| 1 | ->'''Er petticoat was yaller an' 'er little cap was green,\ |
| 2 | An' 'er name was Supi-yaw-lat - jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen'' |
| 3 | -->-- '''Creator/RudyardKipling''', ''Mandalay'' |
| 4 | |
| 5 | A Famous-Named Foreigner is a character hailing from some foreign nation who, due to the authors not knowing anything about local naming conventions and/or [[SmallReferencePools thinking it would make their nationality more recognizable]] and/or just being lazy, is named after some very famous person from the respective nation's history or culture. Which most of the time sounds pretty ridiculous to the local ear, [[JustForFun/OneMarioLimit due to those names often being quite rare and primarily associated with those same famous persons]]. |
| 6 | |
| 7 | Even worse, sometimes the name might not actually be a name, with UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin for instance being a NomDeGuerre and no Russians outside of his family bearing that last name. And other time, the name is actually of a different country as the one intended to be portrayed; for example Music/FryderykChopin being known as a Pole might mislead an author into thinking "Chopin" is a Polish surname when it's in reality a French one. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | This trope, as noted earlier, is often the result of SmallReferencePools. If the authors care even less, it often results in AsLongAsItSoundsForeign. And of course, names ''do'' become popular because famous people have them--for example, "Muhammad" is by far the most common name for Muslim boys (and in fact, is the single most common boys' name in the world). |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Compare NamedAfterSomebodyFamous, when this is done deliberately as a reference, and not just with foreign characters. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ---- |
| 14 | !!Examples: |
| 15 | |
| 16 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 17 | |
| 18 | [[folder:Aboriginal Australian]] |
| 19 | * ''ComicBook/GlobalFrequency'': Danny [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gulpilil Gulpilil.]] |
| 20 | [[/folder]] |
| 21 | |
| 22 | [[folder:Albanian]] |
| 23 | * Hoxha. Usually named for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enver_Hoxha Enver Hoxha]], the communist leader of Albania for 40 years. Admittedly, this isn't a bad idea since Hoxha is the most common surname among Albanians. |
| 24 | ** The exchange student from the ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Simpsons]]'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E11TheCrepesOfWrath The Crepes of Wrath]]", is named Adil Hoxha. Bonus for also being named after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adil_%C3%87ar%C3%A7ani Adil Carcani]], Albania's last communist prime minister. |
| 25 | ** One of the Albanian traffickers in ''Film/{{Taken}}'' is named Marko Hoxha. The [[Film/{{Taken2}} sequel]] has his uncle, Murad Hoxha, as the BigBad. |
| 26 | [[/folder]] |
| 27 | |
| 28 | [[folder:American]] |
| 29 | * The protagonist of the Italian opera ''Theatre/MadameButterfly'' is named Creator/BenjaminFranklin [[PinkertonDetective Pinkerton]]. |
| 30 | * In ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', the Gundam fighter representing Neo-America is Chibodee Crocket, likely named for UsefulNotes/DavyCrockett |
| 31 | * ''Franchise/{{Tamagotchi}}'': Bill is modeled after American foreigner stereotypes, and is named after Bill Clinton, US president at the time the Tamagotchi toys launched. |
| 32 | * In ''Manga/Eyeshield21'', Panther's all-American, white best friend is named Homer. Not exactly a common name in the States due to [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons who it's associated with...]] |
| 33 | [[/folder]] |
| 34 | |
| 35 | [[folder:Arabic]] |
| 36 | * ''Literature/ThePillarsOfTheEarth'': The family Jack stays with in Toledo identify as "Christian Arabs" and have names like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_al-Rashid Rashid al-Haroun]]. While this might be possible for Christians in the Middle East, it is evident that Ken Follett confused the Spanish Mudejars (Moors under Christian rule, who kept Arab traditions including names) with the Mozarabs (Iberian Christians who adopted some Arab trappings while under Muslim rule, but were conscious about their Visigothic heritage, had Roman-Visigothic names, and spoke a Latin-derived language). By 1145, 60 years after the conquest of Toledo, the Mozarabs had lost any Arab-Muslim influence and integrated into the dominant Christian society. There was no such thing as a "Christian Arab" in the city, nor any incentive for anyone to identify as one. |
| 37 | [[/folder]] |
| 38 | |
| 39 | [[folder:Belgian]] |
| 40 | * ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles'': |
| 41 | ** Indy's Belgian friend in the army is named Rémi. Creator/StevenSpielberg is a huge fan of the Belgian comic strip Franchise/{{Tintin}}, which was created by Hergé, whose original name was Georges Rémi. |
| 42 | ** Rémi's last name is Baudouin. The series aired in the last years of King Baudouin's reign in Belgium. |
| 43 | * Another character named after Baudouin is the Belgian mercenary Baudouinix in ''Recap/AsterixTheLegionary''. In the original French version, he is called Mouléfix (from ''moule'' "mussel", because Belgians are stereotyped in France as liking to eat them), and in the German translation he is Mannekenpix (after the fountain-sculpture ''Manneken Pis'' in Brussels). |
| 44 | [[/folder]] |
| 45 | |
| 46 | [[folder:Brazilian]] |
| 47 | * ''Film/TheLifeAquaticWithSteveZissou'': has Pelé Dos Santos, the Brazilian in the movie's ''FiveTokenBand''. Named, of course, after perhaps the most prominent Brazilian of all time (complete with the last name, which despite being very common, possibly refers to the team Pelé played for (Santos)). |
| 48 | [[/folder]] |
| 49 | |
| 50 | [[folder:Bulgarian]] |
| 51 | * Several members of the Bulgarian Quidditch team in ''Literature/HarryPotter'' bear the names of notable historical figures; Zograf is a 19th-century painter (as well as a nickname for painters in general), Levski a revolutionary hero. Krum was a king who killed the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros, and is also famous for being the first to introduce written laws. Zograf, being a nickname for a painter rather than a real surname is obsolete today, "Levski" is considered off-limits[[labelnote:*]]like naming a person "Lionheart" after King Richard I[[/labelnote]] and "Krum" is outright impossible as a surname (it has to get a suffix to become one), though it has some popularity as a given name. |
| 52 | [[/folder]] |
| 53 | |
| 54 | [[folder:Burmese]] |
| 55 | * In Creator/RudyardKipling's poem "Mandalay", the narrator's Burmese girlfriend is named "Supiyawlat", i.e. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supayalat Supayalat]] like Queen Supayalat, wife of King Thibaw of Burma. |
| 56 | [[/folder]] |
| 57 | |
| 58 | [[folder:Corsican]] |
| 59 | * In the English translation of ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} in Corsica'' the Corsican warrior is named Boneywasawarriorwayayix, in reference to the only Corsican the British may have heard of: UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte. |
| 60 | ** It is justified, however, because the character is a parody of Napoleon as seen by the French (he is a brilliant military leader, but also very paranoid, and he does the memetic hand-in-the-jacket gesture), and his French name (Ocatarinetabellachitchix) is a reference to a Corsican song that is unknown outside France. |
| 61 | [[/folder]] |
| 62 | |
| 63 | [[folder:Costa Rican]] |
| 64 | * Paz in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' is named Paz Ortega Andrade, referencing the Nicaraguan communist leader Daniel Ortega. |
| 65 | [[/folder]] |
| 66 | |
| 67 | [[folder:Chinese]] |
| 68 | * Mao (as in [[UsefulNotes/WhyMaoChangedHisName Mao Tse-Tung or Mao Zedong]]) is fairly common, especially in anime. Note that Mao could be written several different ways in Chinese, and is a common enough surname. |
| 69 | ** ''Franchise/CodeGeass'' |
| 70 | ** ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'': Justified in that Mao literally means cat and the character in question is a [[TalkingAnimal guy trapped in a cat body]]--and it's a code name, not his real name. |
