History Main / VehicularThemeNaming

* Ford Prefect in ''Franchise/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy''. Becomes a theme with the introduction of Hillman Hunter in ''Literature/AndAnotherThing''.

* ''Fanfic/PeaceForgedInFire'': Several of the Romulan ships are named after the {{Generation Ship}}s that took the Romulans to Romulus in ''Literature/{{Rihannsu}}: The Romulan Way''. Among them are the three leads' ships--D'trel's ''Kholhr'' (''Vengeance''), Morgan's ''Aen'rhien'' (''Bloodwing''), and Velal's ''Eyhon Eludet'eri'' (''Lost Road'')--as well as the RedShirt ships ''Delevhas'' (''Shield'') and ''Eyiv s'Rea'' (''Rea's Helm'').

** A few subsequent series continue this tradition as well. Mashymyre's aide-de-camp, Gordon Goh, is named for the Horten Ho/ Gotha Go 229 prototype jet fighter-bomber.

* The original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' has several members of the White Base crew derive their names from WWII-era fighter planes; Amuro Ray comes from the Mitsubishi [=A6M=] Zero ([=A6M=] in Japanese is "A-Roku-Mu", and "zero" is "Rei"); Kai Shiden from the Kawanishi [=N1K2-J=] Shiden Kai, and so forth.

-->--[[https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/nanoha-spinoff-vivid-strike.30247/page-5#post-7069148 forum post]] {{Lampshad|eHanging}}ing ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'''s use of this trope

* The Princes from ''Anime/LadyJewelpet'': (Porsche) Cayenne, (Alfa) Romeo, (Toyota) Soarer and (Toyota) Levin.

* Mikasa from ''Anime/AttackOnTitan'' is named after an Imperial Japanese Battleship

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* StephenFry wrote a novel and realized only halfway through planning it that [[ItsBeenDone his idea was basically]] ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo''. He made it an intentional WholePlotReference with {{Meaningful Name}}s of one sort or another for the characters; Mercedes's counterpart is called Portia.

* Former Michigan Congressmen William Ford, Bob Carr, and Dick Chrysler. Ford is a descendant of Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company.

** In the remake, Asuka's surname is changed from Soryu to Shikinami, to reflect the now-changed background of the character. As per WordOfGod, Rei, Asuka and Mari are all named after the postwar Ayanami-class destroyers rather than their World War Two Fubuki-class namesakes.

** In the remake, Asuka's surname is changed from Soryu to Shikinami for no apparent reason, but the theme is retained: ''both'' are the names of WWII Japanese warships.
*** Perhaps to keep up with the other EVA girls? All their surnames end with nami too.

* Most of the military characters from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' are named after WWII aircraft: Mustang, Hughes, Bradley, Hawkeye, Hayate, etc.

* The multitudes of porn actresses who name themselves "Porshe," "Mercedes," "Lexus," etc. The connotation is one of wealth and luxury, and rare pleasures.

* The Princes from ''Lady Franchise/{{Jewelpet}}'': (Porsche) Cayenne, (Alfa) Romeo, (Toyota) Soarer and (Toyota) Levin.

* The natives of Cephiro in ''MagicKnightRayearth'' are named after models of cars (like Cephiro [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Cefiro itself]]).

* Likewise, many of the magical beings in ''LyricalNanoha'' are named after cars: the Opel Signum, Opel Vita, Opel Zafira and Maserati Shamal are the most prominent and were brought to attention by the {{fansub}}bers. Subaru Nakajima's name appears to be normal Japanese, but the fact that it's in Western format draws attention to the fact that both her names come from cars. Same with Fate ''Testarossa'' (Ferrari Testarossa) and her mother Precia (Nissan Presea, also seen in ''Rayearth''), and Yuuno Scrya has been suspected of actually being spelled ''Euno'' for Mazda Eunos. Given that, like ''Rayearth'', ''Nanoha'' is primarily about {{Magical Girl}}s who use [[{{Magitek}} techno-magical]] artifacts, this may be a direct homage to the earlier series. Teana Lanster is also named after the Nissan Teana. Lutecia and Megane Alpine get their surname from a French car (Renault Megane; and the sportscar manufacturer Alpine, assimilated by Renault).

* Similarly to ''Evangelion'', many military characters in ''[[ZeroSevenGhost 07-Ghost]]'' have names from WW2 Japanese warships: Ayanami, Hyuuga and Katsuragi in the manga, and Yukikaze in one drama CD.

* The original ''MobileSuitGundam'' has several members of the White Base crew derive their names from WWII-era fighter planes; Amuro Ray comes from the Mitsubishi [=A6M=] Zero ([=A6M=] in Japanese is "A-Roku-Mu", and "zero" is "Rei"); Kai Shiden from the Kawanishi [=N1K2-J=] Shiden Kai, and so forth.

* RurouniKenshin - ToyShip members [[KidSamurai Yahiko]] and [[ShrinkingViolet Tsubame]] are theme named based on a train line.
* ''{{Freezing}}'': The Valkyries' last names are Evora, Ferrari, Porsche, Renault, and [[spoiler: (Ouka) Honda]].

* ''Anime/PorcoRosso'''s Gina is named after the nickname of the Fiat G-91 fighter (designed the Ghibli), while Yankee [[TheRival rival]] Curtis is dubbed in honor of the American Curtiss aircraft company (and maybe [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_LeMay Curtis LeMay]]). Miyazaki [[AuthorAppeal really likes]] planes, Italy and TheThirties.

* ''Anime/PorcoRosso'''s Gina is named after the nickname of the Fiat G-91 fighter (designed the Ghibli), while Yankee [[TheRival rival]] Curtis is dubbed in honor of the American Curtiss aircraft company (and perhaps [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_LeMay Curtis LeMay]]). Miyazaki [[AuthorAppeal really likes]] planes, Italy and TheThirties.

* Likewise, many of the magical beings in ''LyricalNanoha'' are named after cars: the Opel Signum, Opel Vita, Opel Zafira and Maserati Shamal are the most prominent and were brought to attention by the {{fansub}}bers. Subaru Nakajima's name appears to be normal Japanese, but the fact that it's in Western format draws attention to the fact that both her names come from cars. Same with Fate ''Testarossa'' (Ferrari Testarossa) and her mother Precia (Nissan Presea, also seen in ''Rayearth''), and Yuuno Scrya has been suspected of actually being spelled ''Euno'' for Mazda Eunos. Given that, like ''Rayearth'', ''Nanoha'' is primarily about {{Magical Girl}}s who use [[{{Magitek}} techno-magical]] artifacts, this may be a direct homage to the earlier series. Teana Lanster is also named after the Nissan Teana. Lutecia and Megane Alpine get their surname from a French car.

** The leaders of Autozam are named after American cars: the Eagle Vision and the Geo Metro.