Rhyming Title

Keeley: "Jamie's Tart Breaks Tartt's Heart."
Ted: Did you just come up with that?
Keeley: Yeah.
Ted: Everyone would read that.
Keeley: Of course they would! I mean, you have no idea, the power of rhyming in this goddamn country.

— Ted Lasso

Rhymes are catchy and memorable, so if a creator wants to publish a work that stands out among its contemporary releases, giving it a title with rhyming words or phrases could help. Even better, the English language has plenty of rhyming terms and phrases (e.g. Dream Team, Helter Skelter, Hocus Pocus, etc.) that creators can use without having to come up with their own jingle.

Frequently overlap with Rhyming Names or Rhyme Theme Naming, especially with works that use (Multi) Character Title, and may feature numerous people speaking Rhymes on a Dime, especially if it happens during a Rhyming Episode.

May or may not be a part of an Idiosyncratic Episode Naming. Compare and contrast Alliterative Title, in which the words begins with similar phonetic sounds. "Double, Double" Title may result when both this trope and the latter are used in conjunction.

Some of these appear often enough that they could be considered Stock Rhymes (watch how many times "Zero to Hero" and "Double Trouble" show up in the examples, among others).

For an index of trope titles that rhyme, see Sublime Rhyme.

---

Examples:

Animation

• Noonbory and the Super 7: The episode "Double Trouble".
• Pat and Mat
• Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: Its Chinese title, Xi Yángyáng Yu Hui Tàiláng.
• Sweets Fairy is also known as Vary Peri.
• Team Steam

Anime & Manga

• Eerie Queerie!, which is fitting given its subject (supernatural Boys' Love). The rhyme scheme is likely added because the original Japanese title, which roughly translates to just Ghosts, is too bland.
• FLCL, pronounced "Fool-ee Cool-ee"
• Helter Skelter
• Ranking of Kings

Comic Books

• Several stories in the Archie Comics collections have rhyming titles.
  • Almost every volume in the classic Archie library would feature several short, 4-panel strips called "Gag Bag".
  • "A Date With Fate" is about Archie and Betty deciding to cancel their routine date to invoke "absence makes the heart go fonder", only to keep running to each other as they try to do their own business.
  • A shorter strip called "Late Fate" is about Archie getting late for everything he tries to do.
• In Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin's favourite bedtime story is titled: "Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie".
• DC Thomson really likes this trope.
  • The Beano has "Dennis the Menace (UK)", "Pansy Potter, the Strongman's Daughter", "Roger the Dodger", "Tricky Dicky" and "Little Plum" (which used to be subtitled: "Your Redskin Chum"). Defunct strips include "Contrary Mary", "Handy Sandy", "Wavy Davey and his Navy", "Jenny Penny", "Alf Witt the Ancient Brit", "Daniel the Spaniel", and "Even Steven".
  • The Dandy had "Beryl the Peril", "Cocky-Sue the Cockatoo", "Wily Smiley", "Robbie the Bobby", "Jammy Mr Sammy", "Dave the Brave", "Billy Green and his Sister Jean", "Fiddle O'Diddle", "Vain Wayne", "Fu Schnicken Kung-Fu Chicken", and "Rocky Roller Pest Controller".
• Disney Ducks Comic Universe
  • One comic is titled Voodoo Hoodoo, and it features antagonists with Rhyming Names, i.e. Bombie the Zombie, who is conjured by Foola Zoola the witch doctor.
  • "Rootin' Tootin' Duck", where Donald tries to earn money by working as a clown messenger who delivers messages in rhymes.
• A UK comic book based on Sonic the Hedgehog is titled Sonic the Comic.

Fan Works

• Full Moons and Silver Spoons (based on Punch-Out!!)
• Scaring is Caring (based on The Loud House)
• Higher Flier
• A Harry Potter Dead Fic, "Pig in a Wig".
• The Sponge House: "Lynn Can't Win".
• Triptych Continuum: Three Hundred And Sixty Degrees Of Saturation: The only chapter, "Shower Power".
• Welcome to Sand Hands

Films — Animation

• Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch
• Spies in Disguise

Films — Live-Action

• Action Jackson
• Band of the Hand
• Michel Gondry's movie has the rhyming title Be Kind Rewind.
• The Bling Ring
• Callaway Went Thataway
• Cellar Dweller
• Date Bait
• The Deuce Bigalow movies have the subtitles Male Gigolo and European Gigalo
• Double Trouble
• The Driller Killer
• The Dream Team
• Fright Night (1985) and its reboot.
• Hocus Pocus
• Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger THE MOVIE: Akai Tatakai! All Sentai Daishuukai!!
• Quentin Tarantino's famous martial arts movie Kill Bill.
• Lust in the Dust
• Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
• Motel Hell
• Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
• Real Steel