| 71 | ** ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'' |
| 72 | [[/folder]] |
| 73 | |
| 74 | [[folder:Czech]] |
| 75 | * In one of the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' cases, "The Adventure of the Creeping Man", Doyle has a Czech character named Dvorak. [[Music/AntoninDvorak A. Dvorak.]] Admittedly, Dvořák is indeed a very common Czech surname, but first names beginning with A not so much. |
| 76 | * Miss Wenceslas in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'', presumably named for Wenceslaus of Bohemia. Unfortunately for the makers, the Czech version of the name is Václav, which is not used as a family name, and even if it were, would be lacking the "-ová" ending of all female surnames that have a noun root. |
| 77 | * In the ''[[Literature/NightWatchSeries Night Watch]]'' series of novels, there is the Czech vampire Vítězslav Hrubín. While "Vítězslav" is a common name, this combination obviously is merging names of two famous Czech poets, Vítězslav Nezval and František Hrubín. |
| 78 | * At one point in ''VideoGame/{{WET}}'', Rubi is put in contact with a Czech woman named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka Kafka]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonin_Dvorak Dvorak]]. Kafka is a last name! (And the above-mentioned ending convention for female surnames applies as well.) |
| 79 | * ''Literature/TrinityBlood'' has a character named Václav Havel, same as the first Czech president. |
| 80 | * There is another Václav Havel in ''Literature/TheWarThatCameEarly'' by Creator/HarryTurtledove, as the Czech soldier viewpoint character in a UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo started over the Sudeten Crisis. |
| 81 | [[/folder]] |
| 82 | |
| 83 | [[folder:English]] |
| 84 | * The Chinese film ''Film/TaiChiZero'' has an English woman (played by a half-white, half-Chinese actress) named Claire [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Heathrow_Airport Heathrow]]. |
| 85 | * Creator/DCComics has Manchester Black and his sister Music/VeraLynn Black. |
| 86 | * "Series/TheFuccons": The English twins are named [[UsefulNotes/TonyBlair Tony]] and [[UsefulNotes/KingCharlesIII Charles]] |
| 87 | * The British prime minister in ''Literature/EmpressTheresa'' is named Peter [[UsefulNotes/TonyBlair Blair]]. |
| 88 | * ''Series/TheWire'': When Jimmy [=McNulty=] goes undercover to a brothel for a sting, he uses the alias James Cromwell, after the English historical figure, complete with a comically bad IAmVeryBritish accent. Dominic West, the actor playing [=McNulty=] is actually English. |
| 89 | [[/folder]] |
| 90 | |
| 91 | [[folder:Filipino]] |
| 92 | * The 1945 film ''Back to Bataan'', centred on the Philippine theatre of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, has a Filipino guerrilla character whose full name is Andrés Bonifacio—complete namesake, and InUniverse descendant, of the RealLife revolutionary leader who rose up against the Spanish colonisers in the 1890s. (The movie claims the original Bonifacio fought the Americans themselves, but this is ArtisticLicenseHistory: the real Bonifacio was killed before the American invasion.) |
| 93 | * The ''{{VideoGame/Tekken}}'' series has Josie Rizal from the Philippines, a genderbent version of Jose Rizal, the country's national hero. |
| 94 | [[/folder]] |
| 95 | |
| 96 | [[folder:Finnish]] |
| 97 | * Early in the movie ''Film/{{Swordfish}}'', a Finnish hacker is arrested. His first name, Axl, is not a commonly used Finnish name, but his last name is Torvalds -- just like a certain other [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds Finnish hacker.]] |
| 98 | ** Axel, however, is a common enough Scandinavian name (a variant of "Absalom"), and it fits quite well with the Germanic-based surname (akin e. g. to Thorvaldsen, the name of a Danish sculptor). |
| 99 | * ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'' has Luvia Edelfelt, a Finnish {{Ojou}} and RichBitch extraordinaire. In Finland, Edelfelt is practically a synonym for a noble family whose members are talented architects, painters, writers et cetera. It might well be intended that in the Nasuverse, the Edelfelt line of mages are that same noble family, with those who lacked magical ability having become artists. |
| 100 | [[/folder]] |
| 101 | |
| 102 | [[folder:French]] |
| 103 | * ''Film/{{St Trinians|2007}}'' school, in the 2007 film, has a French teacher called Miss [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maupassant Maupassant]]. |
| 104 | * Invisible Kid II from the ''Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' was named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Foccart Jacques Foccart.]] For added irony appeal, he was also black. |
| 105 | * ''Series/TheXFiles'': Chester [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_I_of_France Bonaparte]] in "Fresh Bones". Note that "Bonaparte" is a Francization of Italian and it would be very unlikely for someone not related to Napoleon to have such name. |
| 106 | * ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' has a teacher named Jean-Louis [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Bonaparte Napoleon]] (Bonaparte in the English dub). |
| 107 | * George de Sand from ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam''. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sand George Sand]] was the MustacheDePlume of a woman. It's meant to sound ''English'' -- the French form of "George" is ''Georges'' and the French word for "sand" is ''sable''. |
| 108 | * ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'': The two main players of the French team are named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Cid El Sid]] Pierre, and Louis [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_I_of_France Napoléon.]] |
| 109 | * Marvel's Canadian superheroine Murmur alias Arlette Truffaut, rather similar to actress Arletty and film director Francois Truffaut. |
| 110 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had Captain Jean-Luc Picard, a scientist-explorer, who sounds suspiciously like the (French-Swiss) Piccard brothers, who were scientist-explorers. Or Jean-Felix Picard, a 17th century French astronomer. |
| 111 | ** Captain Picard mentions he comes from a family of explorers, implying he is a distant descendant of said famous Picards. |
| 112 | * An ArcVillain in ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'' was a Frenchman named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon Napoleon]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vichy_France Vichy.]] |
| 113 | * The title character of ''ComicBook/AthenaVoltaire'' shares a name with the [[Creator/{{Voltaire}} famous Voltaire]], but Voltaire actually invented his as a pen name. That said, Athena's father was a well-known performer, and it's quite possible it wasn't ''his'' real name either -- he may have borrowed Voltaire for the stage, and since Athena became part of his act, she may have become known by it too.[[note]]"Voltaire" is in fact an actual surname but it's more likely to be borne by people of Haitian descent, it's almost unheard of in France.[[/note]] |
| 114 | * Similar to the above, Gaëtan "Mole" Molière from ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' is named after famous French screenwriter and actor Creator/{{Moliere}}, despite it being a made-up stage name rather than a proper French surname. |
| 115 | * [[Manga/{{JoJosBizarreAdventure}} JEAN. PIERRE.]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Polnareff POLNAREFF.]] Slightly diminished by the fact that this was done [[MusicalThemeNaming on purpose.]] Oh, Araki. |
| 116 | * ''Series/CriminalMindsBeyondBorders'': In "The Lonely Heart", the first French victim of SerialKiller Paul Mossier is named Alexandra [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_du_Motier,_Marquis_de_Lafayette Lafayette.]] However, the real Lafayette's surname was du Motier. His title was Marquis of Lafayette. |
| 117 | [[/folder]] |
| 118 | |
| 119 | [[folder:German]] |
| 120 | * ''Franchise/CodeGeass'': |
| 121 | ** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Bismarck Bismarck]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._21_(Beethoven) Waldstein.]] Or perhaps [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_von_Wallenstein this one,]] though the two were related. |
