Debating Names

Karen: What will we call him? Should we call him Harold?
Kid #1: Uh, Bruce?
Kid #2: Nah.
Kid #3: Christopher Columbus?
Kid #4: Oh, no. Oatmeal?
Everyone: "Oatmeal"?!

— Frosty the Snowman

Congratulations, you just got a new baby! Or maybe it's a new pet, or a new toy, or a new business, or a new band, or a recently-discovered fossil or alien species. Whatever it is, everybody can agree it's exciting news. What they can't agree on is what to call this new arrival.

When given the chance to name something, everybody in a group will jump in with their own ideas, eager to contribute to this new being's legacy. It's a great way to quickly establish the different tastes among a group. For a few common examples, the Team Mom will suggest a very rational name, a narcissist will probably try to name the kid after himself, and the Cloudcuckoolander will offer an incredibly bizarre name that nobody in their right mind would ever pick. Expect the more snarky members to weigh in on these name ideas, such as pointing out that a certain name would be humiliating or that they could end up with an Embarrassing Nickname.

Sometimes this will turn out to be All for Nothing if the being names themself or already had a name in the first place. May also lead to Take a Third Option (where they end up picking something entirely different to name them) or Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs (where they come up with some sort of compromise between the existing names).

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• The latter half of the third chapter of Asteroid in Love involves a debate on the title of the Earth Science Club's proposed newsletter. The debate comes from the fact the ESC was recently formed by the merger of the Astronomy and Geology clubs due both to them having too few members, which means all the initial suggestions were very provincial on their own side—Mira, a new member but an astronomy enthusiast, suggests "Find an Asteroid!". Mikage, the senior member of the geology section, accuses Mira of provincialism and then suggests a name after... mica. Eventually Ao suggests the use of "Sparkle," since it's a common attribute between stars and gems.
• The season 2 finale of I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying opens with Hajime and Kaoru getting into an argument over what to name their daughter which eventually culminates in them inviting all of their friends over and picking one of their suggestions at random.
• One Piece: Late in the Water Seven saga, the Straw Hat Pirates have gotten the new ship that Franky built for them. As the crew is leaving the island, flashbacks reveal that Iceburg was the one to come up with its name, the "Thousand Sunny", with the other crew members agreeing that this sounds better than anything they'd come up with — Luffy had several names that were basically lists of three animals, Zoro and Sanji contributed "Big Boss Lionel" and "Monsieur Sunflower" respectively, while Robin wanted "Being of Darkness". In the present day, Franky's own suggestion — "New Battle Franky, Lion Gang Champion" — also gets vetoed after the crew hears it and decide they like Iceburg's suggestion better.

Comic Books

• Preacher: The Serial Killer known as the Reaver-Cleaver got his name due to competing newspapers calling him either the Reaver or the Cleaver. The portmanteau stuck.

Comic Strips

• Doonesbury: Musician Jimmy Thudpucker and his wife Jenny are expecting a boy. While Jenny contemplates more normal names for her son, Jimmy mulls "Feedback" as his first choice, and "Rimshot" as his second. The boy ultimately gets named Feedback, to Jenny's quiet embarrassment.

