such throughout the shooting script). In British English, a "wally" is a foolish or naïve person. Also BURN-E, who sounds like Bernie, the put-upon teacher from The Incredibles. The female robot's name is EVE, and her mission is to help the humans to recolonize the Earth by finding the signs of life. Does it ring any bells? In universe, WALL* E stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth Class and MO is the friendly neighbourhood Microbe Obliterator.
• We Are the Strange has "Blue", a depressed emo and "HIM", a chauvenistic and abusive boyfriend.
• From The Secret of Kells:
  • The mysterious fairy girl, Aisling, has a meaningful name in more than one way: not only is it an Irish girl's name meaning "dream" or "vision", it's also a kind of Irish poetry that frequently features a woman who represents Ireland itself, while calling back to its previous pagan beliefs. In the film, Aisling serves the same purpose.
  • There's also Pangur Ban the cat, who is named after the oldest known poem written in the Irish language...which is about a cat.
• In Who Framed Roger Rabbit? the Toon Patrol had meaningful names in the script - Smart Ass, Greasy, Wheezy, Psycho and Stupid. And Judge Doom.
• Nightmare Before Christmas: Jack Skellington takes over Christmas for a year. One meaning of Jack is "supplanter".
• Dr. Schadenfreude in Igor, which is German for "pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others". The man is an Evil Genius, and his thing is stealing other evil geniuses' inventions.
• Inverted in Tangled with the Stabbington brothers, as they are the ones who are constantly backstabbed by their partner Flynn.

Live-Action Films

• Needy from Jennifer's Body. You'll never guess what her defining personality trait is.
• Hot Fuzz: The hero is named Nicholas Angel, his chubby partner is Butterman, the farmer with a large weapon stash is called Webley and many of the townsfolk have names associated with their jobs (the grocer is Skinner, the gardener is Tiller, the reverend is Shooter (well, okay, that one doesn't make a lot of sense ( until the ending) etc.). Oddly enough, "Nicholas Angel" is a real name, based on the soundtrack producer.
  • As confirmed in the DVD commentary: Mr. Treacher is named after The Siege of Treacher's Farm, the novel on which Straw Dogs was based (there are repeated references to Straw Dogs throughout the film); the vicar is called Philip Shooter (P.Shooter); Eve Draper, the gossip, is a phonetic pun on "eavesdropper"; and Nicholas' name is even referenced in dialogue: "It would appear the heavens have opened" as Nicholas enters the hotel on a rainy day. This is lampshaded by Nicholas in his conversation with Mr P. I. Staker, though that may fit better under Punny Name...
• Hud (Head-Up Display) from Cloverfield.
• In American Beauty the provocative underage girl Angela has the surname Hayes which sounds exactly the same as fictions most famous underage provacateur Lolita Haze.
• In Russ Meyers Vixen the eponymous character is named Vixen Palmer. And funnily enough she isn't chaste and virginal
• The main character of There Will Be Blood is named Daniel Plainview.
• The police chief from Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is called Lois Einhorn ("one-horn" = unicorn). If you've seen the film you can't help but notice the irony.
• Sky High
  • Warren Peace which wasn't just a pun on the famous Leo Tolstoy novel, but also symbolized his inner turmoil due to his blood; he was the son of a supervillain (war) and a superhero (peace).
  • The Strongholds (both Will and his dad have superstrength)
  • Principle Powers (which, since she's the principal of a school for superpowered teens, is significant)
  • Though it may have been unintentional, Ethan is derived from Hebrew and means 'solid/enduring', which could be considered ironic given that Ethan's superpower is to melt.
  • Magenta, who seems to only dress in various shades of purple.
• The less-than-genetically "perfect" hero of Gattaca is named Vincent Freeman; the man whose identity and "second to none" genetic code he assumes is named Jerome Eugene ("good genes") Morrow.
  • There's also Irene Cassini, who shares a surname with the astronomer Giovanni Cassini, the first man to observe four of Saturn's moons. Cassini is also the name of a space probe which was, at the time of filming, on its way to Saturn's moon Titan. In the film, Vincent is preparing to embark on a manned space mission to Titan.
• Played with mercilessly in Spaceballs. The ship is crewed with Assholes. And sleepy Princess-- er, Prince Valium. (It's the hair.)
• Star Wars: Darth Vader, whose name is Dutch for "father". Darths Sidious, Maul, Tyrannus, and Plagueis also have suspiciously apt titles, although this started a bit by accident. In early drafts, Darth Vader was just a name, and that of a regular Imperial officer to boot. The end product is very unlike the early drafts. Vader is also taken from the English word invader which is probally what Sidious (taken from the English word insidious) intended, but considering he's a chess master — who knows?
