Named After Somebody Famous / Anime & Manga

Characters Named After Somebody Famous in Anime and Manga.

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Ryu & Co. talk about Isaac Asimov

• Asteroid in Love: An in-universe example in the eighteenth chapter, adapted as part of the fifth episode. Misa names the koi fishes at the school pond after several physicists: Feynman, (Paul) Dirac, Fermi, and (John) Cockcroft.
• In Bakusou Kyoudai! Let's & Go!!, the main characters' names, Retsu and Gou, are a pun on "Let's go!". Also, combined with their friend Jun, the three are named for Jun Retsugou, the stage name of Yoshiji Watanabe, one of the members of a 70s Japanese manzai comedy trio.
• Legosi/Legoshi from Beastars is a wolf named after Bela Lugosi, who played the titluar character of The Wolf Man (1941). Bill the tiger might also be a case of this, perhaps being named after Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes.
• Black Butler: Snake's snakes are named Bronte, Oscar, Wilde, Keats, Wordsworth, and Webster.
  • Heck, a lot of characters are either named after someone famous (look up Sebastien Michaelis on the other wiki), or are someone famous themselves such as the Queen and her bodyguards.
• Black Clover:
  • Jack the Ripper is named after the infamous, unidentified serial killer in London in 1888.
  • Gordon Agrippa's surname comes from Henry Cornelius Agrippa, a German occultist.
  • Rill Boismortier's last name is from Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, a French baroque composer.
• In Bleach the top ten Arrancar, the Espada, are all named after, of all things, European architects and designers.
• The protagonist of Blue Ramun is Jessie Jackson. One letter off from the spelling used by civil rights icon Jesse Jackson.
• Bungo Stray Dogs names all of its characters after writers, Japanese, American and Russian. It also names and bases things off their works, which is most apparent in their Abilities (e.g. Steinbeck can make grapevines). On a deeper level, there are many, many references to the biographies after said authors as well. (e.g. Kyouka Izumi having Bunnies for Cuteness).
• Case Closed:
  • The titular character (as the series is titled Detective Conan in Japan and other countries) is named Conan Edogawa, named after detective fiction authors Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edogawa Ranpo. In-universe, this doubles as a Line-of-Sight Alias that Shinichi Kudo came up with by reading the spines of some books nearby.
  • In a similar vein, Prof. Agasa's surname is derived from the Romaji for Agatha Christie's first name.
  • Ran Mouri's name is derived from the Japanese transliteration of Maurice Leblanc (i.e. Mourisu Ruburan), creator of Arsène Lupin.
• Code Geass: Nina Einstein, who went on to develop the Geass-world's first Weapon of Mass Destruction, the FLEIJA warhead.
• The three recurring old geezers on Cowboy Bebop had thematic names — Antonio, Carlos, and Jobim. Put them together and you get the name of a famous musician.
• In Cromartie High School, all of the schools, including the titular one, are named after foreigners that played on Japanese baseball teams.
• Doraemon: Nobita and the Tin Labyrinth have it's Big Bad, Professor Napogistler, who's named after Napoleon, Genghis Khan, and Adolf Hitler. And he's not even from Earth!
• El-Hazard: The Magnificent World: Katsuhiko becomes the Bugrom's military leader, and gains six Bugrom underlings. He nicknames them Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, Gummo (after the fifth Marx Brother who didn't appear in any of the movies) and Margaret(after Margaret Dumont, who frequently played Groucho's love interest/straight woman).
• The same goes for the adopted children of the eponymous character of Eureka Seven: Maurice, Maeter, and Linck after the Nobel Prize-winning essayist and author of The Blue Bird Of Happiness.
• Due to Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Medieval Europe that The Familiar of Zero takes place in, it's no wonder some of the characters are named after somebody famous. Examples:
  • Our main tsundere mage heroine Louise. She is named after Louise de La Valliere, one of Louis XIV's mistresses who became a duchess.
  • Tabitha aka Charlotte Helene Orleans, the Captain Ersatz mage to Yuki Nagato of Haruhi fame, is named after Helene d'Orleans.
  • The seductive "Subtle Flame" that is Kirche? Her Overly Long Name is Kirche Augusta Frederika von Anhalt Zerbst. The character sheet mentions her name is taken from Sophia Augusta Frederika of Anhalt-Zerbst, who is none other than Catherine the Great.
