History Main / SpeakOfTheDevil

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The Chinese warlord [[UsefulNotes/ThreeKingdomsShuWeiWu Cao Cao]] (3rd century AD) was so well known for his rapid marches, the Chinese term for this trope since the time was "Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao will appear."
* A once-popular internet meme says this of JustForFun/CandleJack, who kidnaps whomever speaks of him. It's a DiscreditedMeme nowadays - don't use i
* In Spanish, the equivalent idiom for this translates as "Speak of the king of Rome, and through the window he appears."
* In the past, some cultures put a taboo on saying their language's word for "bear", fearing that [[BearsAreBadNews it would summon one]]. This was so prevalent that in many languages, including English, the word used nowadays is actually descended from an euphemism, and the original word was avoided so thoroughly that it has been lost to time. As such, we may never find out what bears were actually called in Olde English.
* The old Swedish had a fear of wolves. It became so prevalent and went on for so long that the most popular nickname stopped being a nickname and became the proper name, though thankfully the fear fell into obscurity before it happened again.
* [[UsefulNotes/TheMafia Mob kingpin Vincent "The Chin" Gigante]] was so feared in the Italian mob that people would point to or touch their chins, or by shaping a C with a thumb and forefinger rather than say his name out loud if they want to refer to him. Other times, they would usually call him "that guy," "my aunt," or "Aunt Julia" when referring to Gigante. This was done to avoid FBI bugs and whatnot. In one instance, a capo in the Lucchese family was given a phony beating to avoid Gigante's wrath when the mobster brought up his name during a conversation.
** This was later copied by Joe Massino of the Bonanno family, as he ordered his men to touch their ears when referring to him. This is how he got the nickname "The Ear."
* Demonologists usually advise people to not speak about the demon while in a demonically infested house. Some activities, like listening to recordings of exorcisms for instructional purposes, are also considered "opening doorways" that could attract the wrong kind of attention.
* In certain Native American tribes (primarily Algonquin and Anishinaabe), wendigos are considered the embodiment of pure evil and people are forbidden from speaking their name. Some [[https://bookriot.com/scary-folklore-creatures/ articles]] on this subject even censor the name to "w*ndigo."
* Tagging somebody's name in a Facebook post alerts that person to the post. It's not uncommon for people to post the name on its own to get their attention.
* Website/{{Tumblr}} allows users to invoke this; putting an @ symbol before their URL allows you to "mention" them, which puts a notification on their dashboard. Just typing someone's URL alone doesn't alert them, but since users have long been hashtagging each other in conversations and the new full-text search appears in the exact same spot as the old tag search it replaced, many of them are now in the habit of searching their own URL and will end up finding you anyway.
* The card of Death (but not, surprisingly, The Devil) in Tarots is also known as "The Nameless Arcane" since many feared that saying its name would summon it.
** Even though it actually has nothing to do with death.
* You know, there's also [[ChurchOfHappyology at least one]] religious movement known to be really touchy about its public image that has a tendency to sic lawyers and protesters on anyone who says even remotely unflattering things about it.
* Hashtags on Website/{{Twitter}} allow one to do this not with a name, but with a topic. For example, if one criticizes a particular group of radicals that rallies under a given hashtag, expect to get flamed by 4-5 defenders of said group telling you that you are evil and that you work for the enemy, etc.
* Website/DeviantArt's mention system can summon certain users if you bring them up in a comment or deviation.
* An old ASVS (alt.startrek.vs.starwars) troll known as Tim was also commonly known as "TOWNMNBS" (The One Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken), due to his tendency to appear whenever anyone mentioned him. He also was known for inventing the "Timsult" a type of [[StealthInsult pseudo-insult]] that was harsh enough to upset the recipient but not harsh enough to [[{{Rules Lawyer}} justify disciplinary action by the board moderators]]. The purpose of which would be to provoke people into using actual insults against him, and then reporting them so they would be banned.
* Critics of Vladimir Putin often refer to him as "Mr. P" (often times in English or another language).
* New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that she would not use the name of the Christchurch shooter to avoid giving him any publicity.
* Numerous tribes in South America, Australia, and other places take this UpToEleven. It's considered bad luck for them to speak a dead person's name; so if a man dies, and his name was, for example, "Fire", then the tribe immediately changes their language by adopting another word for fire. One missionary reported that he spent seven years with the natives of Paraguay, and in that time, they adopted three different successive words for "jaguar".
[[/folder]]

* The Seminole Native Americans have:
** The Stikini: sinister, heart-eating witches that are able to transform into owls at night by ''[[BodyHorror throwing up their organs.]]'' While some communities speak of them as one would speak of the bogeyman, others consider their stories so taboo that only medicine men can safely tell them. The Wendigo of Algonquin folklore follows this principle as well. And for good reason, as anyone familiar with a cannibalistic revenant born from greed and starvation can attest to.
** The Navajo don't openly speak of skin-walkers, considering even acknowledging them as inviting them in. This is among the many reasons why skin-walker depictions in media generally don't amuse Navajo audiences.

