Mistaken for Name

Archer: What's your name?

Alan: Alan. Now shut up!

Archer: Greetings, Alan Nowshutup.

— Small Soldiers

Comedy arises out of a character mistaking a word or phrase for someone's name, usually during their introduction. For example, Alice asks Bob about his name, and in response, Bob hesitates and uses a filler word like "uhm" which Alice misconstrues as Bob's actual name. Or Alice makes an indirect inference about Bob's name and mistakenly associates Bob with a phrase or title and starts addressing him using this unintended moniker.

A variation would be when the lapse involves a language barrier where a character or animal assumes the words they are being addressed by to be their own or someone else's name. Another popular type is an The Name Is Bond, James Bond introduction that leads to a character's name being mistaken for "Bond James Bond".

The mistake is likely made by a Literal-Minded character and it often results in confusion, misunderstandings, and amusing interactions among the characters, as they struggle to correct the error. May also result in a Running Gag or the character to accept this wrong name.

Related to Who's on First?, where someone's name really is a homophone for a common word which leads to a continuous misunderstanding as characters refer to either the word or to the character. Compare Accidental Misnaming where a name gets misremembered for laughs and Malicious Misnaming when the mistake happens on purpose and with malice. See "Miss X" Pun when there is a similar mistake in regards to a female character. Also see Mondegreen Gag, Repeat After Me, Literal-Minded and Overly Literal Transcription.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Kiniro Mosaic: When Aya is introducing herself to Karen, she says, "Aya yo" (yo being a Japanese particle). Karen mistakes her name for "Ayaya."

Comic Books

• De Cape et de Crocs:
  • After Armand Raynal de Maupertuis and Don Lope de Villalobos y Sangrin have introduced themselves to Sabado, he gives his name as "Sabado. Sans plus ("That's all" or "No more")." Don Lope then addresses him as "Señor Sanplus".
  • It's a Running Gag that Don Lope rarely manages to fully introduce himself, leading to one character thinking his last name is "de Villalobos Y".
• Iron Man: Beth Sooner tends to a wounded Doctor Strange by offering him a glass of milk, but mistakenly calls him "Mister" Strange. His attempt to correct her leads to a humorous exchange which leaves them both confused.
  Beth: Milk, Mister Strange?
  Strange: Doctor. Soy?
  Beth: Doctor Soy?
  Strange: What?
• In The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck's Dreamtime Duck of the Never-Never, Scrooge visits Australia, and meets an Aboriginal man on a mystical quest. Scrooge, never the most patient with magic, snorts "And I'm John Philip Sousa". The aboriginal man refers to him as Jonflip for the entirety of the comic. Curiously, in the Italian translation, Scrooge instead invoked Benny Goodman, the King of Swing, who wasn't even born at the moment the comic is set in.
• Silver Surfer: One of Dawn Greenwood's quirks is her tendency to misinterpret simple words or sentences as names. When an alien identifies the Silver Surfer as a "herald", she asks the hero whether "Harold" is his true name. When the Surfer summons his iconic board by saying "To me, my board!", she instead concludes that the object is called "Toomie".
• In Superman Smashes the Klan, when Jimmy Olsen meets Roberta and Tommy Lee, Roberta introduces herself but says "no handshake throw-up". Jimmy then greets her as Roberta Nohandshake Throwup.

Fairy Tales

• In a series of South Asian folktales, a princess is saying her prayers in her palace, when one of her father's emissaries goes to ask her what she wants as a return gift from her father. The princess then says aloud "Sobur" ("Sabar", "Saboor", etc., which is Arabic for "(Have) patience"), since she is busy with her prayers. The king's emissary mistakes it for an object, and tells the king about it. Turns out the word the princess uttered is coincidentally the name of a magic prince from a distant country (which she ends up marrying at the end of the tale).
  • Kupti and Imani (India): Princess Imani is trying to untie a knot when a messenger goes to ask her what gift she wants, and she shouts "Patience". The servant misconstrues this as an object.
  • The Fan Prince (India): The princess is saying her prayers from a prayer book when a servant asks her. The princess then answers "Sabr", as in, "to have patience". The servant misunderstands this to mean a thing named "Sabr".