| 122 | ** Jeremiah [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klement_Gottwald Gottwald.]] |
| 123 | ** Nina [[UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein Einstein]] (this could be a reference to her invention of the atomic bomb, a project to which Albert contributed) |
| 124 | * ''Manga/TheKindaichiCaseFiles'' has a young boy genius called Chris Einstein. |
| 125 | * ''Theatre/ArsenicAndOldLace'' has a [[BackAlleyDoctor Doctor]] [[UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein Einstein]]. Somewhat [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in that Elaine expresses obvious surprise at hearing his name. The play goes even further when Jonathan clears it up for her by revealing that his first name is Herman, not Albert. |
| 126 | * ''Anime/{{Gunbuster}}'' has mostly Japanese characters, named after people on the staff, and one foreign character (Toren Smith) named after a well-known manga translator. When it came to the female German pilot, though, they fell headlong into this trap, ending up with [[UsefulNotes/CarlJung Jung]] [[UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud Freud]], which is... not exactly a name anyone is likely to have: "Jung" is actually a not uncommon German ... family name (it means: "young"). |
| 127 | * Len Wein has gone on record that he came up with ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}}'s civilian name in 1975 by combining the first name of Kurt Waldheim (Austria, then secretary-general of the United Nations) with the family name of Music/RichardWagner. Kurt Wagner would hardly raise as much as an eyebrow with a native speaker, though. |
| 128 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has a fat villain named Heidegger, with an annoying laugh. He is in no way to be confused with either the Dr. Heidegger in Creator/NathanielHawthorne's short story or the eponymous German philosopher, author of "Being and Time," an inquiry into the nature and meaning of existence. |
| 129 | * Marvel's Destiny alias Irene Adler, named for the ''Franchise/SherlockHolmes'' character, although there are a number of famous Austrians and Germans with the same surname. |
| 130 | * Minor Marvel villain of the Hellfire Club Friedrich [[TheVonTropeFamily von]] Roehm, quite probably named with Nazi leader Erich Roehm in mind. |
| 131 | * The current ''führer'' of [[TabletopGame/GURPSAlternateEarths Reich-5]] and successor to Viktor Alchsneiss is named Günter Wallraff. In our world, that's the (first AND last) name of a decidedly leftist German investigative journalist. Makes you wonder how much research they did on that. |
| 132 | * In ''Film/Frankenstein1970'', the Baron's hulking servant who is doubling as the monster in the FilmWithinAFilm is named Hans Himmler. And his given name is only revealed in the credits. For most of the movie, he is just addressed as Himmler. |
| 133 | * Italian comic series ''Legs Weaver'' has Legs meet an old friend of hers, a woman called Sybil Danning. The exact same name as a real-life Austrian actress. |
| 134 | [[/folder]] |
| 135 | |
| 136 | [[folder:Greek]] |
| 137 | * On one episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', a Greek butcher named ''Hercules'' is introduced. At only one point is the correlation between his name and the mythological hero pointed out, in the form of a pun in his store signage ("Witness the 7 ''Meats'' of Hercules!") Otherwise, the name is treated as perfectly normal name. This is particularly noticeable because Hercules is the ''Roman'' name for the Greek hero Herakles, and a Greek having the former name ahead of the latter, if either, is quite odd. |
| 138 | ** Forms of Hercules are actually used in some languages, such as the Italian Ercole and the French [[Literature/HerculePoirot Hercule]]. |
| 139 | * The owner of the Shelbyville nuclear power station in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is named Aristotle Amadopolis, in reference to the most famous Greek shipping tycoon of all time: Aristoteles (English: Aristotle) Onassis. |
| 140 | * ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' V3's: martial arts "[[InformedAbility expert]]" Adonis Zorba, named for both the Greek God of beauty and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorba_the_Greek Zorba the Greek.]] |
| 141 | * In the 1960 ''Film/ThirteenGhosts'', the main character is named Cyrus Zorba, and the uncle who leaves him the house is Dr. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato Plato]] Zorba. By the time of the 2001 [[Film/Thir13enGhosts remake]], the names were probably considered too silly and were changed to Arthur and Cyrus Kriticos, respectively. |
| 142 | [[/folder]] |
| 143 | |
| 144 | [[folder:Indian]] |
| 145 | * Indian characters named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma "Mahatma"]] after UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi are a particularly JustForFun/{{egregious}} example, as "Mahatma" is an honorific, not a first name. Gandhi's actual first name was Mohandas. |
| 146 | * In the late 1980s sitcom ''Series/HeadOfTheClass'', an Indian-American character is named "Jawaharlal Choudhury." Not only do the given name and the family name unlikely to be paired in a real Indian person because they come from two different ethnicities, but also "Jawaharlal" is obviously taken from the name of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Also, naming fashions change from generation to generation in India; thus, to an Indian, someone named Jawaharlal should have been born in the late 19th century, not someone who is a teenager in 1986. |
| 147 | * [[http://ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/sign-12.htm Mahomet Singh]] in the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' novel ''The Sign of the Four''. "Mahomet" is an Anglicization of the Islamic name Muhammad, and "Singh" is a Sikh surname [[PlanetOfSteves taken by all male members of the faith]], making "Mahomet Singh" a highly improbable name combination (akin to "[[Franchise/StarTrek Khan Noonien Singh]]"). The Penguin Books annotation of ''The Sign of the Four'' calls this a solecism, and blandly remarks that "the two names would not be found together." This annotation should be accompanied by bells, whistles, flashing lights, and a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maroon_%28rocket%29 maroon.]] Especially a maroon. |
| 148 | * Similarly, Hadji Singh from the ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' series. Hadji is an obviously Muslim title, and Singh is obviously Sikh. The chances of a guy named Hadji Singh being the prince of Calcutta are rather low. |
| 149 | * The ''Franchise/DoctorWho'' episode ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E2DinosaursOnASpaceship Dinosaurs on a Spaceship]]'' features the Indian Space Agency, directed by a woman named Indira, after former prime minister Indira Ghandi. |
| 150 | * ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' named the BigBad after the influential Indian painter [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mola_Ram Mola Ram/]] |
| 151 | [[/folder]] |
| 152 | |
| 153 | [[folder:Indonesian]] |
| 154 | * PlayedForLaughs in the ''Series/StrangersWithCandy'' [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369994 movie,]] when Jerri's new friend introduces himself as "Megawatti Sukarnoputri. Not ''that'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megawati_Sukarnoputri Megawati Sukarnoputri."]] |
| 155 | [[/folder]] |
| 156 | |
| 157 | [[folder:Iranian]] |
| 158 | * The ''Literature/ConanTheBarbarian'' villain [[Characters/ConanTheBarbarianKingYezdigerd King Yezdigerd]] shares his name with several kings of Sassanid Persia and is likely named after the last, Yazdegerd III, famous for being ruler at the time of the Islamic conquest. |
| 159 | [[/folder]] |
| 160 | |
| 161 | [[folder:Israeli]] |
| 162 | * Where else but Creator/DemiMoore's ''Striptease'', where a (female) stripper "from Israel" is introduced as ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Sharon Ariel Sharon]]''? Admittedly likely a stage name. |
| 163 | * In the Gabriel Allon novels involving an Israeli spy/assassin, his superior is named "Ari Shamron" which is one letter and an abbreviation away from Ariel Sharon. |
| 164 | [[/folder]] |
| 165 | |
| 166 | [[folder:Italian]] |
| 167 | * ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Captain Italy: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto_Eco Umberto]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefano_Landi Landi.]] |