Fan Works

• In Almost Psycho Chuck Chicken, Howie, Chuck, and Buford debate what to name their group of four (with Zack). Buford suggests "Buford and the Bufoons" whilst Chuck suggests "Chuck and Chums".
• In the final chapter of Welcoming Chiho, Kokone and Amane argue over whether the new baby will be named Kokoro or Ayane. They're both wrong, since, as the title of the fic implies, the baby's name is Chiho.
• In the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners AU Fic Don't Touch the Sun David and Lucy debate on whether or not to name their baby daughter after the former's late mother Gloria since it keeps reminding him of her death, so they settled on calling her Luna.
• In the Ghostbusters (1984) fanfic Old-Fashioned Names are the Best and Sweetest, Egon and his Original Character wife are expecting a baby, and the whole story is a discussion on what to name it:
  • First, Egon wants to name it Neal if it's a boy, but Mrs. Spengler thinks it sounds too much like an accountant's name.
  • Then, both agree that Aaron and Caleb would be good boy names, but when Mrs. Spengler suggests Erza, Egon vetoes it because it's his cousin's name and suggests Irma for a girl. Peter thinks this is a ridiculous idea because he thinks it sounds like a Crazy Cat Lady's name.
  • Then, Mrs. Spengler suggests Elsie, but Peter thinks that sounds like a librarian's name, and Egon just gives her a blank stare.
  • Then, they all agree on Eliza or Hazel for a girl, or Oliver for a boy, but when Mrs. Spengler suggests Quinn for a boy, Peter thinks that's a "horrible" name.
  • Egon then suggests Albert if it's a boy, saying that it's a "strong" name, but Mrs. Spengler hates it because she doesn't want a son who shares a name with a scientist.
  • Then, they all agree that David sounds good for a boy, but the baby's eventual name and sex are never revealed, because the story ends.
• One Pokémon fancomic has the name of Professor Oak's grandchild up for debate (canonically Blue in the games, Gary in the anime), and like every Red and Blue player, the kid's father gives him an insulting name.
• Pokémpanions: In I, Snubbot, after the Snubbull robot is activated, Minun realizes he hasn't given her a name yet. Machoke suggests calling her Destructo because he thinks it's cool, but then Plusle suggests the name Snubbot. The others decide they like that better.
• Chapter 349 of Tales of Fairies has Elfman and Evergreen arguing on what to name their newborn daughter, with Elfman wanting a "manly" name (which are variants of his sisters' names) while Evergreen wants to give her a fairy-theme name. However, when their daughter gets sick and the infirmary refuses to take the infant in without a given name, the furious and frantic parents in fear of losing their few-days-old child, end up blurting out Ellie at the same time, which they pick as their daughter's name to get the doctor to start treating her (plus a threat to call Ellie's aunt Mirajane "She-Demon" Strauss if he continues to refuses). Of course, Elfman and Evergreen end up having another argument about what Ellie is even short for, while Mira and Lisanna sneak off to have their niece registered as Ellie Mirajane Lisanna Strauss^note though it is also mentions the sisters a long argument over which of their names will go first.
• This Bites!: Just as in canon, this happens when the Straw Hats meet their new ship on Water Seven, but in a different way — they start talking about names before boarding it, for one (with Cross preemptively revealing the name Franky wanted, causing Merry to agree that they should come up with their own). Luffy calls out several names that are basically lists of three animals (which all get ignored), Zoro and Sanji contribute "Big Boss Lionel" and "Monsieur Sunflower" respectively (as they did in canon), Robin suggests Nostromo (after Cross preempts her planned suggestion "Being of Darkness"), and the new crew members get in on it too — Vivi suggests "Grace of Sekhmet" (which Merry shoots down because it's a girl's name and the ship has a male spirit), Conis tries "Fluffy McFluffmeister" (which makes Su facepalm), Boss suggests Ishimura, and Soundbite makes Cross facefault when he suggests naming it the Enterprise. Chopper finally intervenes by asking Cross what prompted the manga crew to give their ship its name, and Cross gives a speech similar to the one Iceburg gave in the manga before announcing their ship as the "Thousand Sunny"; Sunny himself promptly responds with a roar of approval, settling the matter.
• The Mermaid Swamp fanfic Our Little Bundle Of Joy opens with Rin and Seitaro, now Happily Married, arguing over what to name their child in the hospital while they wait to see what gender the child is. Rin prefers Hibiki while Seitaro would rather name the child Keiko. It turns out they are having twin girls, so they go with Keiko for one and decide to name the other Ophelia (presumably in memory of the “mermaid” spirits).
• Little Hands, Big Attitude: Overlapping with Adoptive Name Change and Meaningful Rename has the Wachowski family deciding on a name of the infant alien hedgehog they found after it's made clear that no parent is showing up for him. Maddie and Tom are thinking about Mobian-style names referencing the baby's dark fur colour, Sonic comes up with several anagrams of his own name, Knuckles goes with a Deathbringer the Adorable approach, and Tails (whose real name is Miles) suggests normal human names. Eventually they decide to give him a Mobian first name and a human middle name, and settle on Obsidian Phillip Wachowski; Obsidian courtesy of Maddie for his fur having several blue shades in it, and Phillip because the baby visibly reacted to it. In the process Sonic also vetoes several names like Richard because they lead to Embarrassing Nicknames. What they don't know is that the newly dubbed Obsidian is the sun god Mephiles de-aged or reincarnated as an infant with Past-Life Memories - Mephiles thinks that his new name is a neat if accidental nod to Iblis (as obsidian is formed by lava), and he reacted to Phillip because it shares a common syllabe with his original name. Over time he identifies more as Obsidian than Mephiles.
• In the Homestar Runner/Minecraft crossover fic The Depressor, at the beginning of Perplexing Passion, Pizza and Taco can't decide what to name the latter's newborn foal. Averted in A Cheat Is Born, after Strong Sad gives birth to his baby, Illusioner wants name ideas. When Strong Bad recognizes the look of the baby, he says: "Hey, is that The Cheat? Awesome!".
  Taco: What would you want to name him?
  Pizza: Henry.
  Taco: That's way too British. Can you choose Gary instead?
  Pizza: I prefer Noodles!
  Taco: No, i prefer Crusty much more!
  Pizza: Spaghetti is better!
  Taco: No, Spaghetti is even worse. Jojo is better!
  Pizza: I hate that name. Timmy is a better name!
  Taco: Don't be a jerk, i like Socks way better.
  Pizza: Don't be a confuser, i will name him Lucky.
  Taco: How about Pizza, after you?
  Pizza: STOP STEALING! His new name will be Chomper.
  Taco: Chomper? That's a great name!
  

