Board 8 > What are some names that have become synonymous with a popular character?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Cartman is definitely a legitimate surname. Carter became the more common variation, but it's one of those numerous English profession-based surnames like Smith, Baker, or Miller.

Butters is not so crazy that I couldn't see it as a middle name or nickname for another character otherwise, but yeah that's why I gave it a maybe.
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When I think of Butters I think of Sophia's ferret from Dark Deity. LOL. I don't watch South Park that much.

Also I don't think Drake and Mickey really count. Drake is a rapper and Mickey Mantle was around after Mickey Mouse. (Also the song Hey Mickey)

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Yes, Cartman is a surname. But nobody was giving their kids the name "cartman" before or after south park. It's not a given name.

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Goofus

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I have a friend who insists that the name Alice has this status (because of Alice in Wonderland) and all I can say to that is wuuuuut?

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Alice has gone through many phases, but at the end of the day it's far too common. That being said, I think some of the spikes have coincided with popular adaptations of the story.

Which brings up a point about Elsa - Frozen seems to have had almost the opposite effect on this name, whereby the name actually spiked dramatically around the world (including in the US) after the film was released. It'll be interesting to see if in 15-20 years people are like "yeah, I know a million Elsas to where I don't automatically associate it with Frozen." This is sort of like what Bewitched did for Samantha 50-odd years ago - revitalized a long-outdated name.

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I know an Elsa born long before Frozen, but even she accepted the fame making her name easier for people to understand.

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He's not a character per se, but the Adolf is indelibly linked to Adolf Hitler.

Is the name Donald more likely to invite comparisons to Donald Trump or Donald Duck?

Duck for sure. Most people shorten the former to Trump

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MZero posted...

Not sure what character this is and the first thing that popped into my head was Grover Cleveland

Kermit
Barney
Barbie

how are you gonna say you dont know who grover is and then immediately name a different muppet


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Because you don't need to watch Sesame Street or the Muppets to know who Kermit is

On that note, Bert and Ernie qualify, I think

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Leonhart4 posted...

Because you don't need to watch Sesame Street or the Muppets to know who Kermit is

On that note, Bert and Ernie qualify, I think

Not Ernie. Name doesn't quite ring as familiarly without Bert before it.

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I know an Ernie, and he gets "where's Bert?" jokes on a regular basis so I'd disagree

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fair enough

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Restricted to real life, a lot of these names had already fallen out of fashion long before the fictional characters debuted, and some of the others are old enough examples that they probably would have.
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Cavedweller2000 posted...

Kenny

I have a friend Kenny and never once made this connection.

It's a show that not eveeyone watches, and a side character at that. I feel like any name that qualifies here needs to at least be a main character.

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KCF0107 posted...

Not over one of the most popular figures in contemporary music

that's who I was referring to lol; he's basically a character and his real name is Aubrey

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Everyone named Kenny makes me think of Kenny vs spenny

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changmas posted... how are you gonna say you dont know who grover is and then immediately name a different muppet

idk what to tell you man I have no memory of a muppet named Grover

after googling I do recognize him, didn't remember his name though. Maybe if he had more memes I would remember!

also thought of a few more
Starscream
Winry

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I mean if you dont play video games, like most people, most of those names in the OP are still in play, except for something like Mario, whos iconic across the globe.

I dont think most of those cartoon names are mainstream either. Maybe to you and me and usbut the majority of America? Nah.

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MZero posted...

idk what to tell you man I have no memory of a muppet named Grover

after googling I do recognize him, didn't remember his name though. Maybe if he had more memes I would remember!

TBH Im not even sure if Grover gets more exposure from Sesame Street itself or this:

https://images.app.goo.gl/vYTi698F2dKv4wuZ6


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Ash might be a candidate because of Pokemon, and Evil Dead to a lesser extent.

logan makes me sad

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junk_funk posted...

except for something like Mario, whos iconic across the globe.

Again, way too common of a name in Catholic countries

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A lot of people here have very interesting definitions of "synonymous".

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I would associate Leon with Squall or Kennedy before associating it with a person.

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Lots of the names mentioned can be associated with a character sure, but are way too popular names for them to qualify in the broader picture.


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Chandler
Dwight
Cosmo

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NFUN posted...

the distinction is "would somebody give their fictional character this name (excluding intentional references)" more than "would somebody give their child this name (excluding intentional references)"

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the distinction is "would somebody give their fictional character this name (excluding intentional references)" more than "would somebody give their child this name (excluding intentional references)"

You keep quoting this, and yet this is your projection onto the thread, and not the OP's.

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azuarc posted...

You keep quoting this, and yet this is your projection onto the thread, and not the OP's.

the OP used Mario and Mickey as examples for characters that dominate even real-life names. The OP's logic clearly sucks, and around 2/3s of the posts in this thread are some variation of "<name> is too common in real life to fit", which shows that line of logic is not interesting, particularly as the consequence of that is that weird-ass names you never seen in real life anyway will be the only valid answers.

If Mario isn't a valid answer for the definition used, another definition is in order.

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I don't know if I've ever met someone who goes by Mickey. I'm well aware it's a name, though. I also have no idea when the last time I met a Mario was, even if I can think of a few celebrities (Lopez, Andretti) with that name.

Which is not to say that I necessarily side with that argument. But sometimes there are better ways to make your point.

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Mickey is largely an old person name and Mickey Mouse might be partly responsible for that name falling out of favor.

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