History MeaningfulName / Literature

** Morrigan, noted to have fought with humanity and have powers of truth, shares the name of IrishMythology figures associated with battle, fate and truth.

** Feyre Archeron. [[spoiler: By the end of book one, she's become Fae, and by the end of book two, she is High Lady of the Night Court-Acheron being one of the five rivers of the underworld.]]
** Tamlin himself shares the name of the eponymous ''Literature/TamLin of Scottish folk tales, also one of TheFairFolk who falls in love with a human and fears retribution from a fae queen.

* ''Literature/ACourtOfThornsAndRoses'': Feyre Archeron. [[spoiler: By the end of book one, she's become Fae, and by the end of book two, she is High Lady of the Night Court-Acheron being one of the five rivers of the underworld.]]

* ''Literature/{{Dragonvarld}}'': Draconas, who is a dragon on the inside despite looking human.

* ''Literature/SamBangsAndMoonshine'' has the gerbil named "Moonshine", which means lies, and Sam gave it to Thomas to apologise for him nearly dying as a result of her lies leading him to a place where he nearly drowns.

* In Steven Cole's novel ''Thieves Like Us,'' an inscrutable benefactor gets a quintet of teenage criminal masterminds to help him find, steal and sell long-lost artifacts. The benefactor's name? Nathaniel Coldhardt.

** High Lady Aquitainus Invidia's name is Latin for "{{envy}}", and her FatalFlaw is that she's a GreenEyedMonster who is never willing to leave well-enough alone.

* From ''{{Literature/Malevil}}'', a French post-WorldWarIII novel, TheHero and the BigBad are both make-shift holy men with meaningful names: Emmanuel's name means "God is with us". Fulbert shares the name of an 11th century Bishop. "Saint Fulbert"' has controversial status as a saint, he was never canonized, and he lived during the turn of the first millennium, a moment feared to be the Apocalypse.

* ''{{Literature/McAuslan}}'': The names of the Narrator and the Old Colonel are allusions to the [[NoCommunitiesWereHarmed real identity of their regiment]]. [[spoiler: It's the 2nd Gordon Highlanders. The Old Colonel's name is given as J.G.F ''Gordon'', and the Narrator's first name "Dand" (a Scottish short version of Andrew) references the Gordon Highlanders' motto "Bydand"]].

** Clary Fray. Clary sage is a plant historically used to help clear the eyes, so Clary is a name suitable for a heroine who sees the Shadow world, which most people are blind to. The meaning behind her name is mentioned by Jace upon learning it in ''City of Bones''.\\
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Subverted, in that her father wanted to name her Seraphina, which derives from [[spoiler: "seraphim", a class of [[AngelUnaware angels]]]]. Her mother named her Clarissa instead.

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* In the ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'', both Rosethorn and Briar Moss are plant mages who are [[NotGoodWithPeople rude and acerbic to people]] but have a hidden, gentler side when it comes to plants and their close friends. In this case, though, they both [[MeaningfulRename chose their names]], Rosethorn when she dedicated her life to the temple and Briar when he was first offered a new life.

*** Additionally, the LovableRogue Thomas Raith has a Hebrew first name meaning "twin". [[spoiler:This serves as a subtle bit of {{Foreshadowing}} for he and Harry having a closer connection than first thought, [[LukeIAmYourFather with him turning out to be]] Harry's ''older'' half-brother]]. Additionally, Thomas' terrifying older sister Lara has a Latin name meaning "protection"; not only does Lara have her own twisted form of BigSisterInstinct for her younger siblings, but she is also basically the most powerful [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubus]] alive, resulting in her being someone who a lot of people need protection ''from''.

** First there's the angel Aziraphel. "Zira" in Hebrew means "brightness of morning." Aziraphale used to guard the East Gate of Eden.

** Hulda means "weasel" or, more on the nose, "mole," in Hebrew. [[spoiler: Why, yes, the suspicious nanny is indeed working for someone else.]]