Film — Animated

• Finding Nemo: At the beginning, Marlin and Coral are debating what to name their unhatched children. Marlin wants to name half of them (presumably the boys) Marlin Jr. and the rest Coral Jr., but Coral wants to name one of the sons Nemo. When a predatory fish eats all but one of the eggs (plus Coral), and the resulting child is a boy, Marlin names the son Nemo.
• The Willoughbys: As the Willoughby children were about to leave an orphan baby girl on the doorstep of Commander Meleonhoff, Tim and Jane debated on giving her a name. Jane suggests naming the baby "Tiffinilla", but Tim names her "Ruth" since he and his siblings are the ruthless Willoughbys.

Film — Live-Action

• Annie (1982): When the girls are trying to think of a name for Annie's new dog (unaware that she's already named him Sandy), one of them suggests Champion, but another girl rudely states that he's "anything but". Then, another girl suggests Tiger, but the other girls turn it down as they think he's too timid. Then, they suggest Rover, to which Annie reveals she's already named him.
• Father of the Bride - Part II: Has a scene where the Banks family and the Mackenzie family argue over what name to give to the baby of Annie Banks-Mackenzie and Bryan Mackenzie. If it's a boy the Mackenzie's want to name it after Bryan's father, John whereas the Banks think said baby should be named after Annie's father (the film protagonist) George. Bryan and Annie favour the name Cooper, but Annie's little brother says being called "Cooper Banks-Mackenzie" would make the "the kid sound like a law firm". Then the added extra wrinkle of Bryan and Annie considering giving the kid a portmanteau surname makes even more of a debate.
• Flirting with Disaster has its plot kicked off by this trope. Although Mel and Nancy are Happily Married, when Nancy has a baby boy, Mel finds he can't give his son a name until he's able to find his biological parents (he was adopted), and he and Nancy debate various names throughout. At the end of the movie, after they've finally met his biological parents, Mel and Nancy decide to name the boy Garcia.
• The Hudsucker Proxy: Part of the Hudsucker Corporation's effort to market the "Extruded Plastic Dingus" toy involves marketing a catchy name; two ad men are seen running through a list of bizarre names ("The Shazamator! The Hipster! The Daddy-O!") and eventually argue between "Hoopsucker" and "Hudswinger." Finally, a third ad man speaks up with something that ultimately sticks... the "Hula Hoop."
• Tremors: During a lull in the action, the townspeople debate what to call the underground Sand Worms that are menacing them. Shortly after they decide on "graboids", the person who suggested it is killed by one.
• Seed of Chucky: After their child has brought them back to life, Chucky and Tiffany have to give them a name since they couldn't tell by their gender. Tiffany wants to call their child "Glenda" leaning towards girl, while Chucky prefers "Glen" leaning towards boy. Glen themselves feels like they are both.
• Near the end of the movie Shes Having A Baby, written and directed by John Hughes, Kristy has her baby boy, and as she and her husband Jake debate what to call him, a number of celebrities in cameos as themselves (including Kirstie Alley, Belinda Carlisle, Bill Murray, Annie Potts, and Warren Zevon) weigh in with their choices, along with three characters from other movies written by Hughes - Roman Craig and Chet Ripley from The Great Outdoors, and the title character from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
• The World's End: The characters at one point argue over what they should refer to the robot invaders as. Their suggestions include "nobots," "fauxbots," "blue bloods," and "Smashy-Smashy Egg Men." They eventually settle on "blanks."