* The Seminole Native Americans have the Stikini: sinister, heart-eating witches that are able to transform into owls at night by ''[[BodyHorror throwing up their organs.]]'' While some communities speak of them as one would speak of the bogeyman, others consider their stories so taboo that only medicine men can safely tell them.
** The Wendigo of Algonquin folklore follows this principle as well. And for good reason, as anyone familiar with a cannibalistic revenant born from greed and starvation can attest to.
** The Navajo similarly don't openly speak of skin-walkers, considering even acknowledging them as inviting them in. This is among the many reasons why skin-walker depictions in media generally don't amuse Navajo audiences.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'': The full rhymes (from the cartoon, at least), though rarely used, go:

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!\\\
:: for bringing him into our world, and[=:=]

::when Lydia wants to enter the Neitherworld.

* As stated on the BearsAreBadNews page, people of old didn't dare say "bear", fearing that it would summon one. This was so prevalent that in many languages (including English) the word for bear is actually descended from the euphemism for bear, and the original word has been lost to time.

* [[UsefulNotes/TheMafia Mob kingpin Vincent "The Chin" Gigante]] was so feared in the Italian mob that people would point to or touch their chins, or by shaping a C with a thumb and forefinger rather than say his name out loud if they want to refer to him. Other times, they would usually call him "that guy," "my aunt," or "Aunt Julia" when referring to Gigante. More likely, this was done to avoid FBI bugs and whatnot.

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'':

* A once-popular internet meme says this of JustForFun/CandleJack, who kidnaps whomever speaks of him. It's a DiscreditedMeme nowadays - don't use it.

-->'''Howard:''' ...it's like ''Beetlejuice'', we said his name too many times.

[[/folder]]

