History UnfortunateNames / ComicBooks

* The Italian strip ''Lupo Alberto'', set in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals, has Silvietta, plagued by an unfortunate ''species'' name: she's a dunnock, in Italy known as passera scopaiola, literally meaning "sweeping sparrow" after what a dunnock's tail does when they walk... Too bad that "passera scopaiola" can also be an euphemism for "vagina that has a lot of sex". In her second strip this was enough to earn her a stalker.

* Characters/UltimateSpiderManMilesMorales' father was called Jefferson Davis.[[note]]For those unaware, Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederate States of America, and Jeff is African American.[[/note]]

* Characters/UltimateSpiderManMilesMorales' father was called Jefferson Davis.

* The Golden Age hero "The Whizzer", so named because of the sound he makes while running, but combine that with a lemon yellow costume and... [[ToiletHumor well]]. His villainous counterpart eventually changed up to the more intimidating "Speed Demon", and modern versions go with names like Blur. His ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme'' counterpart sticks with it, and apparently it was his ''second'' choice. His wife sensibly got him to reconsider.

* In ''ComicBook/StarWarsRepublic'', writer Randy Stradley, who was annoyed at his editor adding "Master" to the front of every Jedi's name in dialogue, [[TestingTheEditors created the character of Soon Bayts]]. (Say "Master Bayts" out loud.) [[SurprisinglyLenientCensor Due to the editor for that issue changing, the name made it to publication without being changed]]. Randy, evidently a good sport, happily stepped on his own landmine in the Clone Wars-era miniseries ''Star Wars: Obsession'', referring to Bayts by "Master Bayts" once and [[BackForTheDead then killing him off.]]

* In ''ComicBook/StarWarsRepublic'', writer Randy Stradley, who was annoyed at his editor adding "Master" to the front of every Jedi's name in dialogue, [[TestingTheEditor created the character of Soon Bayts]]. (Say "Master Bayts" out loud.) [[SurprisinglyLenientCensor Due to the editor for that issue changing, the name made it to publication without being changed]]. Randy, evidently a good sport, happily stepped on his own landmine in the Clone Wars-era miniseries ''Star Wars: Obsession'', referring to Bayts by "Master Bayts" once and [[BackForTheDead then killing him off.]]

* Creator/MarvelComics' ComicBook/{{Nova}}. His name is Richard. Richard Rider. Now what do people call Richard for short? [[note]] Dick. [[/note]] During ''ComicBook/{{AXIS}}'', Spider-Man told Richard's LegacyCharacter replacement Sam Alexander about Richard and added "There's a joke in there somewhere."

* ComicBook/MilesMorales' father was called Jefferson Davis. Apparently Creator/BrianMichaelBendis didn't realise that it was also the name of a Confederate president who owned slaves. In ''ComicBook/MilesMoralesSpiderMan'' #22 by Creator/SaladinAhmed, he changes his name to Jeff Morales, wondering why his parents called him Jefferson Davis in the first place and pointing out how tainted it is.

* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'': John Stewart was originally to be named "Lincoln Washington" thanks to Julie Schwartz. Neal Adams explained to him why it wouldn't be appropriate:
-->I get the script. First page of the script I read it. He’s an architect. Good. He’s out of work. Makes sense. A black architect, not being able to go to work. Very sensible. Name, Lincoln Washington. So I go to Denny. “Denny, I’m guessing you didn’t name this character.” Denny says no. I’m guessing Julie named the character. He says yes. I go to Julie’s office and close the door. Julie. Lincoln Washington. [Julie says] “What’s wrong with that name? I know lots of guys with that name.” That maybe true, but it’s what we call a slave name.

** You think "Jughead" is a strange name? His real name is Forsythe!
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' saddled the title character with the name ''Olgilvie Maurice Takeshi Hedgehog'' under the pen of Ken Penders. Ian Flynn, however, set it up so that Sonic got his name legally changed to "Sonic".
* Franchise/TheDCU has poor Empress, from the former ''Comicbook/YoungJustice''. Real name: Anita Fite.
** Also, her father Donald Fite and his partner Ishido Maad -- together, they are "Fite'n Maad"! [[MeaningfulName At least appropriate names for people who fight a lot]].
* Namor the ComicBook/SubMariner of Creator/MarvelComics. While there's nothing wrong with his name proper (Namor meaning "Avenging Son", appropriately enough) he has an unfortunate ''nickname'': Subby. It's worth noting that it's a short list of people who get to call him "Subby" without [[BerserkButton having a hole punched through their head]], mostly people he served with in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
* The [[http://crushyiffdestroy.com Crush!Yiff!Destroy!]] review of ''ComicBook/{{Extinctioners}}'' said it best: "Each character is also burdened with a ridiculous name -- look, there's a gorilla named Warfare! And a panda named Pandamonium! And a phoenix named Phenix!"

