History Main / LineOfSightAlias

* In the ''ComicBook/CinemaPurgatorio'' story "Modded", Fringe is asked her name while disguised among enemies. She frantically looks around the bar and comes up with "Lady Glasshat Dildobeast." There really was something that could only be called dildobeast present. In any case, Tommy Zero only gets suspicious when Bloody Susan acts familiar with Fringe but doesn't refer to her by name.
* In ''[[ComicBook/{{Fables}} Fairest]]'' #22, one of Cinderella's mouse footmen sneaks into the ball. When asked his name, his eye falls on a tray being carried by one of the servants and he introduces himself as "Champagne. Marcel Champagne".
* In ''All Star Western'' #34, ComicBook/JonahHex needs an alias when signing a hotel register. He sees a sack of George Brand Flour being wheeled past in a wheelbarrow, and signs the book 'George Barrow'.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeachersPet'': Spot comes up with his alias (Scott Leadready II) by first blurting out his real name (the teacher mistakes it as "Scott" instead of "Spot"), and then reading the teacher's pencil (A "Leadready No. 2" pencil).

* Two examples from the 2015 version of ''Series/TheOddCouple'':

* ''Film/{{The Nutty Professor (1963)}}'' The formerly nerdy, now-suave Professor Kelp wows a night club crowd by belting out an upbeat musical number. Put on the spot when asked his name, he says "Buddy" after a patron complimenting his singing calls him that. Asked for a last name, he comes up with "Love" from the lyrics of a song playing in the background: goodbye Julius Kelp, hello "Buddy Love."

* In ''Film / The Nutty Professor (1963)'' The formerly nerdy, now-suave Professor Kelp wows a night club crowd by belting out an upbeat musical number. Put on the spot when asked his name, he says "Buddy" after a patron complimenting his singing calls him "buddy." Asked for a last name, he comes up with "Love" from the lyrics of a song playing in the background: goodbye Julius Kelp, hello "Buddy Love."

In ''Film / The Nutty Professor (1963)'' The formerly nerdy, now-suave Professor Kelp wows a night club crowd by belting out an upbeat musical number. Put on the spot when asked his name, he says "Buddy" after a patron complimenting his singing greets him as "buddy." Asked for a last name, he comes up with "Love" from the lyrics of a song playing in the background: goodbye Julius Kelp, hello "Buddy Love."

* Spoofed in the ''WesternAnimation/TUFFPuppy'' episode "The Wrong Stuff" where Dudley and Keswick try to hide their identities from Kitty while spying on her.

'''Dudley:''' Real smooth, Keswick. Now she's onto us.

* This is the core of a ''Series/KeyAndPeele'' [[https://youtu.be/6haBMbtXSLg sketch]] in which a potentially-pardoned prisoner answers all the detective's questions based on what's in the room. [[RealityEnsues Badly]]. "His name was Baldy Tallman Coffee Coup!" [[spoiler: At the end, it turns out that many of the detective's responses, like "I'm getting too old for this," were [[MindScrew actually on the posters behind the convict's side of the room]].]]

** In one episode, Robin looks at the bill and the pepper shaker on the restaurant table and claims that the man she slept with was called "Bill Pepper." Lily, not fooled, inquires if Bill knows "Fork Napkin."

Sometimes their eyes will land on writing, which may supply them with a plausible name. However, the trope most often results in ridiculous aliases that somehow still fly. This also applies to details that may embellish a fake story such as accomplices, other {{Invented Individual}}s, or locations, as long as the goal is to lie on the spot by line-of-sight naming.

* In a film version of''Literature/{{Puss in Boots}'' starring Creator/WilliamShatner, Puss (Shatner) comes up with an alias for his master, the "Marquis of Carabas", after seeing a cart loaded with casks of "Carabas Wine" in the marketplace.

Subtrope of LineOfSightName. Other ways to invent a quick alias include CharacterNameAlias, SdrawkcabAlias and SueDonym.

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[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* In ''Film/TheMuppetsTakeManhattan'', Kermit the Frog, suffering from [[EasyAmnesia amnesia]], wanders into an ad agency and when he is asked his name by some frogs who work there, he sees an ad on the wall that says "Fill'er up" and says his name is Phillip -- Phil. By an odd coincidence, the names of the other frogs are [[ThemeNaming Gill, Jill and Bill.]]
[[/folder]]

* Happens in [[Webcomic/ImTheGrimReaper I'm the Grim Reaper]], where the protagonist is asked for her name by another character, Jordan. After mumbling through several names, she sees a red X on Jordan's chest, and blurts out, "Uh . . . Scarlet!" He takes it at face value.

