Averted, unsurprisingly, as this franchise has loads of characters.
First Names
- Alexander Pierce from Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Alex Wilder from Runaways.
- Anthony "Tony" Stark (aka Iron Man) and "Ant-tony" the ant from Ant-Man.
- Daredevil has the unseen Armand Tully, and Hawkeye has Armand Duquesne both the III and the VII.
- Arthur Hart, real name Todd Davis, from WandaVision, and Arthur Harrow from Moon Knight (2022).
- Ava Starr (aka Ghost) from Ant-Man and the Wasp and Ava from season 5 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
- Reporter Ben Urich from Daredevil, lawyer Ben Donovan from Daredevil and Luke Cage, and Benny Pollack from Item 47.
- Christine Everhart from Iron Man and Christine Palmer from Doctor Strange.
- Claire Temple from various netflix shows and Claire Wise from Item 47.
- Season one of Daredevil has a random bar patron named Clint Peterson, who shares his first name with both the pawn shop owner from season two and (more notably) Clint Barton.
- Colleen O'Brien from Agent Carter and Colleen Wing from Iron Fist.
- Dr. Curt Connors a.k.a. Lizard and Ant-Man's friend Kurt.
- Daniel Sousa from Agent Carter and Daniel Whitehall from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- David Lieberman and David Schultz from The Punisher, Ant-Man's friend Dave, and White Power Dave from All Hail the King.
- Donna, Steven Grant's boss in Moon Knight, and Stephen Strange's sister Donna, who died in an accident when the two were playing on a frozen lake as children, mentioned by him in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
- Dottie Underwood in Agent Carter and Dottie Jones from WandaVision. (Neither of these are their real names.)
- Edith Oberon, an old flame of Howard Stark's from Agent Carter, Clint Barton's mother Edith first mentioned in Avengers: Endgame, and E.D.I.T.H., Tony Stark's final AI from Spider-Man: Far From Home.
- Three Elizabeths, two of whom use the nickname "Betty": Elizabeth "Betty" Ross is Bruce Banner's love interest in The Incredible Hulk, Elizabeth "Liz" Allan is Peter Parker's crush in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Elizabeth "Betty" Brant is another Midtown High student who appears in both Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Coincidentally, the latter two Elizabeths are close friends in Homecoming.
- Erik Selvig from Thor, Eric Savin from Iron Man 3, Eric Koening from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Erik "Killmonger" Stevens from Black Panther, and Erik Gelden Jessica Jones.
- Flint, the terrakinetic Inhuman from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Flint Marko a.k.a. Sandman.
- Frank Castle a.k.a The Punisher and Frank the Honest Corporate Executive from Ant-Man.
- Helen Cho from Avengers: Age of Ultron and Helen the Black Widow from both Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Another Black Widow, Yelena Belova, has a name that is a Russianequivalent to "Helen", while similar-sounding Elena Rodriguez from Agents Of Shield has the Spanish equivalent.
- Hope Van Dyne from Ant Man, Hope Schlottman from Jessica Jones and Hope Mackenzie from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Howard Stark, Tony's father, and Howard the Duck from Guardians of the Galaxy.
- Isaiah from Jessica Jones, Isaiah Bradley (both of whom were super soldier test subjects), and Isaiah the Chronicom.
- Jack Thompson from Agent Carter, Jack "the Devil" Murdoch from Daredevil, and Jack Russel from Werewolf By Night. There are also two separate characters named Jackson Norris.
- Jake Lockley (Marc Spector’s alter) and Jake the goat demon.
- James seems to be a popular boy's name in the MCU:
- Captain America: The First Avenger: The Howling commandos, a seven man elite Army squad that included three characters named James (James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, James "Jim" Morita, James Montgomery "Monty" Falsworth), and a guy called Jacques, which is the French form of James. However, only one is ever referred to as James, and he usually goes by his nickname anyway. The others don't ever have their names mentioned, except in the credits.
- Bucky also shares a name with Iron Man's best friend James "Rhodey" Rhodes. It's a little amusing that neither of them is called "Jim", which is the usual nickname (and which Rhodes does answer to in the comics).
- There's also Kingpin's henchman James Wesley, who usually goes by his last name.
- Jim Paxton and FBI Agent Jimmy Woo (both of whom played the Hero Antagonist to Ant-Man).
- Jane Foster from Thor and Jane Scott from Agent Carter.
- Janet Van Dyne and Janet Stein.
- John Garrett from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and John Walker a.k.a. US Agent.