* The eponymous character of ''[[Franchise/{{Tintin}} The Adventures of Tintin]]'' can be considered this in certain parts of the Philippines. Specifically the parts where the local language's (the Philippines has several) colloquial term for, well, the penis sounds exactly like Tintin's name.

** Alan Scott, UsefulNotes/{{the Golden Age|of Comic Books}} Green Lantern ''almost'' wound up in the same boat. The writer who created him made up the name Alan Ladd, to sound like Aladdin. His editor said no one would believe such a silly name and made him change it. The movie star Creator/AlanLadd made his Hollywood debut shortly thereafter.
* Speedball from the ''ComicBook/NewWarriors'' shares his name with a mixture of cocaine and heroin. Made [[HilariousInHindsight even funnier]] when the New Warriors teamed up with Captain America for an anti-drug special. {{Lampshaded}} when he met Comicbook/SheHulk:
-->'''She-Hulk''': I appreciate the help, kid. But drugs aren't the answer. Just say "no".
** His teammate Night Thrasher was a FadSuper made to cash in on the popularity of skateboarding in the early 90's. Several characters (such as Spider-Man) have commented that outside it's initial context, "Night Thrasher" sounds kinda nasty. Such as this little gem from ''Comicbook/CivilWar'':
-->'''Coldheart''': I'm not getting taken down by Goldfish-Girl and the Bondage Queen!
-->'''Namorita''': Beg to differ, Coldheart.
-->'''Night Thrasher''': Could we cut out the part where she called me "The Bondage Queen?"
-->'''Microbe''': Oh, yeah. Because "Night Thrasher" sounds ''so'' much straighter.
* Lemar Hoskins, the [[LegacyCharacter third]] [[ComicBook/BuckyBarnes Bucky]] and the first [[AffirmativeActionLegacy African-American to use the name]]. When it was pointed out to him that "Buck" was a derogatory term for a black man, Lemar changed his name to Battlestar and never looked back.
** Which makes it even odder that there was ''another'' black Bucky. A ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' one-shot had Steve Bradley, the child of Patriot and the female [[ComicBook/TheFalcon Falcon]], as the new Bucky. Apparently neither parent was aware of the incident with Lemar.