* In the Spike TV adult cartoon ''WesternAnimation/{{Stripperella}}'', the main character used this to come up with aliases. One memorable example was in the episode "Everyone loves Pushy"; she ordered a purse and identified herself by the last name of "Lampchairwalnerstein" after glancing at a lamp, chair, her apartment wall, and an obscured ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' poster respectively.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** Parodied in the "Treehouse Of Horror XI" story "Scary Tales Can Come True", when a witch gave the name of her boyfriend as "George Cauldron" after doing this. Bart and Lisa both laugh at that... and then, at the end of the segment, George shows up at the door, referencing "George Glass", Jan Brady's alleged boyfriend on ''Series/TheBradyBunch''.
** In "Bart The Lover", when writing a fake love letter to Miss Krabappel while in detention, Bart sees a picture of US president Woodrow Wilson hanging on the wall and signs the letter "Woodrow", then attaches to the letter a photo of hockey star Gordie Howe.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E13HomerToTheMax Homer To The Max]]", after Homer is embarrassed at a bumbling TV character sharing his name, he changes it to the decidedly more respectable "Max Power". When complimented on his new name, he replies "Thanks, I got it off a hair dryer."
** Though not a ''personal'' name, Homer, at Moe's Tavern, calls in absent to work because he's observing the "Festival of (''sees "Maximum Occupancy" sign behind the counter'')... Maximum Occupancy."
** In "The Seven Beer Snitch", Bart pretends his turtle is lost to sneak inside a woman's house. When she asks him what the turtle's name is, he says "Apron Boobs-face" and later gives his own name as "Shoes Butt-back."
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS18E12LittleBigGirl Little Big Girl]]", when Lisa has to do an essay about her heritage for a class project, she decides to write about Native Americans and chooses a made-up tribe calling it "Hitachi" after her microwave.
** In "I Am Furious (Yellow)", when Bart is trying to come up with a comic book character. He sees a bat hanging in the window and exclaims "Franchise/{{Batman}}!" before he realizes that it's taken. He looks around a little more and sees a Franchise/GreenLantern, but realizes it's taken too. He eventually comes up with the character of Angry Dad after watching Homer's buffoonish antics through the window.
** In "The Canine Mutiny", Bart applies for a credit card under the false name "Santa's Little Helper" (the family dog). He has horrible handwriting, though, and the card comes back issued to Santos L. Halper.
** Parodied again in the episode "Rome-old and Juli-eh". Bart finds out that companies can get free cardboard boxes, so he orders a delivery of them, pretending to be a company. When the delivery man asks for the name of his company, he looks around and sees Santa's Little Helper rummaging in a waste bin with "GENERAL INDUSTRIES" stamped on the bottom. Bart gives the name of his company as... Dog Incorporated.

* Spoofed in the ''WesternAnimation/TUFFPuppy'' episode "The Wrong Stuff" where Dudley and Keswick try to hide their identities from Kitty while spying on her.
-->'''Kitty:''' Dudley, is that you?\\
'''Dudley:''' No, my name is Bob. Bob, uh... Men's Room.\\
''[later...]''\\
'''Kitty:''' You're still spying on me, Dudley?\\
'''Dudley:''' I'm not spying, and my name is Bob. Bob... Don't Feed The Squirrels.\\
'''Kitty:''' Is that Keswick in there?\\
'''Keswick:''' No, my name is Bob. Bob... Stay Off The Grass.\\
'''Dudley:''' Real smooth, Keswick. Now she's onto us.
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'', where Kuzco claims his best friend's name is "Brad Bowllama"... and Malina immediately calls his bluff. (It could have been worse. He considered "Bananastaircasehat".)
* Used in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}''. In order to con Didi into buying her two toys instead of just one, Angelica claims to have a sister. Seeing a boy playing with a ball across the store, she names her invented sibling "Ballina." Of course, Didi sees through it, but buys the toy anyway, as she doesn't want to stunt's Angelica's imagination.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeachersPet'': Spot comes up with his alias (Scott Leadready II) by first blurting out his real name (the teacher mistakes it as "Scott" instead of "Spot"), and then reading the teacher's pencil (A "Leadready No. 2" pencil).

* When Jane becomes angry, and threatens to run away to spite her friends in ''WesternAnimation/JaneAndTheDragon'', she claims that she has been recruited by one King Barrowclaw. Naturally, she was inspired when, under pressure to give the supposed king's name, she looked around and spotted first a wheelbarrow, and then Dragon's foot.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'': Parodied in an episode in which the Tick suddenly needs to make up an assumed name when checking into a hotel. In desperation, he picks "Nick Soapdish" as his alias when he sees a soap dish.
-->'''Hotel clerk:''' Are you sure that's your real name? It sounds more... made up.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'':
** Parodied in "The Dress" when Gumball is forced to wear a dress to school and tries to convince his classmates that he's a new girl in class. When he tries to come up with a name, the first thing he sees is someone chewing gum, and a ball, takes it back then picks some other random things he sees. So he tells them he's Gumballoopseggwobbleunderpants. When asked where he's from, he says Europe. When pressed for specifics, he's forced to come up with a Line-of-Sight Place. He sees a gum truck and a bald head (making Gumbald), takes it back again, then adds some other stuff to end up saying he's from Gumbaldnowigbattle-axeninja.
** In "The Remote", Nicole asks Anais to tell her what brand their TV remote was, but it turned out Anais told her the name of a garage door opener which she saw an ad for. This was part of the episode ending's {{homage}} to ''The Usual Suspect''.
* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'':
** In one episode, Roger tries to come up with an excuse for Bullock and attempts to do this.
--->'''Roger:''' Mug... spoon... stir... counter... glass... George Glass! That was the name of [[Series/TheBradyBunch Jan Brady]]'s fake boyfriend!
** At one point Roger and Steve are playing detective when Roger calls Steve's character "Squirt Cinnabon Wheels". When Steve asks where the name came from, Roger said he "[[Film/TheUsualSuspects Keyser Soze]]'d" his name, followed by cut across the room to a bottle Squirt soda and a Cinnabon box.
* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'' episode "Joking the Chicken". Duckman has to think of a fake name and tries this, but he's too {{Genre Blind|ness}} to spot several perfect fake names (Hanes, Smith, Miller) and instead calls himself Duckman N. Disguise. He then chastises Cornfed's fake name, Pat Corcoran.