Literature

• Amelia Bedelia is the title character of a long-running series of children's books about a willing but very Literal-Minded maid who does exactly what she is told to do, with humorous results.
• Dirty Bertie
• Dr. Seuss has plenty. Which is fitting, as he primarily writes children's books that use liberal rhyming schemes.
  • A collection of Seuss's early works is compiled in a book tilted The Tough Coughs as He Ploughs the Dough. (Subverted Trope, as the joke is on the fact that despite being spelled similarly, none of those words actually rhyme.)
  • The Cat in the Hat is probably Seuss's most famous work, and the Cat in the Hat himself eventually becomes the mascot for Seuss's publishing imprint, Beginner Books.
  • There's also Fox in Socks which stars a fox that speaks in complex rhymes, aggravating another character named Mr. Knox.
  • Dr. Seuss also has a picture book called Hop On Pop. It's a book where it has rhyming words put together in a sentence.
  • One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
  • There's a Wocket in My Pocket!
  • Daisy-Head Mayzie
  • What Pet Should I Get
• Felicity Floo Visits the Zoo. The book is written in rhyme, with all of the rhymes ending in "-oo" sounds.
• The Flea's Sneeze
• Freddi Fish has spawned several children's books with rhyming subtitles, including "A Whale of a Tale!" and "Boek is Zoek".
• Gelsomino In The Land Of Liars has rhyming chapter titles (Gelsomino risponde all'appello, segna una rete; poi viene il bello; Al vicinato non far sapere che la tua voce matura le pere etc.)
• Goldie Locks Has Chicken Pox
• "Hear The Sound Of My Feet Walking...Drown The Sound of My Voice Talking".
• Hairy Mc Clairy. One of the books is also called "Slinky Malinky"
• Hurricane Elaine
• Magic Shop: Two books:
  • Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher
  • Juliet Dove, Queen of Love
• Lacey Walker, Non-Stop Talker
• The first five Llama Llama books.
• Mary McScary by R. L. Stine.
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
• Moon Base Alpha: The first book is titled Space Case.
• Nate The Great. The series also has a spin-off starring Nate's cousin Olivia, and one of her books is titled The Sly Spy.
• Nerdy Birdie
• Nobody Likes a Cockblock
• Oh No, Gotta Go!
• Ook the Book
• One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie, which is a reference to the classic (rhyming) counting song of the same title.
• The Park in the Dark
• Peek-a-Boo Poo
• Poo at the Zoo
• Potty Animals: What to Know When You've Gotta Go
• Roys Bedoys
• Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen
• Stuck in Poo, What to Do?
• Splat The Cat
• There's a Dinosaur on the 13th Floor
• USA Today (a widely circulated American newspaper)
• What's in Your Tummy, Mummy?
• Why, Oh Why, Are Deserts Dry?
• You Can Swim, Jim
• Zoo Poo

Live-Action TV

• Barney & Friends: "The Blame Game"
• In Batman (1966) and its much later comic revival Batman '66, consecutive episodes or chapters formed two-part stories, with the titles of each pair in combination forming a rhyming couplet, such as "The Joker Is Wild"/"Batman is Riled".
• The Book of Pooh: The episode "Brain Drain".
• CSI-verse:
  • CSI:
    • "Fight Night"
    • "The Chick Chop Flick Shop"
    • "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda"
    • "Freaks and Geeks"
    • "Hero to Zero"
  • CSI: Miami: "Freaks and Tweaks"
  • CSI: NY:
    • "DOA for a Day"
    • "Shop Till You Drop"
  • Cold Case:
    • "Time to Crime"
    • "Thrill Kill"
  • Without a Trace:
    • "Upstairs, Downstairs"
    • "Fight/Flight"
• Did I Mention Invention? with Alie Ward
• Dog with a Blog
• Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23: At least, if you follow the common practice of pronouncing the Censored Title as written rather than as implied.
• Five Minutes More: "Frown Town"
• Freaks and Geeks
• Land O'Hands
• Man with a Plan
• Martial Law: The title of the Season 2 premiere, 'Sammo Blammo' rhymes the protagonist's first name, Sammo, with "blammo", a slang word for a jarring impact.
• Monk: "Mr. Monk Meets Dale the Whale"
• Noodle And Doodle
• Queer Eye For The Straight Guy
• Say Yes to the Dress
• Small Wonder: Two episodes in the third season are titled "Ted's Dead" and "Fat's Where It's At".
• Star Trek has "The Trouble With Tribbles".
• Star Trek: The Next Generation has "Q Who?" and "True Q."
• Discussed in Ted Lasso, where Keeley despairs that a tabloid story about her cheating on boyfriend Jamie Tartt would go viral, not helped by its potential for a pithy title like "Jamie's Tart Breaks Tartt's Heart."
  Ted: Everyone would read that.
  Keeley:: Of course they would! I mean, you have no idea the power of rhyming in this goddamn country. Ooh! "Lasso Makes Passo and Creates Team Fiasco."
• The Wright Way has the episode title “Conkers Bonkers”.