  • The campy Scarron is named after Paul Scarron, a novelist, playwright, and poet who lived during the time of Louis XIV.
• In-universe example in Fist of the North Star, where Kenshiro was named after a previous Hokuto Shinken successor. Said successor's name? Kenshiro Kasumi.
• Gou Matsuoka from Free! is named for Oeyo (AKA Gou), a female historical figure from the late Sengoku Jidai, despite being generally a boy's name. She doesn't want people to call her that, though.
• Edward and Alphonse from Fullmetal Alchemist are named after real-life medieval alchemists, as is Hohenheim.
• Future GPX Cyber Formula: Knight Shoemach is named for famous Formula One champion Michael Schumacher (who was in Formula Three at the time the character was introduced) and Leon Earnhardt is named after NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt, Sr.
• Forensics inspector Haraway, from Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, is named after Real Life scholar Donna Haraway.
• There are a lot of characters in anime and manga named after Sengoku and Meiji era personalities. For a specific example, Gintama's characters keep the surnames, but their given names are changed a little. You get Sakata Gintoki (Kintoki), Okita Sougo (Souji), Hattori Senzo (Hanzo) just to name three of them.
• In Girls und Panzer, with its huge cast, most opposing teams named characters follow a theme. Teams that use famous people include the History Club team (historic figures), Volleyball team (Japan's 1964 Olympic volleyball team), Freshman team (Japan's 2011 World Cup soccer team), and Automotive Club team (race car drivers).
• Mecha pilot Jung Freud from Gunbuster (named after Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud).
• Gundam:
  • Mobile Suit Gundam: Creator Yoshiyuki Tomino says that Char Aznable is named after the French musician, Charles Aznavour.
  • Trowa Barton from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing was named for Tim Burton; Masashi Ikeda, the director of Wing, is an unabashed fan of Burton's works and directorial style.
  • Two members of the Shrike Team in Mobile Suit Victory Gundam are named after Jazz singers Helen Merrill and Mahalia Jackson, just with the surnames switched.
  • Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn: Audrey Burne is named after Audrey Hepburn. This is true In-Universe as well: the name is an alias she made up on the spot, inspired by a billboard featuring Hepburn. Her true name is Mineva Lao Zabi.
• Hello! Sandybell: Alec Peterson is named after Alec Duncan Campbell Peterson. Both are British men that marry wealthy British heiresses.
• Pariston Hill from Hunter × Hunter is named after Paris Hilton.
• I Want to Eat Your Pancreas: The protagonist's name turns out to be this. His name is Haruki Shiga, named for Haruki Murakami and Naoya Shiga.
• Almost everybody in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is named after a band, movie, or rock star.
  • Dio Brando, the main villain of Part 1 and Part 3, is named after both Ronnie James Dio and Marlon Brando.
  • Kars, Esidisi, and Wamuu, the three villains of Part 2, are named after The Cars, AC/DC, and Wham! respectively.
  • The Action Girl-centered Stone Ocean saga of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has characters named after fashion designers — Emporio, Pucci, Annasui, Hermes, and Versace — in addition to the usual rock bands (Foo Fighters).
  • Turns out that Gyro Zeppeli's true name is Iulius Caesar Zeppeli. This is actually lampshaded in-story, unlike Caesar from part 2.
• Kaguya-sama: Love Is War :
  • Karen and Erika have their last names taken from (respectively) a Heian-era poet and painter. This is meaningful in two ways. First, it fits their roles in the mass media club. Second, they break the established Shout-Out Theme Naming of the rest of the cast, representing how they are both viewing the ongoing plot from the outside.
  • In Chapter 214, Kaguya finds (what she assumes to be) a stray cat and decides to call them "Edward of Woodstock". The cat's actual name (Gomanosuke) doesn't qualify.
• Kimba's father from Kimba the White Lion is named Caesar and one of the villains is named Cassius, which reflected his bitter past with Caesar.
• In Kotoura-san, Yuriko's mother Chizuru Mifune was named after a Real Life clairvoyant, Chizuko Mifune, per Word of God.
• Lady!!: Lynn's daughter Diana is named after Diana, Princess of Wales, whereas her son George is named after her late father. Don't worry, the anime adaptation spares Papa Russell from dying.
