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It's not really difficult to figure out the meaning behind the names of some Western Animation characters.


The following have their own pages:


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    A-E 
  • The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius:
    • James Issac "Jimmy" Neutron himself. "Neutron" comes from the subatomic particle of the same name, which happens to also be his Chest Insignia. His middle name, Issac, comes from scientist Issac Newton. James Chadwick was the name of the scientist who discovered the neutron.
    • There's also Cindy Vortex, whose last name comes from the spinning fluid of the same term.
    • The goofy teacher Miss Fowl, who resembles a bird and even squawks between sentences.
  • Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers: While he isn't an enemy of the Rangers, the aptly named Senator Wheiner certainly behaves like a Jerkass and makes life very uncomfortable for the Rangers and their Benevolent Boss Commander Walsh. The series implied that Wheiner and his ilk made the Rangers a barely tolerated entity on the core worlds, even though the frontier worlds welcomed the fact they stood between them and invasion by the Crown Empire.
  • Adventure Time:
    • Finn has blond hair and his name means "fair-haired". It can be also understood as related to the word "final", as in "the last", and he's the last human in Ooo. It might also conjure comparisons to legendary Irish hero Finn McCool.
    • Marceline's name means longevity which means that she has a long life due to her being a Vampire. Also, though it could be a coincidence, "Marceline" is also a partial anagram of Carmilla—who was known to rearrange her own name into various anagrams every few decades, perhaps to throw off potential Vampire Hunters. (The theory suddenly makes a lot more sense ever since Marceline's voice actress confirmed that, in the past, Marceline used to date Princess Bubblegum. The attraction is finally fully confirmed in The Big Damn Kiss of the Grand Finale.)
    • The Ice King's name is Simon Petrikov. "Petri-" means frozen.
  • In Aladdin: The Series, there's Abis Mal, Mechanikles, Ayam Aghoul, Amin Damoolah (though his name is ironic), Queen Hippsodeth, Harud and Abis Mal's ancestor Abnor Mal. In fact, his lack of a Punny Name could be the first indicator that Mozenrath is the Knight of Cerebus, and his name is still a pun, it's just a Shout-Out rather than a punny name with a meaning.
  • The Amazing World of Gumball' Darwin Watterson is a talking fish that grew lungs and legs. Think about that for a second
  • American Dragon: Jake Long
    • Long, even though it's the last name of Jake's Caucasian father, is one of the Chinese words for dragon.
    • Rose, the love interest/misguided bad-guy protege, is a beautiful thing with thorns (Thorn was her Secret Identity's original name). (It's such a common name for a Femme Fatale, Disney had to change her alias or risk copyright infringement for there was already a DC character with the same names.)
    • Jake's grandfather and mentor is named Lao Shi, Chinese for "respected teacher".
  • Amphibia:
    • Anne Boonchuy's first name is derived from a Hebrew name, "Hannah", which means "gracious"/"merciful"; her last name roughly translates from Thai to "one who encourages or performs good deeds"; fitting her kind-heartedness. Anne is also a name that's been born by many royalty, fitting how she's a foil to King Andrias.
    • The Plantar family name is near-synonymous with "planter" (fitting how they're a farmer family), and it's an adjective for things related to the sole of the foot (fitting how frogs have notably large feet, and how feet are one of the most common areas to develop warts). The individual members also have plant/agricultural-themed names:
      • Sprig means twig or shoot.
      • Polly is a pollywog, and her middle name is Petunia.
    • Sasha Waybright's first name derives from the name Alexander, which means "defender of man", and her last name is an Americanized form of Weibrecht/Weybrecht (note that Word of God says she's of Scandinavian descent) which is derivedfrom the words "war" and "bright". Sasha is very much a warrior who's very bright for her age, and she's a protector and very inspiring person when she's at her best.
    • Marcy Wu's first name means "warlike", and whilst she's not as pure warrior-spirit as Sasha, she does settle right into her role as Newtopia's crossbow-wielding chief ranger.
      • When she's possessed by the Core, the latter uses the name Darcy, meant to reference "Dark Marcy".
    • The Music Box is apparently called the Calamity Box in the Plantars' old tome because of Leif's vision which led her to believe the Box would bring an apocalypse upon Amphibia if the Newtopians continued using it.
    • The "mad" in Maddie Flour's name seems to fit her eccentric personality and superficially creepy demeanor.
    • The Sundews' family name is also the name of a shimmering carnivorous plant found in bogs, some species of which have the same yellow-and-red/orange colors as Ivy and Felicia themselves, and have a sweet aroma which could match Felicia's badassery-veiling personality.
    • Tritonio Espada. His first name is based on the word "triton", an old name for newts (which he is), and his last name is Spanish for "sword" (he's a Master Swordsman).
    • King Andrias is named after a giant salamander which is the largest genus in the entire amphibian class of vertebrates, fitting how he's an exceptionally gigantic newt. His family name, Leviathan, refers to the dreaded biblical beast of the sea, again fitting how he's a giant amphibian and also alluding to his sinister family legacy.
    • Captain Bufo of the toads. His name means, you guessed it, "toad" in Latin.
    • In Season 3, Mr. X's name is apparently a reference to extraterrestrials, which he specializes in hunting.
    • Leif's name, besides fitting how she ultimately became a farmer, means "descendant"/"heir", which fits with the reveal that the Plantars are her descendants. It also seems to reference Norse explorer Leif Erikson, fitting how Leif apparently took the Calamity Box to vikings on Earth a thousand years ago.
  • Animaniacs: Yakko and Wakko. Yakko's name is a play on "yakking away" or talking incessantly. Yakko almost never shuts up. Wakko's name is a play on "wacko", as in someone who is a little wacky, like Wakko.
  • Arcane: Vi's full name is Violet, flowers that represent love, loyalty and balance (between heaven and earth in Christian tradition and the sky and earth in native American tradition) and are used as a ward against evil spirits. Love is obviously her motivation behind protecting Powder, and Vi's love of Caitlyn more tragically makes Powder jealous, bringing out her worst impulses. Vi is Loyal to Zaun, Vander, Powder and Caitlyn. Balance comes from Vi being a Zaunite who will later work as a Piltover Enforcer, and Vi is also trying to balance her love of both Caitlyn and Jinx. As for protection from evil spirits Vi's story about chasing imaginary monsters away for Powder to calm her down is more relevant in the present story. Vi is also notably the only family member who survives Jinx's "help". The flowers are also a symbol of lesbians and bisexual women. Plus, her name is only one letter off from "violent," which certainly describes her.
  • Possibly parodied in Arthur's Medieval Fair episode. The place has a sword-in-the-stone as one of the activities, and it's Arthur who pulls it and is crowned king of the fair.
  • Almost every single character of Avatar: The Last Airbender has a name of Asian origin, varying from Mandarin Chinese to Korean slang. Given the theme of the show, the ones of non-Asian are often referenced and regarded as unusual to the other characters.
    • The Avatar itself is an avatar for an ancient spirit.
    • Zuko's mother is named Ursa (the Latin word for "bear"), displaying her role as his Mama Bear.
    • Zuko is once written as "Resurrected Rule", though another time it was "ancestors robber" on a wanted poster. It is logical to assume that his parents originally used the first "spelling", given that he was a royal child, and his father changed the "spelling" for the wanted posters to indicate that he had been disowned. Also, the first spelling of Zuko's name can also be translated to read "Reclaimed Honor". No really.
    • Swordsman Piandao of the episode "Sokka's Master" is named after a type of Chinese saber (though not the type he used, which is a jian).
    • Taking into account the Chinese characters used to write his name on the title card in "Tales of Ba Sing Se", Aang's name seems to mean "Ascending Peace".
    • Katara's name comes from a possibly phoenitic word of perhaps the same word, which means "beautiful." The individual parts of the name mean "block", "pagoda", and "pull."
    • Toph's name has a sextuple meaning: it is a kind of sandstone reflecting her element, a Hebrew word for "drum" referring to her ability to sense with vibration, a play on "tough" for her attitude, and a homonym of "toff", British slang for an upper-class person (which she is). On her passport in "The Serpent's Pass" her name is written to mean "supported lotus", which is indicative of how her parents saw her, as a fragile china doll. Conversely, on the title card in "Tales of Ba Sing Se" her name is written to mean "entrusted man".
    • The baby that the Gaang help deliver, who was given the appropriate but out of place name "Hope". The DVD Commentary said it was supposed to be a Chinese name that meant "Hope", but then either the meaning would be lost, or there would be a case of You Are the Translated Foreign Word.
    • The Earth King's name, Kuei (which is only mentioned in supplementary information) may be a transliteration of two words different words that respectively mean "chief" and "puppet", where as his Evil Chancellor Long Feng's name means "Dragon Phoenix", which in Chinese tradition represented the throne.