Fan Works

• Anchor Foal II: The loud miniature husky known as "Shaddap", AKA "Shut Up" because she gets told that so often.
• Oversaturated World: In Oversaturation's "Brightness", when the human version of Twilight Sparkle is taking notes to counter her habit of Accidental Misnaming, Rainbow Dash remarks on it and Pinkie Pie takes it as an additional name that's being written down:
  Dash grinned and put her hands on her hips. "That's right! I'm Rainbow Dash, and these are Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and..." She trailed off once she noticed the spiral-bound notepad in the human Twilight's hands. "Are you taking notes?"
  Pinkie giggled. "Silly Dashie! R. U. Takingnotes is my third cousin, once removed!"
• Done on purpose as a joke in this MST of The Real Ghostbusters fanfic High School Screamsale. The riffer calls Dan "DanDan", because he introduced himself as "Dan. Dan..." but got interrupted.
• Sleeper Hit AU: Ochako calls Izuku "Deku" because she heard Bakugo call him that, not knowing the meaning of said nickname (Bakugo calls Izuku "Deku" as a jab toward Izuku's Quirklessness). She ends up being Izuku's Cynicism Catalyst. Her trying to apologize for the mistake after he's gone Pro gets coldly rejected (not helped by her explaining she thought the nickname sounded "cute").
• In the Calvin and Hobbes fanfic Wherever You Are, it's revealed that Calvin tried to name Hobbes "Hops", but pronounced it wrong because he had a stuffy nose.
• In the How the Grinch Stole Christmas! fanfic You're an Alright One, Mr. Grinch, the protagonist is named Wai En, but when they introduce themselves to a woman, she thinks their name is "Y/N".

Films — Animated

• Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow: When Elina is looking for her room in the Fairy School, she asks Fabian, who assumes she wants his autograph. When she says that she's just looking for her room, he writes her an autograph addressed to "Just Looki Formiroom".
• Cinderella: When the Grand Duke tries to break it to the King that Cinderella had fled the ball, the King assumes that she'd already proposed to the Prince and attempts to knight the Duke for his work.
  King: I hereby dub you Sir... Um, er, by the way, what title would you like?
  Duke: Sire... she got away!
  King: Sir Shegotaway? A peculiar title, but if that's what you... She WHAT?!
• In the trailer for Elio, Elio's planet is referred to as "Um-Earth" because he hesitated to say his planet's name when asked.
• Flushed Away: When Rita and Roddy are brought to the Toad, Roddy complains that he's just an innocent bystander. Bantering Baddie Buddies Spike and Whitey mistake believe that his name is Millicent Bystander and keep referring to him as such for the rest of the film.
• Frozen:
  • Hans introduces himself to Anna as "Prince Hans of the Southern Isles", causing her to think "Of-The-Southern-Isles" is his last name.
  • Olaf asks who "the funny-looking donkey" is. He means Kristoff, but Anna thinks he means Kristoff's reindeer, Sven. This leads to Olaf thinking Kristoff and Sven are both named Sven.
• The Loud House Movie: When the Loud family goes to Scotland, Leni, the stupidest of the siblings, thinks it's called that because all the men there are named Scott, so she keeps saying, "Hi, Scott!" to random men. When she meets a boy there who's coincidentally named Scott, they start dating.
• Penguins of Madagascar: When the Penguins ask the leader of North Wind for his name, he says that it's classified. This leads to them believing his name is literally "Classified" and calling him that for the entire film.
• Ron's Gone Wrong: When Barney first starts interacting with his new Robot Buddy, Ron, he finds that the robot needs to know what his name is. Ron begins going through a list of names that start with A, including "Absolem", causing Barney to incredulously ask "Absolem?!". Ron assumes that "Absolem?!" (in the same surprised tone of voice) is Barney's name and addresses him as such for the majority of the film.
• In Steven Universe: The Movie, Pearl addresses Greg as "Um-Greg Universe" because those were his exact words when her gem setup asked for the name of her owner.
• Tarzan: When Tarzan, who is just starting to learn human English, introduces himself to Jane, her remarks are misinterpreted by him as being her name, leading to a funny and adorable take on the iconic "Me Tarzan, you Jane" moment.
  Tarzan: (gestures to himself) Tarzan.
  (Jane is confused)
  Tarzan: (walks closer) Tar-zan!
  Jane: Tar-zan...?
  (Tarzan hoots with glee)
  Jane: (realizes) Oh, I see!
  Tarzan: Ohisee! Tarzan... Ohisee...
  Jane: No, no, no. No. (clears throat) I'm Jane.
  Tarzan: No, no, no. No. (clears throat) I'm Jane.
  Jane: No, no. (starts on herself) Jane... Tarzan... Jane...
  Tarzan: Jane...
  Jane: Exactly.
• Toy Story 3: When Woody shows Bonnie's Living Toys the name "Andy" written on his boot, it appears backwards, so Buttercup and Mr. Prickle Pants read it as "YDNA" and argue over whether to pronounce that "yid-nuh" or "yid-nay".