Literature

• Adrian Mole: In Growing Pains, Adrian's mother gives birth to a girl. A few days afterwards, she and Adrian choose her name by each making a list. The only names he likes on his mother's list are "Rosie" and "Ruth". His mother does not like any of Adrian's chosen names, which are all names of people he knows, including Toyah, and Pandora. His mother sneers "Pandora is a pretentious name!". They settle on "Rosie Germaine Mole".
• In the Animal Ark book "The Midnight Mouse", Annie can't decide what to name her pet mouse. Her friend Mandy suggests Snowy, Fluffy, Mavis, Molly, Polly, Sugar, Barbie, or Susie, but Annie thinks those names don't suit the mouse, then she suggests Mandy, but Mandy thinks it sounds silly with "mouse". Annie's father suggests Maxwell, but then Mandy points out that the mouse is a girl. Eventually, Annie decides to name her Squeaker after her wheel makes a squeaking sound at midnight, waking her and Mandy up.
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: In Dog Days, Frank adopts a dog for the Heffleys, who then decide what to name it. Greg wants to name him something edgy like Shredder or Ripjaw, but Susan won't let him. Manny suggests "Elephant" or "Zebra" ("Zeeb for short!") and Rodrick suggests "Turtle" (just so he can call the dog "Turd" for short). Susan goes with her idea, "Sweetie," despite Greg finding it too girly.
• The Last Days: The protagonists spend the entire novel trying to come up with a name for their new band. In the last line of the book, they decide on a name: The Last Days.
• Shel Silverstein:
  • In one poem, a strange amphibian crawls out of the sea into the desert. Everyone begins debating what to call him, offering suggestions such as "Maurice", "Lucifer", and "Fred". It becomes moot at the end when the narrator announces that the animal died.
  • In the poem "The Toad and the Kangaroo" from A Light in the Attic, a toad and a kangaroo agree to get married and have a child because it will be able to jump very far, but they can't agree on whether it should be called a Toadaroo, a Kangaroad, a Rangatoo, a Kangaree, etc. They get so frustrated with each other that they give up and go their separate ways.
  And the Toad had no more to say,
  And the Kangaroo just hopped away.
  And they never married or had a child
  That could jump a mountain or hop a mile.
  What a loss—what a shame—
  Just 'cause they couldn't agree on a name.
• Ramona Quimby: In "Ramona Forever", Mrs. Quimby gets pregnant and they discuss possible names. Ramona likes Gwendolyn for a girl because it means "fair", and at one point "Abelard" is suggested for a boy, but turned down because it may lead to the Embarrassing Nickname "Lard". Mr. Quimby suggests various joke names like Quentin Quincy Quimby for a boy, and Bonnie and Connie, Gerald and Geraldine, Paul and Pauline, or Peter and Mosquiter for twins. Eventually, the baby (a girl) ends up being named Roberta instead.
• Red Sky In The Morning: When the family have a baby son, there is much debate over his name. His father wants Edward; his mother wants James, after her own grandfather; his older sister Anna wants something more modern, such as Jason, or Jasper; and his younger sister Katie wants Sam. Anna suggests calling him James Edward Jasper Sam, but then his father insists that he has the last word as the father, and he will be called Benedict, meaning "blessed".
• Roys Bedoys: In "Meet the Baby, Roys Bedoys!", when the Bedoys brothers learn that their mother is pregnant, they try to think of a name. Roys thinks of "Toyler" for a boy, but Loys thinks that sounds too much like "toilet". Then, Loys suggests "Toys" if it's a girl to rhyme with their names, but Roys thinks that's ridiculous and thinks Joys would be a better name. This does end up being her name.
• Carialle and Keff, in The Ship Who... Won, roam the galaxy hoping to make First Contact with an advanced and friendly alien race, and along the way give out names to different species, including sapient ones. Because they both enjoy LARPing from Myths and Legends and Keff thinks the usual convention of appending -an to the name of the planet (or of just asking what someone's called) is boring, they tend to use goofy or referential names. The Beasts Blatisant, ROUSes, etc. Other teams regard this tendency with some dismay and think they aren't taking their mission seriously.
• In the kids' book Some Swell Pup, or, Are You Sure You Want a Dog?, it ends with the kids arguing over what to name their puppy — the boy wants to name her Florence, but the girl wants to name her Seymour.
• In the kids' book Use Your Words, Sophie!, a couple has just had a newborn daughter, but they don't know what to name her. The mother wants to name her Ashleigh, while the father wants to name her Amber, then they both change their minds and the mother wants to name her Samantha Marie, while the father wants to name her Symphony Pearl. Then, the baby's older sister (the eponymous Sophie) wants to name her Jane. It's never revealed what she ends up being named.
• In The Lord of the Rings, Sam and Rose wanted to name their firstborn child after Frodo, but the baby turned out to be a girl-child. Frodo suggested a flower name, as that was a popular naming convention in the Shire for hobbit-girls, while the Gaffer advised picking a short name that wouldn't need to be shortened in everyday use. Sam wanted a beautiful name, even if not short, because the baby was beautiful and would grow up to be even more beautiful. Frodo then suggested naming her after the elven-flower Elanor - and that was the name chosen.

