History Main / DeadGuyJunior

*** Final episode: Paris and Torres' last-minute baby, Miral, hence: BabiesEverAfter, after B'Elanna's dead mom.
*** And the (holographic) Doctor's last-minute name, Joe, in an aborted future timeline, which was the name of his new wife's grandfather.

** In the comics, Phoebe's daughter P.J. ("Prudence Johanna") is named after Prue, [[LateArrivalSpoiler her dead older sister]] (who also happened to have been named after a long-dead ancestor). Before that, on the show, Wyatt would have been "Prudence Melinda" had he been a girl. (When Piper finally does have a daughter, she's just Melinda.)

* In ''Film/TheFateOfTheFurious'', Dom finds out that he fathered a son with his ex Elena Neves, which she kept a secret. His middle name Marcos honors Elena's first husband, who died during a line of duty, while she wanted Dom to choose his first name. Dom naming him Brian is meta example, as while Brian O'Connor is alive in-universe, Brian O'Conner's actor Creator/PaulWalker died during the production of ''Film/FuriousSeven''.

* Ryan tries this in ''Series/{{Castle}}'' when he thinks he and Esposito are going to die trapped in a building while his wife is in labor. He tells his wife to name their baby "Javier" if it's a boy, after his best friend. Esposito immediately counters with "You're going to name a white Irish kid 'Javier'?"

* ''Literature: JustRevenge'': Sarah Chava Menuchen named her son Max, after her brother who she thought was dead.

** Meta example: The character of Fry himself is one as he's named after Creator/PhilHartman, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen whom the creators wanted to voice]] [[CasanovaWannabe Zapp Brannigan]].

* In ''LetsPlay/SkyblockButEvery30SecondsARandomItemSpawns'', after Milo the fish dies, Wilbur names his second fish "New Milo".

* ''LetsPlay/WitchCraftSMP'': PlayedForDrama. Prismarina is named after her [[spoiler:older sister]] of the same name, who died before she was born. [[spoiler:She's explicitly intended to be a ReplacementGoldfish in the eyes of their parents.]]

* In ''Film/TheFateOfTheFurious'', Dom finds out that he fathered a son with his ex Elena Neves, which she kept a secret. His middle name Marcos honors Elena's first husband, who died during a line of duty, while she wanted Dom to choose his first name. Dom naming him Brian is meta example, as while Brian O'Connor is alive in-universe, Brian O'Conner's actor Paul Walker died during the production of ''Film/FuriousSeven''.

* Played with in the original ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'', as near the end of the film, Marty's parents (in 1955) are shown considering that Marty is a nice name. The implication is that they decide to name one of their children after their disappeared friend who helped them get together - who was their son time-traveling from the future. In ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'', Marty learns he had a great-great-grand-uncle named Martin [=McFly=].

** "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E4TheLuckOfTheFryrish The Luck of the Fryrish]]" provides the first really big TearJerker of the series, and the current page image. Fry learns that, while he was a HumanPopsicle, his brother Yancy, who had always stolen everything from him, had not only stolen his lucky seven-leaf clover, but his ''identity''. Going under the name "Philip J. Fry", he used the luck provided by the clover to accomplish many great things and be hailed as a hero before being buried with it under a huge memorial statue. Enraged, Fry intends to rob his brother's grave to get his clover back... only when he removes the moss covering up the second half of the epitaph, he learns that the Philip J. Fry in the statue isn't Yancy at all. He's Yancy's son. After Fry's disappearance, Yancy underwent a HeelRealization and came to deeply regret how badly he had mistreated him over the years. He didn't steal the clover for selfish reasons, he did it to have as a TragicKeepsake. When his son was born, he named him after Fry and passed the clover down to him to honor his brother's memory. Fry then decides not to rob his nephew's grave, feeling that the clover had gone to someone deserving after all.

* Towards the end of ''Film/ThePatriot'', Colonel Burwell's newborn son is named after Benjamin Martin's deceased son, Gabriel.