- Karen Page from Daredevil and Karen the AI from Spider-Man: Homecoming.
- Karl Mordo, one of the prominent sorcerers in Doctor Strange and Karl Malus, the scientist revealed to be responsible for giving Jessica Jones her powers in the second season of Jessica Jones and Carl Creel a.k.a. Absorbing Man, as well as an incidental Carl who was the male hostage in the season 1 finale of The Punisher. Also applies to Luke Cage as well, since his real name is Carl Lucas.
- Katy Chen from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Kate Bishop from Hawkeye. Furthermore, they're both archers.
- In The Punisher, Leo the construction worker/robber shares a first name with Micro's daughter Leo Lieberman, and they both share a nickname with Leopold "Leo" Fitz from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., though Fitz rarely goes by his first name.
- Luke Cage and Luke Jacobson, the eccentric super suit tailor from She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Likely doubles as a mixed name example since Luke Cage's real name is Carl Lucas (Luke is typically short for Lucas).
- Maria Stark, Tony's mother; Nick Fury's right-hand woman Maria Hill; Frank Castle's deceased wife Maria; and Maria Rambeau, an ace pilot and Carol Danvers's best friend. And at one point in her life, Daisy Johnson from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. answered to Mary (Though she had changed her name before the start of the series, and changed it again upon learning her birth name).
- Maya Hansen and Maya Lopez.
- Miriam Frye from Agent Carter and Miriam Sharpe from Captain America: Civil War.
- Mitchell Carson from Ant-Man and Mitchell Ellison from Daredevil.
- Morgan Le Fay and Morgan Stark (who was named after Pepper's uncle).
- Nakia from Black Panther and Nakia from Ms. Marvel (2022).
- Jessica Jones has two Oscars: Detective Oscar Clemons in season 1 and Jessica's neighbor Oscar Arocho in season 2. Daredevil season one also has a henchman of Fisk's named Oscar.
- Nico Minoru from Runaways and Flag-Smasher member Nico from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. It's a cross gender example too.
- Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man), Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord from the Guardians of the Galaxy), and Pietro Maximoff (aka Quicksilver) from Avengers: Age of Ultron, with "Pietro" being the Italian form of "Peter".
- Rick Stoner and Rick Mason.
- Ronan the Accuser is the Big Bad of Guardians of the Galaxy who makes a cameo in Captain Marvel; Clint Barton's new costumed identity in Avengers: Endgame is Ronin.note
- Sarah Lieberman from The Punisher and Sarah Proctor a.k.a. Dottie from WandaVision. Steve Rogers has a mother named Sarah, and Sam Wilson has a sister named Sarah.
- Sharon Carter, also known as Agent 13, and Sharon Davis, Mrs. Hart's real name from WandaVision.
- The MCU later breaks the literal One Steve Limit with Steven Rogers (aka Captain America) and Doctor Stephen Strange. However, there's still a distinction as Cap goes by "Steve" and Strange goes by "Stephen". Then there is also Steven Grant, one of Moon Knight's multiple personalities.
- Ulysses Klaue from Avengers: Age of Ultron and Black Panther, Ulysses S Gr-Ant from Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Ulysses Bloodstone from Werewolf By Night.
- Victor Stein and the unspecified Victor that scarred future Chase in Runaways. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D has Victor Ramon as well as Victoria Hand.
- William Rawlins and William "Billy" Russo, who make up the Big Bad Ensemble of the first season of The Punisher. Both of them also share a first name with William "Bill" Fisk from Daredevil, Will Simpson from Jessica Jones, Will Daniels from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Bill Foster from Ant-Man and the Wasp, Vision and Wanda's son Billy, and William Tauren aka Man-Bull.
Last Names
- Ellen Brandt in Iron Man 3, Senator Brandt from Captain America: The First Avenger, Andrew and Madeline Brandt in Jessica Jones, and Betty Brant from the Spider-Man movies.
- Several characters named Davis, two of whom, coincidentally, are Spider-Man-adjacent: Aaron Davis is a down-on-his-luck criminal in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Brad Davis is a classmate of Peter Parker's in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Neither one seems to have anything to do with Agent Davis, a supporting character on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Chad Davis, an Extemis subject from Iron Man 3, whose mother provided info to Tony Stark, nor Todd and Sharon Davis, the true identities of Mr. and Mrs. Hart from WandaVision.
- Jane Foster from Thor and Bill Foster from Ant-Man and the Wasp who both happen to be doctors.
