Notable Names

I have often wondered where people come up with names for all these well know characters on TV. I found out for some of my favourite shows.

The Simpsons

It seems Matt Greoning didn’t look too far for his inspiration. He used his own family.

Homer is actually the name of his father and of one of his sons.
Marge is his mother’s name.
Lisa is his sister’s name.
You see where I am going here?
Maggie is name for another one of his sisters.
And Bart is an anogram for “brat” which is a reference to himself.

Many of the other names in the show come right out of his life and experiences. They are based on other people he know (teachers, friends, other relatives), places he has been, where he has lived, and characters on other TV shows.

The X-Files

Show creator got the names of his characters from many different places. He doesn’t uses just family but friends, heroes, and other influential people in his life.

The name Fox Mulder comes from to different places. Fox is from a childhood friend Carter had and Mulder is his mother’s maiden name.
I am not sure where the Dana in Dana Scully comes from but Scully was taken from Carter’s favourite sports broadcaster Vin Scully.

Seinfeld

Well we know that the show is based on the life of comedian Jerry Seinfeld but where did all the other names come from? Well here you go.

Kramer gets his name from co-creator Larry David’s real-life neighbour Kenny Kramer.
George Costanza’s name comes from one of Jerry’s college callmates Michael Costanza.
I couldn’t find where the name Elaine Benes comes from but the character is based on one of Larry David’s old girl friends Monica Yates. She is the daughter of novelist Richard Yates.

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