  • This is parodied mercilessly by the Flash movie The Sith Rejects which determines that Darth must mean "in", and therefore devises dozens of "possible" sith.
  • Han Solo. He's a loner and a rogue, hence he's "solo". Unless you count the eight-foot-tall monkey that hangs out with him.
  • And the death stick dealer Obi-Wan encountered in Episode II is named Elan Sleazebaggano (though this got retcon'd to Elan Sel'Sabagno.)
  • Remember the somewhat overweight X-Wing pilot from A New Hope? His name is Porkins. Nicknamed "Piggy".
  • Luke Skywalker could also be a reference to Mucius Scaevola, a Roman who stuck his right hand in a fire that was going to be used for his execution, as a show of defiance. "Scaevola" is Latin for "left-handed". And the name "Luke" means "Light" in the same language (though he may have just been named for his creator. )
  • Also, the Skywalker family has an innate affinity for piloting. So naturally adept with the vehicles of the sky they might as well be able to walk in it.
  • Additionally, his name was originally going to be Starkiller. Somewhat appropriate for the guy who blew up the Death Star.
  • The Rodian species, composed largely of bounty hunters and other hired guns, may be named after the killer in Crime and Punishment, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov.
  • General Grievous. This one speaks for itself.
  • A nice list.
  • One critic was less kind in his speculations on several Star Wars names. Amidala: Yiddish madela (girly-girl); Anakin: manikin (little man); Princess Leia's a good lay (it was the 70s, and Lucas was in his early 30s); Kenobe: cannibais, presumably what Lucas was smoking when he came up with this.
• In Stay the main character's last name, Letham, is an anagram of Hamlet, which is fitting as the plot is about his struggle with the question of whether To Be or Not to Be.
• In Hot Shots! one of the characters is nicknamed "Deadmeat". He dies.
• In Big Fat Liar, perpetual liar Jason Shepherd has his English paper stolen by Hollywood executive Marty Wolf and Jason isn't believed when he explains this. Their last names refer to Aesop's fable "The Boy Who Cried Wolf".
• The eponymous "true man" of The Truman Show may actually be an in-story example, as the entire point of his adoption and upbringing was that he was the most "real" person on television. Then there's the fact that the Big Bad is named "Christof."
• Dr. Strangelove has General Buck Turgidson and General Jack D. Ripper. There's also Colonel "Bat" Guano, President Merkin Muffley, and Premier Kissoff.
• The James Bond franchise is legendary for its female characters' names having obvious sexual subtext. Pussy Galore, anyone?
  • This is parodied with gusto in the Austin Powers films.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine also had a Bond parody - Mona Lovesit
• The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes franchise gives us Dr. Putrid T. Gangrene. He's a bad guy.
• Final Destination 3 has characters named Ashley and Ashlyn, whose deaths involving heavy burning by tanning beds.
• The name of the Toho Kaiju Angilas is derived from the ankylosaurus, which it resembles. (The sounds "ki" and "gi" are written very similarly in Japanese kana.)
  • The Godzilla series and other Toho kaiju films have this in spades.
    • Rodan's Japanese name, Radon, is adapted from "pteranodon," but was changed to Rodan for English-speaking markets so as to avoid confusion with the chemical element radon.
    • Mothra is just the word "moth" with the common kaiju name suffix "ra" on the end.
    • Ebirah's name is similar - "ebi" is Japanese for shrimp or lobster.
    • Minilla is a contraction of "Mini Godzilla."
    • Kumonga's name comes from the Japanese "kumo," meaning spider.
    • "Hedorah" comes from "hedoro," or sludge.
    • King Seesar takes his name from an old Okinawan legend.
    • Battra comes from "Battle Mothra." Its original Japanese name, "Badora," came from "Bad Mothra," but the name was thought to be awkward to pronounce so Toho changed it to its final form.
    • Kamoebas (Kameba) comes from "kame," which is Japanese for turtle.
• All the characters of Cube are named after prisons. Quentin is named after San Quentin State Prison in California, Holloway after the Holloway Prison in London, Kazan after the prison in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia. Rennes is named after a prison in Rennes, Britanny, France, Alderson after the prison in Alderson, West Virginia, and Leaven and Worth after the prison in Leavenworth, Kansas. The characters themselves reflect the prisons in their traits. Kazan (the autistic man) is a disorganized prison. Rennes (the "mentor") pioneered many of today's prison policies. Quentin (the policeman) is known for brutality. Holloway is a women's prison. Alderson is a prison where isolation is a common punishment. Leavenworth runs on a rigid set of rules (Leaven's mathematics), and the new prison is corporately owned and built (Worth, hired as an architect).
• In The Villain (released as Cactus Jack in the UK and Australia), Arnold Schwarzenegger's character Handsome Stranger is named after his father.