* After feeling left behind when his friends started dating, Oscar from ''WesternAnimation/FishHooks'' [[GirlfriendInCanada invents a girlfriend]]. When asked about her name he looks to a door, then the floor and names her Doris Floris Gorgeous.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'' episode "Holio", Lilo is telling Mertle and her friends a story about a monster that eats people (and birthday cakes) in an effort to scare them after Mertle didn't invite Lilo to her birthday party. When Lilo gets to the name, she spies a gecko clinging to the post of the hula halau, which then licks its eye, giving her the name "Geckoliki".
* Spoofed, along with most other things, in ''WesternAnimation/BeCoolScoobyDoo''. Fred has just announced that the group is a band in order to solve a mystery and help save a theater. When asked for a name, he looks to the street sign and sees that they're on [[Music/{{Maroon5}} Maroon & 5th]]. He dismisses that and then sees [[Music/TheBeatles Tim Beedles Cafe]]. Then an "[[Music/TheRollingStones Elect Roland Stone]]" billboard. Finally he settles on his van and declares that they're "The Mystery Machine."
* In the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/ObanStarRacers'', Eva Wei confronts her father Don Wei for the first time in years, but CanNotSpitItOut. She finds a poster saying "Molly Springs", allowing her to introduce herself as Molly for most of the series.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' episode "Fetch", Star tries to find the owner of a strange dog that won't let go of her wand. A crazy old lady named Lydia claims to be the dog's owner and, after seeing a bee fly past a road sign for "Willow St.", claims that the dog's name is "Willoughby".
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E5GauntletOfFire Gauntlet of Fire]]", Spike covers for Princess Ember, who's trying to enter the Gauntlet of Fire incognito, by making up the name "Sandy Rockbeach", based on the rocky shore they're standing on.
** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E17TheTimesTheyAreAChangeling The Times They Are a Changeling]]", Spike harbors a defector changeling named Thorax while the Crystal Empire is looking for him. When confronted, Spike gives Thorax, using the guise of a random crystal pony, the identity of his new friend by the name of... Crystal Hoof. Everyone buys it. So much so that, when Thorax's identity is revealed, everyone believes that the changeling disguised himself as Crystal Hoof and a search for the missing, fictional pony is called.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' episode "Yes And", Diane is on the phone with her husband Mr. Peanutbutter. The latter thinking the former is in a war-torn {{Ruritania}} like country aiding wounded civilians but was actually staying at [=BoJack's=] house. While in the kitchen she pretends to be a child refugee and when Mr. Peanutbutter asks for a name, Diane glances at several kitchen appliances with exotic names and decides on the name "Coffee Maker" and immediately regrets it. The ditzy Mr. Peanutbutter falls for it anyway and assumes it's a foreign name pronounced "Koffi Makur".
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DrZitbagsTransylvaniaPetShop'' episode "Grime Doesn't Pay", a criminal named Fingers Malone is mistakenly phoned by Dr. Zitbag when he tries to hire a cleaning service to clean his castle in time for a visit from the Exorsisters. Fingers Malone gets the idea to impersonate a cleaning lady and steal from Zitbag. When Zitbag asks which cleaning lady will be sent, Fingers Malone looks at the ground and answers "Mrs. Turfhead" before removing a piece of the turf to wear on his head as a disguise.
* ''WesternAnimation/GlennMartinDDS'': When Glenn asks Wendy about her family, she says she was raised by her grandmother, Dixie Nitram. She says this while looking at a Dixie Cup and the name Martin in the mirror. She also says she was born in Toledo while looking at a sink made by Toledo Sinks.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRocketeer'': In "Rocketeer Day", Sylvester Slapdash disguises himself as the original Rocketeer and has to come up with a name. Upon looking at a chicken and the picture of a barn, he comes up with "Chick Barnes".