** The first really big TearJerker of the series, and the current page image. Fry learns that, while he was a HumanPopsicle, his brother Yancy, who had always stolen everything from him, had not only stolen his lucky seven-leaf clover, but his ''identity''. Going under the name "Philip J. Fry", he used the luck provided by the clover to accomplish many great things and be hailed as a hero before being buried with it under a huge memorial statue. Enraged, Fry intends to rob his brother's grave to get his clover back. Only, when he removes the moss covering up the second half of the epitaph, he learns that the Philip J. Fry in the statue isn't Yancy at all. He's Yancy's son. After Fry's disappearance, Yancy underwent a HeelRealization and came to deeply regret how badly he had mistreated him over the years. He didn't steal the clover for selfish reasons, he did it to have as a TragicKeepsake. When his son was born, he named him after Fry and passed the clover down to him to honor his brother's memory. Fry then decides not to rob his nephew's grave, feeling that the clover had gone to someone deserving after all.

* In ''Literature/TheStand'', Frannie names her baby Peter after her father, who died during the plague. In [[Series/TheStand the 1994 miniseries]], it's a girl and she names her Abagail, after Mother Abagail.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* One example is UsefulNotes/DanQuayle, whose full name is James Danforth Quayle -- Danforth was the last name of a friend of Quayle's father. Said friend died in battle during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and Dan was named in honor of him.
* Ever wondered why there have been so many kings named Louis in France and George or Edward in Great Britain? (among others...)
** Henry is also popular for English/British monarchs. For the record, the most recent kings with these names were Henry VIII, Edward VIII, and George VI. There were also two Edwards and one Henry that apparently don't count in the numbering (Edward the Martyr, Edward the Confessor, and Henry the Young King). There have also been two Edmunds and two Edgars, making "Ed" the clear favorite.
*** Then there is Edward the Elder, the first of the name (ruled 899-924). (The Kings of Wessex, although ruling a smaller area, are the direct predecessors of the Kings of England.) He was also the cognatic ancestor of all future King Edwards.
*** The unnumbered Eds were all Saxon kings before William I "The Conqueror". The pre-Norman Kings of England are never numbered. Henry the Young King isn't numbered because he was never truly king, being crowned as an associate king to his father, Henry II, but dying before him (he's known as "The Young King" because he wasn't even 30 when he died).
*** George VI was actually named Albert Frederick Arthur George and was ''called'' (by the family) Bertie. He deliberately chose George as his regnal name to emphasize continuity with the reign of his father George V. He was named after his great-grandfather, though, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, best known as the dead husband of Queen Victoria. George VI was actually born on the anniversary of Prince Albert's death, and his birth is what finally brought Victoria out of mourning, making him a double version, with a dash of ReplacementGoldfish to boot.
*** Queen Victoria actually insisted to all nine of her children that ''every grandchild'' had to have either Albert (for boys) or Victoria (for girls) as one of their middle names. Since the majority of her grandchildren were born after the death of her husband, all of them who had a middle name of Albert fit this trope.
** A more extreme example is Denmark, which for over five centuries alternated Fredericks and Christians, each named after their grandfathers. Five centuries and counting. They keep naming them that.
** In The Netherlands, all kings and most Stadtholders were named Willem until the current king, who averts this slightly by being Willem-Alexander instead of Willem IV. The first king (Willem I) was Willem VI before being crowned. There even was a Wilhelmina somewhere down the line, and technically a French guy named Louis.
** Taken to its logical extreme by the German princes of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuß Reuß]]. Since about 1200 every male member of the family has been named ''Heinrich''.
** How about Hellenistic Egypt, where almost every royal boy was named Ptolemy and every girl was Cleopatra? The [[UsefulNotes/CleopatraVII most famous Cleopatra]] had a mother, sister, and daughter who shared her name, and her father, two brothers, and two sons had the name Ptolemy. Her third son was named Alexander, after Alexander the Great.
** The Ptolemy princesses who were not named Cleopatra were all named either Berenice or Arsinoe.
* The Romans were wonderfully uncreative in naming their children. Upper-class Roman families had about 2 dozen first names to choose from. To give just one example, the famous Julius Caesar's ''praenomen'' (given name, more or less) was Gaius, which he shared with his father and grandfather. And an adopted great-great-grandson better known as [[TheCaligula Caligula]]. This feature can make Roman history just a little confusing.