    • The Northern Water Tribe princess, Yue, counts as one as well. Her name literally means "moon" in Chinese; which cleverly foreshadows her eventually becoming the Moon Spirit.
    • King Bumi's name is derived from bhumi, which means "earth" in Sanskrit.
    • Suki is a verb, meaning "to like/love" in Japanese. It's also similar to the Japanese word 'tsuki' (月), meaning "moon", therefore tying her with Sokka's other love interest, Yue.
    • "Azula" is no doubt derived from "Asura", which fits her. Azula could also be seen as a modification of "Azul." Appropriate, as most of her firebending techniques are blue. In fact, it has been said that Azula was originally going to be "Prince Azul," before the Avatar folks decided to make her female.
    • According to the Avatar wiki, Ozai's name can mean either "leisurely year" (he spends a lot of time ordering others around from the comfort of his palace) or "flaming calamity".
    • In Mandarin, Zhao means "to look / search for (someone)". Guess what Admiral Zhao does throughout the first season.
    • The Owl-Knowing One, Wan Shi Tong, introduces himself to the Gaang as "He who knows ten thousand things". That is literally what his name means in Mandarin Chinese. For an added bonus, "ten thousand" is an idiom that means "everything" or "infinite" in Chinese (like "myriad" does in English), so by claiming to know ten thousand things, he's saying he is all-knowing.
    • Ba Sing Se's Secret Police, the Dai Li, is named after a real-life Chinese government official. The real Lieutenant General Dai Li was one of the most feared men in China, as he was the leader of Chiang Kai-Shek's secret police. Much like the Dai Li from the show, the real-life agents' assignments include surveillance, kidnapping, apprehension, and assassination.
    • "Lake Laogai", where the Dai Li's secret re-education/brainwashing center is located, is named after a Chinese word for "reform through labor" used to refer to prison camps in the People's Republic of China.
    • The city of Ba Sing Se itself; its name means "perpetually strong city". Although General Fong mistakenly claims it means "impenetrable city", both translations accurately reflect how up until the events of the series, Ba Sing Se was known as the safest city in the world, with impeccable defenses.
    • It may be All There in the Manual, but in the episode "The Desert", the titular location's official name is the Si Wong Desert. "Si Wong" means "to die" in Chinese. The desert is just as deadly as you'd expect it to be from that name.
  • The tradition continues in The Legend of Korra.
    • Korra is derived from "Cora", meaning "maiden"; she's the first female Avatar we've seen during her youth, as opposed to, for example, Avatar Kyoshi.
    • Mako is a Japanese name meaning "child of truth". He ends up becoming a detective and is the first person to see the truth about Varrick; his first breakup with Korra is also because he was a little too honest. It's also a Germanic name meaning "strength", and he was always the strong and silent type compared to Bolin.note 
    • Bolin means "elder brother rain", and while he isn't the elder brother, his unique talent, lavabending, is influenced by waterbending.
    • Asami is a Japanese name meaning "morning beauty"; Asami's face manages to render Mako temporarily speechless. It also has inferences of spirituality, and her love interest is Korra, the bridge between the mortal and spiritual realms, and they lock their relationship in by going on a vacation in the spirit world.
    • Tenzin is a formal title meaning "holder of the Buddha dharma"; it's currently held by Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. Kind of fits the leader of a tradition inspired by Buddhism.
    • Baatar means "hero" in Mongolian, and he certainly sees himself as the hero by siding with Kuvira. He becomes a more straightforward one when Kuvira attempts to sacrifice him by firing on his location and he turns against her.
    • Zaheer is an Arabic name that refers to the esoteric Islamic concept of "manifest", as in, things that are readily apparent from the naked eye but may be illusions to the truth. When he's first introduced, he recites an Airbending teaching about needing to shed the apparent form of things to unlock new possibilities, foreshadowing him attaining enlightenment by gaining the power of Flight.
    • Speaking of Kuvira, her name in Hindi means "courageous woman". You can call Kuvira a lot of things, most of them bad, but "coward" isn't one of them. It also has similar structure to Korra, hinting that they are alike.
    • Jinora was the name of a minor Buddhist writer, and she's the most philosophical and spiritual of Tenzin's kids.
    • A minor character in Season 3 is named Otaku, Japanese for "nerd/geek". His extensive knowledge of Air Nomad history and culture shows why he has such a name.
    • The first Avatar is named Wan, which means "ten-thousand", reflecting the fact that he lived ten-thousand years before the events of the story. As with Wan Shi Tong, it is also an idiom for infinity, referring to the fact that the Avatars will continue to exist for eternity. As a bonus, it is a homophone for the English word "one".
  • In The Backyardigans, Word of God says that Uniqua is her name and her species. Ah, that's why she's so unique; all you gotta do is trade the A on the end of her name for an E. Also, the first four letters of Austin the kangaroo's name are the same as Australia, where kangaroos reside.
  • Batman: The Animated Series: In the episode "Pretty Poison" Poison Ivy christens the antidote to her special lipstick "Rose From The Dead", alluding to both her plot against Harvey Dent and the fact it's derived from a rare flower that most dismissed as extinct.
  • The old show Beany and Cecil has a villain named Dishonest John.
  • Several of The Beeps have names which describe their personalities - Sleepy is a Heavy Sleeper, Smelly is The Pig-Pen, Brainy is The Smart Guy, Teeny is the smallest Beep, etc.
  • The Ben 10 franchise is littered with these
    • The most obvious ones Ben ''Ten''nyson and Kevin E. Levin reflecting their respective screen names Ben 10 and Kevin 11. When Ben learns Kevin's full name, he mocks him about it.
    • The Omnimatrix can transform its user into every sapient being in the Milky Way Galaxy. It's no surprise that it directly translates to "All Base/Form".
    • Ben's alien transformations are named by Ben himself and so are more like superhero codenames, but whenever we do get the race's actual name, it's always a more scientific-sounding pun on what the alien does. Echo Echo is a Sonorosian, Wildvine is a Florauna, Big Chill is a Necrofriggian (the 'necro' part coming from his ghostly phasing ability), and all the Monster Mash aliens are from Anur Transyl.
    • Ben 10: Alien Force introduces Alan Albright, is the name of a young half-Pyronite, whose head is on fire half the time.
    • Mike Morningstar. Turns out that he was not so much a Louis Cypher as simply being generically evil.
    • Ben 10 Alien Force exclusive characters: Manny Armstrong's (whose name reflects him possessing four arms and super strength), and his girlfriend Helen Wheels (whose name is a pun on Hell on Wheels').
  • Best and Bester: Many inhabitants of the town of Bettervale have a name that reflects what they are. For example, Grafifi is a can of spray paint, Sandie is a Sandal, and Diamondo is a diamond.
  • Big City Greens:
    • The Green family are long-standing family of farmers, so their “Green” last name reflects this, especially since “greens” is another term for “vegetables.”
    • The Big Bad Chip Whistler, known for having a chip on his shoulder against the Greens. Becomes a literal example due to the Running Gag where his tooth chips and his words produce a whistle when speaking.
  • The Plutarkians in the 1990s Biker Mice from Mars series are all named after cheeses with the Biker Mice's arch nemesis Lawrence Limburger being named after the infamous Limburger cheese.
  • The monster trucks on Blaze and the Monster Machines.
    • Blaze is named after a light-based phenomena or a fire that shoots steadily, referring to his fire motif and he's the "fire" that "lights up" the show.
    • Crusher is named for the fact he always tries to crush Blaze's victory.
    • Pickle is named for the fact he resembles a pickle.
    • Stripes has a tiger stripe motif on his paint job.
    • Darington likes to take on dares.
    • Watts is named after the term relating to the number of units in an electrical circuit.
  • The Boondocks:
    • Mr. Wuncler: the archetypical scheming old white businessman. His name is pronounced just like "The Once'ler", the narrator and misguided, remorseful villain of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, who destroys essentially the whole world to make a quick buck.
    • The main character Huey Freeman is named after Black Panthers co-founder Huey P. Newton. His surname, Freeman, is also significant as it means "a free man".
    • Ed Wuncler's pal, Gin Rummy, is a thinly veiled "gangsta" analogue of former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (who even quotes Rumsfeld's "known unknowns" speech after a botched convenience store robbery).
    • Aaron McGruder loses a thousand subtlety points for naming the successful, well-off black man Tom Dubois. As in "Uncle". And W.E.B. Dubois.
  • On Butterbean's Cafe:
    • Each of the Bean Team gets a meaningful name. Butterbean is named after a type of lima bean, Poppy is named after a flower, Dazzle is named after light-based phenomena, Cricket is named after said insect, and Jasper is named after a type of rock. The first three's names also match their clothing motif.
    • Ms. Marmalady's name is a portmanteau of "marmalade" and "lady".
    • Mr. Garbaggio drives the garbage truck.
  • Warp Darkmatter, Buzz Lightyear's Evil Counterpart from Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, was Buzz Lightyear's partner before an apparent Face–Heel Turn. He even points out how evil sounding his name is, and mocks Buzz for not being Genre Savvy enough to notice.