** The main character’s last name is "Hosea"—in the Bible, Hosea was a prophet who, on God’s command, married a prostitute and treated her as if she were a faithful wife. The novel’s Michael Hosea is a farmer who does essentially the same thing (although rather than being a living object lesson to his country like the Biblical Hosea, he is the hero of a story in which LoveRedeems). This is {{lampshaded}} in the text when Angel remarks on it being an unusual name, and Michael replies with something along the lines of “go figure this is what would happen to me with that name."

* ''Literature/TheCrimsonShadow'': Brind'Amour (love in French) and Belsen'Krieg (the name of a death camp plus "war" in German). Not subtle.

* Played with twice in Robert Zubrin's ''Literature/TheHolyLand''. The American terrorists have names (David Crockett Christianson, George Washington Jones, Mickey Mantle Ostrowski, and Thomas Jefferson Clark) unabashedly evocative of Americana, and the aliens looking for a country to punish for their vile deeds know this. The Americans point out that the terrorists all legally changed their names (to David Crockett Christianson de Peru, George Washington Jones de Peru, Mickey Mantle Ostrowski de Peru, and Thomas Jefferson Clark de Peru). [[spoiler:Peru gets PWNED.]]

* Mr. Knightley from ''Literature/{{Emma}}'' is a quintessential gentleman and he is a knight in shining armour to all people in Highbury.
* Creator/OrsonScottCard's ''Literature/EndersGame'' has [[spoiler:Ender himself]], {{lampshaded}} at Battle School. The sequels have Olhado, whose name is Portuguese for "the guy with the eyes" (according to the novel, anyway).
** In the first case, this is not his real name (it's [[spoiler:Andrew]]), but his slightly-older sister couldn't pronounce it right, so the nickname stuck. Olhado's real name is Lauro Suleimão Ribeira von Hesse.

* Seth Sorenson from ''Literature/{{Fablehaven}}'', whose name comes from the Egyptian god of Chaos, Set. Seth also regularly causes chaos, usually by breaking the rules.
* Invoked regularly, primarily with the nobility, in ''[[Literature/{{Farseer}} The Farseer]]'', because of a folk belief that if one is named after a virtue, the child will eventually grow into his or her name. Seen most clearly in the Farseer royal bloodline, which is composed most notably of King Shrewd and the princes Chivalry, Verity, and Regal. Shrewd is so sharp-witted he could cut someone. Chivalry lives up to a stiff-necked moral code to the point of political suicide, abdicating when it comes out that he sired a bastard before he even married. Verity is blunt and honest to a fault, making him a well-liked leader amongst soldiers but a poor politician. Regal is a self-important JerkAss, playing out the worst stereotypes of "nobility" and "regalness." Most who fail to live up to their names do so ironically, such as Patience, who is one of the most impatient and distractable people around, jumping from project to project so sharply she could induce whiplash.

* Literature/FirstLight: Gracehope, the name of the city. Originally called Grace's Hope, the inhabitants believed it was hope to survive the Witch Hunt but later Thea realized it also referred to the hope that they could return to the surface.

* ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'''s [[PokemonSpeak Eppon]] - it's actually a corruption of "Weapon".

* Occurs in ''Literature/{{Gone}}''. The series has a thing for Biblical names: Caine [[spoiler: trying to kill his brother]], ''Mother'' Mary and ''Brother'' John taking care of the children, etc.
** Also, Lana "Lazar"; rising from fatal injuries, like the tale of Lazarus.
** "Drake" means "TheDragon".
** [[spoiler: "Nerezza" means 'darkness' in Italian, fitting because she's the Gaiaphage in disguise]].
* In Creator/FlanneryOConnor's short "Good Country People", guess what traveling bible salesman Manley Pointer's ulterior motive is?
* ''Literature/GoodOmens'': knowing the [[Creator/NeilGaiman authors]] [[Creator/TerryPratchett behind it]], are you honestly surprised?

* Practically everyone and everywhere in ''Literature/HarounAndTheSeaOfStories''. Luckily there's an appendix for all of the foreign-language-based ones at the back of the book.