Films — Live-Action

• This exchange from Airplane!:
  Stryker: Surely you can't be serious.
  Dr. Rumack: I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.
• In Alice in Wonderland (2010), when the Red Queen first officially meets Alice (who is standing behind a hedge because she ate a magic cake that made her grow too big for her clothes), the White Rabbit says "Um..." when the Red Queen asks who she is (because obviously, the White Rabbit doesn't want to say she's the Queen's enemy and foretold slayer of her Jabberwocky). Alice immediately decides Sure, Let's Go with That and says she's "Um from Umbridge" to trick the Queen into letting her inside her castle so Alice can find the imprisoned Hatter. This causes some Who's on First? hilarity later on...
  Knave of Hearts: (upon seeing Alice) And who is this... lovely creature?
  Red Queen: Um, my new favowite.
  Knave: Well, does she have a name?
  Red Queen: Um.
  Knave: (to Alice) I believe your name... has slipped the Queen's mind.
  Red Queen: Her name. Is. Um, IDIOT!!!
• In Back to the Future, when the McFlys from the past see that Marty has "Calvin Klein" written on his underwear (which is actually the brand, and a real-life brand), they think that's his name.
• In Captain Marvel (2019), Carol's nametag was meant to read "Carol Danvers", but part of it broke off, so people think her name is Vers (pronounced "veers").
• An exchange from The Case Of The Mukkinese Battlehorn:
  Quilt: Are you Mr Maxie?
  Maxie: Such is my name.
  Quilt: We're sorry to bother you, Mr Such, but will Mr Maxie be long?
  Maxie: I am Mr Maxie.
  Quilt: Then you weren't very long, were you?
• In Doctor Strange, Strange's insistence on being referred to as Doctor rather than Mister causes Kaecilius to think his name is "Mister Doctor".
  Kaecilius: How long have you been at Kamar-Taj, Mister...?
  Strange: Doctor.
  Kaecilius: Mister Doctor?
  Strange: It's... "Strange".
  Kaecilius: Maybe. Who am I to judge?
• In A Dog's Purpose, Bailey's owners repeatedly call out his name. Eventually, he pieces together what they mean, but instead thinks his name is "Baileybaileybaileybaileybailey".
• In Electric Dreams, main character Miles mistypes his name as "Moles" when first setting up his new computer. Even after trying to correct the mistake, and long after his computer becomes sentient and able to speak, the machine still calls him Moles.
• Elf: Buddy got his name because the Christmas Elves saw "Little Buddy Diapers" written on his diaper when he was a baby and thought "Buddy" must be his name.
• Godmothered: Duff, who is a camera operator, says "Hiya, I'm Duff, on camera." Eleanor responds by saying "Duff Oncamera. What a lovely name."
• Idiocracy: The computer asks Joe to state his name as it appears on his government ID. He says "I'm not sure if...", and the computer thinks that his name is "Not Sure".
• In John Carter, John Carter first introduces himself to the Tharks as "Captain John Carter of Virginia". The Tharks, not understanding Earthly names or military ranks, repeatedly refer to him as "Virginia".
• In The Muppet Movie, the used car salesman Mad Man Mooney addresses his monster assistant – Sweetums – as "Jack." Kermit says "Hi, Jack!" and Sweetums replies "Jack not name, jack job!" In other words, his job is to pick up the cars in place of a car jack.
• Happens in Small Soldiers, when Alan accidentally conveys his name as "Alan Nowshutup" to the sapient action figure:
  Archer: What's your name?
  Alan: Alan. Now shut up!
  Archer: Greetings, Alan Nowshutup.
• Star Trek Beyond: After Jaylah and Scotty introduce themselves to each other, Jaylah calls Scotty by his full name. He tells her that she can call him "Scotty." Jaylah then proceeds to address him as "Montgomery Scotty" throughout the film.

