Line #126 Main/DiseasedName


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3	%% The examples have been alphabetized. Please put any new example in its proper place in the folder rather than at the end.
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6	[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/LadyRawhide https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scarlet_fever.jpg]]]]
7	[[caption-width-right:350:No. She hasn't ''contracted'' Scarlet Fever...]]
8
9	->''It was Richard Le Gallienne, I believe, who once observed with regret that so many available euphonious and charming Christian names for men and women have been wasted on diseases. For example, where a more agreeable sound than that conveyed by the name Catarrh Carter or Diabetes White. Assuredly no current nomenclature is so soothing to the ear. Erysipelas is a prettier name than Alice or Mable or Grace, surely; just as Tonsilitis is a smarter name than George or Henry or even Montgomery. Which is the more mellifluous: Clara Jones or Pneumonia Jones, Gustave Smith or Appendicitis Smith? Which is the more musical: Susan Jackson or Diphtheria Jackson, Jacob Robinson or Syphilis Robinson?''
10	-->-- '''George Jean Nathan'''
11
12	Many unpleasant diseases have Greek and Latin names that might make nice names for people if not for the associations. Such associations aren't so unwelcome in broad burlesques, which is where these names are most likely to be found.
13
14	[[InvertedTrope Diseases named after people]] don't count.
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16	A SubTrope of ScientificAndTechnologicalThemeNaming as its pathological branch, 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.
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18	----
19	!!Examples:
20
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22
23	[[folder:Advertising]]
24	* Mr. Tooth Decay was a character in a series of Colgate toothpaste commercials in the late 50s featuring WesternAnimation/MightyMouse.
25	[[/folder]]
26
27	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
28	* 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.
29	* 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 characteristic ulcers[[/note]]
30	* [[RebelliousPrincess Bernadette]]'s real name in ''Manga/MobileSuitCrossboneGundam'' can be read as Tetanus ([[ViewerNameConfusion 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.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Comedy]]
34	* 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.
35	* Creator/AnnaRussell's "How to Write Your Own Gilbert and Sullivan Opera" had Pneumonia Vanderfeller as the name of the typical "British, piercing type soprano."
36	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zapT8_mmG4Y One of]] Creator/VictorBorge's acts has him introduce his American stage manager, Mr. Halitosis Olsen.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Comic Books]]
40	* In the ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' comics:
41	** The wives of Geriatrix and Unhygenix are respectively named Angina and Bacteria.
42	** ''[[Recap/AsterixAtTheOlympicGames Asterix and the Olympic Games]]'' has an Athenian tour guide named Diabetes.
43	** In a ''very'' unfortunate turn of events, the antagonist of ''[[Recap/AsterixAndTheChariotRace The Chariot Race]]'' (published 2017) is named Coronavirus.
44	* 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.
45	* The main villain in ''ComicBook/LadyRawhide: Other People's Blood'' is a PirateGirl who calls herself Scarlet Fever (although this name is probably self-chosen).
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Fan Works]]
49	* There 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.
50	* ''Fanfic/MyImmortal'': Ebony Dark'ness '''Dementia''' Raven Way.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
54	* Not a person, but in ''WesternAnimation/{{Igor}}'', the entire civilization the characters inhabit is called Malaria.
55	* Thrax in ''Film/OsmosisJones''. Justified, as he is a virus.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
59	* At the end of ''Film/AddamsFamilyValues'', Cousin Itt introduces his new nanny: Dementia. Who turns out to be way too compatible with Uncle Fester... right down to being super-pale and having a bald head. Uncle Fester himself probably also counts.
60	-->'''Dementia:''' It means "insanity".\
61	'''Fester:''' My name is Fester; it means "to rot".
62	* 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.
63	* 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?"
64	* ''Franchise/StarWars'': 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.
65	* ''Film/{{Waiting}}'': Two customers have a discussion, where one mentions that it's too bad chlamydia is a venereal disease, as he thinks it would otherwise be a wonderful name for his daughter.
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Literature]]
69	* ''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!
70	* A common ailment on the Literature/{{Discworld}}:
71	** In ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'', Ridcully mentions that he's got a distant cousin named Verruca, and there's also a small child named Verruca Lumpy. Whether they're the same character is unrevealed.
72	** 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."
73	* In the ''Doctor Who'' spin-off novel ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresHumanNature Human Nature]]'', one of the antagonists is an alien CreepyChild named Aphasia.
74	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' has Pansy Parkinson, who does nothing besides playing the [[AlphaBitch mean-girl bully]] role and [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys fawning over boy bully Draco]]. The unpleasant association to Parkinson's Disease is obvious; and as a bonus, her first name can be used as an insult.