** There's also the interesting little quirk about female naming in Roman society. A daughter's praenomen was the feminine of her father's last name. If the father was named Cornelius, for example, his firstborn daughter would be named Cornelia. If he had a string of daughters they would also be named Cornelia but would receive a second qualifying praenomen of "Secunda" "the second." and so on. This got really complicated when several men named Cornelius all had daughters, so they all got nicknames, like Cornelia Africana, Julia Caesaris, or Caecilia Merula.
* This happens in a lot of families. More confusingly, it's not uncommon for children to be named after people who are alive and well, often resulting in six generations in a row of boys called John.
** This is something that can often drive genealogists to distraction. But, given our interest in family history, we often do it ourselves. Oops.
** Mix-and-match variations on the same first and middle names cut down on the confusion somewhat. However, having a Christopher, a Christian, a Kristina, and a Crystal (for example) who are all first cousins, all respond to "Chris", and are about the same age is confusing for everyone.
** Years ago when infant mortality was high, it was common for parents to name a child after that child's deceased brother or sister. If a girl named Anne died as a baby, then the next daughter born after her death would probably be called Anne. More oddly, some parents gave the same first name to all their sons or daughters, even if the older children were still alive. In the nineteenth century it wasn't unheard of for two or more sisters to all be called Margaret, and to go by nicknames or middle names to distinguish them. This can cause endless confusion when researching one's ancestors and discovering that one's great-great-great-great-grandparents had, for example, four sons named John...
* A significant number of male descendants of Joachim Murat (one of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte's generals and his brother-in-law) have also been named "Joachim" to honor him.
* A tragic case in the documentary ''Boy Interrupted'': The director's fifteen-year-old son Evan Scott Perry was DrivenToSuicide by mental illness. Evan was apparently named in honor of the director's brother Scott, who was also driven to suicide by mental illness about 10 years earlier. In a heart-wrenching scene, Evan is buried with his namesake uncle while the elderly mother of the director wonders why her ''son'' is dead.
* In some Italian families, family tradition indicates that the reason Italian families were so big was that they had to have at least two sons - one to be named for each of the parents' fathers. This meant that they had to have at least three sons to be able to introduce a new name.
** This is the case for Irish families as well, according to [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} That Other Wiki]] - "the first son is named after the father's father, the second son after the mother's father, the third son after the father, the first daughter after the mother's mother, the second daughter after the father's mother, the third daughter after the mother."
** Still very much true among large families in Ireland where it's not uncommon to have several grandchildren sharing their grandfathers' and grandmothers' names. In fact, due to most Irish names having both a masculine and feminine version this isn't limited by the children's gender. With families tending to be smaller nowadays it's also not uncommon for sons to simply gain their father's name.
*** This is often invoked with the Confirmation names taken by every Catholic child in Ireland when they are confirmed. Usually, you'll take the name of a saint, or somebody close to you who has died. However, because a lot of Irish people are named after saints, especially the older generation, it often ends up being both.
* US President Joe Biden’s granddaughter Naomi is named after his daughter Naomi (the namesake's aunt) who died in a car crash when she was a toddler, and his grandson Beau is named after Joe Biden's son Beau who died from cancer five years before the younger Beau was born.
* It's a common practice among Ashkenazi Jews to name babies after deceased relatives (while Sephardi Jews prefer living relatives). This honors the memory of the deceased, provides them a spiritual connection with the new child, and -- one hopes -- inspires the kid with the relatives' virtues. Historically, it was actually considered bad luck to name a baby after a still-living relative, ''especially'' an elderly one, under the belief that it might confuse the [[TheGrimReaper Angel of Death]] and get the child taken instead. Some also believe that it's unlucky to use the name of someone who died young (often defined as before sixty), though this is not universal.