Music

• 10,000 Maniacs: "Hey Jack Kerouac".
• AC/DC: "Hells Bells"
• The Beatles: "Helter Skelter".
• Tim Beek: "Silly Billy".
• Bela Fleck and the Flecktones: "Sinister Minister".
• Jimmy Buffett: Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes.

• DragonForce's "Operation Ground and Pound"
• There's a song called "Ebenezer Sneezer".
• Jules Gaia: "Glitz at the Ritz".
• The Legendary Stardust Cowboy: "I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spaceship".
• Bjorn Lynne: "Homeland Farmland".
• The classic counting song, One, Two, Buckle my Shoe that uses rhymes to teach children how to count.
• The Police: "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around" and its parent album, Zenyattà Mondatta.
• Barry Louis Polisar:
  • "I am very Sad to say that Cindy Won't Be Out to Play"
  • "The Skatter Brak Flath Who Lives In My Bath"
  • "Hey Jack, Whats in the Sack?"
• Radiohead: "High and Dry", "Paranoid Android".
• Red Hot Chili Peppers: Stadium Arcadium
• R.E.M.: "Saturn Return".
• Ronnie Spector: "Try Some, Buy Some".
• Songdrops: "Please Pre-Freeze the Peas"
• "The Name Game"—which is all about making rhymes with names.
• Queens of the Stone Age: "Go With the Flow"

Poetry

• "A-Tisket, A-Tasket"
• "Georgie Porgie"
• "Humpty Dumpty"
• "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater"
• "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary"
• "Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross"

Tabletop Games

• Space Base

Video Games

• Congo Bongo
• From the Diner Dash series:
  • Diner Dash 3: Flo on the Go
  • The fourth game's expansion pack is called "Seasonal Snack Pack"
  • Cooking Dash 3 Thrills and Spills
• Donkey Kong Country games tend to use this for the few levels whose names aren't alliterative instead, such as "Sawmill Thrill" and "Blurry Flurry" from Tropical Freeze.
• Herdy Gerdy
• Later Alligator
• Neopets has a mini-game called "Jubble Bubble"
• Pajama Sam
  • Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When it's Dark Outside
  • Pajama Sam 2: Thunder and Lightning Aren't so Frightening
  • Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat From Your Head To Your Feet
  • Pajama Sam: Life is Rough When You Lose Your Stuff!
  • Pajama Sam: Games to Play on Any Day
• 2000 Interactive Fiction game Pantheon, Party On.
• Andrew Schultz has multiple Interactive Fiction games revolving around rhymes: Very Vile Fairy File, Quite Queer Night Near, and Low-Key Learny Jokey Journey.
• Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea counts as this in its original Japanese title (Oounabara to Wadanohara).

Web Animation

• Dan The Man
• DaThings's "Make Cake Bake!" & "Making Caking Baking!"
• Object Shows: Entity Frenzy and Fight in Flight

Webcomics

• Omoriboy: The comic's alternate title is Omori Hikikomori. A short comic was later made for it titled Omori's Story.
• Many PHD strips have rhyming titles, such as "What is... a Thesis?" and "Webcam Labcam". Quite fitting, considering that a lot of the series' jokes (aside from poking fun at academia) involves using Rhymes on a Dime as punchline.

Web Video

• Jim Cant Swim, more commonly known as simply JSC, is a crime documentary channel that has nothing to do with swimming. The host/narrator isn't explicitly identified as "Jim" either, making this seem like a case where a rhyming name and word are randomly paired together to form a title.