    • There's also a vampire droid named NOS-482. In other words, "Nosferatu".
    • And of course, Wirewolf who is a robotic werewolf.
  • Captain Planet and the Planeteers villain names were very obvious puns:
    • Dr. Blight sought to destroy the environment.
    • Looten Plunder sought to make money by destroying the environment. His name even sounds like 'loot and plunder'. He also has a nephew named Robin Plunder, obviously a pun off 'rob and plunder'.
    • Duke Nukem sought to turn the entire world into a glowing radioactive place. The other Duke Nukem exists because his name was not trademarked.
  • Carmen Sandiego Chase Devineaux, Interpol agent and later ACME detective who is obsessed with pursuing Carmen. Lampshaded in the pilot:
    Carmen: "Chase", huh? Let's see what's in a name.
  • All the members of the Centurions have Meaningful Names based on their specialization: Sea Operations Commander Max Ray, Land Operations Specialist Jake Rockwell, and Air Operations Expert Ace McCloud. Later addition Rex Charger was the team's Energy Programmer.
  • City Island (2022): Since everyone in the show is a talking object, they all have meaningful names related to what they are. For example, Watt is a lightbulb. A 'watt' is a unit of power that lightbulbs use. Also "Sally" for a salt shaker, "Piper" for a pepper shaker, and "Ringer" for a cell phone. There's a dirty plastic bag named Detritus, which means 'waste or junk.' Even the Earth can talk, and her name is Terra, which means 'Earth' in Latin.
  • Not overused in Code Lyoko, but...
    • Odd Della Robbia's first name and Ulrich Stern's surname certainly fit well with their characters.
    • The gym teacher is Jim Moralès and the science teacher is Suzanne Hertz.
    • Yumi Ishiyama: "yumi" is the Japanese word for bow, as in a bow-and-arrow.
      • Her first and last name translate into "Beauty on the Stone Mountain".
    • "Sissi" is a nickname, but still very fitting for Élisabeth Delmas, the self-proclaimed princess of the school.
    • Kadic Academy owes its name to science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick.
  • The Crayon Box: One of the cast is a cat named Dotty. She's called that because her outline is styled like a game of connect-the-dots.
    • There's also Piggy Banks, who is a living Piggy Bank.
  • The lead character of Creative Galaxy is Arty, a young alien boy with a great talent for art.
  • In Dan Vs., Dan means "He who judges", which pretty much sums up the show.
  • Danny Phantom
    • Vlad, which means "rule", a name that fits him like a glove. Also an in-joke to the vampire-like thing he's got going on. In fact, he originally was planned to be one.
    • Anti-Hero Valerie Gray
    • Fire-haired musician Ember McLain
    • Nikolai Technus, a ghost who can control technology.
    • Clockwork, "Master of Time". He actually has a clock in his chest...
  • The main character of Detentionaire, Lee Ping. His surname means “peaceful” or “level” in Chinese, and he often acts as the Only Sane Man or Blue Oni to others' Red. Also, the mysterious Power Tattoo he's had his whole life resembles the trigram which represents fire, known as Lí in Chinese.
  • Dexter's Laboratory: Dexter's name is similar to the Latin word "dexter", which among other things means "skillful". He's a boy genius who's a very skilled inventor.
  • The members of Sector V on Codename: Kids Next Door:
    • Nigel Uno (Numbuh 1): "Uno" is "one" in Italian and Spanish (though oddly, he's British. The fact that he has Uno as a last name can also mean that he's an only child).
    • Hoagie P. Gilligan, Jr. (Numbuh 2): Appropriately enough, a twofer reference: the surname "Gilligan" is from the eponymous second in command of the Minnow on Gilligan's Island, and a hoagie is a type of sandwich, and Numbuh 2 liked to eat a lot.
    • Kuki Sanban (Numbuh 3): "Sanban" is Japanese for "third" (san "three", -ban is a Japanese suffix used in creating ordinal numbers); "Kuki" is a reference to her ditzy personality ("kooky"). Her evil little sister's name, Mushi, translates as "insect," her irritable father Kani means "crab," and her mother is Genki (more likely an Ironic Name, as Genki doesn't act like a Genki Girl).
    • Wallabee "Wally" Beatles (Numbuh 4): The Beatles had four original members (even though Wally is Australian, not Liverpudlian). Numbuh Four is also the unluckiest member of the group (which is a reference to the Chinese belief that the number four is bad luck [much like the number 13 in Western culture]).
    • Abigail "Abby" Lincoln (Numbuh 5): She has the same initials as Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln's face is on the $5.00 bill. Lincoln is also on the penny, and, one episode revealed that Abigail was also formerly Number One.
    • Numerous other characters also have names and numbers related to their function within the show (e.g., the operative who decommissions is Numbuh 86; submariner Numbuh 20,000; Numbuh 10-Speed of the KND Central Bike Hub is named Lance [as in Armstrong]).
  • Played for Laughs in Disenchantment, with elf characters like Singo (who likes to sing), Shocko (who gasps loudly) and Kissy (who Really Gets Around).
  • A couple of characters in Doug.
    • Mr. Dink always seems to be able to afford items that are "very expensive". "Dink" stands for Dual Income No Kids.
    • Mr. Bone has a nephew named Percy Femur, a rather large kid who ends up bullying Roger and Doug. The femur (or thigh bone) is the largest bone in the human body.
  • In Duck Dodgers, the Martian Queen's name is Tyr'ahnee. (This is meaningful because it's a clever pun. She's the Big Bad of the series, and a line from the show's opening theme, spoken where she appears, says "Duck Dodgers is fighting tyranny.")
  • In Ed, Edd n Eddy:
    • Jonny 2x4 because he carries around a piece of wood named Plank, meaning there's two names to note.
    • The Kanker Sisters, menaces to the Eds. Their last name is derived from a foreign word for cancer.

    F-L 
  • The Fairly Oddparents:
  • The Nessies in The Family-Ness. (Ferocious Ness, Silly Ness, another Lovely Ness, Clever Ness etc. and their ruler Her High Ness.)
  • Fanboy and Chum Chum:
    • The eponymous duo themselves both have meaningful names. Fanboy is, well, a Fanboy, and Chum Chum is named after the term "chum", which means "friend".
    • There's also the Child Mage Kyle Bloodworth-Thomason, whose name means "narrow", viewing his "narrow" way of the mortal world, while the first part of his last name likely refers to his interest in dark magic. We also get his spellbook Necronomicon, and his elf assistant Scrivener Elf.
    • Genki Girl Yo's name is Japanese for "nice" or "gentle". Her friend Lupe, short for Guadalupe, is Spanish for "wolf".
    • Arctic superhero Man-Arctica, as well as his fiery and hot Arch-Nemesis Global Warmer.
  • Felix the Cat's name. Felix is Latin for Luck, which fits Felix's subversion of the "black cats bring bad luck" stereotype.
  • Futurama:
    • Bender (whose full name is "Bender Bending Rodríguez", by the way) is a "bending unit" — a robot who was manufactured for the sole purpose of bending metal objects. Also, one slang meaning of "bender" is "a bout of heavy drinking", which is appropriate for Bender since he runs on alcohol. His name also brings to mind John Bender from The Breakfast Club, a famous rebellious asshole. The other meaning (homosexual man, UK slang) is not quite as appropriate, unless the writers are trying to hint at something.
      • The same can be said for Flexo and his ex-wife Angleyne, who are also bending units.
    • Fry's first name, Philip, was chosen in memoriam to Phil Hartman, who was originally chosen to be the voice of Zapp Brannigan.
    • Leela's full name — Turanga Leela — is a reference to the "Turangalila-Symphonie", a piece of music most famous for prominently featuring the ondes Martenot, forerunner of the classc sci-fi staple the theremin. Also, in the case of purple-haired Leela, "Lila" means "purple" in German and Hungarian.
    • In Futurama's famously esoteric style of humor, "Farnsworth" was the name of the man who built the first television system.
    • Morgan Proctor is a bureaucrat. Her name is triply appropriate, the first being the most obvious, though the others work if you stretch it note : She's a bureaucrat, so she's anal, and she's also something of an ass.
    • In "Fear of a Bot Panet", a planet inhabited by robots was named "Chapek 9" as a reference to Karel Capek's coining of the term "robot."
    • The kids involved in the re-enactment of the Sith-il War provide us with these gems: Darth Stroyer, Darth Trocious, Darth Urderer and Darth Sploder. note 
  • Fireman Sam has Bella Lasagne and Mandy Flood. Ironically the Welsh title for Fireman Sam is Sam Tan, which translates to "Sam Fire"—and Sam's main job is to put out fires.
  • In Franklin and Friends, the pilot who was named simply Miss Periwinkle in Franklin is given the first name Amelia, which is presumably a reference to famed pilot Amelia Earhart.