• The Matrix has:
  • Neo's "real" name Thomas intentionally or not goes with the acrophal "Gospel of Thomas". The excluded gospel is full of mysterious Koan-like sayings and goes "once you know your true self/become enlightened you become like Jesus" (there are implications that the author learned a bit of Indian mysticism). The name Anderson may be a pun on the Greek "andros", making him the "Son of Man".
  • Neo is The One, the human with the power to manipulate the Matrix and foretold to end the war between humans and machines. "Neo" is an anagram of "one".
  • "Neo" is derived from the Ancient and Modern Greek word "νεα", meaning "new".
  • There is also Trinity
  • Morpheus helps people enter and leave the "dream-world."
  • Cypher, meaning zero and also a type of encryption, i.e. he has a secret. (The villain in James Bond's Casino Royale was Monsieur Le Chiffre: Le Chiffre means "the cypher" in English.) One of Cypher's most famous quotes from The Matrix is "Ignorance is bliss", which also hints at his desire that the secret of the matrix had never been revealed to him and that he wants to go back into it. There's also the fact that his "real" last name is Reagan, he wants to forget his past and become an actor!.
  • Agent Smith, at first glance, may not have much of a meaningful name other than the fact that he is a program based on conformity (the agents are anglo-saxon, American basic-accented men), but even he actually has a meaningful name: Smith was also used in the Bible, specifically Isaiah 54:16, to which, depending on whether the translation is of the regular or King James edition, it was said: "Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals, and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy..." or "Behold, I have created the Smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.", respectively, which essentially foreshadows his attempt at destroying the Matrix and existance as a whole. The Matrix Reloaded even lampshades this in Smith's first appearance with his car, of which the license plate number has the symbols IS5416.
• In Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, one (gay) supporting character, when Nick asks his name, replies "Whatever you want it to be." Later, he finally reveals it: Lothario. Also, the eponymous couple have the same names as the happy couple in The Thin Man movies.
• Monty Python and The Holy Grail: The aptly-named Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film.
• The Machinist is a dark and creepy movie. The main character's name is Trevor Reznik, which subtly invokes both Trent Reznor (who records dark and creepy music) and Darryl Revok (a character in a different dark and creepy movie). In fact, the actor who played Revok, Michael Ironside, is in The Machinist. He plays another machinist.
• The two protagonists in the Slapstick comedy Dumb and Dumber are named Harold and Lloyd.
• The crew of Reservoir Dogs have randomly assigned Code Names that fit their nature somewhat.
  • Mr White is the most pure of the group, being the one who is morally opposed to killing civilians and tips waitresses because he feels they deserve it.
  • Mr Blonde seems to epitomise the phrase 'Blondes have more fun' - he does sadistic and cruel things purely For the Evulz.
  • Mr Orange is a man of layers, much like the fruit - at first he looks like a cool Badass, then in the very next scene he's hysterically crying about being shot in the stomach. Later, we find out he's a cop.
  • Mr Brown says his name is too close to 'Mr Shit'. He starts off the movie dribbling shit.
  • Mr Blue stays cool and quiet all through the movie.
  • Mr Pink's Code Name is, at first, ironic, as he is the most coldly logical of the group, chastising Mr White for refusing to consider that anybody could be the rat, and praising him when he snaps that Mr Pink could be the rat, as well as refusing to tip a waitress (and having a logical argument for it) until his personal and professional safety was at risk. At the end, he survives the Mexican Standoff by hiding.
• The Largo men in Repo! The Genetic Opera are named Luigi, Pavi and Rotti, after Luciano Pavarotti.
• Mr. Madson in Dead Again. He is quite mad, and kills on behalf of his mother.
• The central character in Clerks has the unusual first name of Dante. Work, and life in general by extension, is hell for him.
• In Click, the Angel of Death is named Morty.
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind- Clementine Oh my darlin' Clementine...You are lost and gone forever...
• The name of Will Dormer, the troubled protagonist in the film Insomnia, is a cognate for the word "to sleep" in several Romance languages.
• Everybody in Inception, the most obvious being Ariadne, "The Architect" (or weaver) of the dream worlds. She is named for the character in Greek mythology who gives Theseus a ball of string to help him navigate the labyrinth. There's also Cobb, who cobbles together his crew, and his love Mal, as in "bad" (mal-formed, mal-aprop, Mal-foy), 'mal' is also French and Spanish for 'wrong' or 'evil' and she is played by Marion Cotillard.
  • A nice Bilingual Bonus in that Yusuf is the Arabic form of the name "Joseph"; one Joseph in The Bible was known as a dream interpreter.
    • And then you have this. Notice only the capital letters: Dom, Robert (Fisher), Eames, Ariadne/Arthur, Mal, Saito. You should have seen that coming.