| 168 | * The Italian Vellian Crowler in the Japanese version of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' was named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronos Chronos]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_de_Medici de Medici.]] |
| 169 | * In ''Series/BabylonFive'', one of the characters is Michael [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Garibaldi Garibaldi,]] despite Garibaldi being an uncommon surname. To reduce the perceived oddity of this choice, in the Italian dubbed version the name becomes Gariboldi. |
| 170 | * There's also the Garibaldi Temple in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness''. Along with other oddities such as a town named ''Cordova'' in the middle of Valachian forests. |
| 171 | * A third Garibaldi appears in ''Fanfic/ChrysalisVisitsTheHague'' as an Italian aide-de-camp to the defence (first name: Filippo). |
| 172 | * ''VisualNovel/LuckyDog1'' has Giancarlo [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Maria_Del_Monte Bourbon del Monte,]] Giulio [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giotto di Bondone]] and possibly Alessandro [[InconsistentSpelling del Salto]] / [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_del_Sarto del Sarto.]] |
| 173 | * Played with in ''Literature/RallyRoundTheFlagBoys'': Guido di Maggio doesn't really like to play baseball, but he always has to because, as someone says to him, "Whoever heard of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_DiMaggio anybody]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dom_DiMaggio named]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_DiMaggio di Maggio]] who didn't feel like playing ball?" |
| 174 | * In ''Film/ANightAtTheOpera'', Chico Marx's stock Italian character is named Fiorello. Fiorello La Guardia was mayor of UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity at the time the movie was made. |
| 175 | * ''Series/CriminalMindsBeyondBorders'': [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-zagged]] with Onario [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri Alighieri]] in "Il Mostro", who was given that name by the person who raised him as a StealthInsult to [[{{Unperson}} his father]], and the name was [[NamedAfterSomeoneFamous taken from the writer]]. |
| 176 | * ''Series/TheBorgias'': Caterina Sforza's son is renamed from Ottaviano to Benito, for some reason. The fictional name is obviously taken from Benito Mussolini, because Benito is not an Italian name in reality, but Spanish. Mussolini's father named him after [[{{Irony}} liberal]] Mexican president Benito Juárez. |
| 177 | [[/folder]] |
| 178 | |
| 179 | [[folder:Japanese]] |
| 180 | * In the Thomas Harris novel ''Hannibal Rising'', Hannibal Lecter has a Japanese aunt-by-marriage named Lady Murasaki Shikibu. The historic Murasaki Shikibu is best known as the author of ''Literature/TheTaleOfGenji'', one of the world's earliest novels as well as one of the most famous and significant works of Japanese literature. The character in the book is said to be a descendant of the historic author, but this doesn't make the name much more plausible because "Murasaki Shikibu" was the author's pen name. The author's real personal name is unknown, but she was a member of the Fujiwara clan. "Shikibu" isn't even an actual Japanese family name, it was a reference to the court position held by the historic author's father. |
| 181 | * Pretty much every 'foreign' character in WWF at least through the Attitude Era, what with Mr. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Fuji Fuji]], that sort of thing. To be fair, Mr. Fuji's real name is Harry Fujiwara. |
| 182 | ** Averted with Kenzo Suzuki,[[note]]that doesn't count, it's his actual name[[/note]] who originally was going to be called Hirohito and come in as if he was related to the Emperor of Japan. |
| 183 | * The protagonist of Shaena Lambert's novel ''Radiance'' is called Keiko Kitigawa, just one letter different from the name of actress [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keiko_Kitagawa Keiko Kitagawa.]] Incidentally, "ti" is not a native Japanese syllable and would never show up in any real Japanese name, though it is an entirely legal rendering of a 「ち」 syllable in the official Kunrei romanisation system. (The better known Hepburn system renders it as "chi".) |
| 184 | * ''Literature/AlanMendelsohnTheBoyFromMars'' has Clarence Film/{{Yojimbo}}, author of Yojimbo's Japanese-English Dictionary. Subverted by the revelation that he's not actually Japanese but Venusian. |
| 185 | * On the Angel episode "Players," a Japanese character is named Takeshi Morimoto, doubtless referencing Takeshi Kaga and Masaharu Moriomto from Series/IronChef. |
| 186 | * ''Series/CriminalMindsBeyondBorders'': Yukio Aito from "Whispering Death" is [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory loosely based]] on Japanese SerialKiller Hiroshi Maeue, who was executed along with another murderer named '''Yukio''' Yamaji. |
| 187 | * ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'': After JapanTakesOverTheWorld, Marty [=McFly=] addresses his boss as Fujitsu-san. The problem is Fujitsu is only the name of a corporation; it is not a Japanese surname. It's a bit like having a character named Mr. Kodak. |
| 188 | [[/folder]] |
| 189 | |
| 190 | [[folder:Korean]] |
| 191 | * ''ComicBook/XMen'': The real name of the Marauders mutant Scrambler is Kim Il Sung, after the communist revolutionary leader. |
| 192 | [[/folder]] |
| 193 | |
| 194 | [[folder:Mongolian]] |
| 195 | * ''VideoGame/WorldHeroes'': [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan G.Karn]], who is Genghis Khan's personal bodyguard. |
| 196 | * One of the ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' novels has two Mongolian characters named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamukha Jamukka]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borte Bortay.]] |
| 197 | * ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' features a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subutai Subotai]] as one of Conan's friends. |
| 198 | [[/folder]] |
| 199 | |
| 200 | [[folder:Nepalese]] |
| 201 | * Tenzing Tharkay of the ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' series, presumably named after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ang_Tharkay Ang Tharkay]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenzing_Norgay Tenzing Norgay.]] |
| 202 | [[/folder]] |
| 203 | |
| 204 | [[folder:Norse]] |
| 205 | * ''VideoGame/WorldHeroes'': [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_the_Red Erick,]] [[JustifiedTrope justifiable]] in that Erik is still a very common Norse name. |
| 206 | * Celty [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snorri_Sturluson Sturluson]] of ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'', who came from Ireland and now lives in Japan, but ended up with a Scandinavian name along the way. Kind of runs into problems because Sturluson is a patronymic, not a last name. |
| 207 | [[/folder]] |
| 208 | |
| 209 | [[folder:Norwegian]] |
| 210 | * ''Series/TheXFiles'', in the episode set in Norway, introduces the Norwegian fisherman... Trondheim (also the name of one of Norway's biggest and most important cities, and a former capital). While naming kids after cities or places is not unusual in the States, it is not a part of Norwegian naming conventions at all, neither as given names or surnames. On the other hand, Trondheim is established as having been born in Pensacola, which is in Florida... |
| 211 | * Sigrid Nansen, the original Icemaiden in Creator/DCComics, is presumably named after the Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen. Note that her first appearance involved an expedition by the {{WesternAnimation/Superfriends}} to ''Ant''arctica. |
| 212 | * In ''VideoGame/WhatRemainsOfEdithFinch'', the oldest member of the Finch family was a Norwegian settler named Odin Finch. |
| 213 | [[/folder]] |
| 214 | |
| 215 | [[folder:Pakistani]] |
| 216 | * The Pakistani boy who comes to live with the American family in ''AliensInAmerica'' is named Raja [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pervez_Musharraf Musharraf.]] |
| 217 | [[/folder]] |
| 218 | |
| 219 | [[folder:Polish]] |