Jokes

• A story repeated around the world goes like this: A European explorer points at something and asks a native "what is that?" (or "where are we?" or "what do you call that place?"). The native answers, the explorer dutifully writes it down as the official local name (Canada, Yucatan, Krakatoa, kangaroo, etc.), and only later does it transpire that in the native language it actually means "I don't understand what you're saying", "I don't know", "Your finger, you fool", etc.
• A common dad joke is for someone to say how they're feeling, like, "I'm hungry," then the jokester would respond, "Hi, hungry, I'm dad."
• What do you call a nun with a washing machine on her head? Sister Matick.

Literature

• Amelia Bedelia: In one of the prequel books, Amelia asks what her coach's name is at school. She replies, "You can call me just coach", prompting the Literal-Minded Amelia to think her name is "Just Coach". The coach tries to correct her that she meant "only coach" and "coach, period", but that just leads to Amelia thinking those are the coach's name.
• In the book Baker Cat, the eponymous cat gets called "cloth-ears" and "mangy fur-bag" by his Mean Boss humans. The mice think those are his name, so they call him that, until the end, where he reveals his name is actually Tiger.
• In the short story Blessu by Dick King-Smith, the eponymous elephant calf gets named because he has hay fever, and so often gets told, "Bless you", which he took for his name and the adult elephants just went along with it.
• The Dark Profit Saga: For most of the first book Gorm thinks his goblin "squire" (who doesn't speak Imperial) is named "Gleebek". Later some bilingual orcs explain that "gleebek" is Shadowtongue for "hello" and that his actual name is Tib'rin.
• Discworld
  • The series features a camel named You Bastard, implied to be because his owner has called him a bastard so many times that he now answers to it.
  • There is also Hodgesaargh, who raises birds of prey that often don't like him much. The "aargh" part might possibly not be part of his actual name, but Agnes figures it's polite to call someone by the name that they introduced themselves with.
• In The Dolls From Doll Street, a St. Bernard explains his breed to the eponymous dolls. They think that he's saying he's a literal saint and his name is Bernard.
• At the end of Freaky Friday, it's revealed that the man whom Annabel had thought was named Boris all the book is actually named Morris, but she got it wrong due to his Congestion Speak.
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has Arthur give his name to Slartibartfast as "Dent. Arthur Dent"; Slartibartfast then refers to him as "Dentarthurdent."
• In The Laughter Lesson by Leonid Kaminsky, an alien making contact with Vitya Bryukvin is very Literal-Minded, and Vitya's speech is packed with verbal tics. It results in the alien deciding that Vitya's planet is called "WellwhatsitcalledwellsimplyEarth" and that humans breathe a mysterious gas called "withthenoseandmouth".
• In The Magician's Nephew, the animals meet their first human. Not understanding his language, they decide his name must be Brandy because "he made that noise a lot".
• In Martins Mice, Martin meets a mouse, who reveals that "she's pregnant". Martin, not knowing the birds and the bees, thinks that Pregnant is her name.
• Defied in The Raven: The narrator jokingly asks the eponymous raven its name, and it replies with its catchphrase "Nevermore". The narrator says that the answer bears "little relevancy", since "Nevermore" isn't a name.
• Neverwhere: When Richard first meets Door and she asks his name, he stumbles over it a bit. "Richard. Richard Mayhew. Dick."
  Door: Nice to meet you, Richardrichardmayhewdick.
• Wayside School is Falling Down: This is Benjamin Nushmutt's whole gimmick, as a combination of bad luck and his Extreme Doormat personality lead to the whole class thinking his name is Mark Miller (for extra points, "Mark Miller" later shows up on the nonexistent 19th floor). He finally gets the record straight by the end of the book.
• Discussed in the kids' book We Are Wearing Out The Naughty Step, in which the narrator jokes that their dog Angel must think his name is "Don't" since he gets scolded so often.
• The World According to Humphrey features the hamster trying to help students in his class with their problems, but he comically misinterprets their names based on what the teacher says to them repeatedly. As a result, he calls students things like "Sit-Still-Seth", "Pay-Attention-Art", and "Don't-Complain-Mandy-Payne".
• In one French kid's book, a magic door asks the name of the little girl trying to get in. She answers "T'occupe" ("Don't worry about it" or "Mind your own beeswax"), and the door announces "Mademoiselle de Toccupe".
• In the Warrior Cats book Secrets of the Clans, a ditzy kittypet named Fuzz asks what Barley's name is. Taken aback, he replies, "Er... Barley." Fuzz calls him "Erbarley", and Barley tries to correct him, saying "No, just Barley". Fuzz then proceeds to call him "Justbarley" for the rest of the story.