  • Gargoyles is interesting in that gargoyles do not have names normally, and past history had humans giving them a name, like Goliath.
    • When learning to trust Elisa, the various gargoyles of the Manhattan Clan chose names from their surroundings. Hudson, for the river, and Brooklyn, Lexington, Broadway, and Bronx.
    • When Demona has evil clones of the clan created (to go with Goliath's evil clone Thailog), she gives them names from Los Angeles neighborhoods/landmarks.
      • Demona herself is an interesting case: While she is certainly evil enough to merit the name, she wasn't that evil when she first got the name. (Her ally Macbeth gave it to her because, and I quote, "You fight like a demon!")
    • In many ways, Goliath's name is both played straight and subverted. In the first episode, he was named for having the strength of the biblical Goliath. However, it is also pointed out that the first Goliath was a bully and monster, something the gargoyle is definitely not. Fridge Brilliance kicks in here; Goliath was named by prejudiced humans who saw him as little more than an unthinking brute. Furthermore, Goliath and his arch nemesis (DAVID Xanatos) invert the David Versus Goliath trope, providing another subversion.
    • There is also Fox's father, Reynard.
      • Though it's worth noting that Fox's birth name is Janine; she had it changed to "Fox," which is also what her last name meant (before she got married). Halcyon's first name may also be notable, since it sets him up as the "peaceful" analogue to his daughter and son-in-law.
    • Angela happens to have a karmically opposite name and world views to her mother, Demona.
  • G.I. Joe, in all its incarnations is made of this. There are just so many examples, you might as well just refer to the characters pages.
    • Duke, the all-American hero, is named after John Wayne.
    • Scarlett is a redhead (last name O'Hara, and originally from Atlanta)
    • Ripcord (originally) was a para-trooper.
    • Blowtorch (of the Joes) and Torch (of the Dreadnoks) burn stuff.
    • Buzzer uses a chainsaw.
    • Wild Weasel (named after an aerial maneuver) is a pilot.
    • Croc-Master is... well...
  • In Godzilla: The Series, Nick's original name Niko is a short form of Nikolaos, which is Greek for "victory of the people", which is appropriate as Nike is the Greek goddess of victory. Mendel's surname Craven, on the other hand, means "coward", befitting his usual attitude when faced with the Monster of the Week.
  • Goofy, so named because he's, well, rather goofy. His French name, Dingo, goes one better: it's a slang word for "crazy" (derived from the word dingue) and a dingo is also a type of Australian dog, which is Goofy's species.
  • Gravity Falls:
    • Dipper Pines is named so because he has a birthmark on his forehead in the shape of the Big Dipper. "Dipper" is actually a nickname he got because of said birthmark. His twin sister Mabel on the other hand plays it straight, as her name means "lovable," which certainly fits her friendly and playful nature.
    • This also works for Gideon Gleeful, whose name is a pun on the phrase Giddy n' Gleeful, which is his usual attitude (even if he is a psycho). Gideon is also a fitting name for someone who serves as a spiritual (and entrepreneurial) leader in his community, at least in the first season. His name can also mean 'Feller of trees' and his rivalry with the Pines family is a major part of the first season.
    • Bill Cipher works on many layers. His name is a reference to the Beale Ciphers, which are cryptic like him, or a reference to the dollar bill, which his image is on, and cipher, because he might be the one who puts them in the show. His name also could be a combination of Louis Cypher and Bill Z. Bubb, which are names for Satan, and Bill is kind of satanic.
    • Pacifica’s name means "peaceful". In "Northwest Mansion Mystery", she undergoes Character Development and brings peace to her family both by fulfilling her ancestor’s broken promise to allow the townsfolk into the annual party. and breaking The Chain of Harm.
  • Many characters in Grojband have these.
    • Corey Jaron Riffin. Let's see. His first name references Canadian singer Corey Crewe; his middle name comes from the Hebrew word "Yaron", which means "to sing or shout phrases", since Corey's the band's lead singer; and his last name is derived from "guitar riff", because he plays the electric guitar. Incidentally, his older sister Trina is named after Corey Crewe's sister and singing partner, the late Trina Crewe.
    • Laney Penn. Switch the "Lane" and "Penn" in her name around, and you get "Penny Lane", a well-known song from The Beatles.
    • Japanese twins Kin and Kon Kujira are named after famous kaiju. Their first names together form King Kong (with the g's removed), while their last name is Japanese for "whale", which is one of the components of "Gojira", the Japanese name for Godzilla.
    • Trina's lackey and best friend Mina Beff. Her name rhymes with Trina to signify their connections with each other (in fact, Mina was born Bernadette, but Trina made her change it so they could be even closer friends), while her last name is just "BFF" (Best Friends Forever) as a spoken word,
    • Grojband's rivals, The Newmans, are named after Jerry Seinfeld's own Sitcom Arch-Nemesis, Newman. Additionally, the gang's groupies Katie and Allie are named after the title characters of Kate & Allie.
  • Gummi Bears: Gruffi is literally gruff. Zummi is the wizard of the group (as in summoning). Grammi is the motherly figure. Tummi is fat. Cubby is literally a Cub Bear and Gusto is an artist (Gusto means "taste" in Spanish).note  The villains too as with Duke Igthorn and Lady Bane.
  • In the UK cartoon Happy Ness: The Secret of the Loch, the Nessies' name undoubtedly match their personalities. (Happy Ness, Lovely Ness, Kind Ness, Dark Ness etc.)
  • Harriet the Spy: Unlike in the original book and the movie, in the cartoon, Sport is good at sports and is often seen playing them.
  • Hey Arnold!:
    • Craig Bartlett chose Helga's name to emphasize her two sides: "Helga" sounds very much like "hell girl", emphasizing Helga's mask. The name actually means "holy, sacred, successful", which emphasizes Helga's hidden softer side.
    • Though it was never revealed in the series, Arnold's last name is Shortman. He is one of the shortest kids in his class.
  • Histeria!: Just listen to how Loud Kiddington and Froggo speak, and you'll see how they got their names.
  • The Hollow
    • Akuma the leader of a group of demon monks name translates from Japanese to "devil."
    • Mira can mean “sea” or “ocean” in Sanskrit, alluding to her swimming skills and ability to breathe underwater.
  • It's Pony: The name of the town where George's mom, Ruth lives is called Clifton, which just so happens to be near a cliff. Lampshaded by George himself when Helen asks him why his mother lives near a cliff.
  • In Jellystone!, Spook from Top Cat is a female cat known as "Spooky". Her most significant character traits so far can have her come off as a little creepy since she doesn't really speak, tends to have a rather blank facial expression, and has done eye static.
  • Jem:
    • The Token Good Teammate of The Misfits is named "Mary", though she goes by her Stage Name "Stormer" most of the time.
    • Maeve Eldritch is a popular magician.
    • "The Misfits" is a band full of mischievous jerks and are the main antagonists for most of the series.
  • Jimmy Two-Shoes takes place in Miseryville, which is Fire and Brimstone Hell. Thus, the characters include Lucius Heinous VII, named after Lucifer, the demon of pride, his son Beezy (which can only be short for "Beelzebub", the demon of gluttony) and Heloise (meaning famous warrior). Also, there's Jimmy's dog Cerbee, named after the three-headed dog in Greek Mythology, Jez, named after King Ahab's wife, and Molotov, named after Stalin's protege. The Hero Jimmy himself is named after the term "goody-two-shoes", which is someone who is constantly virtuous or well-behaved.
  • Johnny Bravo: The episode "Bearly Enough Time!" features a time-obsessed bear named Chronos. It's only appropriate that he'd be named for the Greek god of time.
  • Jonny Quest
    • "The Devil's Tower". The villain is named "Von Deufel", very similar to "Teufel" ("devil" in German).
    • Dr. Zin. If you flip the "Z" you get an "S" for "Sin".
  • Kaeloo:
    • Kaeloo means frog in Japanese.
    • Stumpy wasn't supposed to have arms in the original concept, just stumps.
    • Quack Quack can only say the word "Quack".
    • Mr. Cat is a cat.
    • Pretty is beautiful.
    • Euglynote  is... not so beautiful.
    • Olaf means "ancestral heritage"; Olaf's desire to Take Over the World comes from his heritage as an emperor penguin.
    • Lola means "sorrow" and Felicia means "joy". Mr. Cat had a rather confusing and bittersweet relationship with Lola Felicia where he simultaneously loved and hated her, and thinking about her brings him both sorrow and joy.
    • Ardoise's name means "slate" in French, the show's original language. Slates are often used for mathematical calculations, which Ardoise is always doing.
    • Cramoisie means "crimson" and Cramoisie always wears red.
    • Poucave means snitch, and Poucave is an Immoral Journalist who writes newspaper articles exposing people's deepest secrets.