* In the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "The Ring", Cordelia and Wesley briefly pretend to be cops. Cordelia blanks on a name to call Wesley, then glances at his yellow suit and introduces him as "Detective Yelsue."
* ''Series/SoAwkward'': In "Everybody Loves Clementine", Lily creates a fictional student to avoid getting in trouble with the ScaryLibrarian. After blurting out the name Clementine, she needs a surname. Looking at the female librarian's upper lip, she goes with 'Clementine Mustache'.
* Happens in ''Series/{{Friends}}'' when Chandler wants to help Joey with his rent money and needs to make up a game that Joey will believe is real to 'gamble' over. The first thing he sees upon being asked by what the new game is called is a beer cup, hence "Cups."
* ''Series/TheNightOf'': Subverted when a witness claims that the name of his companion on the night of the murder is "Duane Reade." Stone spots a Duane Reade pharmacy across the street and accuses the witness of lying, but it turns out to [[NamesTheSame be the truth]].
* Two examples from the 2015 version of ''Series/TheOddCouple'':
** In "The Audit Couple", Felix lets it slip to an IRS agent that Oscar is behind on his taxes and tries to cover his tracks by saying that he moved and became a transsexual by the name of Rhonda... Rhonda Pencilcup.
** In "The Blind Leading the Blind Date", Felix asks Oscar if he knows his date's last name. When Oscar responds with Kellogg, Felix says "I don't even have to turn around to know there's a cereal box behind me."
* ''Series/TheThundermans'': In "Exit Stage Theft," Billy tells Nora he is going to his friend's house after she and Chloe forgot about him during their hide and seek game. Nora doesn't believe him and asks which friend. Billy sees a jar of Luigi's pasta sauce and announces "Luigi. Luigi Marinara."
* Happens in the "Quadfather" episode of ''Series/NickyRickyDickyAndDawn'. Josie is trying to come up with band name and Ricky and Dicky offer suggestions of "Dirty Sponge" and "Empty Cup". Josie calls them out on this trope.
* Subverted on ''Series/ModernFamily''. Alex is infuriated that her parents think her boyfriend is imaginary, and describes him in detail, while they silently notice suspicious objects around the room: starting with the teddy bear ("His name is Teddy"), and ending with the Martin Luther King Jr. poster ("He works at some mattress place...Mattress King".). But then Teddy shows up at the door, as everything Alex had said was true.
* In ''Series/TheGoldbergs'' episode "Adam Spielberg", seeing an amateur recreation of ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' inspires Adam to make his own homemade Indiana Jones tribute movie. When his mother asks the title of the script, he quickly looks around his room for inspiration and, after glimpsing a [[WesternAnimation/Thundercats1985 Lion-O]] toy, his [[Creator/{{Nintendo}} Nintendo Power Glove]], his [[Franchise/TransformersGeneration1 Optimus Prime]] toy, and some [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Ninja Turtles]] action figures, he decides on the name ''Indiana Jones and the Thunder Glove of the Prime Mutant''.
-->'''Beverly:''' ''[proudly hugging Adam]'' [[LampshadeHanging You looked around the room, and you came up with a title!]]
* In the ''Series/SavedByTheBellTheNewClass'' episode "Maria's Movie Star", Maria encounters an actor at the mall, who is attending a movie session and requests her to keep his identity a secret. When the other students meet them and ask who he is, Maria looks around and notices a promotional sign with "tempura" written on it, and so she introduces him as "Tim Pura".
* ''Series/CrashLandingOnYou'' has South Korean protagonist Yoon Se-ri, whose parachute crash-landing into North Korea starts off the whole plot, renaming herself Choe Sam-suk, after the name of a singer she spots on a record album cover. The North Korean village wives she tells this to constantly refer to her as Sam-suk afterwards.
* In the ''Series/Bunkd'' episode "Yes, Lies, and Tower Escape", Gwen accidentally breaks a window. Destiny blames the accident on a girl with blue hair (blue chair) and green glasses (green grass). Lou actually turns around to check Destiny's line of sight, [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] the fact she knows exactly what is happening.

* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
** When Vala finds herself in a police station after suffering LaserGuidedAmnesia: asked for her last name, she gives "Valerie [=ToDad=]", after a drawing on the officer's bulletin board. It doesn't work.
** Lieutenant Tyler, an alien impersonating an SGC member, took his name off a label on the team's gear of Tyler, Texas. Fortunately, he managed to work out that Texas was a location; and was able to avoid having to think of a ''first'' name.
* On ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'':
** Titus is being grilled by Ronan Farrow about sexual harassment allegations, so he claims to be getting another call from somebody. Based on the things he sees on the walls (an oar, a VHS copy of ''Film/SisterAct'', a picture of a judge, the oar again) he claims the call is from "row-nun-fair-row. Ronan Farrow." Ronan Farrow makes a confused face.
** Kimmy comes up with "[[Film/TheUsualSuspects Kaiser Soze]]" as a pseudonym for her [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents Amazingly Embarrassing Stepfather]], after seeing a bag of Kaiser rolls, a sewing machine, and a copy of "Say Say Say".
* Seen at least five times on ''Series/{{Monk}}'':
** "Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month": Randy claims he has a girlfriend named Crystal, and Sharona, seeing a nearby box, asks, "What's her last name? Glassware?" But it's subverted when she turns out to be real, even though [[CassandraTruth no one actually believes it]].
** "Mr. Monk and the Big Reward": Monk figures out that a woman who has been coming into the police station is connected to the crime when he remembers seeing her name on a plaque and realizes that it's an alias.
** "Mr. Monk is At Your Service": Monk is in a suspect's house, having been mistaken for the applicant being hired as new butler. Rather than raise suspicion, Monk goes along with it and gives the name "Adrian Melville" after spotting a copy of ''Literature/MobyDick'' on the table.
** "Mr. Monk Fights City Hall": Harold asks for the name of Monk's new therapist. They're next to the elevators, so Monk makes up the name Dr. Door. Harold calls him out on it, asking that if they were next to the alarm, would Monk have said "Dr. Bell"? This prompts a beautiful SpitTake from Natalie, because Harold might not be aware at this point that he did correctly guess the name.
** "Mr. Monk Gets Drunk": Monk meets a stranger calling himself Larry Zwibell at an inn who disappears the next day. No-one else seems to remember Zwibell ever being there, and then Monk discovers a painting in the inn signed by a Larry Zwibell, further enforcing the possibility that he just imagined the guy because he'd had too much to drink. However, [[spoiler: Monk correctly deduces that the guy was real and used that name because ''he'd'' seen it on the painting, not because Monk had seen it. His real name was "Ben Gruber"]].
* Happens a few times on ''Series/HannahMontana'':
** Oliver needs an excuse for why he can't go on a date and he says he's going to do roadie work for a band called "Restroom's This Way", after seeing it on a sign. Lilly calls him out on it.
--->'''Lilly:''' "The Restroom's This Way"? Who's their opening act? The "Place Trays Here"?
** Oliver also gets the name for his [[ClarkKenting alter ego]] "Mike Stanley III" this way, after seeing a microphone stand backstage at a Hannah concert.
** Miley is doing a radio interview from her kitchen while eating spaghetti and claims to be speaking from a cafe in Italy. When she is asked where she is, her father passes her the pasta box. She reads the first words she sees and claims to be in the small village of "Sodium Free". She immediately amends this to "Sodium Freme" (said in an Italian accent).
* ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles'': When older Young Indy joins the Belgian Army during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, acting on advice never to join the military under his own name because they can't prosecute a nonexistent assumed name for desertion if he later left, joins as Henri Defense (''Defense de Fumer'' = No Smoking). {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by an officer:
-->'''Recruiting Officer:''' Your name is Henri ... ''[looks pointedly at no-smoking sign]'' ... Defense?
* In the ''Series/{{Wings}}'' episode "Lynch Party," Helen recalls her (failed) attempt to break off her engagement with Davis Lynch so that she could marry Joe: not wanting to tell him the truth, she claimed that she had a disease, which she named "Faulkner's Syndrome" after spotting a Faulkner novel on Davis' table. The trope is compounded when Davis offers to find her a doctor, and she claims to have already seen the "top Faulkner man," named "Dr. Dickens."
* Laura Holt combined a Remington typewriter and the Pittsburgh Steelers to name her "fictitious" boss ''Series/RemingtonSteele''.
* According to the ''Series/BurnNotice'' prequel movie ''Film/BurnNoticeTheFallOfSamAxe'', Sam originally chose his GoToAlias "Chuck Finley" on the fly after scanning the room and seeing a sports magazine featuring the famous Angels pitcher of the same name on the cover.
* There are at least two occurrences on ''Series/ThePretender''. The protagonist's first name is always Jarod, but his last name varies from episode to episode.
** In "Ranger Jarod," Jarod sees an Army bumper sticker and says he has some mountain training from his time with the Army Rangers. Then they ask him his name, and he pulls out "Jarod Forest" from a Smokey the Bear flier on a board (in the previous episode he was Jarod Forrester, but that particular identity, as a Navy commander, required a lot more advance preparation).
** In another episode, Jarod is pretending to be a bounty hunter. When he meets a rival, she asks him what his name is. He gets his alias, Jarod Green, from reading a Greenpeace flyer in the background. The rival then says her name is Peace.
* In an episode of ''Series/GreenAcres'', a runaway kid ends up in the Douglas' farm. One of the several false names he makes up for himself is "Paul Frankcan": which he got from looking at a can of "Paul's Canned Franks" on the Douglas' cupboard.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Taxi}}'', cab driver Elaine Nardo encounters one of her old high school friends as a fare, and impulsively tells her about her [[ImaginaryFriend boyfriend]], who she names "Bill Board" while passing a billboard. She convinces Alex Reiger to pretend to be Bill at a dinner party (during which he reinforces the charade by joking "Yeah, my name really is Bill Board... you should meet my brothers, Clip and Switch...")
* An episode of ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'' has Eddie needing to come up with a name for Raven's latest disguise. He chooses Liz Anya (after seeing a plate of lasagna). Raven's not too pleased, but Eddie points out she could have easily been called "Pork Choppa" instead. Gets a CallBack in ''Series/RavensHome'', where the person "Liz Anya" ''actually'' exists.
* In the French-Canadian SoapOpera parody ''Series/LeCoeurASesRaisons'', Brett has to imagine a name for a non-existant colleague in his bedroom to hide the identity of a person who just called him. The result? Dr Bedside-Lamp. And his fiancee keeps asking questions about him. So in the end, Dr. Bedside-Lamp studied at the Texas Bedside-Lamp University and is married to Mrs Bedside-Lamp Bedside-Lamp. ''He gets away with it.''

* In an episode of ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' when Michael Scott is having trouble getting to talk to boss David Wallace over the phone. Dwight decides to take the phone in his place and tries to give a pseudonym. He uses Michael's real first name and then the last name of the first thing he sees- a roll of scotch tape. Thus, Michael Scotch. Later averted when Micheal winds up being redirected to Charles Miner, the very person he had wanted to complain to David about; when Charles asks who is calling, Michael simply replies "I was never given a name" and hangs up on him.
* In an episode of ''Series/HowToBeIndie'', Marlon has to come with the name of the president for a made-up country (ItMakesSenseInContext). He eyes fall on the sugar cellar on the table he declares the president is 'Gary Sugarthing'.
* ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'' had an example. Cole met a young boy running from some builders in the street. Asked his name, the boy looked around before answering "Kite." His counterpart in ''Series/HyakujuuSentaiGaoranger'' is Futaro, who took his name from "fuusen", the Japanese word for balloon, after seeing one.
* Buddy Overstreet in the old ''Series/TheFugitive'' parody ''RunBuddyRun'' did this a lot, for instance he once called himself "Barry Straw" after passing a strawberry farm.
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'':
** In one episode, Robin looks at the bill and the pepper shaker on the restaurant table and claims that the man she slept with was called "Bill Pepper." Lily, not fooled, inquires if Bill knows "Fork Napkin."
** Ted tries to recall the names of his past dates from photographs by associating them with either the occasion ("Bertha" for a girl he met at a birthday party), or something in the picture. He gets them all wrong.
* In the ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' episode "Beck's Big Break", Tori is sneaking onto a movie set and gets stopped by a security guard, who asks her name. She tells him it's "Crystal Waters" after seeing it on a water cooler.