Live-Action TV

• All in the Family: When Mike and Gloria Stivik welcome their new son home, Mike wants to name him Stanislaus, after his father. Archie grimaces at the name, not because it's Polish, but knowing that school kids can be cruel, and will truncate Stanislaus to "Louse". Eventually, everyone agrees on Joseph, and he's called Joey thereafter.
• Bewitched: When Samantha and Darrin have a new son, they decide to name him "Frank Maurice Stevens". However, Samantha's high-strung father does not agree with having his name as the child's middle name and he has a magical tantrum about it. At the end of the episode, everyone agrees to change the baby's name to "Adam".
• CSI: NY: While Lindsay visits her parents in Montana during her maternity leave in "Communication Breakdown", Danny is trying to decide what to name their child, which he assumes is a boy. The team gathers at the end of the episode and get in on it. Flack suggests "Crocket," while Sheldon prefers "Tubbs." Stella adds "Mac" into the mix, which Adam immediately laughs out loud at. As Mac gives him a stern look, Danny's phone rings. It's Lindsay... saying the baby's a girl.
• Frasier: In season 10, Daphne and Niles want to send their (as yet unborn) child to a super-exclusive preschool; the standards are so high that they have to begin submitting their application while Daphne is still pregnant. That naturally leads them to fill out various forms, which sparks a debate about what to name the child. They ultimately realize they can't choose and ask Roz to fill out the form as a neutral third party. In what she thinks is a stroke of brilliance, Roz decides on Ichabod, making the baby "Ichabod Crane"; The Stinger of the episode shows the committee of the preschool reading the application and immediately rejecting it over the terrible joke.
  Niles: How about Desmond?
  Daphne: Hmm. "Desmond Crane, you are hereby sentenced to..." No, I don't like it. What about Jack?
  Niles: 'Fraid not. The first name ends with the same sound that begins the last name, so you either end up running them together — Jackrane — or you face the dreaded glottal stop. Jack-Crane. Jack-Crane. It's unpleasant for the throat.
  Daphne: This conversation's unpleasant for the throat.
• Friends:
  • In "The One With The Birth," Ross and Susan get into an extended argument over what to name the baby (but really about them competing over who's going to be more important in the baby's life) where they go through almost every boy's name in the English language. It gets so bad Carol throws them out of the hospital room and Phoebe herds them into a janitor's closet for a dressing-down, where all three get stuck. After getting free, Ross and Susan finally agree on the name Ben, which was apparently missed before and just happened to be on the overalls Phoebe borrowed.
  • An earlier episode features the rarely seen argument over the baby's last name, which makes sense considering the unusual parenting circumstances. Ross is annoyed when Susan and Carol tell him that his last name won't be involved at all. He responds by proposing "Geller-Bunch," to which Susan responds that no one will say all that and they'll just default to "Geller," which means Ross gets his way. Ross rather sarcastically points out that none of this really represents "his way."
• The Golden Girls: "Mixed Blessings" has Dorothy's son Michael get engaged to an older black woman named Lorraine. Dorothy and Lorraine's mother Greta both disapprove of this (Dorothy because of the age gap, Greta because Michael is white), but at the end of the episode, Michael and Lorraine elope and reveal Lorraine is pregnant. Dorothy and Greta bury the hatchet...until they start arguing over what to name their grandson.
  Greta: I can't believe it. A grandchild.
  Dorothy: Little Roger.
  Greta: Roger? What do you want him to be, a choreographer? It's Lamar.
  Dorothy: Lamar Zbornak. Why don't we just pin a "kick me" sign on the kid? It's Roger.
  Greta: Lamar.
  Dorothy: Roger.
  Greta: Lamar.
  Dorothy: Roger.
  Greta: Lamar.
