History Main / ArtifactName

* In-universe example: In season 13 of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' Cartman started dressing up as a superhero named "the Coon," and he later assembled a superhero team with the other kids named "Coon and Friends." He’d eventually get kicked out of the group for beating up two of the other members, but they still kept the name even after he left.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': Kevin the bird is still called thusly even after Dug reveals she's a girl.

* In ''Series/SesameStreet'', Baby Bear is still named that even though he's no longer a baby. There was actually an episode where he tried to rename himself Not-a-Baby Bear, but it didn't stick.

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[[folder:Film - Live Action]]

* Stephanie Brown, ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2009}}'', originally operated under the superhero identity of the Spoiler. Her name and ''modus operandi'' came from her relationship with her father, the Cluemaster, who was [[CriminalMindgames a B-grade Riddler knockoff]]. Stephanie grew to despise her father and his criminal ways, so she would go out and leave clues to help Franchise/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} catch him, {{spoil|er}}ing his crimes. However, Stephanie quickly branched out into crimefighting beyond her father and she no longer did any "spoiling", she would directly intervene and fight crime herself. She retained the name for years, not counting her brief tenure as the fourth Robin, and there became such a disconnect between her current activities and her original actions that even a lot of her fans did not know where her identity came from. In 2009, following the death of Batman, [[LegacyCharacter she inherited the Batgirl title from]] [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Cassandra Cain]] and the Spoiler identity was laid to rest. When she came back post-F, she was back to her original motivation of spoiling her father's crimes.

** The Utah Jazz came from New Orleans.

* In-universe example: In season 13 of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' Cartman started dressing up as a superhero named “the Coon," and he later assembled a superhero team with the other kids named "Coon and Friends.” He’d eventually get kicked out of the group for beating up two of the other members, but they still kept the name even after he left.
-->'''Stan:''' Mysterion, if Cartman's gone, why are we still calling ourselves "Coon and Friends?"
-->'''[[TheCowl Mysterion]]:''' Because it pisses Cartman off beyond belief, and I find that [[NotSoAboveItAll (chuckles)]] ''extremely'' funny.

* Music/ElectricLightOrchestra was originally conceived in 1970 as a rock band with classical instruments and sounds — an electrified light orchestra, hence its name. The reed and french horn players left the group during the recording of their second album while the role of the string section decreased over the years, rendering the "light orchestra" part of their name more and more moot. By the release of ''Time'' in 1981 the string players were also gone, with the four remaining band members playing standard rock instruments and any classical sounds in their new songs being created with synthesizers.

* The term "New Media" itself was first used in the late 1990s by media companies to describe their then-new divisions producing or repackaging content for the Internet (or in some cases, video games). It's been 15-20 years since then, during which time the Internet has for some of them become the dominant or even only medium.

* The Five Man Electrical Band hasn’t actually had five members since drummer Mike Bell and bassist Brian Rading both left in 1973, reducing the band to only three. The current version of the group has [[OneExtraMember six members]] who still play a handful of live concerts every year.
* Many British and American post-punk and synthpop bands that originally debuted in the late 70s and early 80s are still labeled as “New Wave” bands, even though none of the groups from that era who are still active are exactly “new” anymore.

* ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' derived its title from the fact that its original cast ran away from home when they discovered that their parents were supervillains. In the current iteration of the team, only Gert counts as an actual runaway; Nico, Chase, and Karolina are all legally adults, Molly is technically legally adopted, and Victor is no longer subject to truancy laws due to being a head attached to a Roomba.

** ''Literature/FoundationSeries'': Multiple cases of InUniverse the [[LandOfOneCity Mayor of Terminus]] was a title for the civilian leader of the town that grew up to support the Encyclopedia Foundation. As Terminus' influence grows, [[RisingEmpire they govern more and more planets]], and will eventually be the civilian leader of the [[GalacticSuperpower Second Galactic Empire]]. Their title, however, remains "Mayor of Terminus".

* Norway rats, also known as Norwegian brown rats, are so-called because they were believed to have arrived in England on a Norwegian boat. They're still called that, despite the fact that historians have discovered that it's likely a Danish boat.

* * In the children's short story ''Genius Jones and Fat Cat'', this is subverted with the eponymous cat's name. She starts out chubby, and so is named, but then she [[TemporaryBulkChange turns skinny]]... but then she regains the weight she lost.

* The [[HumongousMecha Zords]] in ''Franchise/PowerRaners'' were named after TheMentor of the original team, Zordon. Despite his HeroicSacrifice at the end of ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'', they still call their machines and robots "Zords" for no real reason.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': In season 5, Oliver recruits five new members to his team, they were referred to in-universe as The Recruits and New Team Arrow. In season 6, the remaining recruits, Curtis, Dinah, and Renee, have a major split that puts them in opposition with Original Team Arrow (Oliver, Diggle, Felicity). However, they are often still referred to as New Team Arrow both in-universe and out. Curtis eventually suggests 'The Outsiders' but at the end of season 6, it hasn't caught on and they don't seem to have an official name.

* The term "New Media" itself was first used in the late 1990s by media companies to describe their then-new divisions producing or repackaging content for the Internet. It's been 15-20 years since then, during which time the Internet has for some of them become the dominant or even only medium.

This can overlap with NonIndicativeName in cases where somehow, further inaccuracy is not caused by change over time, usually requiring two parts to a name, like if a "green dragon" has its color redefined as "blue" over time, but then its "dragon" nature is discovered to be innaccurate.

* ''Literature/IRobot'': USR, the robot manufacturing corporation at the center of the plot, continues to call itself "'''U'''nited '''S'''tates '''R'''obotics" long after the United States has ceased to exist as a country.