* On ''Series/YoungDracula'', when Robin pretending to be a vampire and being questioned by the Westenras, he is asked the name of his parents. Glancing around, his eye falls upon a certain kitchen implement and he says his father is "Count Spatula".
* Subverted on ''Series/StillStanding'': Brian asks his father for condoms for his friend Dorian. Bill thinks he's lying and the condoms are for Brian because he looked right at the door before naming his friend. It turns out that [[spoiler: there is actually a real Dorian, but Bill was right, Brian wanted the condoms for himself]].
* ''Series/TheXFiles'':
** In the episode "Unusual Suspects", Suzanne Modeski, being on the run and desperate for information regarding the frame-job her former bosses put on her, spun a WoundedGazelleGambit to get Byers involved. He asked her for a name, and she called herself "Holly," after the packet of sugar on the table. WordOfGod said Byers later paid tribute to that by creating a new identity for her as "Holly Fitzgerald," a combination of the sugar name and his middle name.
** In the episode "John Doe", John Doggett finds himself in Mexico with no memory of who he is or how he got there; while chasing a potential lead on his own identity, he makes a call on a public phone in which he identifies himself as "Detective Ladatel" after seeing a sign on the wall [[note]]Ladatel is a Mexican phone company - the rough equivalent in America would be someone identifying themselves over the phone as Detective Verizon.[[/note]]
* ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'', "The Curse of Clyde Langer": Clyde is under a curse that makes people hate him when they see his name or hear it spoken. When he ends up sleeping on the street and is found by a homeless girl, he sees a box from Enrico's Pizza and tells her his name is "Enrico Box". She knows he's lying, but doesn't press him for a real name. [[spoiler:Later, when trying to find her again, he sees ''her'' name on a poster and realizes that she was also using a Line Of Sight Name.]]
* In the ''Series/{{Unforgettable}}'' episode "Lost Things", a suspect trying to throw the detectives off invents a story about the victim using a dating service. He gets the idea of a dating service from the screen of a nearby computer, the names of guys she met through it from wanted posters, and the name of the service from a different poster.
* ''Series/OneFootInTheGrave'': Victor hastily says that his address is "Dunn Hill", taken from a discarded Dunhill cigarette packet on the table.
* In ''Series/{{Spellbinder}}'', when Ashka is in our universe, she uses the alias "Mrs. Harley" after the Harley-Davidson motorcycle she stole. Later she changes it to "Anna Harley", after meeting a woman named Anna and realizing that in this universe people have "two names".
* On an episode of ''Series/ThirtyRock'' Liz's pseudonym while talking to Kenneth in a men's bathroom was Kenneth....Toilethole.
* ''Series/{{Spaced}}'': at a housewarming party, Daisy claims that the title of her new screenplay is ''Guacamole... Window''.
* ''Series/NathanBarley'': Dan tells Nathan his accidental hairstyle (cut short on one side and matted with paint on the other) is "Geek Pie" by reading random words off posters on the street
* On an episode of ''[[Series/PobolYCwm Pobol y Cwm]]'', Mark calls in to the radio station and disguises his voice in order to vote for something he himself proposed. He's standing in the street, so when he's asked his name, he looks around at the signs and makes one up (Elis Maenan) from the names of local businesses. He then gets asked where he's from, and his eye falls on the sign of the fish (''pysgod'') and chip shop. So he says he's from a town called Dinbych y Pysgoda, which, being in southwest Wales, doesn't match his (fake) North Walian accent.

* In ''Series/BostonCommon'', Cookie De Daren, head of the drama department, is expected to have chosen a play for the revamped college theater.
-->'''Cookie:''' A play? ''[[BlatantLies Of course I've chosen a play!]]'' I'm the head of the drama department after all! The play. ''[picks up an apple]'' The play is the thing. And the play I've chosen is... ''[spots Cross' Japanese tea set]'' ''The Tea Ceremony''.\\
'''Harrison:''' That's an inspired choice. What other plays were you thinking of? ''Death of a Stapler'', perhaps, or ''My Fair Paperclip''?!
* This occurs in two scenes in the ''Series/FridayNightDinner'' episode "The Fox":
** The first is lampshaded:
--->'''Jackie:''' Have you been lending Jim money?\\
'''Martin:''' A bit...\\
'''Jackie:''' What? What for?\\
'''Martin:''' ''[looks at the object on the wall next to him]'' Er... mirrors.\\
'''Jackie:''' OK, did you say the first thing that you could see?\\
'''Martin:''' ... possibly.
** Then later in the episode:
--->'''Martin:''' We're picking up something special for Jackie, a surprise.\\
'''Val:''' [...] What is the surprise?\\
'''Martin:''' It's, er... um... ''[spots a cyclist]'' a bicycle.\\
'''Val:''' A bicycle? [...] Where you getting it from at this time of night?\\
'''Martin:''' Um... ''[points at a nearby building]'' that house there.