Live-Action TV

• 3rd Rock from the Sun: When Dick is usurped by his dopplegänger:
  Evil Dick: I am your new high commander. From now on you will refer to me as such.
  Harry: Okay, such.
• Arrested Development:
  • Lucille always refers to her adopted Korean son as "Annyong", which is the Korean word for "Hello". She never does learn his real name.
  • In "Marta Complex", Gob overhears a conversation between Marta and her mother where she says she no longer loves Gob and is now in love with "Hermano". Gob goes to Michael and asks him to find out who Hermano is. After several misunderstandings, Michael eventually finds out that "Hermano" is Spanish for "brother". Marta's in love with him, Gob's brother.
• Blackadder: In "Dish and Dishonesty" from Blackadder the Third, Baldrick thinks his own first name is "Sodoff", when he and Blackadder are filling in an application form.
  Baldrick: When I used to play in the gutter, I would say "my name's Baldrick", and they would say "yes, we know, sod off, Baldrick."
  Blackadder: Right, "Mr S. Baldrick".
• In an episode of Charlie's Angels where the Angels work at a circus, a little person asks Bosley his name. He responds, "Bosley; John Bosley," and she addresses him as 'Bosley John Bosley' for the rest of the episode.
• Dinosaurs: When Baby Sinclair is getting named, the guy naming him dies mid-sentence, so he ends up saying, "This child shall be named... Ah! Ugh! ... I'm dying, you idiot!". Baby then gets renamed Ah Ugh I'm Dying You Idiot before being renamed back to Baby.
• Get Smart: The Claw has a Speech Impediment that means he pronounces his L's like R's. This leads to Max thinking he's called the Craw, and due to his speech impediment, the Claw can't correct him.
• Lucifer: Lucifer gets into a truck, which unbeknownst to him has been stolen by Lee Garner, who Lucifer briefly met once before. Lee points a gun at Lucifer and tells him to get out. Lucifer says "I think we can make a deal Mr....?" Lee ignores him and says, "Said out, bitch!" Lucifer spends the rest of the series calling him "Mr. Saidoutbitch".
• Kenan & Kel: In episode "In The Line of Kenan", US president Bill Clinton visits the local convenience store Rigby's and meets Kenan and Kel. Kenan, overwhelmed by the encounter, stutters his name as "Kiki", which Clinton mistakes for his name. Kel being Kel, he gives his name as "Sharona", out of nowhere. The president then keeps calling the duo Kiki and Sharona.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation:
  • In "The Outrageous Okona", Okona does this as a joke — Wesley introduces himself as "Wesley. Wesley Crusher", so Okona calls him "Wesley-Wesley Crusher".
  • In "Thine Own Self", Data has amnesia, and when he sees the word "Radioactive" written on his briefcase, he wonders if it's his name.
• Star Trek: Voyager: Presumably because of this trope, Neelix refers to Tuvok as "Mr. Vulcan" because Tuvok introduced himself as his species, rather than his name, when first meeting Neelix in "Caretaker"
  Tuvok: I am Vulcan.
• Star Trek: Enterprise: In "Dawn", Trip exclaims, "Dammit!". This leads to an alien thinking Trip's name is Dammit.
• The Wire: In "The Detail", Bunk and McNulty come down to The Pit to talk about D'angelo who is sitting with Bodie.
  McNulty: This is just us talking right? Just you, me, my partner and... what did you say your name was?
  Bodie: I didn't say shit.
  McNulty: Just you, me, my partner and Mr. Shit here.
• In The Worst Witch, Mildred gets a cat (because she's a witch, and in-series, All Witches Have Cats to act as their familiars). Mildred is surprised at having gotten a tabby cat instead of the stereotypical black cat and says, "He's tabby!". Miss Hardbroom thinks that Mildred's naming him Tabby, so she just goes along with it.