| 220 | * ''ComicBook/{{Blackhawk}}'': [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janos_Prohaska Janos Prohaska.]] [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Note that Blackhawk is Polish, the RealLife Janos Prohaska was Hungarian, the surname is Czech (Slovakia was part of Hungary until 1918), and the first name isn't Polish either (that would be Janusz).]] |
| 221 | * The creators of ''VideoGame/CombatMission: Beyond Overlord'' decided to be nice enough to give Polish soldiers Polish names (every individual in the game had an individual name). They gave them ones they could find in the Internet quickly, though. So you could commandeer [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Krzaklewski Marian Krzaklewski]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Buzek Jerzy Buzek]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksander_Kwasniewski Aleksander Kwasniewski.]] It could be quite fun for some people to send them to their death, as the first two were not so popular at the time. Good enough that they didn't use [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karol_Wojtyla Karol Wojtyla.]] |
| 222 | ** The Wojtyla dynasty, however, rules what remains of Poland in ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}''. It's baffling because the main authors of RIFTS, Kevin Siembeda and Alex Marciniszyn, have Polish ancestry. |
| 223 | * In ''VideoGame/MedievalTotalWar'' and ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'' the characters actually have names you could find in a history book, only sometimes assigned to wrong gender or forming strange combinations (like "Jagiellon Jagiello" a century before the reign of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jogaila the dynasty founder]]). ''[[VideoGame/EmpireTotalWar Empire]]'' reportedly uses the name of somewhat more obscure Polish politicians (but still fun to see them time-slipped). |
| 224 | * The random name generator in ''VideoGame/EuropaUniversalis III'' will occasionally churn out a name that belonged to a famous historical figure, not least because the Polish surnames in the generator's data file ''all'' belonged to figures of note in Renaissance Poland. |
| 225 | * The German TV miniseries ''Literature/{{Winnetou}} - Der Mythos lebt'', set in the Wild West, includes an episode with three Polish immigrants who incongruously share their names with three famous 20th century Polish poets (Tadeusz Różewicz, Czesław Miłosz, Zbigniew Herbert.) |
| 226 | * The anime ''Anime/ActiveRaid'' includes a Polish character named Emilia Edelman; her name is most likely taken from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marek_Edelman Marek Edelman]], famous as the leader of the uprising in Warsaw's Jewish ghetto during World War II. |
| 227 | [[/folder]] |
| 228 | |
| 229 | [[folder:Romanian]] |
| 230 | * ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' could be considered a case of this. Many adaptations make Stoker's Count {{Dracula}} and UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler (aka Vlad Dracula) the same person, and there are hints at this in the book, but scholars debate how much of this was intentional on Bram Stoker's part and how much was just him cobbling various bits of Romanian history together. |
| 231 | * The AntiChrist from the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' series is named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceau%C5%9Fescu Nicolae]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpathian_Mountains Carpathia.]] To be absolutely fair, his other name is [[EmbarrassingMiddleName "Jetty" (?!?!)]] and this is hardly the only offensive moment in these novels. |
| 232 | * Perhaps best used in ''VideoGame/WorkTimeFun'' in the RockPaperScissors World Tournament mini-game. The Romanian character in the world league championships is named "Mayor Dracula." In fact, just about every opponent in that minigame falls under this trope, including "Victoria Potter" from England and "George Spielberg" from America. |
| 233 | * The Monk, a vampiric foe of Franchise/{{Batman}}, shares his names with possibly the two most famous Romanians who have ever lived: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceau%C8%99escu Nicolae Ceaușescu]] (albeit in an alternate Romanisation of the first name) and UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler. And at least one of these has very strong connections to vampirism. |
| 234 | * One of the most common {{Fanon}} names for [[NationsAsPeople Romania]] of ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' is “Vlad”. Though there are a few people who dislike the name due to being so blatantly derived from a specific historical figure, as the name is hardly common in Romania. |
| 235 | * ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles'' episode "Masks of Evil" has Indy travelling to Transylvania to investigate a general named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Corvinus Mattias]] Targo, and his local link being an inkeeper named Nicholas [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunyadi_family Hunyadi]]. Both identify as Romanian and want independence from Austria-Hungary, even though Hunyadi is a Hungarian surname. |
| 236 | [[/folder]] |
| 237 | |
| 238 | [[folder:Russian]] |
| 239 | * ''Franchise/JamesBond'': |
| 240 | ** General [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Gogol Gogol]] and General [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Pushkin Pushkin]] in ''Film/TheLivingDaylights''. |
| 241 | ** General [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlov Orlov]] in ''Film/{{Octopussy}}''. |
| 242 | ** Valentin [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Zhukovsky Zukovsky]] in ''Film/GoldenEye'' and ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough''. |
| 243 | ** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchess_Tatiana_Nikolaevna_of_Russia Tatiana Romanova]] in ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove''. This one, at least, was {{lampshade|Hanging}}d[=/=][[JustifiedTrope justified]] in the original novel. The Soviets viewed her with suspicion because of her surname, even though she wasn't actually related to the ex-royal family ("Romanov" is a pretty common surname and so the Soviets would have had no reason to suspect anyone solely because of their surname). |
| 244 | * ''WesternAnimation/ChillyBeach'' also had a Russian hockey player named Gogol. |
| 245 | * ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquer Red Alert]]'': |
| 246 | ** Major Vladimir [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Kosygin Kosygin.]] |
| 247 | ** Yuri & Daniel [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vyacheslav_Molotov Molotov.]] |
| 248 | * Creator/MarvelComics: |
| 249 | ** [[ComicBook/BlackWidow Natasha]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Romanov Romanova.]] |
| 250 | ** Piotr, Illyana, Mikhail [[UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk Rasputin]]. A recent recton reveals that Colossus and family ''are'' in fact descended from the "Mad Monk". |
| 251 | *** As far as his first name goes, Piotr is most likely named after Peter the Great. |
| 252 | *** Also lampshaded by Hank [=McCoy=] when Piotr [[DeathIsCheap came back from the dead;]] "Boy's named Rasputin. [[RasputinianDeath Should have known he wouldn't be that easy to kill.]]" |
| 253 | *** Also Lampshaded in a ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' one-shot where Natasha, Piotr and Illyana are part of a Stalinist ComicBook/FantasticFour; Stalin claims to tell a lot about people by their names, and to be rather suspicious of these ones. "My own name means - " taps Colossus " - Man of Steel." |
| 254 | ** Boris [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Turgenev Turgenev]] (Crimson Dynamo II). |
| 255 | ** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Nevsky Alex Nevsky]] (Crimson Dynamo III). |
| 256 | ** Dmitri [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Bukharin Bukharin]] (Crimson Dynamo V). |
| 257 | ** Tania [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vissarion_Belinsky Belinsky]] (Red Guardian, Starlight). |
| 258 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': Pavel [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov Chekov.]] |
| 259 | * ''Series/StargateSG1'': Colonel [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Chekov Chekov.]] |