75	* This trope is briefly discussed in the Brazilian ''The Hour of the Star'': Upon learning the protagonist's name (Macabéa; possibly taken from a Bible story [analysis [[https://www.shmoop.com/hour-of-the-star/characterization.html here]]]) 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.
76	* 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]].
77	* ''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 "[[WackyCravings Craving-For-Pickled-Onions]] [=McNee=]".
78	* In ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'', Creator/NeilGaiman gave us a villain named Mister Croup.
79	* 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 a nonstandard spelling of the name Lisa, but given Lysa's [[{{Yandere}} character]] it was likely deliberate.
80	* ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheJerleShannara'' has an evil supercomputer called Antrax.
81	* ''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.
82	* Elphaba and Nessarose's mother in ''Literature/{{Wicked}}'' is Melena Thropp. "Melena" refers to dark, bloody stools.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
86	* ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'' has Uncle Fester. Morticia also has two aunts named Anemia and Dementia.
87	* Like the aforementioned Veruca Salt, the fourth season of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had several appearances by a werewolf named Veruca.
88	* From the ''Series/ClubDorothee'', a pastiche of the ''Film/{{Conan the Barbarian\|1982}}'' movies features a {{Barbarian Hero}}ine called Malaria.
89	* ''Series/{{Glee}}'' has a girl from a rival show choir called "Aphasia", a speech disorder caused by brain injury.
90	* On ''Series/MaidMarianAndHerMerryMen'', one of Marian's henchmen was a particularly large and stupid peasant named Rabies.
91	* ''Series/MockTheWeek'': Creator/FrankieBoyle's interpretation of "Lines you wouldn't hear in a period drama":
92	-->"Ah, the duke, my daughter has been ''itching'' to meet you. CHLAMYDIAAAA!"
93	* ''Series/TheNevers'' has Maladie, the French word for sickness/disease.
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Music]]
97	* The HeavyMetal band Music/{{Anthrax}}.
98	* Jokingly referred to by ''Music/HalfManHalfBiscuit'' with "An Outbreak of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitas_Gerulaitis Vitas Gerulaitis]]"
99	* Finnish punk band Klamydia.
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
103	* In Finnish mythology (as recorded in Literature/TheKalevala), the goddess Loviatar, a blind and evil daughter of the death-god Tuoni, had nine sons fathered by either the wind or the sea-monster Iku-Turso. She named them Colic, Pleurisy, Fever, Ulcer, Plague, Consumption, Gout, Sterility, and Cancer.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
107	* Anthraxus is the name of the ruler of the Yugoloths/Daemons in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. Other powerful Yugoloths include Bubonis, Cholerix, Typhus and Diptherius.
108	* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': Followers and daemons of Nurgle often adopt such names, such as [[Tabletopgame/Warhammer40000 Typhus the Traveller]] (formerly Calas Typhon).
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Theatre]]
112	* Creator/WoodyAllen's play ''Theatre/{{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.
113	* Pathetic loser Sir Andrew Aguecheek from ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'' has a name that evokes feverish ill-health ("ague" being an Elizabethan word for fever with shivering and chills).
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Video Games]]
117	* ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'': The main characters -- Rash, Pimple, and Zitz -- are all named for skin afflictions, which is a reference to the old wives' tale that touching frogs and toads will give you skin problems. (It doesn't.)
118	* ''VideoGame/ChildOfLight'' has the jester Rubella, which, while also being the word for "reddish" in Latin (or more accurately the feminine form thereof), also is the virus that causes German Measles.
119	* This is the ThemeNaming scheme for the Furons in ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans''. Diseases and fungi are both used.
120	* ''[[VideoGame/DragonQuestIX Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies]]'': The entire town of Coffinwell has disease-related names.
121	** The mayor is '''Mayor Laria'''. To avoid [[DontExplainTheJoke explaining the joke]], [[LemonyNarrator readers are instead invited to read the name aloud]].[[note]]If spoken fast enough, it should sound like "Malaria."[[/note]]
122	** A young courting couple are called Phleming and Catarrhina.
123	*** Phleming is a character working on developing a cure for the mysterious plague that has infected the town, so his name is also a pun on Alexander Fleming, who is famous for patenting Penicillin, the antibiotic. It's a double-layered pun.
124	*** Catarrhina's character design is [[ShoutOut strangely reminiscent]] of the curse goddess Hina Kagiyama from ''Franchise/TouhouProject''.
125	* In ''VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable'', [[BigGood Hayate's]] EvilTwin Material-D/Lord Dearche wields a magical staff named "[[TheBlackDeath Yersinia]] Kreuz".