• Inverted in George Lucas's THX 1138, as everyone has nondescriptive generic cyber-names...which is the point, and thus itself descriptive of the characters and the society they live in.
• In Be Cool: Exemplified by "Sin" LaSalle (played by Cedric The Entertainer), who will go to any lengths, up to and including murder, to get what is owed to him... or just to get even with those who disrespect him.
• The villain of First Knight is named Prince Malagant. It's expressly said in the film's prologue that his split from the Round Table was the beginning of the end of Camelot. Gotta give the screenwriter some credit on this one; who would've thought messing around with "malignant" would get you such a neat name?
• In Awake, one member of the protagonist's surgical team is a young British woman named Penny Carver.
• Cherry Falls is a Slasher Movie about a killer who attacks virginal teens, so the kids are all rushing to disqualify themselves by getting it on with each other. In the town of Cherry Falls. Virginia. Did you spot the meaningful name yet?
• In The Comebacks, Lambeau Fields is a college football coach. Lambeau Field is the Green Bay Packers' home field. One of his players is the talented receiver Aceal Tare, pronounced a-SEAL ta-REE, who has a long successful future ahead of him unless he suffers a freak debilitating injury. Coach Fields repeatedly mispronounces his name as "ACL tear", a serious injury that often ruins sports careers. You can probably see where this is going.
• Die Hard
  • The FBI agents named Johnson in Die Hard. Sure, the first thought is "Johnson & Johnson", but well, they're also both dicks. The credits actually list them as Big Johnson and Little Johnson.
  • The Jerkass reporter is actually named Dick. Go figure.
• Mean Girls. Regina George, leader of the Plastics. Regina is derived from the Latin for queen.
• In Unbreakable, the killer turns out to be Elijah Price. Given that Elijah is a biblical character known for genocide, this is not exactly unexpected. At that point, it seems reasonable to take his surname on face value.
• Lilith, from Case39. This doesn't need any guesswork.
• Wild Wild West. One of Loveless' mistresses can read lips. Her name is "Miss Lippenreader". Talk about subtle.
  • All of his girls are like this. The one who mans the weapons he calls "Munitia," the tallest is "Amazonia", the Asian girl is named "Miss East" and he dubs West, while in disguise, "Ebonia."
    • Rita is the only one who doesn't stick around long enough to get a nickname.
• Lampshaded by Mason in The Rock, although Stanley Goodspeed has to explain the joke. In case you didn't get it, it's Godspeed.
• Victoria Thorne, the prosecutor in the Apocalypse film series movie Judgment, which makes you wonder how she ever managed to get to the top of her profession.
• The precogs in Minority Report, who were used to prevent murders, were named Arthur, Dashiell and Agatha.
• The three main characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean films all have names that have to do with birds. Captain Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann are obvious, and William Turner is the name of a famous ornithologist.
• Toyed with in Pulp Fiction. Butch's cab ride scene.

Esmerelda: "Butch". What does it mean? Butch: I'm American, honey. Our names don't mean shit.

• • Even though his name can actually be used as a synonym for "tough".
• And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird: The robot is named Newman because he'll be a "new man" when they get his artificial intelligence working. It turns out to have a double meaning when the robot is used to allow Matt to come back from the grave and interact with his family again.
• Undercover Brother. A white woman is named Penelope Snow.
• Most of the characters in Clue. Mr. Boddy is the Designated Victim; Wadsworth's name could be taken as a reference to the wadding in an old-style gun, indicating that he is someone worth shooting (as, indeed, he is in the third ending); and the guests all have pseudonyms assigned by Wadsworth that reflect either their appearance (Miss Scarlet has red hair) or attire (Professor Plum wears a plum-colored waistcoat). The sole exception is Mr. Green, who has a Non-Indicative Name.
• In Chicago, the only two innocent characters in the musical have names that imply that they are fools:
  • Hunyak, the only wrongly convicted prisoner, and the only one to be executed. "Honyock" is an ethnic slur that was popular in America from the 1880s through the 1950s. It is derived from a Hungarian word meaning (among other things) "simpleminded" and "loser." Mostly directed at Central-Eastern Europeans.
  • Amos, whom Billy calls "Andy" when he steps down from the witness stand. This is a reference to Amos 'n' Andy, a race comedy radio series originating from Chicago radio station WMAQ beginning in 1928. Most of the series' male characters were performed by two white comedians who had worked in minstrel shows on vaudeville. In the series, Amos was a schemer and Andy was innocent and a bit simpleminded. (This is a happy accident as the name Amos is a carryover from the original play and silent movie which both predated Amos 'n' Andy.)
• The computer in The Dungeonmaster is called X-CaliBR8, a play on the name of the sword Excalibur.