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In this ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' fanfiction, Mariko, Tejada and a MookLieutenant are discussing Alan Jonah when they spot him enterting the chamber holing [[TwoBeingsOneBody San and Vivienne Graham]], prompting Mariko to quote the trope ad verbatim.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''The Literature/{{Belgariad}}'', saying the name of Zedar allows him to listen in on your conversation. The protagonists eventually get around this by getting lots of storytellers to retell the tales of Zedar, so he won't notice them amidst all the noise.
* "Hastur" was the name of a benign god in a Creator/AmbroseBierce short story. In ''Literature/TheKingInYellow'', Robert W. Chambers adopted "Hastur" as a mysterious name, most likely a location, with only vague connections to the titular King. Creator/HPLovecraft namedropped Hastur and the Yellow Sign (from Chambers's work) as nebulously connected in "Literature/TheWhispererInDarkness". When Creator/AugustDerleth absorbed Hastur into the greater Franchise/CthulhuMythos, he started using it as the actual name of The King in Yellow, and [[AdaptationDecay re-appropriated]] [[IHaveManyNames non-synonymous titles]] such as "Him Who Must Not Be Named," (likely another euphemistic name for Azathoth) and "The High Priest Not To Be Described" (a minion of Nyarlathotep who might actually be Nyarlathotep) as sobriquets. This spawned the idea in the ExpandedUniverse that referring to him by name was a very bad idea.
** The specific origin of the idea was in the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' supplement ''Deities And Demigods,'' where saying "Hastur" (even once) had a 25% chance of summoning a flock of byakhees. If you defeated the byakhees, there was another 25% chance Hastur himself would appear.
** Not a bad thing but in fact quite good: In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'', saying "Hasturcomeforth" instead of your birth month to a fortune-telling girl would freak her out immensely and let you eventually summon him. (Hastur just loves hearing his name, basically.)
** In the WebComic ''Webcomic/UserFriendly'', Kuan is singing the Badger Song and Sid, annoyed, [[spoiler:gives him a Lovecraft version to sing, substituting "Hastur" for "Badger".]] It looks like [[spoiler:Kuan was KilledOffForReal]] as a result.
** Someone has coined the term "[[{{Neologism}} hasturbating]]" to refer to the process of invoking this meme.
* In the ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' series, mentioning Satan by name will draw his attention. Lachesis and Chronos both mention this to the new incarnation of Death, when Death is investigating a suspiciously premature demise.
* Author Ramsey Campbell created a god for the ''Franchise/CthulhuMythos'' named Y'[[spoiler:Golonac [[note]]You fool! You've doomed us all![[/note]] ]], who could possess a host if they merely read his name. Not even out loud; he could possess a person if they sight-read his name on a printed page. Seeing as he's a god that represents ''every'' deed that could be viewed as defiling by individuals both sane and insane across the universe, this is not a pleasant fate. The accepted version is that reading his name is fine unless you are reading his name from one of the 7 tomes of "The Revelations of Glaaki" which will cause him to appear and either eat or mind rape or enslave you.
* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series, saying The Dark One's true name [[spoiler:Shaitan]] supposedly draws his attention and certainly gives you a nasty fit of bad luck. He's the dark god, you know. So there exist many alternate names for him too - like "father of lies".
* Used in ''Literature/JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell'' with the Raven King, a [[ChangelingFantasy human raised in faerie]] who is the bringer of magic to England, and who is considered the true ruler of those living OopNorth who often make oaths by him. One Northerner, Childermass, declares himself loyal to the Raven King despite his absence, and later is shocked when he meets him and it's clear that The Raven King heard the oath [[spoiler: and is at least mildly amused that Childermass has no idea who he is]]
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series
** Voldemort is ''literally'' called He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named by those who are afraid of saying (or printing) his name, though those using less formal diction call him You-Know-Who. His followers simply call him The Dark Lord. In the earlier books, this is portrayed merely as people being monumentally afraid of Voldemort (and a sign of reverence, in the case of his followers). In the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows last book]], [[spoiler:Voldemort uses this to his advantage by placing a "Taboo" spell upon his name; this causes the speaking of his name to break any protective charms on the area and reveal the location of the speaker to him. Seeing as the only people with the nerve to speak his name are Harry's group and (probably) the Order Of The Phoenix, this is quite clever]].
** In a more benign case, house elves automatically Apparate to the location of their owner when their name is called, regardless of any curses or protective magic that should prevent them. They can even be summoned into the Hogwarts grounds, which is normally impossible.
* In the ''Literature/YoungWizards'' series, speaking any of the Lone Power's nicknames has the danger of drawing Its attention. Even ''thinking'' its true name is ''guaranteed'' to get Its attention unless something is keeping It distracted.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series
** In ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'', it is mentioned that mentioning the Elves by name can draw their attention and even help them cross over from Fairyland, especially around certain times of the year when CropCircles appear. For this reason, the witches of Lancre refer to them by various pseudonyms (such as the Gentry, or the Lords and Ladies), and only feel (barely) comfortable saying their name aloud when in the presence of lots of iron. Although if you're close enough to a portal, even these pseudonyms will draw them. (This is based on old folk beliefs; there's a reason the trope's called TheFairFolk.)
** [[TheIgor Igor]] (any Igor). When the master calls him, Igor will appear directly behind to answer. Makes no difference if Igor was in the basement or on the roof at the time, somehow he will also be out of sight behind his master when the master calls. Some characters have tried to abuse this by standing with a beartrap or a large pit behind them and then calling for their Igor; this never works. Just part of the Igor service package.
** In the early books such as ''Literature/TheColourOfMagic'', one never mentions the true name of The Lady, the Goddess Who Must Not Be Named, which is [[spoiler:Lady Luck]]. An inversion, since she's the only goddess who only comes when ''not'' called and flees when mentioned. The Discworld Companion adds that the Gamblers' Guild once tried worshiping her, and the result was that the building exploded. Not so surprising, since it is later established that Gamblers' Guild is always right across the street from the Alchemists' Guild...
** Wizards are forbidden from saying the number eight because it draws the attention of the EldritchAbomination Bel-Shamharoth, the Sender of Eight.
* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''
** This trope is used often in the books: Gandalf is unwilling to pronounce the ring's verse in the dark, especially in the black speech. There is generally a reluctance from all the characters to use words or names associated with evil things when it is dark. Since the Ring's verse is essentially an evil spell, it's quite understandable why Gandalf doesn't want to speak it in uncontrolled circumstances.
** And in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', Sauron's [[PredecessorVillain former master]] is only ever referred to as "Morgoth" ("Dark Enemy") after this name is given to him by a scornful [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Feanor]]; the "Valaquenta", which describes the names and powers of every significant deity in Arda, explicitly states that his true name, Melkor, "is not spoken upon Earth".
** Even Sauron himself is rarely named, more commonly referred to simply as "The Enemy". His followers don't often use the name "Sauron" either (it means "The Abomination" in Quenya, so Sauron himself doesn't like it much), usually using titles like "The Great Eye" or "The Dark Lord". His true name, Mairon, is remembered only by a few, and none of them consider him worthy of it anymore.
* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'':
** The Ranyhyn, the wild, free and intelligent horses. They have special magic that days or weeks before you call them, they know it and head for where you will be so that as soon as you whistle for them, they are there.
** And in the ''Second Chronicles'' we meet the Sandgorgons, who instantly know when their names are mentioned, even a great distance away, and will run at incredible speeds to find the person who did it [[spoiler: and kill them.]]
** And in the Last Chronicles, speaking She Who Must Not Be Named's true name could ''destroy the universe'' [[spoiler: since she's Diassomer Mininderain, the Lover, a deity on par with the Creator and Lord Foul, and if she ever remembers her true name and stature she'd be able to escape from being imprisoned in reality, with reality itself an unfortunate casualty]].
* A rather literal variant in the ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' series, [[ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming Acheron Hades]] can hear his name if it's spoken within a hundred-mile radius.
* In the Creator/DavidDrake fantasy novel ''The Sea Hag'', TheHero is able to defeat the villain by tricking him into naming Serdic, his [[OldMaster old dead master]]... who then promptly appears and drags the villain away to a NightmareFuel fate, [[ChekhovsGun since he had promised the hero earlier this would happen the next time he was named]].
* In ''Snakecharm'', the second of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' ''Literature/KieshaRa'' series, an unfortunate falcon, masquerading as a serpent, asks Zane if the falcons' ambassador, Syfka, is in town. Syfka pops up almost immediately, telling the rogue falcon, "You were foolish enough to use my name, not once, but ''twice.''" The "...And then you're in deep trouble" aspect is subverted, as Syfka gets into a heated argument with Zane, and when she turns around a moment later, everyone realizes that the man who said his name had run away during the argument.