  • Kappa Mikey
    • Mikey Simon's stage name is, well, "Kappa Mikey." A kappa is a mythical Japanese amphibian. Ozu once explained that a kappa is a water creature that lives on land, and is thus a fish out of water, much like Mikey himself, who is an American living in Japan. Making things even weirder, kappas are said to like cucumbers and kappa makki is a type of sushi, meaning it's also a Punny Name.
    • There is a Yes-Man character actually referred to as "Yes Man" by everyone on the show. It's heavily implied that this is his actual name.
  • Kim Possible includes minor villains Adrena Lynn ("extreme"-stunt TV host), and shapeshifting socialite Camille Leon, and the heroes, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. It's even lampshaded a few times. When Kim loses her memory, she says "'Kim Possible' doesn't sound like a name."
    • Played for Laughs with wrestler Steel Toe (whose toes are actually made of titanium).
  • Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Scarlemagne's name is a combination of "Scar" and "Charlemagne" referencing his scars and desire for conquest.
  • Let's Go Luna!:
    • Mr. Hakim from "Amazing Man". "Hakim" means "a wise or learned man" in Muslim countries. Mr. Hakim is a smart guy who teaches the kids about hieroglyphs.
    • In "When the Bowl Breaks", Hana's name is Japanese for 'flower'. In another Tokyo episode, there's a character named Momo whose name means 'peach'.
  • Lite Sprites: The sprites' names are all based on what powers they have. Prisma controls all color in general, Brooke has water color magic, Astra has magic alluding to the sky and stars, Meadow has floral and earth-based magic, and Bleak despises color and is more intent on stealing it, turning whatever she zaps greyscale.
  • Little Einsteins: Each member of the team is named after a famous person akin to their personalities:
    • Leo the conductor, named after maestro Leopold Stokowski.
    • June the ballerina, named after choreographer June Taylor.
    • Quincy the instrument enthusiast, named after music producer Quincy Jones.
    • Annie the aspiring singer, named after jazz singer Annie Rossi.
  • In Littlest Pet Shop (2012), the character Sunil Nevla is a dark blue mongoose with an Indian accent. His name is Hindi for "dark blue mongoose".
  • The Looney Tunes: Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, and so on. Wile E. Coyote goes a bit beyond just the name of the animal, as he is a wiley coyote (see what they did there?). And it gets cleverer — Pepe LePew is a Smelly Skunk (even though in real life skunks only smell when they spray) which makes everyone go pew! Speedy Gonzales is a speedy little mouse from Mexico. And Taz is a tasmanian devil.
    • Lampshaded in The Looney Tunes Show, where, after becoming a victim of Daffy's antics, Bugs responds with something to the effect of "no wonder your name is Daffy." When asked what that means, Bugs tells him to look it up. Which he does.
  • In The Loud House:
    • The surname of Lincoln and his 10 sisters is, well, Loud. Meaning of that surname is quite obvious, considering that all of them are energetic kids who tend to talk and scream a lot. Aside from that, they have names alluding to certain traits of them:
      • Lincoln's name is derived from Abraham Lincoln, probably because he was born aboard the presidential limousine. It also means "from the lake settlement", probably referring to his survival skills of dealing with his sisters.
      • He's also referred to as "Linc", and fittingly, he's not just the link that keeps the family together, he's also the link between the show and the audience, referring to his status as the Audience Surrogate with a habit of Breaking the Fourth Wall.
      • Lori's name means "laurel", referring to her image. It also sounds like "lorry", a type of vehicle, and she's the only Loud sister with a driver's license (until Leni got hers).
      • Leni is the German diminutive of Helene (Helen) and Magdalena (Magdalene). These names are associated with beauty (Helen of Troy), or honorable women (Saint Helena, Saint Mary Magdalene). She's also named after Lenny from Of Mice and Men, a character who's not very intelligent but very kind and rather gentle, at least when he's not harming people by accident. Interestingly enough, Leni was much stronger in her earliest designs, and the more notable "Leni"s are German Olympic athletes: Helene "Leni" Junker, Magdalena "Leni" Lohmar, and Leni Schmidt.
      • Luna's name is Latin for "moon", which also comes from the Pink Floyd album, "Dark Side of the Moon", referring to her rock star image.
      • Luan's name means "uprising", referring to her wild persona.
      • Lucy shares the same name as Lucy Westenra, a character from Bram Stoker's Dracula novels who becomes the book's first victim. Lucy herself is enamored by death and vampires, and, as of the end of the Dracula novel, both characters also share sleeping in coffins as a common trait. Her name also has an ironic quality, as it means "light", yet she is inexorably tied to darkness, morbidity and the color black. It may also be a reference to Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil (or even her father).
      • Lola's name means "sorrow", which referring to the fact she's spoiled.
      • "Lana" sounds similar to the Spanish word for frog (rana); alluding to the fact that she currently owns one, Hops, as one of her MANY pets.
      • Lily's name means "bloomer," and it alludes to the fact that she's the youngest of the family.
    • Haiku is a type of poem. The character herself loves to make poems.
    • Casagrande is Spanish for "big house," and it alludes to the huge apartment building they live in.

    M-S 
  • Discussed on Milo Murphy's Law, when Dakota mentions that their time traveling technology was (or rather, will be) made by someone named Professor Time—then admits that the coincidence of that never occurred to him until the main characters point it out. He suggests that Professor Time probably changed his name for branding purposes. (We later learn that he's right—the professor's birth name is actually Doofenshmirtz.)
  • Miraculous Ladybug:
    • Marinette has marine blue eyes, and her name is Catalan for "ladybug"- a symbol of good luck. Fitting for a brave, compassionate superheroine who is nothing but good luck to those around her.
    • Adrien means "dark", and he spends much of his childhood sad and alone. Later it takes on a more positive meaning when Plagg, a black cat-spirit, lends Adrien his power.
    • The Compulsive Liar is named Lila.
    • The main antagonist is called Hawk Moth. A hawk is a bird of prey, while a moth is a general night insect, and he's the welder of the Butterfly Miraculous and wears dark clothes. He upgrades to Shadow Moth in Season 4, with shadows symbolizing darkness and evil, and in Season 5, he is upgraded to Monarch, a butterfly which is poisonous to birds.
  • Molly of Denali:
    • Molly's native name is Shahnyaa, which means "one who informs us". She researches and provides information to her community.
    • Layla’s native name is "Dak Niighit", which means "she is rising up in the air". This is because ever since she was a girl, she wanted to achieve her dreams of flying, which she eventually would do later on in her life (becoming a bush pilot).
    • Nat's full name is Nehtan Kon, which means "lightning."
    • Walter's native name Yaadekuh, which means "his chin is big", and it sure is. Plus, he was named after Walter Harper.
    • Tooey is short for Tookkone — "wolf" in Koyukon Athabascan. His last name, Ookami, also means wolf, but in Japanese.
    • Vera's surname, Malakas, means "strong" in Tagalog. So her name sounds like she is "Vera Strong".
    • Auntie Midge's native name is Chaaki Hakii, which means "big shot leader".
    • Mr. Patak's native name Sanalguruq (He who is good at making things). This fits him because he owns the woodshop.
  • In one episode of Mona the Vampire, Mona figures out the connection between her school's new lunch assistants and a sudden spate of foot poisonings after saying their names out loud. "Sam and Ella" -> salmonella. Of course, being Mona, she then jumps to the conclusion that they're literal salmonella monsters, when the reality is that they just have really poor hygiene.
  • Subverted by Moral Orel with Mr. Nohammer, owner of Nohammer Hardware. Despite clearly having a sign that says "We Have Hammers" on his store and lining his store with wall-to-wall hammers, people still call him asking about whether or not he sells hammers. He's forced to constantly tell people "It's just my name!" [sob] .
    • Played straight with some of the other characters. Most are references to stop-motion animation (Clay, Shapey, Doughy, Putty) although Doughy's surname "Latchkey" refers to latchkey kids (his parents ignore him) and Ms Censordoll's initials are FCC.
      • Clay is something that is easily molded. Not only was Clay himself molded into the person he is by his deeply religious mother, he now tries to mold Orel into someone who fits his distorted worldview. This could also apply to his position as mayor of Moralton.
      • Also see his mother, Angela.
  • In Motorcity, the protagonist is named Mike Chilton, his surname as a reference to the Chilton Company, which publishes automobile repair manuals (in a car-themed car). The Big Bad and his daughter have the surname Kane, another Name of Cain. The team's engineer is named Dutch Gordy and has a robot named R.O.T.H., both references to artists (Kenneth "Von Dutch" Howard and Ed Roth). His surname, Gordy is from Berry Gordy, founder of Motown.note 
  • Every named character in The Mr. Men Show.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
    • Many of the characters are named after their talents and behaviors. Although justified for some, as "The Perfect Pear" reveals that at least some ponies go through Meaningful Renames, such as "Chiffon Swirl" renaming herself "Cup Cake" after marrying Carrot Cake:
    • It'd be simpler to name exceptions. Special mention goes to Main Character Twilight Sparkle and her foils and Arc Villain's Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer, whose names are all roughly synonyms with each other. This is justified in-story as several characters have been shown to change their name, especially in a Face–Heel Turn. These include Luna->Nightmare Moon, Twilight Sparkle -> Midnight Sparkle, and Fizzlepop Berrytwist -> Tempest Shadow. Similarly, Pinkamena Pie goes by Pinkie.