Video Games

• In Another Code, when D asks for her name, Ashley (still rattled by the fact that she's talking to a ghost) stammers "A-Ashley". D mistakes the stammering for part of her name and replies, "'A-Ashley'? That's a funny name".
• Final Fantasy VI: When Sabin and Cyan first meet Gau, Cyan addresses Sabin by using the word "Thou" so much that Gau addresses Sabin as "Mr. Thou".
• League of Legends: The canonical reason for Yuumi's name is that she misinterpreted Norra saying "you [...] me" and assumed it was her name.
• In the third DLC of Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, "Rayman in the Phantom Show", Rayman tries to introduce himself to Beep-0, Rabbid Mario and Rabbid Peach, but gets interrupted by the group getting attacked to Goombas and Stooges, letting out an "Egad!" in shock. Beep-0 mistakes this as a shortening of Eggplant, and even after Rayman properly introduces himself, Beep-0 thinks his full name is "Mr. Rayman Eggplant" for the rest of the DLC.
• In Moshi Monsters, Captain Buck E. Barnacle's real name is Bucky Barnacle, but Lefty initially got it wrong, and the nickname stuck.
• Overpowered pulls one on the player by having the "more" option in the name selection be treated as a name instead of opening another menu.
• In the DLC for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, when Amarys first meets the player's Koraidon/Miraidon, it cries out "Agias!", which is the only thing it ever says. Amarys hears this, takes Pokémon Speak to its logical conclusion, and assumes that is the name of Koraidon/Miraidon. She is never corrected, and as such keeps calling it "Agias" any time it comes up.
• River City Girls: In the flashback after getting the fake gold cat statue, after Misako defends Kyoko and asks Kyoko's name and takes her awed response as a name:
  Misako: Get up, kid. What's your name?
  Kyoko: ...So cool...
  Misako: That's a weird name. I'm Misako.

Visual Novels

• In Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, the titular protagonist is already nervous about his first trial, and introductions get off on the wrong foot when Apollo meets Phoenix Wright for the first time, with Apollo defending Phoenix for a murder accusation.
  Phoenix: So, you're...
  Apollo: Fine! I-I'm fine!
  Phoenix: Ah... Mr. Fine, is it?
  Apollo: Uh...
  Phoenix: I did remember you having an odd name.
  Apollo: (Well, we're off to a great start.)

Web Animation

• Folding Ideas: In "The Art of Storytelling and The Book of Henry", Dan consistently refers to the teacher character as Goddammit Janice—because the first time her name is mentioned in the movie, it's when Henry bursts into her office and declares "Goddammit, Janice!"
• Lucas the Spider: When Lucas initially asks a fly's name, he doesn't respond; he simply buzzes. This causes Lucas to think the fly's name is Bzzt, until he reveals that it's actually Findley.

Webcomics

• Loving Reaper: Played for Drama when the ghost of an abused parrot introduces itself as Shut Up, saying that's what its owners always "called" it.

Web Original

• CollegeHumor: One satirical article involves a story from the perspective of a little boy. The boy calls his father's girlfriend (his parents are divorced) "Bich", the implication being that he heard his mother calling her a bitch and assumed that was the girlfriend's name.
• Nobody Here: Implied in "Cat", where Jogchem states that he once had a cat named Shoo—the implication being that he tried to shoo away the cat, but it ended up thinking that was its name instead.

Web Videos

• Dragon Ball Z Abridged: This exchange happens between Krillin and Future Trunks in "Episode 33", where Trunks is trying to prevent any information about himself from being known or else he messes up the current timeline.
  Krillin: So stranger, what's your name?
  Trunks: Can't say.
  Krillin: Well Mr. Can't Say, I'm Krillin!
  Trunks: That's not funny.
  Krillin: What isn't?
• A Heist with Markiplier has one ending in which Markiplier is approached by aliens who ask for his name. Overwhelmed by the situation Markiplier stammers "Uhm, wait..." which the aliens take for his real name and continue to address him with.
  Aliens: You will always be remembered, Uhm Wait!
• To Boldly Flee: General Zod is first introduced to Terl with a dramatic gesture and a demand to "KNEEEEL!" Terl's reply: "Hello, Neil. Nice to meet you."