* In ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', [[MagnificentBastard Cao Cao]] had a tendency to show up whenever his name was being mentioned -- so the saying goes, "Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao is at the gates." Ironically, at one point, this was happening to the man himself -- every time he [[TemptingFate tempted fate]] by mentioning some character on the opposing side, that man would shortly show up.
* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfChaos'', Echinda can detect anyone saying her name; the children resort to referring to "the fishmonger."
* Similar to the ''[[ComicBook/TheSandman Sandman]]'' example above in the ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' series by Rick Riordan, the use of names of various mythological figures or places causes bad things like thunder and darkening of the skies to happen, so the characters tend to avoid using them. It's stated that this is because it gets their attention, and the lightning is only if they're upset with you. Unless you're Dionysus, who responds to Zeus's thunder with a bored "Blah, blah, blah."
** This also applies to monsters. Percy's mom, Sally, pointedly avoids referring to the Minotaur by name, only referring to it as "Pasiphae's son". Similarly, an example of "demigods and technology don't mix" is given as a demigod web searching the other two gorgon sisters inadvertently reviving them.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** Wizards, despite being human, can invoke this. If a person knows a wizard's True Name, they can try to gain control over the person. However, if the Wizard has a stronger will and power, they can reverse the binding and bind the would-be summoner. (In one of the books, Harry's BadassBoast at the end is to give his ''full'' name, and warn: "Conjure by it at your own risk." Of course, that's just in narration. He takes seriously the damage the right enemy could do if he really ''did'' go around putting his full name out there.)
** In ''Storm Front'' an evil sorcerer summons his demon slave by screaming its Name. [[spoiler:Harry, having perfectly heard the Name, then uses his own magic to free the demon from its enslavement without binding it to his own will]].
** Mentioning the [[spoiler:skinwalker/naagloshii]] in ''Turn Coat'' is a very bad idea, since it grows stronger with fear and infamy. So Harry [[TheNicknamer renames it]] "Shagnasty," which lacks the same intimidation factor.
** The Queens of the respective fey courts and many other beings may be summoned this way, though generally the summoner must have a degree of power which they can use to call such entities; otherwise they just fade into the background noise. A good example comes from ''Changes'' - Harry is deep inside enemy territory protected only by the Erlking's respect for SacredHospitality, and he refers to Queen Mab by her name. The Erlking notes if Harry speaks her name a third time in their conversation, it will cause her to be summoned to his domain. Harry then only refers to her as "my queen."
*** Later, when speaking of the Erlking, Harry's Fairy Godmother, the Leanansidhe, calls the Erlking "The Hunter" so as not to summon him.
** Similar to the knights, Mab is mindful to not speak the Names of any being of Power, particularly Fallen Angels and Archangels. She only says their titles. ArchangelMichael is "Prince of the Host." ArchangelRaphael is "The Demon Binder." ArchangelGabriel is "The Trumpeter." ArchangelUriel is "The Watchman."
** Mab, Titania, and their mothers, Mother Winter and Mother Summer[[note]]These two, it should be noted, are comparable to Uriel in power[[/note]], each are hesitant to speak of [[spoiler:Nemesis for fear it might come for them and infect them]]. They simply call it the Adversary.
* In the ''Literature/EvieScelan'' series, Evie threatens people who seem like they are about to call the Bright Brotherhood by their proper name, [[spoiler:Fiana]]. For someone who doesn't mind handing out her true name, she seems surprisingly worried about this.
* In ''Jack of Shadows'', by Creator/RogerZelazny, Jack's powers include the ability to hear any person who speaks his name in shadow and to continue listening in until they move out of it.
* Creator/JackChalker's ''The Changewinds'' begins with the female protagonists learning that they are being threatened by an evil wizard. A mercenary to whom was entrusted the girls' safety decides that the villain is likely to pay better and attempts to attract his attention by saying his name now and then. The girls, discovering this, try to call on the wizard who brought them to this world by saying his name over and over. Of course, with a name like "Boolean", the girls just wound up giggling after a while. It should be noted that neither wizard was summoned, no matter how much their names were dropped.
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Literature/ConanTheBarbarian novel ''Literature/TheHourOfTheDragon'', Zenobia fears it, even though it's a man being spoken of.
-->''"Do not speak of him!" she whispered. "Demons are often summoned by the sound of their names.''
* The Bloody Mary version is weaponized in Seanan [=McGuire=]'s short story "[[https://www.apex-magazine.com/dying-with-her-cheer-pants-on/ Dying With Her Cheer Pants On]]".
* Nearly used in the Literature/SolomonKane story "The Blue Flame of Vengeance", except that Solomon shows up right as the Fishhawk is about to say his name.
* In ''Literature/TheKingkillerChronicle'', the Chandrian have some sense of when and where their name is spoken and ''might'' even be able to locate their depictions in art. Kvothe's father massacred with his troupe when he tries to compose a song about them, and the Adem only reveal the Chandrian's true names to Kvothe after warning him to "travel 1000 miles and wait 1000 nights" before speaking them again.
* In Creator/FredSaberhagen's ''Literature/{{Empire of the East}}'', the arch-wizard Wood (itself an alias) is too afraid to say the demon-prince [[BigBad Orcus']] name, or even think it. He still proposes to [[SealedEvilInACan release him]], though.
* In The ''Literature/GriffinsDaughter Trilogy'', the Nameless One's true name had been stricken from elven records and lore, to keep others from trying to invoke IKnowYourTrueName and claim the Nameless One's power, either becoming as big a threat as The Nameless One or inadvertently [[SealedEvilInACan unleashing him on the world]].
* ''From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain'' by Minister Faust, heroes are paranoid about mentioning the name of a ridiculously powerful psychic supervillain because saying his name aloud allows him to instantly teleport to your location. This is despite the fact that he's been locked up and contained for over two decades.
* In ''[[Literature/TheRiftwarCycle Rage of a Demon King]]'', it is revealed that saying the true name of The Unnamed is not necessary to come under his power; merely thinking or even ''knowing'' it is sufficient.
* In ''Literature/{{Pact}}'', speaking the name of someone generates a connection between you and them, one which they can notice. Speaking it repeatedly causes an effect that's described as an itch that can't be scratched, which usually will cause them to seek you out to make it stop. This principle applies to everything from bog-standard practitioners, to [[AnthropomorphicPersonification the Lord of Toronto]], to [[TheLegionsOfHell a duke of the first demonic choir]].
* ''Literature/{{Ward}}'': parahumans in general try to avoid talking about Khepri, the cape who orchestrated the end of [[Literature/{{Worm}} Gold Morning]], due to the traumatic means ([[spoiler:mind-controlling nearly every living cape at once]]) Khepri used to do that and a general unspoken fear of attracting Khepri's attention again. Often, even the name "Khepri" is not used, and they're referred to as "an unknown [[PersonOfMassDestruction Class-S cape]]". [[spoiler:In truth, Khepri was de-powered and couldn't come back even if she wanted to, but even those who know her true identity and circumstances seem to consider "Khepri" and "Taylor" as two different beings.]]
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': No one wants to refer to Tasio by his name, because that would attract his attention. The speaker and everyone around him could be subjected to anything from a petty prank to a terrifying catastrophe. This is why Tasio has so many nicknames, with "The Trickster" being most common among them. [[Literature/AMagesPower In the first book]], Eric is yelled at several times for violating this taboo, [[Literature/LoomingShadow and in the second]], Emily is BoundAndGagged for deliberately doing so.
* [[GodOfEvil Allasakar]] is the BigBad of ''The Sacred Hunt'', ''Literature/TheSunSword'' and ''The House War'', and ''nobody'' likes to say his name, regardless of origin or affiliation. In the North, he's known as the Lord of the Hells, in the south as the Lord of Night, and to his minions simply as "the Lord" without qualification; he's also referred to by the euphemism "the god we do not name". While the consequences of naming him aren't elaborated on in detail, the taboo is deeply ingrained enough that even saying "Allasakar" aloud is considered a sign of courage (or overconfidence).
* In John French's ''Literature/ThousandSons'' novels, no one ever refers to the [[EldritchAbomination Chaos Gods]] by name, presumably for fear of drawing their attention. Any character that must talk about them will use epithets like the Lord of Skulls (for Khorne), the Changer of Ways (for Tzeentch), or the Plague Father (for Nurgle).
* ''Literature/JohannesCabalAndTheFearInstitute'': In an attempt to bluff a horde of enemies, Johannes pretends to invoke the EldritchAbomination Nyarlathotep to strike them dead, and is [[OhCrap horrified beyond words]] when Nyarlathotep hears and obliges. [[spoiler:{{Subverted|Trope}} with TheReveal that Nyarlathotep has been [[GodInHumanForm traveling with him incognito]] since the beginning.]]
* ''Literature/GodsOfJadeAndShadow'': The {{Physical God}}s of TheUnderworld notice when their names are spoken, but need to send a spirit {{Familiar}} to the mortal world to [[AnimalEyeSpy see]] who's calling. Since their worship fell out of style, they're spoken of so rarely that they're ''much'' more likely to investigate.
* ''Literature/UnderThePendulumSun:'' Speaking an old or powerful [[TheFairFolk Fae's]] name risks drawing their attention or invoking their power. People repeatedly caution Catherine against naming Queen Mab, and an icy wind blows out her lantern when she does so anyway. Someone immediately cuts her off when she starts to speak a vastly older name, [[spoiler:Lilith]].
[[/folder]]

* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'': The immortal sketch "[[InadvertentEntranceCue I didn't expect some kind of Spanish Inquisition!]]" "''NOBODY'' expects the Spanish Inquisition!" Which turns into a new joke in the final scene of the episode, where the Inquisition somehow knows that someone said the words, but they're across town, so they have to rush to catch a bus to get to the person in question and say their lines before the episode ends.
* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'': "Say my name and I appear. Why have you summoned Quagmire here?" Quagmire is an ''enemy'' of the villain.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** In an early episode, the boys fight Bloody Mary. Needless to say, this trope comes into effect. [[spoiler: The boys finish her off by getting her to look into a mirror and letting her own reflection turn her powers on her and destroy her]].
** Angels can hear people praying to them, but they don't always listen. In Season 6, Sam and Dean have both tried praying to Castiel with no luck. Sam begins to rant about how their friend is ignoring him before he recognizes a look in Dean's eyes and realizes "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

* Neil on ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' once summoned the demon Futumsch to Neil's shared flat by saying his name, which was due to him wondering what Mike was talking about. Not that any of the guys ever noticed Futumsch was there, mind. (Futumsch complains about his name being an obstacle to being summoned.)
* In Brazilian sitcom ''Toma Lá, Dá Cá'', whenever the apartment manager's name is mentioned, she knocks at the door and comes in. At a certain point of the show, the savvy characters would try to stop whenever someone started saying her name.
* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' mentioning "Johnny the tackling Alzheimer's patient" will result in JD being tackled by Johnny at least once in that episode.
-->'''Johnny:''' Who am I?! ''[tackle]''
* The ''Series/TalesFromTheDarkside'' episode "Seasons of Belief" has a couple on Christmas Eve telling their kids the story of a monster who's so full of himself, if he hears anyone say his name, his ears will transform into wings and he'll hunt them down and squeeze the life from them, (often while singing a song about himself). Supposedly, the only way to get rid of him is to finish telling the story about him. [[spoiler: The parents stop to assure their kids that it's just a story and that there's nothing to be afraid of. The monster takes this moment to reach inside the house and crush the skulls of the parents, (though curiously leaves the children alone, despite them all having said his name). In the short story the episode was based on, the monster was implied to have killed everyone.]]
* In ''Series/RaisingHope'', the Dog-Head Man knows when people are talking about him. At least, according to Jimmy.