    • Members of the Apple Family all have names that allude to apples, such as Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, Apple Rose and Auntie Applesauce.
    • The Pie Family members tend to be named after types of rock or crystalline material. There's the father Igneous Rock, the mother Cloudy Quartz, and the sisters Limestone Pie and Marble Pie. The sole exceptions would be Maud Pie (a pun on "mud pie"), and Pinkie Pie herself.
    • Pegasi tend to be named after sky or flight-based phenomena, specifically Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Flitter, Cloudchaser, Thunderlane, Sky Stinger, Vapor Trail, Zephyr Breeze, Bow Hothoof, and Windy Whistles; as well as the members of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire, Soarin', Rapid Fire, Fleetfoot, Blaze, Misty Fly, Fire Streak, and Wind Rider. Exceptions would be Scootaloo, Derpy, and Cozy Glow.
    • We also get the Power Ponies. The Masked Matter-Horn can generate might and matter with her horn; Filli-second can run at warp speed; Zapp controls weather; Radiance generates whatever she thinks up; Mistress Marevelous is the tough one; and Saddle Rager can Hulk out when she's raged. There's also their arch-nemesis the Mane-iac, and their boring powerless sidekick Humdrum.
    • Locations as well. Ponyville is full of ponies, Cloudsdale is made out of clouds, and the Crystal Empire is made out of crystals (it's not an empire any more, though). This is lampshaded when Fluttershy hopes that the Perilous Peaks are a Nonindicative Name, only for Applejack to remind her that's not really how things work.
    • There's also the Dazzlings, aka the Sirens, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk, from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks. Their first names all come from different terms of music ("adagio" means "slow", "aria" refers to a solo song, and "sonata" is a composition for a soloist), while their last names come from terms of light phenomena. In addition, Adagio's last name shows that she dazzles — or better yet, puts everyone under her spell to gain power, Aria tends to blaze past her orders, and Sonata is, well, dim like the dusk.
    • Out of the Shadowbolts from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games, Sour Sweet's name stands out the most due to having a bipolar personality of feigning sweetness before acting sourly harsh.
    • Flurry Heart, the baby of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, was named last-minute after the disaster she caused during her Crystalling — she started a flurry after breaking the Crystal Heart.
    • Diamond Tiara's mother Spoiled Rich is, as her name sounds, a Rich Bitch who abuses her daughter and wants her to live up to the family name. She was originally named "Spoiled Milk" prior to marrying her father Filthy Rich, who is indeed rich to his name but also much friendlier than Spoiled.
  • Mr. Bogus gives us Bogus's Bratty Half-Pint younger cousin Brattus. Try to guess where he gets his name from.
  • The little town of Pottsfield from Over the Garden Wall is a reference to the term "potter's field", a colloquialism for the the burial place of the unknown or indigent. This hints at the town's secret: everyone in Pottsfield is an animate skeleton.
  • Betrayus from Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures attempted to stage a coup against the current rule of Pacworld (ergo, he betrayed Pacworld) before his banishment.
  • PB&J Otter:
  • Phineas and Ferb has Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, whose last name is a combination of the German words for "stupid" and "pain". Rather fitting for a Ditzy Genius and Butt-Monkey.
  • The eponymous main character of PJ Sparkles. A self-chosen last name, inspired by the sparkles she acquired when she became a Magical Girl.
  • The 1980's Pound Puppies cartoon has some examples.
    • The main villain was a woman with a nasty and heartless attitude named Katrina Stoneheart. She also has a daughter named Brattina, who is definitely bratty.
    • Howler, who has a habit of howling constantly.
    • Whopper, who has a tendency to tell tall tales.
    • The Pound Puppies' leader Cooler, who has a very fly attitude.
  • The Powerpuff Girls (1998) has a number of these.
    • The one-shot villain Abracadaver (a portmanteau of "Abracadabra" and "cadaver"), a zombie wizard whose name in life was Al Lusion (illusion).
    • Nerdy, paste-eating kid Elmer Sglue, who gets turned into a paste monster in one episode.
    • The shy and imaginative Shrinking Violet Mike Believe (make believe).
    • Sara Bellum (cerebellum), who does all of the real thinking involved with running Townsville (the Mayor is somewhat dim-witted.)
    • Sedusa, a combination of "seduce" and "Medusa", which perfectly describes her two superpowers.
    • To some degree, Professor Utonium ("Professor" can shorten to "Pr.", and befitting the Animesque style, this reads "Pr. Utonium"—which is how "plutonium" would be rendered, more or less, and the first two syllables also evoke the word "utopia", a perfect place, befitting his goal of creating the "perfect little girls".)
    • Lou Gubrious, another one-shot, who created a device that makes people sad. Formerly, when he was happier, he was called Hal Larious.
    • Blossom and Bubbles themselves were given meaningful names in the movie: Blossom because of her directness and opening right up to the Professor, and Bubbles because she's cute and bubbly. Poor Buttercup.
    • Buttercup can also qualify. Buttercup flowers are known for being poisonous to bugs, and Buttercup herself is quite aggressive.
  • The Problem Solverz has Roba, who is a half-robot Half-Human Hybrid.
  • The Proud Family: The Gross sisters. They have gross appearances (their skin is so ashy that they look blue) and gross personalities (they're bullies who like to steal people's money.)
  • Ready Jet Go!:
    • Jet Propulsion is named after the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which helps out with the show. "Propulsion" also refers to the type of force used to make something move.
    • Sydney's last name is Skelley. "Skelley" means "storyteller" in Gaelic, which fits her because Sydney loves telling stories.
    • "Berg" is a topographical name for someone who lived on a hill or mountain. This fits Dr. Bergs because his ancestor, Lone Star, built Boxwood Terrace's first observatory on a hill.
  • The parents on Rugrats was always taking advice from a doctor named "Lipschitz," whose advice was nearly always, well... just that.
  • Shaggy on Scooby-Doo is so named for his unkempt hair and his beard (real name Norville Rogers). Scrappy-Doo may also count.
  • The Simpsons
    • Matt Groening named the title characters after his own family; his parents are called Homer and Margaret, and two of his sisters are Lisa and Maggie. He drew the line at calling the boy "Matt", feeling that this would make the gag too obvious; instead he chose "Bart" because this is an anagram of "brat". He asked his animation team to come up with Grampa's name, and by sheer coincidence, they chose "Abraham", the name of one of Groening's own grandfathers.
    • Judge Constance Harm. "Constance" means "unchanging", and "harm" is... well...
    • Larry Kidkill, who displays Apu's children at his zoo.
    • Career criminal, Snake Jailbird.
    • The FOX [network] censor from Treehouse of Horror VIII, literally named Fox Censor.
    • Arthur Fortune, the hip billionaire.
    • The "crusty old" Dean Bitterman.
    • Ned Flanders' family: the names of his wife (Maude) and sons (Rod and Todd) all rhyme with God.
  • A short-lived Saturday morning cartoon called Skeleton Warriors, with a character named "Baron Dark".
    • Also: Prince Lightstar (light/beam powers), his sister Talyn (flight), and their brother Grimskull (looks like a zombie; can travel through shadows). Their uncle is Guardian.
  • The Smurfs. Lampshaded in the song "Just Like Their Names" from The Smurfs and the Magic Flute. Also from the same movie, Matthew McCreep and Lady Prattle.
    • Some of the one-shot villains in the cartoon show, like Maestro, Dr. Charlatan, Ghostwriter.
  • In South Park:
    • Ms. Choksondik dies in an...interesting way.
    • Token Black combines Meaningful Name with Lampshade Hanging.
    • Butters' alter-ego Marjorine, which is a play on the word "margarine," a butter substitute.
      • And Mantequilla, which is Spanish for butter.
    • In "City Sushi", Butters attends therapy sessions with a psychiatrist named Janus, named for the two-faced Roman god of transitions. It's also worth mentioning that Janus suffers from dissociative identity disorder.
    • In one episode, a herbal medicine shop run by a woman called "Ms. Information" opens. She proceeds to convince the entire town that her products are much better than any kind of medical science, nearly getting Kyle killed by kidney failure.
  • Spongebob Squarepants. He's a sponge, he wears square pants.
    • In fact, there are a lot of characters in the show with names that are indicative of what they are, like Squidward, Mr. Krabs, Plankton...
    • The giant hand of a sailor that appears in the theme song and in some episodes is named Hans. He also has a German accent.