* In one episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', when Ash Ketchum needs a fake name, he sees Pikachu with a bottle of ketchup, and comes up with "Tom Ato". Misty then comes up with "Anne Chovie", and Brock follows on the food theme with "Caesar Salad". Ash was ''going'' to say "Ash '''Ketchu'''p" (maybe), but he gets whacked. In the Japanese version, Ash tried to introduce himself as "Napolitan" (as in "napolitan spaghetti") after seeing a plate of spaghetti on the floor (next to Pikachu), and the Yas recruiter asked if he was from Italy. The Japanese version has the trio use the aliases "Omurice Ketchupurou", "Chicken Rice Sauceko", and "Curry Rice Chutney Zaemon", which are actually just the names of Japanese dishes with the last few letters of some traditional Japanese names added at the end.
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'', "Audrey Burne" (aka. Princess Mineva Lao Zabi) introduces herself to Banagher while the two of them are walking past a movie theatre with a poster for ''Film/RomanHoliday'' out front.

* In the ''Cinema Purgatorio'' story "Modded", Fringe is asked her name while disguised among enemies. She frantically looks around the bar and comes up with "Lady Glasshat Dildobeast." There really was something that could only be called dildobeast present. In any case, Tommy Zero only gets suspicious when Bloody Susan acts familiar with Fringe but doesn't refer to her by name.

* Invoked in ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling''. The director of JDA intelligence chooses codenames based on nearby items, in order to make his agents harder to find.
* Fanfic/ThePalaververse: In ''Wedding March'', the [[VoluntaryShapeshifting changeling]] Thorax ducks out of the pitched battle he finds himself in by disguising himself as a member of the Royal Guard. When he's confronted by the CMC, Spike and Sailears and asked his name, he panics and names himself after the first thing he sees, thus introducing himself as Sir Wall of the Royal Guard. Given the nature of pony names in canon, this still provides him with a perfectly suitable and unremarkable alias.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1947438/3/Anonymity Anonymity]]'' Harry takes the name Andrews from a liquor bottle at the Leaky Cauldron.

* In ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'', [[spoiler:"Verbal's" ''entire story'']] was created by piecing together random items from the office he [[spoiler:was being interrogated in. Even the bottom of his interrogator's coffee mug was used to name the lawyer, Kobayashi.]] This example is [[SignatureScene so famous]] that many others on this page are references to it.
* General Aladeen in ''Film/TheDictator'' is incapable of coming up with aliases without using this method. Aside from "Allison Burgers", he tries to pass himself off as "Ladis Washruum", "Employce Muswashans", and "Emer Gencyexitonly".
* In ''Film/{{Supergirl}}'', the titular character's secret identity, Linda Lee, comes from a glance at a picture on the wall of Robert E. Lee.
* In ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'', Creator/RobinWilliams' character glances at a newspaper headline ("Police Doubt Fire Was Accidental") to come up with the titular name.

* ''Film/TheWrongGuy'': Nelson Hibbert wakes up in a hospital; believing he's a wanted man, he needs a fake name. So he tries "Enemabag Jones". When the doctor isn't convinced he tries again, reading his fake name off her nametag.
* Occurs in ''Film/ThePrincessDiaries'' when the Queen invents the "Genovian Order of the Rose", after spotting a sign for Rose Street, to get Mia out of a spot of trouble with a police officer.
* The mermaid from ''Film/{{Splash}}'' takes the human name Madison after a street sign on Madison Avenue.

* In ''Film/TheAssociate'', Creator/WhoopiGoldberg's character needs a name for her mysterious friend and her eyes falls on a bottle of alcohol at the bar: Robert S. Cutty.
* In ''Film/DownWithLove'' (largely a {{Homage}} to ''Lover Come Back''), Catcher Block, in urgent need of a pseudonym for himself that Barbara Novak won't recognize, takes a look at the dry cleaners' signs saying "Zippers Repaired" and "MARTINIZING Specialists" and comes up with the name of "Zip Martin."
* Linda Fiorentino's character in ''Film/TheLastSeduction'' makes up an alias while looking, into a mirror, at a poster for the city of New York, and comes up with "Wen Kroy", with "Wen" later elaborated into "Wendy". And unusually, the man she was running from actually manages to reconstruct her thought process, and finds her under her new name.

--->'''Matt Farrell:''' My name... ''[rummages through glove compartment]'' is... ''[finds something]'' Frank... and my dad's name is... [[UnpronounceableAlias Dvorak... Tsajinsky...]]
* ''Film/PineappleExpress'':
-->'''Dale:''' Go to the Days Inn downtown. Use a fake name. ''[looks around garage]'' "Garagely"!

* ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}'':
** The ronin gives his name as "Kuwabatake Sanjuro", meaning "Mulberry Field thirty-ish". Guess what he's looking at (and how old he is) when he was asked. He adds that he's "closer to forty."
** In the sequel ''Film/{{Sanjuro}}'', the ronin gives his family name as Tsubaki (camellia) after the nearest plant life.
* A bizarre instance of this can be seen in the made-for-TV movie ''The Pooch and the Pauper'' when a con artist who specializes in inventing fraudulent dog breeds is asked the name of one of his "exotic" breeds and his eyes fall on an assortment of teas before he responds that the dog is called a Darjeeling Orange Pekoe.
* In ''Film/DrJekyllAndMsHyde'', Hyde's descendant picks the first name Helen for his alter-ego after seeing the headline "Scientists Believe Mt. St-Helens May Blow Again".
* ''[[Film/TheBradyBunch A Very Brady Sequel]]'' parodies a corresponding scene from the TV series by having Jan spot a carton of fruit juice and thereby inventing "George Tropicana."
* In ''Film/DarkShadows'', Maggie Evans is training herself for her governess job interview in the train that drives her to Collinsport. She thinks her real name will not impress the Collins so she looks for another name, sees an advertisement for the "Winter Olympics" (in Victoria) and renames herself "Victoria Winters".
* In the Creator/JimCarrey version of ''Film/FunWithDickAndJane'', while on the phone in an office:
-->'''Dick:''' Yes, this is Officer...''[sees multicolored paper]'' Red Green of the... ''[reads off a computer monitor]'' MVPDL.
* In a film version of "Puss in Boots" starring Creator/WilliamShatner, Puss (Shatner) comes up with an alias for his master, the "Marquis of Carabas", after seeing a cart loaded with casks of "Carabas Wine" in the marketplace.
* In ''Film/{{Heathers}}'', when a radio host asks Heather [=McNamara=] for her name, she struggles to give one. First she gives the name "Madonna" after the full size poster of Music/{{Madonna}} on her wall. Then she spots her canary and comes up with "Tweetie".

* In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', when Tony Stark [[spoiler:travels back in time to 1970 (it's a very long story), he meets his father's past self, a young Howard Stark. When Howard asks him his name, a stunned Tony blurts out "Howard", which clearly does not bother Howard Stark, who simply says the name will be easy to remember.]]

* In the 1987 film ''Hiding Out'', Andrew Morenski (Creator/JonCryer) is hiding from hitmen as a high school student. When pressed for a name in the registration office, he quickly scans the room and spots a coffee can, giving the name, "Maxwell Houser".
* In ''Film/DoctorJekyllAndSisterHyde'', Jekyll explains that the woman seen in his flat the previous night (actually him transformed into a woman) was his sister. When Susan asks her name, Jekyll glances at the newspaper in his hand and sees the headline "Murder in Hyde Park", and replies:
-->"Hyde...Mrs. Hyde...She's a widow."

* Subverted in ''Utopia''. An assassin is sent to kill a man called Warne, but due to a pass card mix-up, he closes in on the wrong man. The victim protests that his name is "Pepper, Norman Pepper", and the assassin is almost ready to realize his mistake. However he then notices the soft drinks can that Norman was drinking from, and with a smile steps forward saying the words "Of course you are...".

* ''Literature/JoePickett'': In ''Cold Wind'', a woman needs a spur-of-the-moment alias. Hearing Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight" come on the jukebox, she introduces herself as Patsy.
* ''Literature/{{Hawksmaid}}'': When Matty is choosing an alias to go undercover in Nottingham Castle as a servant, she sees the green leaf tucked into the brim of Robin's cap, and christens herself Marian Greenleaf.
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' Jaime idly speculates Osmund Kettleblack's claim to have been knighted by an [[ConvenientlyUnverifiableCoverStory obscure and deceased]] "Ser Robert Stone" was a result of him remembering the name of a previous king and looking at the castle wall.

* In the 1987 film Hiding Out, Andrew Morenski (Creator/JonCryer) is hiding from hitmen as a high school student. When pressed for a name in the registration office, he quickly scans the room and spots a coffee can, giving the name, "Maxwell Houser".

* In an episode of ''Series/ThePretender'', Jarod is pretending to be a bounty hunter. When he meets a rival, she asks him what his name is. He gets his alias, Jarod Green, from reading a Greenpeace flyer in the background. The rival then says her name is Peace.

* ''Series/YoungIndianaJones'': When older Young Indy joins the Belgian Army during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, acting on advice never to join the military under his own name because they can't prosecute a nonexistent assumed name for desertion if he later left, joins as Henri Defense (''Defense de Fumer'' = No Smoking). {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by an officer:

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''

* ''Series/TheXFiles''

** Parodied in a Halloween episode, when a witch gave the name of her boyfriend as "George Cauldron" after doing this. Bart and Lisa both laugh at that... and then, at the end of the segment, George shows up at the door.[[note]]George Cauldron is a reference to "George Glass", Jan Brady's alleged boyfriend on ''Series/TheBradyBunch''.[[/note]]
** When writing a fake love letter to Miss Krabappel while in detention, Bart sees a picture of US president Woodrow Wilson hanging on the wall and signs the letter "Woodrow", then attaches to the letter a photo of hockey star Gordie Howe.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E13HomerToTheMax Homer to the Max]]", after Homer is embarrassed at a bumbling TV character sharing his name, he changes it to the decidedly more respectable "Max Power". When complimented on his new name, he replies "Thanks, I got it off a hair dryer."
** Though not a ''personal'' name, Homer, at Moe's Tavern, calls in absent to work because he's observing the "Festival of (''sees "Maximum Occupancy" sign behind the counter'')...Maximum Occupancy."
** At one point, Bart pretends his turtle is lost to sneak inside a woman's house. When she asks him what the turtle's name is, he says "Apron Boobs-face" and later gives his own name as "Shoes Butt-back."

** When Bart is trying to come up with a comic book character. He sees a bat hanging in the window and exclaims "Franchise/{{Batman}}!" before he realizes that it's taken. He looks around a little more and sees a Franchise/GreenLantern, but realizes it's taken too. He eventually comes up with the character of Angry Dad after watching Homer's buffoonish antics through the window.
** In one episode, Bart applies for a credit card under the false name "Santa's Little Helper" (the family dog). He has horrible handwriting, though, and the card comes back issued to Santos L. Halper.