- There are two minor characters both named "Kaminsky": Agent Kaminsky of HYDRA and a "Kaminsky, Henry" who was signing up for military service in Captain America: The First Avenger. There's no indication that they're related to each other at all, but if they are, some saddening possibilities emerge.
- Tilda Johnson took the last name of the family that raised her. There's no indication that this family is in any way connected to Cal and Daisy Johnson, though the way Mariah invoked Hurricane Katrina related imagery in her bail hearing raises the possibility of a connection to Tyrone Johnson and his family. Rosalind Price mentioned that the ATCU had an agent named Johnson.
- Jessica Jones, headliner of the series of the same name, Gabe Jones, one of the Howling Commandos, Michelle "MJ" Jones, Peter Parker's love interest in the Spider-Man films, and Phil and Dottie Jones, two Westview residents from WandaVision.
- Dinah Madani from The Punisher and Donya Madani from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
- Season one of Daredevil has a random bar patron named Clint Peterson, who shares his last name with Mike Peterson and his son Ace from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
- Ian Quinn from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Beth Quinn from The Punisher.
- In a Season One episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson runs into an old friend named Camilla Reyes. In Season Four, he deals with the Ghost Rider, Robbie Reyes.
- Vice President Rodriguez in Iron Man 3 and S.W.O.R.D Agent Rodriguez in WandaVision.
- Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, his daughter Elizabeth "Betty" Ross, both of whom debuted in The Incredible Hulk, and Everett K. Ross. Interestingly, not only do Thaddeus and Everett both appear in Captain America: Civil War, but they share the same views and goals (regulating the Avengers and other super-powered beings via the Sokovia Accords and hunting down any who don't comply).
- Anderson, Eliza, and their son David Schultz from The Punisher, and Bud Schultz from Agent Carter (who lived in a different time period, so it’s possible that they are related). There's also Herman Schultz a.k.a. the Shocker, a member of Vulture's gang in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
- Hank Thompson (real name Agent Cameron Klein) in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Jack Thompson in Agent Carter, Kevin Thompson (aka Kilgrave) in Jessica Jones and Eugene "Flash" Thompson in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
- John Walker in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Trish and Dorothy Walker in Jessica Jones and a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Walker who was killed by Agent 33.
- James Wesley from Daredevil who goes by Last-Name Basis note and Alex Wesley from Luke Cage who goes by First-Name Basis.note
Full Names
- Two separate minor-but-notable S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have both been given the name "Cameron Klein". One was in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as a Project TAHITI test subject, who was later renamed Hank Thompson; the other was in Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron as a Helicarrier technician.
- Tina Minoru is the name of a member of P.R.I.D.E. and a member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts.
- Captain America's full name is Steven Grant Rogers. Marc Spector's alternate personality is named Steven Grant. Marc named his alternate identity after an In-Universe fictional movie hero. It's entirely possible that the fictional Steven Grant was named in tribute to Captain America.
- Sandman is both the name of one of the Elementals created by Mysterio's illusions in Spider-Man: Far From Home, and of the villain Flint Marko (returning from Spider-Man 3) whose alias is Sandman in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
- Speaking of No Way Home, the presence of three different Peter Parkers (Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield) in this film got this trope a Lampshade Hanging. They eventually settled with calling Tom!Peter "Peter 1", Tobey!Peter "Peter 2", and Andrew!Peter "Peter 3" to avoid confusion.
Mixed Names
- Mitchell Carson and Carson Wolf from The Punisher.
- Dr. Jonah (the Magistrate's vessel) and J. Jonah Jameson.
- Darcy Lewis and Lewis Wilson from The Punisher.
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1 has a one-off character Agent Mack who works undercover as a trucker. Season 2 introduces a new member of Team Coulson named Alphonso Mackenzie, who also goes by Agent Mack, despite being referred to as Al in the comics.
- Melinda May from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Spider-Man's aunt May Parker.
- Jim Paxton from Ant-Man and Paxton Page, father of Karen Page.
- Reed Richards and Richard "Rick" Stoner (probably Rick Mason as well).
- Grant Ward from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Ward Meachum from Iron Fist.
Straight Examples
- Ant-Man: In the comics, Scott's ex-wife is named Peggy, but she's renamed "Maggie" for the film. Presumably, this was to avoid confusion with the major MCU character Peggy Carter, who also appears in Ant-Man. Simultaneously averted, as Peggy's real name is Margaret.
- Frank Simpson is renamed Will Simpson in Jessica Jones to avoid confusion with Frank Castle (who like Simpson is a morally dubious ex-soldier), a major character in Daredevil.
