History Main / DiseasedName

A common source of ParodyNames, and target of WhoNamesTheirKidDude. Not to be confused with TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed. IndexSyndrome is an index of trope names that sound like diseases. Can often overlap with NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast as diseases are something that most people want to run away from. Overlaps with UnfortunateNames if the Diseased Name incurs a negative reaction.

* InteractiveFiction game ''VideoGame/{{Varicella}}'' has its title character share a name with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varicella_zoster_virus chickenpox]]. Fittingly, he's wholly unpleasant, but not as bad as some of his contemporaries.

* "Alexia" is a variation on Alexandra, Alexis et al that's also the medical term for loss of the ability to read.
* While "Amelia" is Latin for "lacking a limb", [[InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike the given name is actually derived from German for "work", making it a linguistic false friend.]]
* "Caecilia" is a good example. It's a rather common Roman gens that eventually spawned many derivatives including but not limited to: "Cecil", "Cecilia", "Cecily", etc. It is derived from the Latin adjective "caecus", which means "blind".
* "Balbus" and its derivative "Balba" is used as a given name (though not much in modern times), most notably by UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}'s mother, Atia Balba Caesonia. It's a Latin adjective that means "stammering/stuttering".
** Another example that ''did'' hold up to modern times is "Blaise", which is derived from Latin "Blasius", from the Latin adjective "blaesus", which means lisping/stammering. [[Literature/HarryPotter By the way, it's a masculine name (at least it's supposed to be)]].
* The ever-present Roman royal names "Claudius" and its derivatives "Claudia", "Claude", "Claudio"... It's from the adjective "claudus", meaning "crippled".
* "Melena" (alternate spelling "Melina"; literally "dark spots" in Greek) is used as a girls' name, but it also means "blood in excrement" as blood manifests itself as dark spots on stool.
* There are parents who choose to misspell the perfectly normal "Lisa" to "Lyssa", thinking that it's more elegant. Little do they know that "Lyssa" is an actual word in Greek that means "madness" (in fact, there's an obscure Ancient Greek goddess with the name, though she's JustFollowingOrders) and is used in the present day as a translation of... rabies.
* A very rare non-Greek and Latin example: "Khadija" is Arabic for "premature child" and is usually applied to those children who are born premature, which, while not a disease by itself, is really a condition that should be avoided. But because a wife of [[UsefulNotes/TheProphetMuhammad Prophet Muhammad]] bore it, it became very popular among Muslims of Arabia, and the [[UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} religion]]'s expansion to the entire world exported the name too.
* A story is told of an unpleasant [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships Fleet Air Arm]] pilot who demanded the name of his girlfriend (Phyllis) be painted on his aircraft. The flight crew complied, then one prankster saw fit to add "Sy" just in front. The pilot didn't notice, but everyone else on base did.
* Duke Zhuang of Zheng, the most powerful person in China during the latter half of 8th century BCE, was born in a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breech_birth breech position]]. His name Wusheng literally means that.

"He finds that it's a good conversation starter.", Gerba replied. "If we'd had a girl, we'd have named her Sally Salmonella."

* Another stuttering example that ''did'' hold up to modern times is "Blaise", which is derived from Latin "Blasius", ultimately from the Latin adjective "blaesus", which means... you guessed it. [[Literature/HarryPotter By the way, it's a masculine name (at least it's supposed to be)]].

* The ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "WesternAnimation/KnightyKnightBugs" has one of Myth/KingArthur's knights named Sir Osis of Liver. Naturally, he's introduced drinking a glass of wine (and doing a SpitTake when the king mentions the Black Knight).

** And who could forget [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain The Gangreen (sic) Gang]]? And the Dooks of Doom (it's supposed to be "Dukes", certainly, but [[RougeAnglesofSatin what is likely their leader's poor spelling]] makes the gang's name synonymous with [[UnfortunateImplications a child's nickname for stool]].

* [[RebelliousPrincess Bernadette]]'s real name in ''Manga/MobileSuitCrossboneGundam'' can be read as Tetanus ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS though most fan translations romanize it as Tetanith]]). It's little wonder she prefers being called Bernadette even after the crew find out who she really is.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Lysa Arryn (nee Tully) is only one letter off from Lyssa, meaning "madness" or in modern usage "rabies." At first it comes off as SpellMyNameWithAnS for the name Lisa, but given Lysa's [[{{Yandere}} character]] it was likely deliberate.