  Sophia: Fabulous. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving already.
• How I Met Your Mother: In "Baby Talk," Marshall and Lily have started trying for a baby, but clash over baby name ideas. Lily turns down most of Marshall's names as the worst kids in her class have those names. Marshall also only considers boy names while Lily only considers girl names, causing them to also clash over what gender they want the baby to be.
• An episode of The New Normal has homosexual couple David Sawyer and Bryan Collins discussing what to name the child they're expecting (via surrogate). At one point, they consider Tom, then change their minds when they realize this would make the child's name Tom Sawyer (like the literary character) or Tom Collins (like the drink).
• Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn: In "The Sad Tail of Gary-Chip-Tiny-Elvis-Squishy-Paws", the quads disagree over what to name their pet dog, who has gone unnamed since the first episode. The dog's original owner claims its real name is Lord Timothy, but decides to give him up back to the quads seeing how much love and care they give him. In the end, they decide to let the dog pick his name by choosing either one of the five named food bowls; the dog ends up picking the name Dawn suggested, Squishy Paws, which becomes his new name for the rest of the show.
• On Once Upon a Time, Snow and Charming debate naming their second child after one of their parents. Snow suggests naming him after her father, Leopold, which Charming thinks is an Embarrassing First Name.
  Snow: That was my father's name.
  Charming: People will make fun of him.
  Snow: My father was a king!
  Charming: Which is why nobody made fun of him.
• Saturday Night Live: In one sketch, a couple, expecting a boy, discusses names. The wife suggests a number of common male names, each of which the husband shoots down with increasingly farfetched concerns over how each name will make the child a target of bullies. After they finally settle on an Icelandic name (if only because the husband can't think of any insults based on it), a courier drops by with a package for "Mr. and Mrs. Asswipe Jones." The husband tiredly points out it's pronounced "Oz-WE-pay."
• Star Trek:
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation:
    • In "Disaster", Keiko O'Brien is pregnant, and she and her husband Miles argue over whose father to name the baby after, while William Riker wants him to be named after himself. Eventually, the baby turns out to be a girl, so the O'Briens name her Molly.
    • In "Imaginary Friend", some men can't agree on what to name a nebula. Mr. Sutter wants to name it "Sutter's Cloud", Geordi La Forge wants to name it the "La Forge Nebula", while Data wants to name it a number.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: During seasons 4 and 5, as Keiko O'Brien was pregnant with a son, the O'Briens thought about naming their son Sean (after an ancestor of Miles's), but decided not to because it's also the Bajoran word for "swamp". They settled on Kirayoshi, named after his surrogate mother, Major Kira Nerys.
• Street Justice: This trope is why Malloy, which is her surname, only goes by that name. According to her, her parents couldn't agree on what name to give her during the first twelve years of her life.
• Becomes a running gag in the That '70s Show episode "You Can't Always Get What You Want." The main characters repeatedly try to come up with a name for Hyde's new record store while high, eventually settling on "The Head" until they forget it in their inebriated state. It turns out that the store already had a name, as it was part of a chain.
• Walt Disney Presents: The episode "The Donald Duck Story" features a flashback sequence where the Disney studio artists conceive a new duck character and try to find a fitting name for him. They pass around names like "Jimmy Duck" and "Roger Duck" before settling on "Donald Duck". They did consider "Donald Drake" (since he's a male), but felt that "Duck" rolls off the tongue better and used his mother's maiden name.