* There's a great example in the comic strip ''Watch Your Head'', a female basketball player named Takoma Washington.
* Les Moore, from ''ComicStrip/FunkyWinkerbean''.
** Even Funky himself.
* When ComicBook/SpiderMan villain Shocker was first named, it didn't have any other connotations. Of course, now that it's slang for a sexual act, you'd think he'd change his name.
** This is even mocked in one of the Spider-man reboots, when Spidey asks him if his name is "The Vibrator", lampshaded when he points out that "Shocker" isn't much better.
* [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] British space hero ComicStrip/DanDare had an eager youthful sidekick named Flamer (because he had red hair). The term didn't have the same, um, connotations back then.
** It still doesn't in Britain; the UK Burger King offers the "Flamer" because the US name, "Broiler", doesn't mean anything to Brits.
* UsefulNotes/{{The Golden Age|of Comic Books}} hero the Whizzer.
** {{Lampshaded}} in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'', where Spidey cracks up after hearing his name.
** Also {{Lampshaded}} in the ''ComicBook/MarvelAdventures'' story “Doll Winners Squad” by Wolverine. “His name is actually Whizzer?” He also snickers at the name again later on in the story.
* D-Man, one-time [[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avenger]] and former ComicBook/CaptainAmerica sidekick. When explaining the hero to J. Jonah Jameson, Ben Urich quips "[[CompensatingForSomething All the jokes have been made]]".
* ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' member Asgardian (who didn't even have anything to do with the Norse pantheon) was advised by his teammates to change his hero-name almost immediately after he went public with his relationship with male teammate Hulkling.
* In IDW's ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW Transformers]]'' comics (''ComicBook/TheTransformersLastStandOfTheWreckers'', to be exact), there is a bit-part character called '''Dipstick'''. Ow.
** And given the in-universe slang, the Dinobot Slag is particularly unfortunately named. (Not that it's an entirely fortuitous name for a robot even only with the real-world meaning.)
** One Decepticon subteam is called the "Breastforce". And one Autobot Micromaster was unlucky enough to be named "Erector".
*** Erector ended up as an EnsembleDarkhorse ''solely'' because of his name, which [[InvertedTrope inverts]] it slightly.
** There's a Decepticon named Overload. Which is alright, until you remember it's fanon slang for a Cybertronian orgasm...
** The Hungarian translator of the Marvel ''Comicbook/TheTransformers'' comics changed Breakdown's name to Vibrator. Even hardcore G1 fans agree that this is one [[DubNameChange name change]] that's best forgotten. Strangely, retailers and even Hasbro themselves kept marketing toys of Breakdown under this name in their translated online materials well into the 2010s.
** There's a mildly obscure Transformer named Nexus Maximus, which sounds fine, until you realize it's also the name of a brand of sex toy. Hasbro changed the official name to Nexus Prime.
** There's no way to ''not'' imagine [[GroinAttack horrible, horrible things]] when presented with a character named Drillnuts (he turns into a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boll_weevil boll weevil]], you see). Summed up succinctly by the TF Wiki itself:
--> "''OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW.''"
* Despite actually having the title first, Marvel briefly changed the ComicBook/BlackPanther's name to "The Panther" and later "Black Leopard" in order to avoid comparisons with the black radical group of the same name.
** This was lampshaded in the [[CrapsackWorld crapsack]] AlternateUniverse story "Ruins," where T'Challa was an actual member of the Black Panther party.
* ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' had a fire-element character named Joto, which suitably means "heat" in Swahili. However, when adapting the character to the cartoon, writers were horrified to learn that the far more familiar, Spanish translation of the exact same word is "faggot." He was renamed Hotspot and remains so, even in the comic.
* In recent portrayals of his origin, the child who would become Superboy of Earth-Prime (which was supposed to be the real world) was picked on by his peers for being named Clark Kent, "after a comic book character."
* In certain parts of the world the name Peter has been given the same treatment as Dick; so it may come as a surprise to the people in those places that no one has yet asked, "[[{{Franchise/Spiderman}} So... where DO you Park your Peter?"]] (And then there's this certain Alien Symbiote obsessed to become the answer to that question...)
** Sir Peter Parker is a former head of British Rail.

* ''ComicStrip/BonersArk'' has Captain Boner and Miss Boner. The strip debuted in 1968, so the obvious meaning is probably a case of HaveAGayOldTime, but even back then the name had a not-so-flattering meaning -- "silly mistake".
* [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Donna Troy]] used the alias Troia for a time as a reference to her mythological origins. Unfortunately, it's also Italian slang for 'whore'. Angle Man once lampshaded it.
* Sif, wife (in the mythology) of ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor''. The similarity to a certain veneral disease has only been noted ex-universe (in-universe the unlucky person would be hammered flat in no time).

* The Italian strip ''Lupo Alberto'', set in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals, has Silvietta, plagued by an unfortunate ''species'' name: she's a dunnock, in Italy known as passera scopaiola, literally meaning "sweeping sparrow" after what a dunnock's tail does when they walk... Too bad that "passera scopaiola" can also be an euphemism for "vagina that has a lot of sex". She got a stalker in her second strip ''purely out of her species' name''.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: In the Golden Age the only named overweight Amazon was named ''Fatsis,'' and while it's possible this was a nickname no other name was ever given for her.
* King Sombra's ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFiendshipIsMagic'' introduces his villainous mother Rabia. While it's thematically similar to Sombra's name, meaning "rage" in Spanish, it also sounds a little too uncomfortably similar to "Labia". ''Especially'' to fans of Japanese works who are used to hearing L's and R's be interchanged.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'': The villain Nimrod is a future Sentinel and extremely powerful. The writers intended his name to refer to the Biblical hunter Nimrod, but due to WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, most modern readers associate the word "Nimrod" with "idiot".