* There was a US Navy sailor named [[https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/tonsillitis-jackson-nominative-determinism-aptonym Tonsillitis Jackson]], who once actually suffered from the same disease he was named after. He also had siblings named Meningitis, Appendicitis, Laryngitis, Peritonitis, and Jakeitis.[[note]]An inflammation caused by "jake", a liquor disguised as medicine during Prohibition.[[/note]] Apparently, their mother decided to name her children after whatever ailment she was suffering at the time they were born.

* Heavy metal band Music/{{Anthrax}}''.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Lysa Arryn (nee Tully) is only one letter off from Lyssa, meaning "madness" or in modern usage "rabies." At first it might just come off as SpellMyNameWithAnS, but given Lysa's [[{{Yandere}} character]] it was likely deliberate.

*** Catarrhina's character design is [[ShoutOut strangely reminiscent]] of the curse goddess Hina Kagiyama from ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}''.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' Daki's birth name, Ume, comes from her prostitute mother naming her after the syphilis that would eventually kill her.[[note]]The Japanese term for syphilis is "baidoku" (黴毒, literally 'mold poison', probably in reference to the rashes a patient develops). As it happens, the kanji for Bai and Ume (梅 literally "plum") are interchangeably acceptable to use/write when referring to syphilis, with the latter referring to the shape of the ulcers patients develop[[/note]]

** ''Asterix and the Olympic Games'' has an Athenian tour guide named Diabetes.
** In a ''very'' unfortunate turn of events, the antagonist of ''The Chariot Race'' (published 2017) is named Coronavirus.

* ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheJerleShannara'' has an evil supercomputer called Antrax.

* ''Myth/RobinHood'': On ''Series/MaidMarianAndHerMerryMen'', one of Marian's henchmen was a particularly large and stupid peasant named Rabies.

* Heavy metal band Anthrax.

* Creator/WoodyAllen's play ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_(play) God]]'' uses this for the ThemeNaming of its main characters: Diabetes, principal actor of the ShowWithinAShow; Hepatitis, its writer; Trichinosis, inventor of the DeusExMachina; and Bursitis, the unfortunate actor chosen to play Zeus.

* The Castle Anthrax in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.

** Narrowly averted in ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'', where we're told "There'd be a Chlamydia Weaver toddling around today if her mother hadn't suddenly decided that 'Sally' was easier to spell".
** ''Literature/WyrdSisters'' has two separate characters [[LampshadeHanging point out]] that [[MicroMonarchy Lancre]] sounds vaguely like some sort of disease.

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* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'':

* Demencia (the Spanish spelling of Dementia) from ''WesternAnimation/[[VillainousCartoonNetwork Villainous]]'' is a nutty MonsterFangirl of an EldritchAbomination supervillain.

* "Caecilia" is a good example. It's a rather common Roman gens that eventually spawned many derivatives including but not limited to: "Cecil", "Cecilia", "Cecily", etc...It is derived from the Latin adjective "caecus", which means "blind".

** Another stuttering example that ''did'' hold up to modern times is "Blaise", which is derived from Latin "Blasius", ultimately from the Latin adjective "blaesus", which means...you guessed it. [[Literature/HarryPotter By the way, it's a masculine name (at least it's supposed to be)]].
* The ever-present Roman royal names "Claudius" and its derivatives "Claudia", "Claude", "Claudio"...It's from the adjective "claudus", meaning "crippled".

* There are parents who choose to misspell the perfectly-normal "Lisa" to "Lyssa", thinking that it's more elegant. Little do they know that "Lyssa" is an actual word in Greek that means "madness" (in fact, there's an obscure Ancient Greek goddess with the name, though she's JustFollowingOrders) and is used in the present day as a translation of... rabies.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' Daki's birth name, Ume, comes from her prostitute mother naming her after the syphilis that would eventually kill her.[[note]]The Japanese term for syphilis is "baidoku" (黴毒, literally 'mold poison', probably in reference to the rashes a patient develops). As it happens, the kanji for Bai and Ume (梅 literally "plum") are interchangeably acceptable to use/write when referriung to syphilis, with the latter referring to the shape of the ulcers patients develop[[/note]]