* In the ''Series/Warehouse13'' episode "13.1", Claudia and Fargo hide from attacking robots in an artifact crate, and the artifact starts to activate. Fargo starts to ask if the artifact is what he thinks it is. Claudia stops him, as things will get ugly if he says its name.
* ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'' Played for laughs in a RunningGag. Wherever Charlie may be, he knows his stalker Rose, is always within earshot. So he just has to say her name and she'll say "Yeah?" usually from an unseen location.

* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' pulls this as something of a BrickJoke. The word ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}'' is said three times in the show, and on the third utterance, he walks through the background.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' also used ''Beetlejuice'' for a [[http://youtu.be/19FMU3M7Jtk stealth gag]] that [[BrickJoke ran over the course of three years.]] Watch behind Annie at the end of the clip.
* ''Series/TheDefenders2017'':
** ''Series/Daredevil2015''
*** Wilson Fisk insists that his fellow criminals not mention him by name as he is obsessed with his own secrecy. Vladimir sneers that the only reason he does this is that if they do use his name it would take away some of the mystique and intrigue about who he is.
*** Said verbatim by Karen when Fisk appears on television while she, Matt, and Foggy are talking about him at Josie's in the aftermath of Mrs. Cardenas' death.
*** In Season 3, Ray Nadeem is blackmailed into working for Fisk, and discovers to his shock that all his fellow FBI agents had been blackmailed by Fisk earlier on. When he tries to discuss the situation with them, he's told by Dex to shut up as they do not use their new boss's name, only referring to him by [[MythologyGag his]] [[CodeName code name]]: "[[ComicBook/TheKingpin Kingpin]]".
** ''Series/JessicaJones2015'':
*** Kilgrave has commanded Hope Schlottman into shooting her parents in an elevator in Jessica's building. Trish tries to use her radio show to raise sympathy for Hope, but when Jeri is doubtful, Trish, who knows very well Kilgrave is real as well as what he did to Hope and Jessica, starts a tirade which devolves into bashing Kilgrave. Jessica immediately enters the booth to cut Trish's mike, realizing Kilgrave is likely listening in. Guess who calls in to the show that very second?
--->'''Kilgrave:''' First time caller, long time listener. Trish, I want to applaud your courage. You've always been a hero to the downtrodden. Self-preservation be damned. It's admirable. [[ShameIfSomethingHappened But my question is, if there really is a man with the abilities you've described, someone who could make anyone, anywhere, do whatever he wanted them to do, seems to me that insulting him would be wildly dangerous. Or, let's just say it, stupid in the extreme. Everyone has feelings, even, um, how did you put it? Sadistic, corrosive men?]] [[ImpliedDeathThreat Are you worried he might, I don't know, make you kill yourself? Or worse?]] I'll take my answer off the air.
*** Lampshaded in the first episode of season 2 when Trish is trying to get her boss at the radio station to be more supportive of her efforts to expose IGH, she gets annoyed at his hesitancy to use IGH's name, saying "You can say 'IGH', Ian, they're not Voldemort."
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. Seen with Glory, the BigBad of Season 5. In her introductory episode, Giles warns Buffy that anything that goes unnamed is either an object of deep worship or great fear. Or both. Glory turns out to be a physical God who's literally worshiped by her minions and is the most powerful foe Buffy has faced at the time. The SpeakOfTheDevil trope is also used [[TemptingFate tongue-in-cheek]] in a scene where they encounter Ben, unaware that the BigBad is actually possessing him.
-->'''Tara:''' Let's just call She Who Cannot Be Named another name. Let's call her--\\
'''Buffy:''' ''[seeing a familiar face]'' Ben!
* All but invoked in one episode of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', when Leonard and Howard are at Raj's place to have dinner with him and his sister Priya. Sheldon is notably absent, as he prefers not to go to Raj's and has instead arranged a party of his own. The others find themselves missing him, much to their surprise, and tell Priya a few Sheldon stories. Suddenly, they're interrupted by Sheldon knocking on the door.
-->'''Howard:''' ...it's like ''Beetlejuice'', we said his name too many times.