Puppet Shows

• In the Donkey Hodie episode "Squibbit", Donkey Hodie and Purple Panda can't agree on their new band's name because they cannot decide whose name should come first. After not knowing if they should call it "Donkey Panda" or "Panda Donkey", Donkey suggests that "Danda Ponkey" should be the name, but there's somewhat of a disagreement on this until Panda notices how good it sounds.
• Sesame Street:
  • At the end of one "Ernie and Bert" sketch, they argue over what to name their puppy — Bert wants to call him "Norman", but Ernie prefers the name "Godzilla the Wonder Dog".
  • In one episode, Mama Bear gives birth to a girl. Papa Bear wonders if they should call her Grizzly, but Baby Bear thinks it doesn't suit her and names her Curly instead due to her curly facial fur.

Theatre

• There is a famous Japanese rakugo (spoken entertainment) story where a couple is trying to come up with a name for their newborn son. They visit a temple and ask the chief priest for a suggestion. The priest gives many suggestions, and the parents can't decide, so they use all of them for their son, who ends up being named Jugemu Jugemu Gokō-no surikire Kaijarisuigyo-no Suigyōmatsu Unraimatsu Fūraimatsu Kuunerutokoro-ni Sumutokoro Yaburakōji-no burakōji Paipopaipo Paipo-no-shūringan Shūringan-no Gūrindai Gūrindai-no Ponpokopī-no Ponpokonā-no Chōkyūmei-no Chōsuke.

Video Games

• A Running Gag in Genshin Impact with Traveler's Paimon, his/her companion who's also The Nicknamer. Paimon usually got nicknames for almost everyone they met, but sometimes she debates with the Traveler and friends to decide which nickname would be better for the character they met recently.
• Mario Party 2: The game's prologue shows the characters founding a new land and then debating what name it should have (the default name is Mario Land, then Wario chimes in and claims it should be called Wario Land, and so on). Eventually, Bowser arrives and plans to invade the land against everybody else's wishes, so the good guys agree to put aside their differences and begin partying to choose the Super Star who will defeat Bowser and then call the land however they wish.
• In Stellaris you might come across a lost Space Amoeba spawn, which imprints on the science ship that discovered it believing it to be its mother and following it around. After a few years of growth, the science team comes up with many different names from which you can select — and you can reject them a few times on the grounds that the names are all terrible until you have to settle on something.
  Science Team: We have developed the ability to break the boundaries of space and time, to travel faster than the speed of light. Yet we cannot decide upon a name for this amoeba.
  Empire Ruler: Enough! Just call it Fluffy and be done with it!

Webcomics

• Stand Still, Stay Silent briefly shows the expedition team arguing over what to name the feral kitten they've rescued. Eventually they all just keep calling her their respective languages' equivalent of... "Kitty".

