Basic Trope: A character is referred to by a name that... isn't their name.
- Straight: Alice often calls Bella "Becky."
- Exaggerated:
- ...or "Bobbi," or "Briar," or "Betsy," or "Bob," or "Carly..." and every other name but "Bella."
- The name is something completely random and doesn't even sound similar to Bella's real name.
- Downplayed:
- Alice calls Bella "Belle," or something else that is close to her actual name but still isn't.
- Alice simply mispronounces Bella’s name.
- Justified:
- Alice and Bella have only met once before, very briefly.
- Alice is The Ditz.
- Alice often confuses Bella with her identical twin sister Becky, since they look alike.
- Alice has trouble with remembering names.
- Inverted: Bella is undercover and uses the fake name, Carol. Alice, the only person who knows that Bella is undercover, keeps calling her Bella instead of Carol by mistake.
- Subverted:
- After three seasons of calling Bella "Becky..."
Alice: The point is... I really do like you, Bella.
Bella: You finally got my name right!- Alice likes Bella and is showing it through friendly teasing.
- Francois wasn't calling her "Belle", he was calling her a "belle" (French for "beautiful woman") note
- Double Subverted:Alice: Yeah, this once.
Bella: You're still gonna call me "Becky," aren't you?
Alice: Of course, Becky.- Alice meant to call Bella "Betsy".
- Parodied: No one can get Bella's name right. Not even her mother or the narrators.
- Zig Zagged: Whether or not Alice gets Bella's name right depends on whether or not she's distracted, whether or not she and Bella are fighting, etc.
- Averted: No one gets Bella's name wrong.
- Enforced: The creators use this trope as a Running Gag in an otherwise serious show.
- Lampshaded: "Would it kill her to get my name right, just once?"
- Invoked: Alice doesn't like Bella.
- Exploited: Whenever Alice gets Bella's name wrong, Bella uses the opportunity to mock Alice's intelligence, embarrassing Alice in the process.
- Defied:
- Alice calls Bella "Becky," but after Bella corrects her, she makes an effort to remember her name next time.
- Bella makes absolutely clear to Alice that her name is not "Becky" and being called that from now on will be seen as an insult. Alice gets the point.
- Discussed:Carly: You do realize that's not her name, right?
Alice: It isn't? - Conversed: "Poor Bella. I wonder if they'll ever Throw the Dog a Bone and have someone get her name right."
- Deconstructed: Bella likes Alice and wants to be her friend, but takes the fact that Alice always calls her "Becky" as a sign that Alice dislikes her.
- Reconstructed: Alice's friend Carly explains to Bella that Alice is kind of a ditz, and actually likes Bella a lot, and certainly doesn't mean any offense by it.
- Implied: Bella is seen saying, "My name is Bella!", but further context is not given.
- Played For Laughs: Alice forgetting Bella's name is a Running Gag.
- Played For Drama:
- Alice accidentally calls Bella by the name of one of her former friends that she misses, leaving Bella feeling like she's just a replacement.
- It was funny for a little while there, but after an extended treatment of this trope and Bella not showing any kind of attempt at improving herself no matter how much Alice corrects her, Alice just assumes that Bella is either utterly incompetent or, worse yet, deliberately malicious, and decides to start treating the erroneous name as the insult it just be.
- Alice calling Bella an incorrect name constantly leads to other people manufacturing a Thoroughly Mistaken Identity for Bella that leads to peril and probably ruin.
- The misnaming is an early sign of Alice starting to be affected by dementia.
- Bella's mother died mid-sentence causing Alice to mishear "Beh Kii" (Tropestani for "[Her] Name is") as meaning the now orphaned 5-month-old's name is "Becky".
- Played for Horror:
- Alice is a murderous revenant and has confused Bella for the target of her rampage.
- Bella has an ultra violent Hair-Trigger Temper and responds to Alice's faux pas with a sudden, excessive murder.
- Alice is a Reality Warper and not only gives Bella an erroneous name, but also Ret Gones her true name and any other parts of her identity Alice can't bother to remember right.
Back to Accidental Nismaning.