Western Animation

• The Amazing World of Gumball, in “The Dress”, Gumball comes to school wearing his mom’s wedding dress. And surprisingly, everyone believed of him to be a beautiful girl. So Gumball went along this act, to avoid embarrassment. And tries to come up with a name with the things he see in his surroundings.
  Gumball: Gum…Ball-oops! Uh…Egg…Wobble…Underpants!
  Anais: (facepalms)
  Penny: Is that a foreign name?
  Gumball: Yes! Yes! I’m, uh, from, buh-duh-duh... Europe!
  Tina: Where in Europe?
  Gumball: Uh... Gum... bald— No! Uh... wig... battle-ax... ninja!
  • And people would interpret the name as “Gumball Oops Eggwobble Underpants” from “Gumbald Nowig Battle-ax Ninja.”
  • And later when Gumball comes home, not even his dad could recognize him.
    Richard: Hmm? Who's your pretty friend, Anais?
    Gumball: It's me, Dad.
    Richard: Hello, “It's Me Dad.” Is she foreign?
    Anais: (Facepalms) Ugh!

• Amphibia: In "Lost in Newtopia", Anne orders some local street food. When the vendor warns her that the food is spicy, she claims that she's not scared by spicy food, asserting, "I'm Thai" (referring to her nationality from Thailand). The vendor stares in confusion for a moment and replies, 'Uh, Jerry.'"
• Ben 10: In Classic continuity it happens two times:
  • In "Alone Together", after Ben introduces himself as "Ben. Ben Tennyson" to Reinrassig III, the latter calls him "Ben-ben Tennyson" from that moment (even in future episodes).
  • In "The More Things Change, Part 2", Ben said Rook to "call him Ben, dude". Rook starts calling him "Ben Dude". Unlike Reinrassig III, Ben tells him to call him Ben and Rook gets the point.
• Bluey: In "Tradies", Sparky mentions his "missus". Bluey has never heard this term before, so she thinks Me Missus is the woman's name until Sparky explains that "missus" is slang for "wife" and his wife's name is Jules.
• Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh: When Pooh shows up at Piglet's door, Piglet tries to prove whether or not he's a "spookable" by asking him to say something only his friend would say.
  Pooh: What should I say?
  Piglet: Well, possibly, uh... "I am Pooh"?
  Pooh: You are? Well, then, who am I?
  Piglet: (chuckles) It's Pooh!
• The Casagrandes: In "Copy Can't", Ronnie Anne gets a minor injury and says, "Ow!". This causes her baby cousin Carlitos to think it's her name.
• Disenchantment: In "Fish Out of Water", Zog is mistaken for a contestant in a wrestling match. When the promoter asks Zog what his name is...
  Zog: It's King Zog, ya jerk!
  Promoter: [to the crowd] King Zogyajerk!
• The Fairly OddParents!:
  • In "Miss Dimmsdale", Timmy meets with Adam West at his mansion in order to get an autograph from him. When Timmy is asked who the autograph should be made out to, Timmy blurts out Vicky when he sees the woman cleaning West's manor for free. West then writes Vicky's name on the photograph along with his signature.
  • In "Love at First Height", Timmy wishes himself into a teenager to ride a roller coaster. He then finds that his Babysitter from Hell, Vicky, now has a crush on him. When she asks his name, he yells, "Gah!" This leads to everyone thinking Timmy is a Norwegian supermodel named Gah.
• Jackie Chan Adventures has the one-shot villain Origami from the episode with the same name constantly calling our hero "Chan Jackie Chan" after he did a Bond, James Bond introduction one time.
• Johnny Test: In "Johnny'mon", Johnny meets Blast Ketchup from the titular Phonýmon series. He introduces Dukey, describing him as "my mutt...dog". Blast thinks this means his name is Mymuttdog. Later, in "Return of Johnny'mon", Hugh meets Blast and says, "I'm his^note Johnny's dad", causing Blast to think that he's a Tiny'mon called Imhisdad.
• The Loud House:
  • In "Linc or Swim", when Luan is trying to teach Leni how to play Marco Polo, she says, "I'm Marco, you're Polo". Leni thinks this must be their names and wonders who Leni is if it's not her.
  • In "Suite and Sour", Leni accidentally puts on the nametag of a man named Fritz, causing people to think her name is Fritz. Leni is so dumb that she thinks that must be her name.
• Milo Murphy's Law:
  • At the beginning of the episode "Battle of the Bands", a stage manager asks Milo, Zack, Melissa, and Mort what their band is called. Milo notes that they haven't had time to come up with a band name yet because they're "just getting started". The manager assumes "Just Getting Started" is their band name and calls them as such, which they go along with, but Zack notes later in the episode that they could use a better name.