| 260 | * ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'': |
| 261 | ** Nene [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Romanov Romanova]]. Note that Romanov(a) is a common Russian surname, and most Romanovs in real life have absolutely no connection to the royal dynasty. On the other hand, Nene [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign isn't a proper Russian name]], but [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nene_%28person%29 a Japanese name]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess_Helene_in_Bavaria a Bavarian nickname.]] |
| 262 | * ''TroperWorks/Covert81'': |
| 263 | ** Katya [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Gerasimovich_Kuznetsov Kuznetsova]] (though Kuznetsova is a pretty common Russian name, Word Of @/SilentHunter says Katya is really named after the famous Admiral.) |
| 264 | ** Pyotr [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Bulganin Bulganin.]] |
| 265 | * ''VideoGame/WorldHeroes'': [[UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk Rasputin]]. Note that this character is ''not'' the RealLife Grigoriy Rasputin, as some may think. According to Website/TheOtherWiki, the ''World Heroes'' Rasputin is "a philosopher of XIII century Russia, was also a known alchemist and sorcerer". |
| 266 | * ''ComicBook/WildCATsWildStorm'': Adrianna [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_Tereshkova Tereshkova]] (The Void). |
| 267 | * ''ComicBook/FiendsOfTheEasternFront'': Grigori [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Eisenstein Eisenstein.]] Eisenstein is actually a ''[[YiddishAsASecondLanguage Jewish]]'' name, but still... |
| 268 | * The ship that took [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Luna Volves and Death Guard]] loyalist captains [[Literature/HorusHeresy Iacton Qruze and Nathaniel Garro]] to Terra is also named after the famous filmmaker -- or, rather, a pale shadow of his memory. |
| 269 | * Another 40K reference is Lord Inquisitor [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Karamazov Fyodor]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brothers_Karamazov Karamazov]], [[KillItWithFire Pyrophant]] [[KnightTemplar Judge]] of Salem Proctor. |
| 270 | * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Brezhnev Simon Brezhnev]] of ''Literature/{{Durarara}}''. |
| 271 | * There's a fairly important character named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Mayakovsky Mayakovsky]] in ''Literature/TheMagicians.'' Lampshaded in ''The Magician's Land,'' when Plum innocently asks Professor Mayakovsky if he happens to be related to the poet; the professor is not amused. |
| 272 | * ''Eye of the Red Tsar'' also features a Mayakovsky, as well as a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Kirov Kirov,]] a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Kolchak Kolchak,]] and a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kropotkin Kropotkin.]] |
| 273 | * ''Airwolf'' featured a General [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Kirov Kirov]] as well |
| 274 | * One of the campers in ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' is named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bulgakov Mikhail Bulgakov.]] |
| 275 | * In ''The Code of Dusty Fog'' by Creator/JTEdson, three trouble-making Russian members of a rail gang are named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruschev Kruschev,]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorbachev Gorbachev]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_Gorky Gorki.]] That last one isn't even a real Russian surname. Likely a reference to Maxim Gorky (almost always anglicised with a 'y'), even though Gorky was actually a pen name (it means 'bitter') and the author's real surname was Peshkov. Possibly named after the city of Gorki, east of Moscow on the intersection of the Volga and Oka rivers -- which was renamed to Nizhny Novgorod two years after the story was written. |
| 276 | * In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'', the resident Russian mobster boss is called Vladimir Lem. [[UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin Sound familiar]]? |
| 277 | ** "Lem" probably refers to the Polish sci-fi author Creator/StanislawLem, who was very popular in USSR. |
| 278 | * In the ''Series/{{Tatort}}'' set in Münster, Frank Thiel's assistant, Nadeshda [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Johann_von_Krusenstern Krusenstern,]] was born in the former Soviet Union to a family of German extraction. Her family name is that of the commander of the first Russian circumnavigation of the world (in Russian he was called Ivan Fyodorovich Kruzenshtern), and Nadezhda ("Hope", which actually is a very common Russian given name for women) was the name of one of his two ships. |
| 279 | * In ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns'' RPG videogame, a "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Lobachevsky Lobatchevsky]] crime syndicate" is mentioned several times. The surname is both very rare and a household name in Russia (it is synonymous with non-Euclidean geometry in conventional speech). |
| 280 | * In ''WebComic/GirlGenius'', Boris Myshkin-Dolokhov shares last names with major characters from ''Literature/TheIdiot'' and ''Literature/WarAndPeace'', respectively. |
| 281 | * ''Videogame/EmpireEarth'' has Sergei [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vyacheslav_Molotov Molotov]] as the second hero of the Russian campaign (even more obvious since the first protagonist had dreams of resurrecting the Soviet Union, [[spoiler:and his replacement tries to have Molotov killed]]). |
| 282 | [[/folder]] |
| 283 | |
| 284 | [[folder:Serbian]] |
| 285 | * Draza, one of Lazarevic's lieutenants in ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves'' was almost certainly named after Drazha Mihailovic, the leader of the Chetnik "[[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything resistance]]" movement during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. |
| 286 | ** Not to mention Lazarevic has a historical name of his own, taking his name from the Serbian [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarevi%C4%87_dynasty Lazarević dynasty.]] |
| 287 | [[/folder]] |
| 288 | |
| 289 | [[folder:Spanish]] |
| 290 | * De Leon, often used for noblemen and/or conquistadors, after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ponce_de_Leon Juan Ponce de León.]] Notice that "Ponce de León" is actually just one surname in this case, although "Ponce", "León", and "de León" also exist. Also, that Juan Ponce de León and his [[HollywoodHistory supposed search]] for the FountainOfYouth is [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff much more known]] in Puerto Rico and the United States for obvious reasons, while in other Spanish-speaking countries people are likelier to think of other members of the Ponce de León family or the family at large when they hear "Ponce de León". |
| 291 | ** ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'': [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Cervantes Cervantes]] de Leon. |
| 292 | ** ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'' has Francisco Delgado de León, a [[CompositeCharacter loose mix]] of UsefulNotes/HernanCortez, Francisco Pizarro, Hernando de Soto, and Juan Ponce de León. |
| 293 | ** ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Peter Griffin's conquistador ancestor, Ponce de Leon Griffin (obviously a parody of Juan Ponce de León). |
| 294 | ** ''Poncito'' de Leon, a fictional [[FamousAncestor son]] of Juan Ponce de León in a ''{{WesternAnimation/Pocahontas}}''' comic, arrives in Virginia while still searching for the Fountain of Youth as an old man. |
| 295 | * Vega is neither nearly as common a surname in Spain as it would seem from American fiction. Only some 65,000 had it as their first surname in 2019, and only 5,000 had "de la Vega."[[note]]About the same numbers had them as their second surname, which is inherited from the mother. TheMaidenNameDebate does not exist in Spain.[[/note]] However, it keeps popping in media because of DerivativeWorks/{{Zorro}}'s real name, Don Diego de la Vega. The only famous living Spaniard with the surname Vega, actress Creator/PazVega, chose it as a stage name (her real surname is Campos). |