  • Commander Bem, an alien from the planet Pandro in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "Bem". Bem is a science fiction acronym for "Bug-Eyed Monster".
  • Star Wars: The Clone Wars
    • Separatist general Whorm Loathsom. Ouch. Although, this is actually subverted — he's actually one of the most honorable Separatists we see on screen, and isn't actually as despicable as his name would suggest.
    • Clone troopers:
      • Hevy likes to use heavy weaponry and has a very direct personality.
      • Cutup is an unrepentant Deadpan Snarker, and actually takes his name as an Appropriated Appellation after a drill sergeant calls him that during an argument.
      • Echo had a tendency to unnecessarily repeat orders.
      • Droidbait is the most Red Shirt member of Domino Squad, always being the first to get shot during training exercises, and he's the first one to actually die.
      • Dogma from the Umbara arc is absolutely obsessed with following the military chain of command, even to his detriment.
      • Sinker is extremely cynical, even by clone standards - throughout his debut episode, he makes no effort to conceal his doubts about the fact that nobody would go to the effort to rescue a few surviving clones and their Jedi General, due to believing that as a clone, he's meant to expendable (though Plo Koon makes it clear he feels otherwise).
    • Savage Opress. Go on, guess what side he's on. (However, he actually wasn't so bad before he was chosen as Dooku's new warrior and the Nightsisters messed with his head. His brother Feral also shows no sign of overt evilness, though in both cases, you gotta assume nobody connected with the Nightsisters is a saint.)
  • Star Wars Rebels:
    • On the protagonist's side we have Ezra Bridger. Considering that the series was designed as a way of connecting (i.e. bridging) the Prequel and Original Trilogies, it fits like a glove.
    • Recurring antagonist ISB Agent Kallus, who's generally a rather callous individual. However, it winds up subverted in "The Honourable Ones", where it turns out he's not as bad as he'd seemed before. In fact, the events of the episode wind up triggering a full-blown Heel–Face Turn for him.
  • Pretty much every Gem's name (they're named after their gemstone) in Steven Universe has a meaning in gemstone mythology that corresponds to their personality and role in the plot.
    • Rose quartz gemstones are associated with love and health, and it's said that giving rose quartz to a baby will aid in that baby's transition from spiritual to physical existence. Rose Quartz was Steven's mother (who suffered Death by Childbirth), had healing powers, and was an All-Loving Hero.
    • Garnets are associated with protection from evil. Garnet the character protects Steven from a lot of things. Garnets are also associated with gifts between lovers and can heal broken bonds between them, and Garnet herself is a fusion between two lovers, Sapphire and Ruby.
    • Amethysts are often associated with Dionysus, the god of wine and partying. Amethyst the character is a hedonistic and fun-loving Wild Child (She is also purple, like some wines).
    • Pearls are associated with (among other things) beauty, modesty, purity, and happiness, as well as being a symbol of motherhood. The character Pearl is a Parental Substitute to Steven, is very pretty and is quite neurotic and picky. Pearls in general are considered a symbol of wealth, and Pearls on Homeworld are slaves and status symbols.
    • Rubies are gems of protection and associated with fire and the sun. Rubies in Homeworld's Fantastic Caste System are soldiers and bodyguards, and have fire powers. Rubies also encourage closeness and commitment in a relationship, like the kind of closeness and commitment needed for the Crystal Gem Ruby and Sapphire to stay fused as Garnet indefinitely.
    • Sapphires help calm and focus the mind, and increase the power of the Third Eye. The Crystal Gem Sapphire is The Stoic and a Seer. They're also love stones signifying attachment and fidelity, which are also things that she and Ruby would need to stay fused indefinitely.
    • Lapis Lazulis are associated with gods, power, spirit, vision, honor, wisdom, and truth, and help overcome abuse issues and traumatic experiences. The character Lapis Lazuli has almost godlike magical power on Earth, a lot of Heroic Willpower, and has a lot of traumatic experiences to overcome. Lapis Lazuli is also associated with the heavens, and when introduced her motive was to return to Homeworld.
    • It was once belived that dreaming about Peridot meant coming danger. Seeing the character Peridot also signaled danger, as it meant that Homeworld was interested in Earth again. Peridot is also common on Mars (and is sometimes found in meteorites), appropriate for such an alien character with a Little Green Men motif. Peridot is chemically unstable on Earth, and Peridot suffers some Sanity Slippage when trapped on Earth. It's associated with good luck, peace, and success, which was mostly ironic until Peridot joined the Crystal Gems, and it was a modification that she insisted on including that kept the 'Stop the Cluster' mission from failing. Finally, peridotite is magnetic, and Peridot has Extra-ore-dinary powers.
    • While most jasper gemstone symbolism contrasts the character Jasper, jaspers are associated with Mars, which is fitting for such a warlike character. Jasper is non-crystalline quartz, which is part of her Shadow Archetype nature to Rose Quartz (rose quartz the stone is crystalline quartz).
    • The Diamonds mostly contrast with diamond gemstone mythos, but one aspect of real life diamonds pretty much defines them- Diamonds are incredibly hard but also incredibly brittle. Both Diamond Gems seen so far have been The Stoic until something happens to anger them, at which point they are quickly infuriated and prone to Disproportionate Retribution.
    • Bismuth the character has a stair-step style gem. Bismuths that look like that are generally artificially crafted, like how Bismuths in Homeworld are builders and architects. Bismuth is not very thermally conductive, and Bismuth herself isn't bothered by heat. Bismuth was once thought to be the last stable element, but it is actually weakly radioactive. At first the Crystal Gems thought that Bismuth was stable, but she turned out to be not quite sane.
      • For non-character names, 'Kindergartens' are where gems grow new gems. Kindergarten means 'child garden' in German. The Breaking Point weapon, which can One Hit Shatter any gem, was also the breaking point after which Rose bubbled Bismuth away as being too ruthless, and Steven's rejection of using the weapon was the breaking point for Bismuth, and she attacked him afterwards.
    • And then there's Steven Universe;
      • He's half Gem— an alien race that travels through the universe, conquering planets.
      • "Steven" is Greek for "that which surrounds or encompasses" — a magnetic personality, acts as an emotional support for many, and he brings out the softer side of characters with hard defensive shells.
      • A more figurative meaning of Greek translation is "crowned". As the reincarnation of Pink Diamond, Steven is Homeworld's equivalent to royalty.
      • "Steven" is also a variation of "Stephen", the name of a Christian martyr who was stoned to death for denouncing the Jewish authorities. Like his namesake, Steven tries to go above and beyond to help others, often to his physical and mental detriment.
  • Every character in Stoppit and Tidyup has a name that represents their personality. These double as punny names and Theme Naming since they're taken from common commands parents give their children. For example, Go And Play likes to play with his toys, while Hurry Up is very fast.
  • Super Friends 1973/74 episodes.
    • "The Balloon People". The villain Dr. Noah Tall (Know-It-All) desires knowledge in order to gain power, so he wants to "know it all". His not-too-bright assistant Twisty regularly uses Spoonerisms, indicating his "twisty" mind. The chief of the U.S. Government's Environment Protection Bureau is named Simon Pure.
    • The villain Dr. Shamon. He has a giant magnet in the shape of the letter U, and the episode is titled "The Shamon U" ("shame on you").
    • "The Androids". Dr. Rebos' assistant is named "Loco", and he acts in a stupid and (borderline) crazy manner.
    • "The Fantastic Frerps". The villain King Plasto is obsessed with using plastic. He has two assistants named Styro ("styrofoam") and Polly Ethyl Lene ("polyethylene").
    • "The Mysterious Moles". The villains have a Giant Underground Drill that they use to dig down to the bottom of a cave. Their names? Minnie and Maximus Mole.
    • "Gulliver's Gigantic Goof". A scientist named Gulliver is determined to shrink the entire world population down to a tiny size.
    • "Too Hot To Handle". Professor von Knowalot (know a lot). Kobar's home planet is normally quite hot (140 degrees Fahrenheit), and is called Solar Terrarium.
    • "The Water People". An undersea researcher with his own submarine is named "Professor Matey" (as in "Ahoy, matey!").
  • Super Why!: The lead superhero's real name? It's Whyatt Beanstalk! Whyatt representing his curiosity, and Beanstalk for being younger brother to Jack.
  • Sushi Pack is rife with these. All the members of the Sushi Pack and the Legion of Low Tide are named after the type of sushi they are. Recurring villains Titanium Chef (a sushi chef), Sir Darkly (sadness and gloom personified), and The Collector also count, and one-shots A. Scientist and The Prevaricator (who can only tell lies).
  • The cast of SWAT Kats. They're all cats, and most are named after cat species.
  • In Sym-Bionic Titan, Lance's title is "Corporal Lance", a reference to the military rank. The armor of the lead trio are named Corus, Manus, and Octus, which refers to heart, hands, and eyes; similar to the "Heart, body and mind" ideal on Galaluna that ends up making up their Sym-Bionic Titan form. When Octus takes a human form, he takes the street name "Newton," a reference to Sir Isaac Newton. Solomon, the leader of G3, at one point uses the alias Kane which would make his name Solomon Kane.