* Taken UpToEleven with [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/taboo the anomaly that isn't 4000 despite coming after 3999 and before 4001]]. It's '''[[green: a forest where nothing has a name]]''', and for the sake of humanity as a whole, it needs to stay that way. When referring to anything within (including oneself, if one is visiting the forest), using anything that could be considered a name or title (including descriptive phrases, if used multiple times for the same object) results in various Bad Things, including summoning elements of '''[[green: the place outside the named world]]''' onto Earth, BodyHorror, and [[spoiler: '''[[red: those who call the wood their home]]''' stealing your identity and trapping you in their place.]]

** In TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms saying the name of a Chosen of Mystra (such as Seven Sisters) outside of dead magic areas alerts them and allows them to hear the next nine words uttered by the speaker. This was used a few times both for startling folk by quoting their previous statements and more important things -- e.g. in ''[[Literature/TheElminsterSeries Elminster's Daughter]]'' some Red Wizards with a hostage made Elminster swear he will not act against them, and then he began to mumble something repetitive. If you know who [[TheDreaded The Simbul]] is, the rest of this scene is [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill as obvious as it is messy]].

** One [=DnD=] sourcebook (likely ''The Book of Vile Darkness'') relates the story of a particularly huge prick of a merchant who would take advantage of this rule by selling a parrot to rich-looking individuals. When they got out of town and onto a deserted stretch of road, their new pet would fly away and start shrieking the name of Orcus--a freaking [[EvilOverlord demon lord]]--who would appear and murder the poor saps. After Orcus had teleported back to the Abyss, the merchant would then gather up his dead victims' gear. That he would pull this trick repeatedly says something horrible about the merchant and a little pathetic about Orcus, who apparently has a lot of free time on his hands.

** Although it's been referenced in several other tropes, the legend of the Serpent's Coil still (sort of) counts. A 2nd edition myth that made it into 3.0 before being retconned out at the end of 3.5, the myth went that Asmodeus, the king of Hell, was actually a very advanced illusion or perhaps an avatar of some sort; his ''true'' shape was a [[EldritchAbomination miles-long monstrosity of utter, incomprehensible evil]]. When he was hurled from the celestial planes into Hell, this form crashed through the dimension's reality - creating the nine levels of Hell - and came to rest in a deep, spiraling crater at the very bottom of The Pit. In an aversion of this trope, however, telling someone this story didn't summon Asmodeus: it simply caused the storyteller to die within 24 hours (by unspecified means). Which is about on par for drawing the attention of overwhelmingly powerful evil uberdeities.

** The 1980 TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons ''Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia'' stated that naming Hastur aloud could result in his sending some Byakhee to kill you. If they failed, he might appear himself to finish the job. Tricking a player into doing so has long been a favorite means of [[RocksFallEveryoneDies ending a game that has gone sour]].
** The ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' fan-made PrestigeClass called the Folkloric Warlock gains the ability to do this at a high level.
** In a meta example, because "Dungeons & Dragons" is very much trademarked, third-party settings and games inspired by it (such as ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'') never refer to it as such. Instead, they refer to it obliquely as "the world's greatest roleplaying game" or, in the case of competitors, "the roleplaying game invented by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson".