* In ''Anime/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' Daki's birth name, Ume, comes from her prostitute mother naming her after the syphilis that would eventually kill her.[[note]]The Japanese term for syphilis is "baidoku" (黴毒, literally 'mold poison', probably in reference to the rashes a patient develops). As it happens, the kanji for Bai and Ume (梅 literally "plum") are interchangeably acceptable to use/write when referriung to syphilis, with the latter referring to the shape of the ulcers patients develop[[/note]]

* In ''Anime/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' Daki's birth name, Ume, comes from her prostitute mother naming her after the syphilis that would eventually kill her.[[note]]The Japanese term for syphilis is "baidoku" (黴毒, literally 'mold poison', probably in reference to the rashes a patient develops). As it happens, the kanji for Bai and Ume (梅 literally "plum") are interchangeably acceptable to use/write when referring to syphilis, with the later referring to the shape of the ulcers patients develop[[/note]]

* In ''Anime/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' Daki's birth name, Ume, comes from her prostitute mother naming her after the syphilis that would eventually kill her.[[note]]The Japanese term for syphilis is "baidoku" (黴毒, literally 'mold poison', probably in reference to the rashes a patient develops). As it happens, the kanji for Bai and Ume (梅) are interchangeably acceptable to use/write when referring to syphilis[[/note]]

* In ''Animd/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' Daki's birth name, Ume, comes from her prostitute mother naming her after the syphilis that would eventually kill her.[[note]]The Japanese term for syphilis is "baidoku" (黴毒, literally 'mold poison', probably in reference to the rashes a patient develops). As it happens, the kanji for Bai and Ume (梅) are interchangeably acceptable to use/write when referring to syphilis[[/note]]

* In ''Animd/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHashira'' Daki's birth name, Ume, comes from her prostitute mother naming her after the syphilis that would eventually kill her.[[note]]The Japanese term for syphilis is "baidoku" (黴毒, literally 'mold poison', probably in reference to the rashes a patient develops). As it happens, the kanji for Bai and Ume (梅) are interchangeably acceptable to use/write when referring to syphilis[[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'':

* Demencia (the Spanish spelling of Dementia) from ''WesternAnimation/{{Villainous}}'' is a nutty MonsterFangirl of an EldritchAbomination supervillain.

* ''Literature/MortalEngines'': The title character of ''Fever Crumb'' explains that, when she was born, it was fashionable for children to be named after ailments that their mothers suffered during pregnancy. Hence such names as the titular Fever, Diarrhoea, and "Craving-For-Pickled-Onions [=McNee=]".

* Justified in ''Manga/CellsAtWork'', where every character is on a RaceNameBasis based on what they are (Red Blood Cell, White Blood Cell, Macrophage, Streptococcus...), though they have individual designations as well.

* There [[DiscreditedTrope used to be]] a whole genre of jokes/UrbanLegends wherein a FunnyForeigner or black person would punch above their presumed intellectual weight and give their child a name like Eczema.

* A short-lived [[FrancoBelgianComics Franco-Belgian Comic]] parodying heroic fantasy was titled ''Kégoyo et Klamédia''. Klamédia, the heroine's name, sounds of course quite close to Chlamydia.

* There also is a ''Literature/HarryPotter'' do-over fanfic where Harry starts calling himself Lord Xerosis. Xerosis is a skin condition, and it sends Voldemort into a fit of laughter.

* Tomainia (which might as well be spelled "Ptomainia") and Bacteria, expies of, respectively, Germany and Italy in ''Film/TheGreatDictator''. Tomainia is ruled by [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Adenoid Hynkel]], by the way.
* In ''Film/HudsonHawk'', one of the CIA agents explains that their {{code name}}s were diseases when they first started out. "Do you know what it's like being called Chlamydia for a year?"

* Darth Plagueis is a Sith Lord mentioned in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' who was obsessed with finding the key to immortality. Palpatine tells Anakin Skywalker that Darth Plagueis became so powerful that he was able to create life by influencing the midi-chlorians, and had the power to save people from dying. Plagueis was killed in his sleep by his apprentice.

* Creator/LinCarter's ''Imaginary Worlds'' contains an essay in worldbuilding in which he suggests naming fantasy characters by taking names from mythology and disguising them a bit. By way of example, he takes the god Hermes Trismegistus and the prophet Zoroaster, blends their names together, and ends up with... [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herpes_zoster Herpes Zoster]].