| 296 | ** ''Franchise/StreetFighter'': Vega, the cage-fighting Spaniard. What? [[{{Woolseyism}} What do you mean it's a coincidence?!]] |
| 297 | ** ''Creator/TomClancy's Op-center: Balance of Power'' has InterpolSpecialAgent Luis García de la Vega. And while García is the most common surname in Spain, it is impossible to not see the Zorro connection and think of Sergeant García from [[Series/Zorro1957 the Disney series]]. |
| 298 | ** Arms trafficker Claudio Vega in the pilot episode of ''Series/{{Undercovers}}''. |
| 299 | ** ClassyCatBurglar and [[TorosYFlamenco Flamenco dancer]] Lumi Vega in the videogame ''Wheelman''. The developers were most likely unaware that Lumi is not a Spanish name but slang for [[InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike prostitute]]. |
| 300 | * [[{{Spexico}} For some]] [[LatinLand reason]], two Spanish generals in ''Op-center: Balance of Power'' are named after Argentinian visual artists, the BigBad [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Cesar_Amadori Amadori]] and a fleetingly-referenced [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americo_Hoss Americo Hoss.]] However, the real Amadori was born in Italy, and the real Americo Hoss was born in Hungary. You would never expect a Spaniard to have the surname Amadori or Hoss, let alone some supposed "Castilian [[ANaziByAnyOtherName nationalist]]". The third general is named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lope_de_Aguirre Aguirre.]] |
| 301 | * ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'': [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Pizarro Pisarro.]] |
| 302 | * Several characters called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernan_Cortes Cortez,]] although it is a rather common Spanish surname.[[note]]Note, however, that the original spelling is ''Cortés'' (Spanish for "Polite" or "[[CourtlyLove Courtly]]") and remains the one common in Spain, while the alternate Cortez developed in Latin America after the Conquest, as a mirror of surnames with the patronymic ending -ez.[[/note]] |
| 303 | ** Sergeant Octavio Cortez in Joe Haldeman's ''Literature/TheForeverWar''. |
| 304 | ** The pirate in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor''. |
| 305 | ** Creator/MarvelComics villain Fabian Cortez of the Acolytes. |
| 306 | ** ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': Captain Cortez of the Crimson Fists and Lord Inquisitor [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomas_de_Torquemada Torquemada]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernan_Cortes Coteaz,]] High Protector of the Formosa Sector. |
| 307 | ** Not Cortez but obviously related: ''Series/TheBorgias'' replaces the historical "Great Captain", [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzalo_Fernandez_de_Cordoba Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba,]] with a fictional veteran of the American conquest named ''Hernan''do de Caballos. |
| 308 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Sealab 2021}}'': Marco's full name is Marco [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cid Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Garcia_Marquez Gabriel Garcia Marquez.]] Note that this is [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign a horrible mangling of actual Spanish naming practices]], but then, RuleOfFunny. |
| 309 | * ''VideoGame/SunsetRiders'': [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Greco El Greco]], though the character appears to be Mexican. (Greco-Mexican?) |
| 310 | * Creator/SidneySheldon's ''The Sands of Time'': |
| 311 | ** The merry band of LovableRogue Basque terrorists are named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Miro J. Miró,]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lope_de_Vega Felix Carpio,]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Gutierrez_Mellado R. Mellado.]] However, none of these names are actually Basque in origin, and they're uncommon in the Basque Country. |
| 312 | ** The [[PresidentEvil evil Spanish prime minister]] Leopoldo Martinez's physical description is a dead-ringer for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopoldo_Calvo-Sotelo Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo,]] the only notable Leopoldo in 1980s Spain. |
| 313 | ** TheStarscream Rubio [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Arzano]] may be named after the leader of the [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece now forgotten]] [[https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atraco_al_Banco_Central_de_Barcelona hostage takers]] at the Barcelona Central Bank, which happened shortly after the failed 1981 coup (notice the references to the latter in the use of Leopoldo and Mellado). If so, Sheldon failed to notice that "El Rubio" was a nickname (meaning "The Blonde One") and not a given name; the real guy's actual name was José Juan ''Martínez''. Rubio is a common last name in Spain, but it is unheard of as a first name. |
| 314 | * ''Series/CriminalMindsBeyondBorders'': |
| 315 | ** The SerialKiller in "El Toro Bravo" is named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavi Xavi]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xabi_Alonso Alonso.]] Alonso is a rather common name in Spain, but WordOfGod is that he was named after the Basque footballer. However, this choice rather works against the show: Xavi (or Xabi) is actually short for Xavier (or Xabier), not a full given name as used in the show; and Alonso, while found in the Basque Country, is not originally Basque, yet the Alonsos are supposed to be local celebrities and possibly small nobility. In such case Alonso would probably have a more uncommon or compound last name, like the real [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alava Alavese]] surname Alonso de Mezquía. |
| 316 | ** The same episode has a Spanish priest named "Consolmango". Given all the references to Jesuits, he is probably named after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Consolmagno Guy Consolmagno,]] who is actually American (and his surname, Italian). |
| 317 | * The Spaniard in ''{{Series/Narcos}}'' is named [[https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efrain_Gonzalez_Tellez Efram Gonzales]] after a Colombian 20th century bandit, even though he's supposed to be a Spaniard (unsurprisingly, the name [[{{Spexico}} isn't]] Spaniard-sounding at all). |
| 318 | * ''Film/TheMission'': Given the story's setting in colonial Río de la Plata, it is hard to not see the surnames Mendoza and Cabeza being based on some of the first Spanish governors of the region, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_de_Mendoza Pedro de Mendoza]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvar_Nunez_Cabeza_de_Vaca Cabeza de Vaca.]] |
| 319 | * [[RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman Lope de Vega]]'s PointyHairedBoss in ''Literature/RuledBritannia'' is named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltasar_de_Zuniga,_1st_Duke_of_Arion Baltasar Guzmán.]] De Vega wonders if he got the position from being related to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonso_Perez_de_Guzman_y_Sotomayor,_7th_Duke_of_Medina_Sidonia Alonso Pérez de Guzmán]], the conqueror of England in the AlternateHistory. |
| 320 | * [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Adalia]] Cansino Montes in the episode "Soft Kills" of ''Series/TheAgency'', who shares a name with Margarita Cansino better known as Creator/RitaHayworth. |
| 321 | * In ''Film/TheCheetahGirls'' sequel the girls befriend a rising Spanish pop star named Marisol. In reality no 21st-century Spanish audience would take such name seriously, because of a child singer named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marisol_(actress) Marisol]] in TheSixties who was infamously NotAllowedToGrowUp. |
| 322 | * The Benengeli family in the anime ''Nasu: Summer in Andalusia'' is Spanish but is named after Cide Hamete Benengeli, a fictional Arab author in ''Literature/DonQuixote''. |
| 323 | [[/folder]] |
| 324 | |
| 325 | [[folder:Tibetan]] |
| 326 | * The ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E2TheAbominableSnowmen The Abominable Snowmen]]'', which was set in a Tibetan monastery, had characters with the names of prominent historical figures in Tibetan Buddhism. |
| 327 | * As did ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'', set in a FantasyCounterpartCulture version. |
