| Typology Ghost-themed |
| Total Entries 56 |
| Representative Black Angel |
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A name that has a direct, barely-hidden meaning to it. The first, second/third/middle/nth, last, or full name says something primal about the character. Often has multiple layers. To hide the meaning a bit, use an alternate spelling or foreign equivalent. Instead of writers having to make up random words or think of real names, they can use mythological names or old words. As an example, it is common to use for heroic characters names associated with hunting. So, apart from Hunter, which is a valid first and last name in English, you can use a translation to another language (Jäger, or the phonetic Yeager), the name of a predatory animal (Wolf, Hawk), a translation of the latter (Wolfe, Lupin, Lupis, Wulf) or Orion, the constellation of The Hunter. Which is kinda cool, which is why this can double up with “Awesome McCoolname”… “Real Life” examples of this are often referred to as “aptronyms”. The magazine New Scientist refers to it as “nominative determinism” in a tongue-in-cheek manner, and encouraged people to send examples in. (Until they got utterly swamped by examples and had to repeatedly beg for readers to stop.) The proper name for this trope is “charactonym”.. When additions or alterations to names signify stronger versions of said beings, that’s “Tiered by Name”. Compare “Named After Somebody Famous”, “They Call Him ‘Sword'”. Contrast with “Non-Indicative Name”. Also compare/contrast with “Ironic Name”. See also “Names to Run Away from Really Fast” (which is about names indicating power and villainy and heavily overlaps with this trope), “Punny Name” (which many of these names fall into), and “Dead Guy Junior” (when the naming is intended to symbolize a deceased in-universe character’s legacy in some way)… ~ Meaningful Name – TV Tropes
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