** Narrowly averted in ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'', where we're told "There'd be a Chlamydia Weaver toddling around today if her mother hadn't suddenly decided that "Sally" was easier to spell".

* The title character of ''[[Literature/MortalEngines Fever Crumb]]'' explains that, when she was born, it was fashionable for children to be named after ailments that their mothers suffered during pregnancy. Hence such names as the titular Fever, Diarrhoea, and "Craving-For-Pickled-Onions [=McNee=]".
* ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'': The resident SpoiledBrat is named Veruca Salt[[note]]Verruca is another name for a wart[[/note]]. The trope even gets pointed out by Willy Wonka himself! And her mother is named Angina!

* Darth Plagueis from the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse.''
* In ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'', Creator/NeilGaiman gave us a villain named Mister Croup.
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Lysa Arryn (nee Tully) is only one letter off from Lyssa, meaning "madness" or in modern usage "rabies." At first it might just come off as SpellMyNameWithAnS, but given Lysa's [[{{Yandere}} character]] it was likely deliberate.

* This trope is briefly discussed in the Brazilian ''"The Hour of the Star"'': Upon learning the protagonist's name,[[note]]Macabéa. Possibly taken from a Bible story (analysis [[https://www.shmoop.com/hour-of-the-star/characterization.html here]]).[[/note]] her loved one's response is ''"Sorry but that sounds like a disease, a skin disease."'' She concedes that she would prefer to have no name, rather than such a weird one. He then [[RomanticFalseLead goes on to treat her coldly for the rest of the story]], in case you're wondering.

* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': The medicine cat Runningnose is named after his permanently runny nose. His mother named him "Runningkit", but he was given his adult name because of his nose.

* On ''Series/MaidMarianAndHerMerryMen'', one of Marian's henchmen was a particularly large and stupid peasant named Rabies.

* Heavy metal band Anthrax.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': Followers and daemons of Nurgle often adopt such names, such as [[Tabletopgame/{{Warhammer40000}} Typhus the Traveller]] (formerly Calas Typhon).

* In ''VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable'', [[BigGood Hayate's]] EvilTwin Material-D/Lord Dearche wields a magical staff named "[[TheBlackDeath Yersinia]] Kreuz".

* Thrax in ''Film/OsmosisJones''. Justified, as he is a virus.
* The ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "WesternAnimation/KnightyKnightBugs" has one of Myth/KingArthur's knights named Sir Osis of Liver. Naturally, he's introduced drinking a glass of wine (and doing a SpitTake when the king mentions the Black Knight).

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' has Mr. Aids, the proprietor of [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Aids Hotcakes,]] who believes that no one buys his hotcakes because [[ComicallyMissingThePoint he's Irish.]]
* Mr. Tooth Decay was a character in a series of Colgate toothpaste commercials in the late 50s featuring WesternAnimation/MightyMouse.
* Not a person, but in ''WesternAnimation/{{Igor}}'', the entire civilization the characters inhabit is called Malaria.

* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' has the Kanker Sisters, feared by all of the kids in the neighborhood, especially the protagonists. Their family name seems like a play on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canker_sores "canker sores"]], which ache the mouth. Makes sense, considering their [[AbhorrentAdmirer dreaded kisses and racking stalking]].
** It's even worse in Dutch, in which "kanker" means "cancer".
* ''WesternAnimation/EvilConCarne'' features Major Dr. Andedonia J. Ghastly, whose name is quite close to "Anhedonia", a psychiatric disorder in which one is unable to feel pleasure. [[IronicName Ironically]], Dr. Ghastly is a very perky girl.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' where the girls get new identities based on her favorite comics, Buttercup is inspired by a parody of ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' called Spore, and she renames herself as Mange.[[note]][[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mange Mange]] is a skin disease caused by parasites.[[/note]]
** And who could forget [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain The Gangreen (sic) Gang]]? And the Dooks of Doom (it's supposed to be "Dukes", certainly, but [[RougeAnglesofSatin what is likely their leader's poor spelling]] makes the gang's name synonymous with [[UnfortunateImplications a child's nickname for stool]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/DrZitbagsTransylvaniaPetShop'', the Exorsisters' nieces are named Listeria and Salmonella.[[note]]Both are illnesses commonly contracted by consuming contaminated food.[[/note]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' has Rubella Rat, Babs Bunny's EvilCounterpart from Perfecto Prep, who's named for the virus that causes German measles.