  • In "Cake 'Splosion!", Basil Bravo asks Milo Murphy and Amanda Lopez for their names. Due to interrupting them before they finish the second syllable of their surnames, Basil assumes that their names are "Milo Murph" and "Amanda Lop", respectively, resulting in Milo and Amanda unsuccessfully attempting to correct him.
• Mr. Magoo: In one episode, Magoo asks a bird (who he thinks is a person) its name. It squawks, causing him to think Skrak is its name.
• My Big, Big Friend: In "Flower Power", several sentient flowers mistake Matt and Bongo for plants. Matt says, "That's cuz I'm not a flower!" and the flowers then take this to mean that his name is "Matt Not-a-Flower".
• The Octonauts: In "The Hermit Crabs", Peso asks the titular hermit crab for his name, to which he yells "Get me out!" (since he is stuck inside his shell, which he has grown too big for). Peso then addresses him as "Mr. Getmeout".
• The Replacements: At one point, Todd says to Agent K, "Danger is your middle name!". K replies, "Actually, my middle name is classified". Dick takes this literally and says, "Classified?! But you told me it was 'Mildred'!".
• Rugrats:
  • In "Special Delivery", Tommy sees a doll and thinks it's a real girl due to believing a sister was arriving for him in the mail. When he asks what its name is, it says, "Mama!". Tommy replies that it's a funny coincidence since that's also his mother's name (her real name is Didi).
  • In "The Case of the Missing Rugrat", Tommy asks a parrot what his name is. He just echoes back, "My name's Tommy!", causing Tommy to think they both have the same name.
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Inverted in "Good Ol' Whatshisname" where someone named "Mr. What Zit Tooyah" gives his name and Squidward mistakes it as a phrase that means "none of your business". As a result, the octopus steals What Zit Tooyah's wallet in an attempt to learn the man's name and gets arrested for it.
• Steven Universe:
  • In "Are You My Dad?" and "I Am My Mom", a mysterious gem named Aquamarine asks Steven to help her find "my dad", which confuses him because Gems don't have parents. It turns out she's acting on behalf of the Diamonds to fill the "Human Zoo" with one member of each "variety" of human, which are exactly the ones Steven told Peridot about all the way back in "Marble Madness".
    Aquamarine: Let's see. Yellow Diamond asked for a Mydad [Greg], a Connie, a Lars, a Sadie, a Mailman [Jamie], and an Onionithink. Six human variations specified in a report by Peridot-5XG.
    [Steven gasps in realization, triggering a flashback to when he first met Peridot]
    Steven: Oh no, there's lots of humans. There's my dad, Connie, Lars and Sadie, the mailman, Onion... I think.
    [back in the present]
    Steven: The list!
  • It happens again in "Familiar", when Steven attempts to tell Yellow Pearl what to call him. He has some fun with it:
    Yellow Pearl: Pink Diamond!
    Steven: Please, call me Steven.
    Yellow Pearl: Pink Steven.
    Steven: No, just Steven.
    Yellow Pearl: Just Steven.
    (Beat)
    Steven: Call me...lasagna.
    And thus Pink Lasagna is born!
• Thomas & Friends: In "Confusion Without Delay", Rebecca is brought to Sodor to help Gordon out with his express work (much to the latter's dismay, since she has taken Henry's place in Tidmouth Sheds following the latter's departure). Rebecca tries to prove to everyone that she can be useful and not be late, but she keeps arriving at her destinations ahead of schedule. When she arrives at Brendam Docks to pick up passengers from a cruise ship, she gets in the way of both Salty and Porter. As she gets out of their way, she tells them "My name's Rebecca, by the way." She then bumps into Diesel, who has overheard and addresses her as "Rebecca By-the-way". Rebecca apologizes, but since she only just met Diesel, she tells him that she doesn't know what to call him. Diesel tells her "I'm Diesel, I think you'll find.", which causes her to address him as "Diesel I-think-you'll-find."
• Xavier: Renegade Angel: While Xavier promises to find the one who killed his father he gets his vision saying "Son, it was you who killed me", which he interprets that he was killed by a man named "Yoohoo".

Real Life

• For years, Irish police searched for a man by the name of "Prawo Jazdy", who must have been the worst driver in Ireland if his truly massive number of traffic tickets were anything to go by. They were never able to catch him because his address seemed to change every time he was pulled over. Eventually someone cracked the case. "Prawo Jazdy" was not a name at all, but rather Polish for "Driving License".

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