** A possibly apocryphal story claims that this trope was used to hide a man long enough for him to escape from the Nazis. His infant son was called by his name, which was invoked to "prove" that the father had died.
* Poet Laureate of England, Alfred Lord Tennyson, named his son, as well as one of his most famous poems, after his departed friend, Arthur Henry Hallam.
* Pope John Paul II, who took that name after his predecessor (John Paul I) who died one month after being elected.
** And John Paul I took his name from his two predecessors, Paul VI and John XXIII.
** In general, UsefulNotes/ThePope is named in homage to a predecessor (Benedict XVI, given the 15th was Pontifex during World War I) or a saint (Francis, after the one of Assissi).
* Former Wisconsin Attorney General Bronson La Follette, the son of U.S. Senator Robert M. La Follette, Jr., was named after his father's friend and Senate colleague Bronson M. Cutting of New Mexico, who died in an airplane crash a few months before the birth.
* It's also a common tradition among old Southern families in America, especially give girls their female relatives' maiden names so the family names won't be lost.
** Seems to be a not uncommon tradition among old New Englander families in America to give boys their mothers' maiden names for a middle name, especially if their mothers had no brothers.
* Many, many pet owners do this, naming a new pet after one that has just died/become lost.
* Inuit society used to (and some possibly still do) do this; names were not gender-specific and it was believed the dead were reincarnated in the next birth, so the new baby was named after the last relative to have died.
* In many Central/Eastern European cultures that don't use patronymics (Polish, Hungarian, Romanian), it's common to name the firstborn, either after a dead grandparent or directly after the parent. So a firstborn son is likely to be named after his paternal grandfather or father, a firstborn daughter is named after her maternal grandmother or mother, second and later children though, usually have new names given.
* Music/LennyKravitz was named after his uncle, PFC Leonard Kravitz. Said uncle had a DyingMomentOfAwesome when he held off a Chinese ZergRush in the UsefulNotes/KoreanWar with a .30 Cal, allowing his company to withdraw safely. His Distinguished Service Cross upgraded to a Medal of Honor in 2014 after years of campaigning from a childhood friend.
* Surrealist painter Creator/SalvadorDali was named after his older brother, who died at the age of one and a half, nine months before he was born. Like everything, discovering this was a traumatic experience for young Salvador (Jr.).
* [[UsefulNotes/BillClinton William Jefferson Clinton]]'s biological father, William Jefferson Blythe Jr, wasn't alive to see his birth. UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson and UsefulNotes/RutherfordBHayes were also both named after their respective fathers, who likewise died before their births.
** Another president, UsefulNotes/JamesGarfield, was named after an older brother who died in infancy.
* Richard David James, better known as Music/AphexTwin, was named directly after his older brother who died immediately at birth three years before he was born. [[{{Main/Dedication}} This is what the name 'Aphex Twin' refers to.]]
* Averted in Asian countries (especially China), where intentionally naming your child after dead (or living) relatives is taboo, as Confucianism places a high importance in maintaining a strict familial hierarchy, naming a child after someone else in the family is seen as trying to falsely elevate or debase that child to a ranking that he or she does not belong. Intentionally naming your child after non-relatives is not tabooed by still considered to be in bad taste. People who want to honour someone generally have to mask their intent with poetic and indirect allusions. It's common (or used to be common) for members of the same family to [[AlliterativeFamily have names sharing the same syllable or Chinese character]] (e.g., a Japanese family with members named Tomoyuki, Tomohiro, and Tomoko, all sharing the character 智), but this is to honour the family tradition, not a specific individual.
* ''Kabuki'' actors who are members of great acting lineages exchange their stage names (usually associated with specific roles) for new ones or pass them down to their successors in ceremonies called ''shūmei''. For example, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichikawa_Danjuro_XII Ichikawa Danjuro XII]] (the heir to a name going back to the original Ichikawa Danjūrō, who died in 1704) was born in 1946 to Ichikawa Danjūrō XI as Natsuo Horikoshi, and was known as Ichikawa Shinnosuke VI and Ichikawa Ebizō X before taking his final last name at a ''shūmei'' in 1986.
* The youngest son of UsefulNotes/AlexanderHamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton is named after his eldest brother Philip, who died in a duel about a year before he was born.
* Creator/VinDiesel and his longtime partner Paloma Jimenez named their third child, a daughter, Pauline after Vin's ''Franchise/TheFastAndTheFurious'' co-star Creator/PaulWalker, who died in a car accident in 2013. Paul's younger brother Cody Walker also named his son born in 2023 after his uncle.