• La Seine No Hoshi:
  • Hans Kaunitz is of minor Austrian nobility. His name is a reference to the Austrian/Czech diplomat Wenzel Anton of Kaunitz.
  • Since the anime is about The French Revolution, it's possible Danton is named after the revolutionary Charles Danton.
• Friedrich and Voltaire, Caro's dragons in Lyrical Nanoha. If you don't recognize the names, you need to brush up on your European philosophers.
• Eisaku Noguchi from March Comes in Like a Lion has his name and looks derived from a famous Japanese bacteriologist, Hideyo Noguchi (né Seisaku).
• Maria Watches Over Us uses names of samurai and noble families for most of its important characters. Exceptions to this rule are specifically pointed out (Yumi and Sei).
• The My-HiME and My-Otome mangaverses have late-story antagonists named after Marie-Antoinette and Yang Guifei.
• The villainous robots/cyborgs in Metal Guardian Faust are named after Santa's reindeer and have name-appropriate enhancements (Vixen has robotic tails, Blitz generates Electro Magnetic Pulses, Dasher is incredibly fast, etc.).
• Tohru from Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid was named after an author from Earth (one of her father's friends had plagiarized the author's works via precognition). The identity of the author is never specified, but it's hinted to be J. R. R. Tolkien.
• Machinegal's Dolls from Moldiver all bear the names of famous Western and Japanese models and actresses, the most obvious being Nastassja (Kinski), Vivien (Leigh), Brooke (Shields), and Elizabeth (Taylor).
• Naruto has a number of characters named after figures associated with ninja/samurai:
  • Danzo Shimura and Dan Kato are named after Kato Danzo.
  • Two relatively important supporting characters are named Hanzo and Mifune.
  • In real life, Hattori Hanzo was part of the Iga ninja clan, whose members included Momochi Sandayu and Fujibayashi Nagato. The former is the namesake of Zabuza Momochi, while the latter is the namesake of, well, Nagato (though he is also partly named after a class of WWII-era Japanese battleship, as his parents, Ise and Fuso, also share their names with WWII-era battleships).
  • The entire Sarutobi clan, as well as Sasuke Uchiha, are named after Sarutobi Sasuke. It's mentioned that Sasuke's namesake is the Third Hokage's father, and since the Third is a Sarutobi, this means his name is Sasuke Sarutobi.
  • While following the template used by other ninja villages, Kirigakure is also named after Kirigakure Saizo, Sarutobi Sasuke's fellow ninja and teammate as part of the fabled Sanada Ten Braves.
  • The toad ninja as a whole have a prominent Yakuza theme naming. Gamabunta is named after Bunta Sugawara, a late actor best known for starring in the Yakuza films Battles Without Honor and Humanity. Gamaken is named after Ken Takakura, another late actor who was something of Sugawara's rival when they were alive. Gamahiro's namesake is Hiroshima, a city that's stereotyped in Japan as a magnet of gangsters (in fact, Gamabunta speaks in the Hiroshima dialect, popularized as a typical Yakuza dialect in Sugawara's films). The toad sage Fukasaku is named after Kinji Fukasaku, director of the aforementioned Battles Without Honor and Humanity, while his wife Shima's name is yet another homage to Hiroshima.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion:
  • Adam, father of the angels, and Lilith mother of all terrestrial life are named after the first man from the bible, and his first wife from Jewish mythology. This is somewhat of an Invoked Trope - these aren't actually their names (after all, they're aliens that are millions of years old) - but they were given them by Seele, a Apocalypse Cult with Kabbalistic trappings who give everything names coming from Christianity or Judaism, such as the Angels (both the species name and their individual names) and the Lance of Longinus.
  • Keel Lorenz, chairman of Seele; he's named after Konrad Lorenz, a zoologist best known for his work on Imprinting: in the Proposal for the show, he 'was' named Konrad Lorenz, but was presumably renamed to fit with the show's nautical Theme Naming.
• Ninja Hattori: Hattori Hanzo and his brother Hattori Shinzo are named after Hattori Hanzō, one of the most famous ninjas in Japanese history.
• The vast majority of characters in No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular! are named after baseball players, especially members of the Chiba Lotte Marines.