    T-Z 
  • Team Umizoomi gives us Milli (a Latin prefix for "thousand" or short for "million", explaining her measuring abilities. Also may be based of the word "chameleon" due to her pattern power), Geo (a greek prefix for "earth", but mostly his powers relate to Geometry), and Bot who is, well, a robot!
  • A Thousand and One... Americas:
    • In the first episode, Chris meets a muscular man called Sayarrumi, whose name means "river stone" in Quechuan. When Chris is told about the name's meaning, he tells his pet dog Lon that the name fits him well, since he looks as strong as a stone.
    • In the fifth episode, Chris meets a girl from a village next to the pyramid of Teotihuacan called Papalotl, whose name translates into butterfly. She frequently receives a lot of butterflies as gift, and also has brooches shaped like them.
    • In the sixth episode, Chris, Lon and a Mayan priest they met prior rescue a kid who was about to be eaten by a snake. The kid's name is Oscan, which means "three snakes". The kid is dedicated to hunt snakes, as he needs to capture at least three to proceed with his coming of age; the priest actually figures out what the kid does when he first heard his name (though Chris doesn't notice the connection, hence the ensuing explanation on the kid's part).
    • In the seventh episode, Chris meets a short-tempered Mayan who takes issue over him being present in a sacred temple, despite being accompained by a priest who let him in under his supervision. When the angry man is gone, the priest describes him as someone who does justice to his name, which is Balam (it means "jaguar" in Mayan, so the priest is likening the blunt attitude of the man to that animal's fierceness). This also provides an early hint that Balam plotted the theft of a sacred mask to cause a wrathful war towards neighboring nations.
    • In the ninth episode, Chris meets a girl from the Valdivia tribe called Ninfu, who tells him that she's named like that because she's covered in ashes when she's carrying the jars from, or to, the bonfire. Chris likens her name to that of Cinderella, whose name means "little ashes".
    • In the twentieth episode, Chris meets a kind man in the island of La Tolita named Undapawa. The name means Grandfather, referencing his status as the oldest and most experienced goldsmith in the isle.
  • Totally Spies! excels at the ridiculous on-the-nose villain names, although it's not clear whether the names are cool (?) aliases or actual names for characters who are destined to be those specific kinds of villains (or a few non-villain characters, too). Notable examples include: Tim Scam, a recurring devious villain who used the anagram of his name, Mac Smit, as an alias; Brain, a villain with a literally huge head; Cyril Hearsay, the founder of a celebrity gossip magazine; Diminutive Smalls, a former WOOHP scientist who's obsessed with the micro and accidentally shrunk himself; Jason Hightower, a kid with daddy issues who recruited other kids with a hypnotic radio tower; Yin-Yang, a Chinese feng shui master; Marco Lumiere, a delusional filmmaker fancying the glamor of cinema; Max Exterminus, a former insect exterminator who turned himself into a human-insect hybrid; Mall Rat, a weirdo with rat-like face and outfit who raids malls; Féline Dion, a woman who wants to turn the whole world into cats; Kim Starsmashian, a celebrity who met her future husband on the moon. As a side note, even the name of the cruise ship in episode "Deja Cruise" is "WOOHPtanic", and you can definitely guess what's gonna happen to it.
  • Transformers are almost always named this way, either by their abilities, their alternate form or something to do with their personality. Often, if a transformer undergoes a major change in their body (such as a new alternate form), they'll even change their names to match it. A Transformer gets a codename (generally of the Descriptive type) as a real name. Even many humans in the series are named this way.
  • Turbo FAST has Hayaku, an antagonistic cricket with Super-Speed. Her name is a Japanese word for "fast".
  • Tutenstein gives us Cleopatra "Cleo" Carter, Egypt enthusiast and Secret-Keeper of a resurrected pharaoh. Her first name is obvious, while "Carter" alludes to Howard Carter, the archaeologist who found the real-life Tutankhamun's tomb.
  • Ugly Americans has Mark Lilly, an innocent, idealistic social worker, Callie Maggotbone, a female demon, and Leonard Powers, a wizard.
  • Voltron: Legendary Defender has the lovely Princess Allura. Various histories of the name claim a French origin (to entice, to allure), a Middle English interpretation meaning "Divine Counselor", and an audible similarity with the word allure. She's been one of the key characters since the original 1980's show.
  • Dick Dastardly, Muttley, and any character from Wacky Races.
  • Wakfu:
    • Tristepin's name translates to "sad pine-tree". His hairstyle makes him look kinda like a pine, he pines after Evangelyne, and many tears are shed when he dies protecting his friends.
    • Nox's name means "night" in Latin, fitting his time theme coupled with his morbid and tragic nature. His name is also similar to "noxa", which means damage towards organisms, fitting how he sucks all significant life he encounters dry of wakfu for his plan and leaves death and desolation in his wake.
    • Remington Smisse, named after the Remington and Smith & Wesson firearm brands, has lots and lots of signature firearms.
    • Black Bump is a Barrier Warrior who refers to his shields as bumpers and wears black.
    • Ruel's ex-wife Arpagone's name is based on Harpagon from The Miser, and she used to be pretty passionate about money herself back in the day.
  • In Wanda and the Alien, Slowcoach, one of Wanda's brothers, does almost everything rather slowly.
  • Wander over Yonder:
    • The titular Wander likes to travel. He also has a tendency to "wander off" from Sylvia when distracted. In "The Waste of Time", he reveals he got his name from Sylvia calling him a "wandering weirdo" when they first met.
    • The Big Bad Lord Hater is a hater of Wander, and is even powered by his hatred.
    • The second Big Bad Lord Dominator completely dominates the galaxy.
    • Peepers and the Watchdogs are named after optic definitions.
    • The Black Cube of Darkness is, well, a Black Cube of Darkness
  • Principal Madman from Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? is every bit as deranged and tyrannical as his surname would lead you to believe.
  • In Winx Club, with the exception of Bloom, all the girls' names reflect their power source. Flora is named after the Roman goddess of flowers and has power over plants, Stella (star) draws her powers from the sun and moon, Musa is reminiscent of musica (music), and Tecna is derived from tecnologia (technology). The Trix disguise this a bit with English-derived names: Icy (power over ice), Stormy (weather), and Darcy (darkness). As for Bloom, she gets her name from the term for flowers when their petals open, showing she's a "late bloomer" because she thought she was an ordinary girl and is "blooming" into her true self.
  • In W.I.T.C.H., Will's given name is Wilma, though it was originally Wilhelmina in the comics. The name from which it is derived, Wilhelm, is formed from two words: wil (will or desire) and helm (helmet or protection)—thus, it could be construed to mean desire/will to protect, very fitting for a Guardian of the Veil. There's also the obvious significance in that the first letter of each of the girls' names spells out witch.
    • Caleb's name could also be significant. There is a character in the Bible named Caleb who was sent by Moses into Israel as a spy. He was also one of only two of said spies to live to see the Promised Land. The name itself means dog, which could also speak to Caleb's loyalty.
    • There's also the royal siblings of Meridian. Phobos' name comes from the Greek god of fear, Phobos, while Elyon is an epithet for God in Hebrew. Phobos inflicts fear on the people around him, especially his subjects. Elyon meanwhile is one of the most powerful characters on the show, and is referred to as "all-powerful" by a villain at one point.
  • WordGirl has a great vocabulary. The Butcher not only has meat-related superpowers, but also butchers the English language. And Lady Redundant Woman's name contains redundancy in containing "Lady" and "Woman".
  • Work It Out Wombats!: One of the fish babies is named Finn, whose name refers to the fins of a fish.
  • Xiaolin Showdown has a lot of fun with this.
  • Yogi's Gang:
    • Each villain of the week has a name that represents their respective character flaw. Some of them come up with fake names to trick the heroes.
    • Mr. Cheerful and the Sheik of Sharing are non-villainous examples.
    • Smog City is the Polluted Wasteland its name suggests it to be. Two of the city's streets are named "Dingy" and "Dirty".
  • In one episode of Yogi's Treasure Hunt, Dastardly announces his full name as Richard Milhous Dastardly, further cementing him as a "Tricky Dick".
  • Young Justice: Invasion introduced a trio of teen analogues of the Captain Ethnic members of the Super Friends, each of whom has a real name that's a nod to their Code Name from the original show:
    • Tye Longshadow, a play on Long Shadow, Apache Chief's Captain Ersatz from Justice League Unlimited.
    • Asami "Sam" Koizumi, a play on Samurai.
    • Eduardo "Ed" Dorado Jr., a play on El Dorado.
    • For that matter: If you know Greek mythology, you shouldn't be surprised that the girl named Artemis grows up to excel at archery.


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