* Creator/MayaRudolph's youngest daughter with her longtime partner Creator/PaulThomasAnderson, Minnie, is named after Rudolph's mother, singer Minnie Riperton, who died from breast cancer in 1979. "Minnie" is also the middle name of the couple's oldest daughter Pearl.
* Creator/AngelinaJolie's youngest daughter with ex-husband Creator/BradPitt, Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt, is named after Jolie's mother, actress Marcheline Bertrand, who died from ovarian cancer in 2007.
* Creator/GwynethPaltrow's son with ex-husband [[Music/{{Coldplay}} Chris Martin]], Moses Bruce Anthony Martin, is named after Paltrow's father, director and producer Bruce Paltrow, who died from pneumonia and oral cancer in 2002.
* Creator/MacaulayCulkin and his longtime partner Creator/BrendaSong named their son after Culkin's older sister, art production assistant Dakota Culkin, who died in a car accident in 2008.
* Creator/SethMeyers' youngest daughter with his wife Alexi Ashe, Adelaide Ruth Meyers, is named after his late maternal grandmother.
* Creator/RobinWilliams' oldest son Zak named his firstborn son [=McLaurin=], which was Robin's middle name.
* Creator/ChristopherReeve's daughter Alexandra named her firstborn son Christopher.
* Three of Creator/RiverPhoenix's younger siblings have posthumously named some of their children after him:
** Liberty Phoenix named one of her sons Rio. "Rio" translates to "river" in Spanish.
** Summer Phoenix and ex-husband Creator/CaseyAffleck named their firstborn son Indiana. River portrayed a young Indiana Jones in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''.
** Creator/JoaquinPhoenix and Creator/RooneyMara named their firstborn son River.
* [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge]] named their daughter Charlotte Elizabeth Diana after his late mother. The same thing was done with her younger paternal cousin, Lilibet Diana.
* One of the known students of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canterbury_Female_Boarding_School Canterbury Female Boarding School]] was a young woman named Theodosia [=DeGrasse=]. Her father was close friends with Aaron Burr, whose daughter Theodosia died at sea a few years before Theodosia [=DeGrasse=]'s birth.
* Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart named his only son, Donnie, after one of Jimmy's brothers [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Swaggart#Family who died in infancy]].
* Loretta Lynn's daughter Patsy Lynn, also a country singer, is named after her mother's close friend and show business mentor Patsy Cline, who was killed in a plane crash a year before her namesake's birth.
* Latvian NHL hockey player Elvis Merzlikins named his son after a fallen teammate, fellow goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks. Kivlenieks died on July 4, 2021, [[HeroicSacrifice when he stood in front of an errant fireworks mortar and took it in the chest]], saving several teammates and family members, including Elvis's then-pregnant wife.
* Baker and Carlo's Bakery owner Buddy Valastro of ''Series/CakeBoss'' fame's oldest son Buddy Jr., who's technically Buddy III, is named after Buddy's late father and Carlo's owner Bartolo "Buddy" Valastro Sr. who died when Buddy (the Cake Boss) was 17 years old. Buddy's nephew Buddy C. and niece Bartolina also share their grandfather's namesake.
** Buddy's fourth child, born during the show's run, was named Carlo Salvadore. Carlo after the bakery's founder and namesake, and Salvadore after long time Carlo's employee and Valastro family friend who died from cancer just a few months prior.
[[/folder]]

* The cat owned by ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is named "Snowball II" after a similar cat who died after being hit by a car. One episode was actually about Snowball II dying as a result of her being hit by another car, and being replaced by Snowballs III and IV, who both died as well (the former drowned, while the latter fell out of a window). The episode ends with Lisa coming upon a black cat that looked ''exactly'' like Snowball II and names it Snowball V, but then changes her mind and decides to call the cat Snowball II "to save on a new cat dish." Principal Skinner witnesses the whole thing and comments that that's cheating, but after Lisa retorts, "I guess you're right, [[StatusQuoIsGod Principal Tamzarian]]" he quickly gives in.

* [[UsefulNotes/BillClinton William Jefferson Clinton]]'s biological father, William Jefferson Blythe Jr, wasn't alive to see his birth.

* Played with in the original ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', as near the end of the film, Marty's parents (in 1955) are shown considering that Marty is a nice name. The implication is that they decide to name one of their children after their disappeared friend who helped them get together - who was their son time-traveling from the future. In ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'', Marty learns he had a great-great-grand-uncle named Martin [=McFly=].

* ''Wonder Woman: Amazonia'': Diana Trevor names one of her children Etta after her dearest friend, who is mentioned to be deceased.