Western Animation

• Alphablocks: "The Cat Sat on the Mat"
• Animaniacs:
  • "Guardin' the Garden"
  • "Scare Happy Slappy"
  • "Smitten with Kittens"
• Arthur:
  • "Meek for a Week"
  • "Night Fright"
  • "D.W.'s Name Game"
  • "The Big Dig"
  • "Best of the Nest"
  • "Flea to Be You and Me"
  • "Matchmaker, Match Breaker"
  • "Brain's Chess Mess"
  • "Messy Dress Mess"
  • "Fright Night"
• Blue's Clues: Both the show itself and "The Boat Float".
• Breezly and Sneezly
• Bump in the Night: "Comfort Schmumfort"
• The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!
• Chilly Willy
• Danger Rangers
  • "Fires and Liars"
  • "Cave Save"
  • "Chem Gems"
• Dennis the Menace (1986):
  • "Trembly Assembly"
  • "Jungle Bungle"
  • "Whale of a Tale"
  • "Circus Berserkus"
  • "Medieval Evil"
  • "Lean Grean Jumping Machine"
  • "Door to Door Bore"
  • "Dennis in Venice"
  • "Quiet Riot"
  • "A Feeling for Stealing"
  • "Wheeling and Double-Dealing"
  • "Boy Ahoy!"
  • "Space Race"
  • "Crummy Mummy"
  • "Pie in the Eye"
  • "Loch Ness Mess"
  • "Pell Mell Hotel"
• Doc McStuffins: "Engine Nine, Feelin' Fine"
• Donkey Kong Country:
  • "From Zero to Hero"
  • "Klump's Lumps"
  • "To the Moon Baboon"
• Elinor Wonders Why:
  • "These Sneezes"
  • "Thinking About Blinking"
  • "The Unsinkable Lynx"
• Erky Perky
• The Fairly OddParents! is very fond of these when it isn't doing Pun Based Titles.
  • "The Same Game"
  • "Boy Toy"
  • "The Switch Glitch"
  • "Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary"
  • "Imaginary Gary"
  • "Vicky Loses Her Icky"
  • "Emotion Commotion!"
  • "Genie Meanie Minie Mo"
  • "You Doo!"
  • "Hassle in the Castle"
  • "Odd Squad"
  • "Add-a-Dad"
  • "Freaks & Greeks"
  • "Temporary Fairy"
  • "Crocker Shocker"
  • "Dadbra-Cadabra"
  • "Stupid Cupid"
  • "Take and Fake"
  • "Crock Talk"
  • "App Trap"
  • "Dust Busters"
  • "Crock Blocked"
  • "Snack Attack"
  • "Girly Squirrely"
  • "The Fair Bears"
  • "A Sash and a Rash"
  • "Summer Bummer"
• Fancy Nancy
• Futurama: "The Why of Fry"
• Handy Manny
• Heckle and Jeckle
• Inch High, Private Eye
• The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour, a trilogy of crossover specials between The Fairly OddParents! and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius
• Kamp Koral:
  • "Sun's Out, Fun's Out"
  • "Helter Shelter"
  • "The Switch Glitch"
• The Little Rascals:
  • "Scoop Dupes"
  • "No Hit Wit", a 30-second Baseball Episode
  • "The Irate Pirates"
  • "Fright Night"
  • "The Zero Hero"
• Looney Tunes
  • "Bugs and Thugs"
  • "Duck Amuck"
• The Loud House:
  • "Grub Snub"
  • "Fam Scam"
  • "Jeers for Fears"
  • "Double Trouble"
• Magilla Gorilla
• Milly, Molly: "Heidi Undity"
• Molly of Denali
• My Life as a Teenage Robot: "Mama Drama"
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • "Flutter Brutter"
  • "Bloom and Gloom"
  • "Filli Vanilli"
• Nate Is Late. It's a French show whose original title translate into "Oscar and Malika, Always Late", but Nate/Oscar's name change and the removal of Malika's name as Character Title ensures that the English title rhymes.
• The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: "Luck Amok"
• Numberjacks:
  • "Going Wrong, Going Long"
  • "Brain Drain"
  • "The Container Drainer"
  • "Zero the Hero"
• The Patrick Star Show:
  • "Gas Station Vacation"
  • "The Drooling Fool"
  • "Fun & Done!"
• Quack Pack
• Quick Draw McGraw
• The Raccoons has a Season 2 episode called "Blast from the Past!" and a Season 5 episode called "Stress Test!".
• Ready Jet Go!:
  • "Space Race"
  • "Eye in the Sky"
• Rolie Polie Olie
• Rugrats (1991):
  • "Momma Trauma"
  • "Acorn Nuts and Diapie Butts"
  • "Bow Wow Wedding Vows"
• Scooby-Doo
  • Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
  • Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?
  • Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School
• Squiddly Diddly
• SpongeBob SquarePants:
  • "No Hat for Pat"
  • "Night Light"
  • "No Nose Knows"
  • "Bubble Troubles"
  • "The Hot Shot"
  • "The Main Drain"
  • "Mall Girl Pearl"
  • "Goons on the Moon"
  • "The Goofy Newbie"
  • "Who R Zoo?"
  • "Fungus Among Us"
  • "Pest of the West"
• What's with Andy? has the aptly-titled episode "Rhyme Time".

---