Western Animation

• Doug:
  • In "Doug's Secret Christmas," Doug is more excited about the upcoming holiday than the upcoming birth of his baby sibling. He tries to pass off his wish list as baby name suggestions; Judy reads it and mockingly says that "Dirtbike" would indeed be a great name for a baby before suggesting her own, "Cleopatra." Ultimately, Theda (who never caught on about Doug's list actually being presents) decides to combine both of her children's suggestions and names the new child Cleopatra Dirtbike Funnie.
  • In "Doug's New School", it's the first day of seventh grade at the new middle school, but the school doesn't have a name, so a "Name Your School" student contest is created, which leads to fierce competition between Patti and Doug when they don't like each other's school name suggestions. In the end, neither of them wins the contest, and the school gets named after Beebe Bluff.
• The Fairly OddParents!:
  • In "Fairly Odd Baby", everybody keeps giving different names to Cosmo and Wanda's new baby. Wanda calls him "Talulah," Timmy calls him "Li'l T" (short for "Li'l Timmy"), and Cosmo calls him "Barfolomew" (due to the intense Morning Sickness he had during pregnancy) and "Keanu," and Jorgen calls him "Kajagoogoo" and then quickly changes to "Elvis." Even Anti-Cosmo and the Head Pixie argue over what to name the baby when they kidnap him. Eventually, they go with "Poof" because it's the one thing he can say.
    Anti-Cosmo: Now if you'll excuse us, we must go and harness Fauntleroy's magic here and commence our evil plot of doom.
    Head Pixie: Fauntleroy? We are not calling the baby Fauntleroy. I was thinking Bill. Bill's a guy you trust with your business portfolio.
  • In "When LOSERS Attack", Foop, Mr. Crocker, and Dark Laser are trying to find a name for their team-up. Mr. Crocker suggests "The Crockerjacks" (Foop questions what this even means), and Dark Laser tries to name it "The Flipsies", after his pet toy dog, and gets turned down. Foop comes up with the "League of Super Evil Revenge Seekers"; they all like it because "no one can make fun of them with a name like that!"
• The Flintstones: Fred and Barney win a contest in which the prize is a new pleasure boat. Fred wants to name it "Nautical Princess," while Barney prefers "Queen of the Sea." They compromise a la Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs and have NauSea chiseled onto the stern. Their wives instantly recognize what a mistake this is, but elect to let their men learn the hard way.
• Frosty the Snowman:
  • There's a scene early on where the kids debate on what to name the snowman they've built, including "Harold", "Bruce", "Christopher Columbus" and "Oatmeal", before Karen suggests "Frosty".
  • The sequel Frosty's Winter Wonderland repeats the gag, this time over what to name Frosty's new snow-wife. The suggestions include "Cleopatra", "Ermentrude", "Minnehaha" and "Cornflakes", before Frosty comes up with "Crystal".
• In King of the Hill, when Luanne gives birth to her baby girl, she reveals that she and Lucky decided to name her Lasagna as her first name just because they like the food (and not because she was given, to quote Peggy, "the good stuff (anesthesia medicine)" that left her loopier than she normally is). Fortunately, Peggy and the others convince them to change her name to Gracie Margaret Kleinschmidt.
• The Loud House: In "Shell Shocked", Lincoln and Ronnie Anne are assigned to look after an egg to practice parenting. Lincoln wants to name the "egg baby" Ro-shell, but Ronnie Anne wants to name "him" Toby, thinking a joke name is too ridiculous.
• The Powerpuff Girls (1998):
  • In "Stray Bullet", Bubbles rescues an injured baby squirrel, and she and her sisters argue over what to name it. Blossom suggests "Lady Josephine", Bubbles wants "Miss Fluffy", and Buttercup (who thinks it's a boy) says "Bruce". After Bubbles administers some Chemical X and it gains the girls' superpowers, they decide to call her "Bullet" due to her size and speed.
  • In "Twisted Sister", after the Girls create Bunny, they wonder what to name her. Bunny just blabbers nonsense and Buttercup suggests calling her Braces because of her messy teeth (much to Blossom's annoyance). Bubbles suggests the name Bunny, and they all happily bounce around chanting "Bunny!".
• Peppa Pig: In the episode where Mummy Rabbit is pregnant, Peppa and her friends try to think of names for the baby. Pedro keeps suggesting names that don't follow the Alliterative Name pattern.
  "Michael Rabbit?!? NO!"
• In one episode of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, the main gang win a squeaky elephant to share between them—Eduardo suggests "Mr. Big Baby Pacoderm [sic]", Wilt suggests "Harry Elefante", and Mac suggests "Donald Trunk".
• The Simpsons: In "I Married Marge", a pregnancy scare prompts Bart and Lisa to think of names for their possible new sibling; Lisa wants to call it "Ariel", while Bart wants "Kool Moe Dee". Homer then tells them that he had a similar argument with Marge when she was pregnant with Bart, leading to a flashback.
  Marge: Homer, I've been thinking. If the baby's a boy, what do you think of the name "Larry"?
  Homer: Marge, we can't do that! All the kids'll call him "Larry Fairy".
  Marge: Well, how about "Louie"?
  Homer: They'll call him "Screwy Louie".
  Marge: Bob?
  Homer: Flob.
  Marge: Luke?
  Homer: Puke.
  Marge: Marcus?
  Homer: Mucus.
  Marge: How about "Bart"?
  Homer: Let's see. (counting on his fingers) Bart, Cart, Dart, Eart... (runs out of fingers) Nope, can't see any problem with that.
• South Park:
  • In "Prehistoric Ice Man," Stan and Kyle find a man frozen in ice. Kyle names him "Steve," but Stan wants to name him "Gorak," causing them to stop being friends for some time. The man only froze for a little over two years and already has a name, Larry, but nobody seems to care.
  • In the Season 10 episode "Go God Go XII", it's revealed that the sole reason why the three largest atheist factions in the distant future are warring against each other is due to a widespread disagreement on how to name the unified faction that would bring them together, as each one wants to name it after their own legion: Unified Atheist League (the name of the first faction), United Atheist Alliance (name of the second), or Allied Atheist Alliance (name of the third). Cartman (who is trapped in this future era) tries to settle the conflict by doing a time-travel phone call to Ms. Garrison (who, along with Richard Dawkins, had turned atheism into a global mandate in the first place) and ask for her opinion on the matter, but he's answered by Dawkins instead and inadvertently informs him that Ms. Garrison had transitioned gender, which makes him feel uncomfortable and leave Ms. Garrison. This changes history, erasing all the events that led to the episode's story.

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"I think 'The Great Name Debate' would be a better name for this trope."
"That's too dramatic — everyone will make fun of it. Just call it 'Name-to-Name Combat' — clear, concise, and witty."
"More like a bad snowclone! We should call it I Have Many Names."
"That's already a trope, you buffoon!"
"I always liked the name 'Steve' for a trope."
"Not this again..."

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