126	* In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'', the locations are named after bodily diseases/issues, including Cavi Cape (cavity), Plack Beach, Dimble Wood, and Bumpsy Plains.
127	* InteractiveFiction game ''VideoGame/{{Varicella}}'' has its title character, Primo Varicella, 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. Meanwhile, his final enemy is Modo Variola, whose last name means "smallpox".
128	[[/folder]]
129
130	[[folder:Webcomics]]
131	* In ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'', the origin of Syphile's name back when the comic was a roleplay drawn by the author was the word Syphilis.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Websites]]
135	* Wordnik has a list of [[http://www.wordnik.com/lists/diseases-that-make-lovely-baby-girls-names Diseases That Make Lovely Girls' Names]].
136	[[/folder]]
137
138	[[folder:Web Videos]]
139	* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY0gAUvWTto this]] parody of Cinderella, entitled Salmonella, the main characters are germs and all have names like this, including Salmonella, E. Albert Coli, Typhi, Prince Polio, the Pox Sisters: Chicken and Small, Enteria, Sally Shingles, Rubella, Scarlet Scabies, and Marvin Mumps.
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	[[folder:Western Animation]]
143	* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' has Mr. Aids, the proprietor of [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Aids Hotcakes,]] who believes that no one buys his hotcakes because [[ComicallyMissingThePoint he's Irish.]]
144	* There's an ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' character named Rubella.
145	* In ''WesternAnimation/DrZitbagsTransylvaniaPetShop'', the Exorsisters' nieces are named Listeria and Salmonella.[[note]]Both are illnesses commonly contracted by consuming contaminated food.[[/note]]
146	* ''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".
147	* ''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.
148	* On ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', the morbidly obese son of the Pewterschmidts' maid is named Diabeto.
149	* The ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "WesternAnimation/KnightyKnightBugs" has one of Myth/KingArthur's knights named Sir Osis of Liver.[[note]]"Cirrhosis of the liver" is a form of liver failure that most often happens to heavy drinkers.[[/note]] Naturally, he's introduced drinking a glass of wine (and doing a SpitTake when the king mentions the Black Knight).
150	* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Powerpuff Girls\|1998}}'' (1998):
151	** In an episode 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. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mange Mange]] is a skin disease caused by parasites.
152	** 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 a child's nickname for stool.
153	* The main villain of ''WesternAnimation/RoadRovers'', a show about a team of dog superheroes, is an evil [[spoiler: [[CatFolk humanoid cat]]]] named General Parvo. Parvo is a canine intestinal disease.
154	* In the same vein, Cletus the Yokel from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has a morbidly obese cousin named Diabetty and one of his daughters is called Rubella.
155	* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' has Rubella Rat, Babs Bunny's EvilCounterpart from Perfecto Prep, who's named for the virus that causes German measles.
156	* Demencia (the Spanish spelling of Dementia) from ''WesternAnimation/{{Villainous\|CartoonNetwork}}'' is a nutty MonsterFangirl of an EldritchAbomination supervillain.
157	* ''WesternAnimation/YinYangYo'' has [[StrawFeminist Saranoia]] -- a pun on Paranoia -- a sorceress with an obsession for defending Yin from a supposed parental favoritism, which is actually nothing but [[FreudianExcuse her reflection from her own terrible upbringing]]. To top off her delusional behavior, she [[RunningGag always]] refers to Yang by the name of her brother, Mark.
158	[[/folder]]
159
160	[[folder:Real Life]]
161	* 'Alexia' is a variation on Alexandra, Alexis, etc. that's also the medical term for loss of the ability to read.
162	* 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.
163	* '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".
164	* '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".
165	* An 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". By the way, [[Literature/HarryPotter it's a masculine name (at least it's supposed to be)]].
166	* The ever-present Roman royal names 'Claudius' and its derivatives 'Claudia', 'Claude', 'Claudio'... It's from the adjective ''claudus'', meaning "crippled".
167	* '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.
168	* 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.
169	* 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.
170	* 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.
171	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Zhuang_of_Zheng Duke Zhuang of Zheng]] (鄭莊公/郑庄公), 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 given name, Wusheng (寤生), literally means that.
172	* The Creator/DaveBarry column "The Hot Seat" (about setting a toilet on fire) feature a bacteriologist named Dr. Gerba, who gave his son the middle name Escherichia, as in ''Escherichia coli'', a type of fecal bacteria.
173	-->"You named your son after ''bacteria''?", was my first question.\
174	"He finds that it's a good conversation starter," Gerba replied. "If we'd had a girl, we'd have named her Sally Salmonella."
175	* 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]]A neurological condition caused by contaminated "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_ginger 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.
176	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DiseasedName