| 328 | ** There's also "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobsang_Rampa Lobsang]] [[HonestJohnsDealership Dibbler]]" in ''Literature/WitchesAbroad''. Since this is an example of a conman using the same name as a probable conman, it could be described as ''authentically'' inauthentic. |
| 329 | * Tenzin, the Tibetan villager that helps Nate in ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves'', was most likely named after Tenzin Gyatso, the religious name of the 14th Dalai Lama. |
| 330 | ** Although, to be fair, Tenzin is a very common first name in Tibet. |
| 331 | * Gyatso from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' and Tenzin from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' are both named after Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso. |
| 332 | * The Tibetian bicycle repairman reincarnated as a supercomputer in ''Literature/TheLongEarth'' is also named Lobsang. As Sir Creator/TerryPratchett [[https://www.lspace.org/books/apf/witches-abroad.html once said,]] in regard to Lobsang Dibbler: |
| 333 | -->I know all kindsa Tibetan names... Kelsang, Jambel, Tsong, Tenzin, Tupten (drops Tibetan reference book on foot)... but Lobsang is, thanks to Mr Rampa, probably the best known. |
| 334 | [[/folder]] |
| 335 | |
| 336 | [[folder:Turkish]] |
| 337 | * ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'' once used Ataturk as a name for a Turkish diplomat. It's uncertain whether the author realized that this was the nickname of the Republic of Turkey's founder. |
| 338 | ** It's actually his official surname, but everybody else is prohibited by law to use that particular surname. So yes, that seems like a major mess up, unless it was deliberate. |
| 339 | * In season one of ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', the family is visited by the Turkish gentleman Mr. Kemal Pamuk, a combination of two famous Turks: Mustafa Kemal (a.k.a. Atatürk), founder of the Turkish Republic and the Nobel-prize winning autor Orhan Pamuk. This is a specially poor choice because besides having a name made of two surnames, the episode takes place in 1913, and Turkish Muslims didn't have surnames until Atatürk's "Surname Law" in 1934. Mustafa's own "Kemal" ("Perfection") was a nickname originally given to him by his school teacher. |
| 340 | [[/folder]] |
| 341 | |
| 342 | [[folder:Other[=/=]Multiple]] |
| 343 | * When asked about possible names the NationsAsPeople cast of ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' might have as humans, many of the ones given by author Hidekazu Himaurya were these, though he at least tried to derive some of them from more obscure historical figures. Some are plausible, others not as much: |
| 344 | ** North Italy's name is "Feliciano Vargas"; bizarrely, Feliciano is a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felice_Feliciano Renaissance man's]] ''surname'' (while there are some notable people with that first name, none of them are Italian), and Vargas is [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign not an Italian surname (it is a Spanish one).]] |
| 345 | ** Russia, AKA Ivan [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Braginsky Braginsky.]] This is despite the fact Braginsky is a Jewish surname derived with mostly Polish suffix from a toponym of Belarus. Well, for Japan, it's [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Russian enough]]. |
| 346 | ** Greece is named "Herakles". |
| 347 | ** Hungary is named "Elizabeta", presumably after Elizabeth Bathory, despite the fact that that's not how it's pronounced in Hungarian. |
| 348 | ** Sweden is named [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Berwald "Berwald]] [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxenstierna Oxenstierna."]] Both of which just happen to be surnames. |
| 349 | ** Finland's surname is "Väinämöinen," the name of a hero from Pre-Christian Finnish mythology. |
| 350 | ** Switzerland's surname is [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldrych_Zwingli "Zwingli".]] |
| 351 | ** Norway got a list of possible names, which includes the likes of "[[Myth/NorseMythology Sigurd]]", "Knut", and the surname [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kjell_Magne_Bondevik "Bonde]][[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kjell_Bondevik vik."]] |
| 352 | * Jerry Jenkins has admitted to consistently using a variant of this to name foreign characters: first name of a famous foreigner, then a notable location in their country as a last name. When this fails, it ''really'' fails (e.g. [[Literature/LeftBehind Nicolae Carpathia]].) |
| 353 | * Apparently Jerry Jenkins and Ann M. Martin took the same creative writing class. Mallory of ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'' gets a boyfriend in Australian Ben [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobart Hobart.]] |
| 354 | ** Although that name would pass entirely unremarked in Australia. It helps that the city was named for Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire. Had she picked a different a different state capital, like Adelaide or Perth, it would have been a lot odder. |
| 355 | * ''Literature/HarryPotter'' has the [=WronskiFeint=], named for a Polish Seeker. Wronski is pronounced the same as Vronsky, Anna's lover in ''Literature/AnnaKarenina''. |
| 356 | ** Although in this case there is also a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wronskian "Wronskian"]] in math. (Yes, invented by some guy named "Wronski". Jozef Hoene-Wronski, in fact.) It's pronounced "Vronsky" as well. |
| 357 | * According to WordOfGod, ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' character Clio Gabriella was originally going to be named Ava Gardner. Yes, that Ava Gardner. |
| 358 | * Major General Abraham Lincoln in ''Film/FantasyMissionForce'' might be a case of this. (Though it's possible he ''is'' meant to be the historical Lincoln; it's that kind of movie.) |
| 359 | * Enforced by the random generator that names the explorer unit in ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII''. The first name and the last name are drawn from separate lists, both of which are based on historical European explorers and conquerors. You can end playing with Cristóbal Cortés or Francis Smith. |
| 360 | * Examples of German names mixed with names from other languages, as this seems especially common with German: |
| 361 | ** Emile Zola, writer of ''J'Accuse'' was the best-known ''Dreyfusard'' and French voice against antisemitism, so it's weird that Creator/JackKirby named a Nazi MadScientist and enemy of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Arnim Zola. The chosen first is the surname of a German noble family that included, among others, the romantic poet Achim von Arnim and his wife, Bettina von Arnim, née Brentano; the latter was a well-known liberal with social reform tendencies during the decades leading up to the Revolution of 1848. |
| 362 | ** ''[[Recap/TintinTheCastafioreEmerald The Castafiore Emerald]]'' has Igor Wagner, whose name is quite fitting for an accompanist to an operatic prima donna. Quite probably inspired by Music/IgorStravinsky as well as Music/RichardWagner. |
| 363 | ** In ''VideoGame/BloodRayne'' you have to kill Dr. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Bathory Bathory]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele Mengele.]] |
| 364 | * For a fictional example, while ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor'' and its sequel did extensive research on the various {{conlang}}s invented by Creator/JRRTolkien, the names of Gondorian original characters seem to have all been pulled from the ones already mentioned in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' with mixed results as to their meanings. For instance, while protagonist Talion has a very appropriate translation as "Man of the Valley", his wife Ioreth (who is still fairly young) means "The Old One", which in LOTR was probably the nickname "Granny" for an elderly nurse. |
| 365 | * In a bit of an odd real life example, the man who went to the moon (but didn't walk on it) with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin was named Michael Collins, which is very odd for someone from Ireland as it's the exact same name as revolutionary leader Michael Collins who won the country's independence. |
| 366 | [[/folder]] |
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