* New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that she would not use the name of the Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant to avoid giving him any publicity.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', the series main villain, Muzan Kibutsuji, is the progenitor of all demons in the series, he rules his creations with absolute terror to such an effect that he actually curses them with a spell that renders any demon utterly incapable of ever uttering his name, or trying to merely hint at his location; being absolutely terrified of Muzan prevents a regular demon from even trying to challenge this curse, but one demon is tricked via demonic spell to do so, and accordingly the demon is immediately killed on the spot by Muzan's will. Muzan's strongest and loyal demons never call him by name, always referring him as "that person", "sir" or "my lord"; [[spoiler:being able to voice disgust at Muzan is the first thing that Tamayo did once his spell on her was broken, after the legendary fight against Yoriichi]].
** [[spoiler:However, there’s one specific exception where Muzan allows for demons, at least those part of the Upper Ranks in the Twelve Kizuki, to say his name: when being in the same room as him, without a single human in sight, while showing utmost reverence; Akaza, Daki and Kokushibo had one stance each where they could call Muzan by name]].

* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', when questioned about the Sith [[EvilMentor Kreia]] states this is the case with the HumanoidAbomination Darth Nihilus, stating that so much as "a stray thought" is enough to draw his attention.

* In Celtic folklore, the Sluagh are a horde of soul-devouring ghosts in the form of crows, who can be summoned by saying their name or falling into a state of depression. They may have been the inspiration for ''Literature/TheRaven''.

** [[spoiler:However, there’s one specific exception where Muzan allows for demons, at least those part of the Upper Ranks in the Twelve Kizuki, to say his name: when being in the same room as him, without a single human in sight, while showing utmost reverence; Akaza and Kokushibo had one stance each where they could call Muzan by name]].

* Nearly used in the SolomonKane story "The Blue Flame of Vengeance", except that Solomon shows up right as the Fishhawk is about to say his name.

This makes talking about the villain problematic, as he has to be referred to as "The Enemy" or [[Franchise/HarryPotter "He Who Must Not Be Named" or "You Know Who"]], or just by a nickname, as with {{Satan}}, who may be called "Old Nick" or "Mister Scratch" (or LouisCypher). Sometimes these nicknames are conspicuously positive, just in case they're listening anyway, as with TheFairFolk, because you do ''not'' want to face down a pissed-off faerie. If referring to him by any name summons him, then you're screwed.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'', after Shulk, Reyn, and Sharla make it out of the Ether Mine, Shulk remarks that they still haven't found the faced mechon who [[spoiler:attacked Colony 9 and killed Fiora]] earlier. Cue Metal Face floating up behind them and surprising them with a taunt.

[[quoteright:184:[[Webcomic/{{XKCD}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xkcd_555_edit.png]]]]

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', the series main villain, Muzan Kibutsuji, is the progenitor of all demons in the series, he rules his creations with absolute terror to such an effect that he actually curses them with a spell that renders any demon utterly incapable of ever uttering his name, or trying to merely hint at his location; being absolutely terrified of Muzan prevents a regular demon from even trying to challenge this curse, but one demon is tricked via demonic spell to do so, and accordingly the demon is immediately killed on the spot by Muzan’s will. Muzan’s strongest and loyal demons never call him by name, always referring him as "that person", "sir" or "my lord"; [[spoiler:being able to voice disgust at Muzan is the first thing that Tamayo did once his spell on her was broken, after the legendary fight against Yoriichi]].

** Variant in chapter 13, when Spike wonders if Discord is responsible for Twilight’s old potions turning into the creature living in the refrigerator, behind the mayonnaise, next to the ketchup, and to the left of the coleslaw. A letter from him, not necessarily denying it, promptly pops into Spike's claws.

* In ''FanFic/EgyptOnAnurKhufos'', Pharaoh Rehk’Set suddenly appears after his name is spoken by one of his underlings.
-->'''Rehk’Set:''' Whosoever mentions my name is either in need of my presence, or is my enemy.

-->'''Daggett:''' Ah, clearly you don’t know much of anything, do you?! Where is Bane?

* In John French’s ''Literature/ThousandSons'' novels, no one ever refers to the [[EldritchAbomination Chaos Gods]] by name, presumably for fear of drawing their attention. Any character that must talk about them will use epithets like the Lord of Skulls (for Khorne), the Changer of Ways (for Tzeentch), or the Plague Father (for Nurgle).

* The Rail Tracer in ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}!'' is something of a [[spoiler:''triple'']] subversion. At first, it's pretty obvious that it's a relatively harmless UrbanLegend delivered by two {{Cloudcuckoolander}}s and a chirpy train conductor that had the misfortune of coinciding with a train hijack. Then episode 6 rolls along and shows the aforementioned hijackers getting picked off by this... ''[[UltimateEvil thing]]'', proving that it just might be RealAfterAll. And then comes the WhamEpisode (let's just say that [[spoiler:it's a ''really'' bad idea to give the aforementioned chirpy train conductor/part-time PsychoForHire a reason for a RoaringRampageOfRevenge]])...