History Main / LineOfSightName

* In ''Recap/TheOrderOfTheStickStartOfDarkness'', Redcloak and Right-Eye make up their names this way. Their actual names are not revealed.
** In ''Recap/TheOrderOfTheStickOnTheOriginOfPCs'', Roy gets frustrated with his newly formed party trying to name their party after completely arbitrary things (like how they met in a tavern or how it's cloudy on that day), so he sarcastically suggests that they name themselves based on him finding a stick on the road. Sadly for Roy, [[TeamTitle The Order of the Stick]] ends up striking a chord with the party.

* WebAnimation/GridironHeights uses this trope to give us a joke on how the Washington Redskins/Commanders came up with their temporary name, the Washington Football Team:
-->'''Dan Snyder:''' ''(as he is sweeping the Redskins name and logo under a rug)'' Uh...we're the Washington...''(sees Stefon Diggs snatching a football away from Josh Allen)''...Football...''(sees Patrick Mahomes sneaking away with a trio of baseball players)''...Team.

* On ''Roleplay/NeoPokeforum'', this is how the Crow comes up with names for all her pokemon. Zexy's name is a shortened version of nearby printer's brand, while Dirty Harry got his after she spotted dirt on his fur.

* In Youtuber Seamus Gorman’s series on Disney sequels, he plays a recurring character named “Cameron Paperman”, a news reporter named for the camera and the stack of papers he’s holding respectively.

* In the Dr. Watson At War series by Robert Ryan, Watson takes offense when a German FemmeFataleSpy uses the cover name "Adler", thinking it's a reference to Irene Adler from his Literature/SherlockHolmes tales, when she actually took the name from her Klein-Adler typewriter.

* In the Creator/KJParker novel ''Savages'', one of the main characters is [[NoNameGiven introduced as simply "He" and no name is given]], and in the very first chapter, he has his position usurped and his family slaughtered in front of him. After that, he starts wandering, and when a stranger in the forest asks his name, he doesn't know how to answer because of a ThatManIsDead attitude toward his previous life. Then, he sees a raven on a tree and decides to call himself Raffen. The character's real name is revealed late in the novel when his allies restore him to power, but he ends up picking a new name which can be conveniently shortened to Raffen.

* In ''[[Videogame/NintendoWars Advance Wars: Days of Ruin]]'' the amnesiac Isabella first wanted to be called Cattleya (her name in the Japanese and European versions) after Will gives her a (plastic) ''cattleya isabella'' Orchid (a natural hybrid that in real life is only found in Brazil). Will convinces her to go with Isabella instead, because he finds "Cattleya" to have a very awkward pronunciation.

* In ''Film/Rocketman2019'', Reginald Dwight presents "Elton" as his stage name; when asked his last name, he looks at a Beatles poster and chooses "John." (In reality, he was honoring Music/LongJohnBaldry.)

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', there's the character Ser Rolly Duckfield, who was knighted near, you guessed it, a field with ducks in it. There's also Ser Robert Stone, whom Osmund Kettleblack cites as the man who knighted him, but [[spoiler: Jaime]] believes he made up the name from that of [[spoiler: dead]] King Robert and a stone wall in the room.

* In the Dr. Watson At War series by Robert Ryan, Watson takes offense when a German FemmeFataleSpy uses the cover name "Adler", thinking it's a reference to [[Characters/SherlockHolmes Irene Adler]], when she actually took the name from her Klein-Adler typewriter.

* The DVD extras of ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' reveals that this is how PosthumousCharacter Dynaguy came up with his name. While sitting in a diner trying to come up with a superhero name for himself, one of the ideas he had was "Diner Guy". From there he works his way to "Dynaguy".

* How the protagonist of ''LightNovel/TheSorcererKingOfDestructionAndTheGolemOfTheBarbarianQueen'' chooses names. He chose his own name, Dasai Nemaki - literally "Lame Pajamas" - based on what he was wearing when he was summoned to another world.