• In Episode 4 of Obsolete, Captain Wangchuk of the Ladakh Scouts is a reference to decorated Indian Army Colonel Sonam Wangchuk.
• One Piece:
  • Many characters are named after pirates or explorers. Roronoa Zoro is named after François L'Ollonais, Jewelry Bonney after Anne Bonney, and many others.
  • Outside of that, Nefertari Vivi's surname comes from the Egyptian queen Nefertari. Fitting for the princess of a desert country.
• Pokémon: The Series:
  • Ash and Gary's Japanese names, Satoshi and Shigeru. They were named after Satoshi Tajiri, creator of the Pokémon games, and Shigeru Miyamoto, his mentor.
  • Team Rocket, in the English dub: Jessie + James = Jesse James, Butch + Cassidy = Butch Cassidy, etc. Jessie and James's Japanese names also serve, as they were named after samurai: Musashi and Kojiro. Butch and Cassidy are just "theme named" to accompany the original duo: Kosaburo ("jiro": second son, "Saburo": third son) and Yamato (the sister ship of the Musashi battleship).
  • Jessie also has this with her mother in Japanese: Miyamoto and Musashi.
  • The fifth Pokémon movie, Pokémon Heroes, had two Team Rocket members Annie and Oakley, named after Annie Oakley.
  • The main villain of the nineteenth movie, Pokémon: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, is named Alva, derived from Thomas Edison's middle name. Appropriately enough, his plan involves using the works of a scientist named Nikola.
• In Queen's Blade, Leina Vance and her family are named after the American fantasy and sci-fi writer, Jack Vance, who was a major influence for Dungeons & Dragons, which many fantasy series, Queen's Blade included, took some inspiration from it.
• Rave Master had Deep Snow's Quirky Miniboss Squad named after actors who've portrayed James Bond, including Dalton the Chrysalis, Lazenby of the White Flame, Goldeneye Brosnan, and Moore the Full Moon.
• The Paper Sisters in the Read or Die TV series are named after the three actresses who played the main characters in The Heroic Trio.
• Red Baron (the Animated Adaptation of Super Robot Red Baron) has Freud, Asimov and Marilyn, the three scientists working for Kaiser within the Iron Mask organization. They're named after Sigmund Freud, Isaac Asimov and Marilyn Monroe.
• Ryu's Path: Ryu names the rogue robot Isaac, after Isaac Asimov. Asimov was known for writing sci-fi novels and popularizing many tropes pertaining to it such as 20 Minutes into the Future and Robot Buddy.
• In the original Japanese version of Samurai Pizza Cats, the New York Pizza Cats' original Japanese names are as follows:
  • Sundance Kid = Michael, who even does Jackson's dance moves, including his Moonwalk.
    Michael (in Gratuitous English): Hey you! Bad! Bad! You are bad!
  • Dee Dee = Madonna
  • Cosmo = Prince
• Fuura Kafuka (actually an alias) and Arai Chie (which can also be read as "Ni Chie") from Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei are named after Franz Kafka and Friedrich Nietzsche, respectively.
• The author of the obscure manga Space Family Carlvinson must have been a fan of American sci-fi and horror movies, since two supporting characters are anthropomorphic dogs named John Carpenter and John Landis. Moreover, Carpenter is apparently a parasitic shape-shifting lifeform, so he also homages one of the real John Carpenter's most famous films, The Thing (1982).
• Speed Racer's Japanese name, Go Mifune (as well as the last name of the rest of his family), was named for famous Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune.
• An episode of Squid Girl features 2 dolls named Johnny and Depp.
• The girls in Strike Witches are named after real-life ace pilots.
• Ran, Miki, and Suu from Shugo Chara! were named after the members of Candies, a Japanese girl group from the 1970s.
• In Private Actress, the heroine's mother Sayuri Nagasawa was named after Sayuri Yoshinaga, a famous Japanese actress.
• This seems to be the case with Zhuge Ming Meng, the lead of Cheating Craft (though the reference to Zhuge Liang is obscured if you're watching the Crunchyroll subs, which just go with the Japanese transliteration, "Shoukatsu Mumei"). Later subverted when he discovers he's a descendant of Zhuge Liang, so it's not just a reference.
• Zombie Land Saga: Yugiri shares her name with a real-life courtesan from the 17th century, who was in turn named after a character from The Tale of Genji.