* ''Film/{{Paddington}}'' gets his name from the train station where the Browns meet him. Though in the film it's played for laughs a bit, since the station name isn't the only thing in line-of-sight initially, leading to some confusion:

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_20230417_113531_samsung_notes_0.jpg]]

* ''Fanfic/BrokenBow'' has Armani Dove, whose name came from his uncle needing to come up with a name beyond 'Little Baby', and noting his ''Armani'' tuxedo and ''Dove'' toothpaste. Armani is not amused when he finds out and tells said uncle he sucks.

* ''LightNovel/IHadThatSameDreamAgain'': Nanoka calls [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Skank-san]] that because the word was scrawled on the nameplate over her door when Nanoka showed up trying to get help to save the black cat's life. She's far too young to know what the word means and Skank-san finds this amusing and decides to just run with it.

* Actor Creator/MichaelCaine chose his stage name after being told on the phone in Leicester Square that his proposed name of "Michael Scott" was taken. Caine then proceeded to glance around the square and saw a sign for ''Film/TheCaineMutiny'', and the rest is history. He has also joked in interviews that if he'd looked the other way he would have ended up as "Michael WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians".

* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':, Gohan was named after his (adoptive) grandfather, who's Four Star Dragon Ball was sitting on a shelf. In Goku and Chichi's defense, Gohan ''had'' cried at every single other suggestion.

* Subverted in S12E01 of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. In response to Lisa asking about her boyfriend's name the witch says 'George…', turns her head, looks at a cauldron and finishes with '…Cauldron. George Cauldron.'
Lisa and Bart don't believe and laugh at her but the actual George Cauldron shows up at the door one moment later.

* In ''Series/{{Jackass}}'': The Movie, one of the skits has Johnny Knoxville dressed as an old man shoplifting in a store. When he is promptly pushed out, he declares to the man: "I was Creator/LonChaney's lover!". He'd just seen his star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at that very moment with no knowledge of the actor.

* In ''Film/Rocketman2019'', Reginald Dwight presents "Elton" as his stage name; when asked his last name, he looks at a Beatles poster and chooses "John." (In reality, he was honoring Long John Baldry.)

-->'''Boss:''' Your new name is Williams... Remo Williams... We put a lot of thought into that. ''[... while casually looking at the imprint on the bottom of a bedpan: Williams Hospital Supply, Remo, AK.]''

* In ''LightNovel/DragonCrisis'', Rose's name is chosen by Ryuuji by him thinking the pattern on her hand looks like a rose.

* The title character of ''LightNovel/VioletEvergarden'' had no name prior to being transferred under Major Gilbert's supervision. The name "Violet" was actually given to her by the Major, who came up with it on the spot when his gaze fell upon a pair of violets growing across the yard from where they were standing at that moment.

[[folder:Comics]]
* In one of the older ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' origin stories, Bruce Wayne is sitting in his study trying to come up with his vigilante name, and contemplating that criminals were a superstitious cowardly lot, when a bat smashes through the window. "That's it, it's like an omen, I shall become a bat". This was expanded nicely in ''Film/BatmanBegins''.

* In ''[[ComicBook/TheSandman The Corinthian]]: Death In Venice'', a beggar attests that he named the titular nightmare after the first thing he saw with his new eye-- a Corinthian pillar.
* ''Franchise/TheFlash:'' Jay Garrick initially didn't have a name for his mystery man antics, until he rescued his girlfriend's father from some kidnappers. One of them remarked that the unseen Jay was "like a flash", and when Major Williams asked who he was, Jay just went with "the Flash".

* ''Series/{{Taxi}}'': Elaine desparately tries to come up with a name for her non-existent boyfriend, and she goes with "Bill Board". When Alex [[SnowballLie inevitably gets dragooned]] into being Bill, he jokes he's better off than his brothers Clip and Switch.