53
votes
Accepted
Why did Alexandre Dumas use Greek names for the three musketeers?
Dumas based The Three Musketeers very loosely on the fictionalized memoirs of Charles de Batz de Castelmore d’Artagnan (1611–1673), in which:
Celui que j’accostai s’appelloit Portos, & étoit ...
- 65.4k
38
votes
Accepted
Why does changing one's name to 'Vladimir' indicate allegiance to Moscow?
Voldemar is an Estonian name, the Estonian version of a name whose version in Russian and some other Slavic languages is Vladimir. Changing one's name from Voldemar to Vladimir would seem to be a way ...
- 77.8k
37
votes
Isn't Gríma Wormtongue a very revealing name?
No, except yes
TL;DR: ‘Wormtongue’ is a deliberately negative name given by his enemies, so it can’t be faulted for being pejorative, even if it’s not as unflattering as it might seem to modern ears. ...
- 491
33
votes
Accepted
What is the significance of Alec Bings's name in The Phantom Tollbooth?
It’s noted in The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth (which I highly recommend to any fan- it's a really lovely book) published by Knopf/Random House in 2011; on page 106, annotation 10 reads:
“I’m ...
- 346
30
votes
Why is the UK called Airstrip One?
I'm pretty sure it's a satirical jab at the perceived takeover of Britain by the United States. Just as in real life the US has filled Britain with its airbases, in the world of 1984 the entire ...
- 77.8k
29
votes
Why does Macbeth well deserve his name?
"Name" is here not used in the sense of "proper name" but in the sense of "distinguished or honourable repute, honour" (C. T. Onions: A Shakespeare Glossary).
In other ...
- 51.4k
23
votes
Accepted
Was there a reason Room 101 was called Room 101?
Room 101 is named after a conference room at Broadcasting House. Orwell used to sit through boring meetings there.
When it was to be demolished at the BBC, Rachel Whiteread made a plaster cast and it ...
- 6,398
22
votes
Accepted
In 'The Graveyard Book' by Neil Gaiman, why is one 'Jack' named for a historical person
"Jack Ketch" became a nickname for executioners in general. The hangman, any hangman, was called Jack Ketch centuries after the death of the original.
See for example A Classical Dictionary ...
- 3,115
20
votes
Isn't Gríma Wormtongue a very revealing name?
Grima calls Gandalf "Lathspell" -- Ill News -- because he hated him and wanted Theoden to mistrust him.
Likewise, "Wormtongue" is what people who already hate him call him. It is ...
- 6,501
20
votes
Accepted
Why is the snake named "Asmodeus"?
You might be overthinking it. According to Brian Jacques himself, it seems he didn't go into the depths of exactly what traits the mythological/biblical character Asmodeus represents; he just found it ...
- 77.8k
18
votes
Symbolism of Albus Dumbledore's name in Harry Potter
Albus
As you state, Albus translates to "white", which was a nod to alchemy:
Colours also played their part in the naming of Hagrid and Dumbledore, whose first names are Rubeus (red) and ...
17
votes
Accepted
What is a Pooh?
1) According to When We Were Very Young By A. A. Milne, Pooh was a swan that Christopher Robin named Pooh, so that if he didn't come Christopher could pretend he was just saying that he hadn't wanted ...
- 1,083
16
votes
Accepted
Is this hypothesis about the significance of the name "Denna" in the Kingkiller Chronicle supported by the text?
Denner resin comes from the sap of denner trees, and addicts ('sweet-eaters') will go to great lengths to eat it. It usually turns their teeth white, as it does for a girl whom Kvothe sees dance naked ...
- 866
16
votes
Accepted
Why do peasants in 19th century Russian literature often have Greek names?
Firstly, why there are Greek names in Russia. Russia, being a Christian Orthodox country, had strong historical and cultural connections with Greece. So, many Russian names are of Greek origin. Most ...
- 1,378
15
votes
Why is the novel called David Copperfield?
This makes more sense when considering how Dickens' works were published. They were not published as complete novels, but released as serial installments. The title was decided and fixed upon ...
- 431
14
votes
Why is the superstate Winston lives in named Oceania in 1984?
Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia are all named for their geographical features.
The best description we have of the three superpowers and their geography comes from Chapter III (War is Peace) of ...
- 77.8k
14
votes
Accepted
Symbolism of Albus Dumbledore's name in Harry Potter
The last name is actually not that fancy. As this old interview with Rowling states:
How did you decide what to name your characters and places?
I collect unusual names. I have notebooks full of them....
- 1,041
14
votes
Accepted
Why did Bill Watterson choose the character names he did?
With regards to Calvin and Hobbes:
Later, when Watterson was creating names for the characters in his comic strip, he decided upon Calvin (after the Protestant reformer John Calvin) and Hobbes (...
- 4,890
12
votes
Meaning of President "Coin" in the Hunger Games books?
Warning: major spoilers follow.
Coin ~ money
There are a few ways in which the District 13 leader could be symbolised by the idea of money.
Power. Money can be used to buy power, or as a ...
- 77.8k
12
votes
Accepted
Is the name Crowley in Good Omens a reference to the famous occultist?
I have not been able to source a quote from the author, but there is an interview which offers some circumstantial evidence that Crowley is indeed named after the famous occultist.
Actor Mark Sheppard ...
- 23.7k
12
votes
"Aiden" "Because it starts with the letters..." "Well, you work it out."
The character says "you work it out", so the author (or at least the author writing the character) thinks
It's pretty obvious.
It not essential.
The "obvious" reading is that it ...
- 409
12
votes
Why was Jim Turner called Captain Flint?
Captain Flint is indeed a famous pirate, and one referred to in other fictional works as well. But I think what sets him apart from say, Blackbeard or Captain Hook is that in Treasure Island, he is ...
- 1,020
11
votes
Why is Nausicaa named 'burner of ships'?
I'm going to attempt an answer with the caveats that the materialists often find my etymological ideas on names to be poetic as opposed to scientific, and that I'd want to know what Graves thought but ...
- 4,313
11
votes
Accepted
Was Atticus's name meant to mean anything?
This analysis website claims that:
In Latin, Atticus is an adjective meaning “belonging to Attica”, the region in which Athens is located, or more simply, “Athenian”. As a name, it had connotations ...
- 4,633
10
votes
Accepted
Where did the names Siegfried and Tristan Farnon come from?
Thanks to @rand-althor for finding the citation!
This article, an interview with the author includes a brief explanation of the choices:
Siegfried was taken from the heroic character of German ...
- 611
10
votes
Where did Stephen King get the word "Shawshank" from?
What ‘Shawshank’ suggests to me, is a surname from the Scottish Borders. The name is made up of two elements that are common in English and Scots surnames and placenames: ‘shaw’ meaning ‘covert’ or ‘...
- 65.4k
10
votes
Why is the novel called David Copperfield?
David allows Aunt Betsey and the people he meets through her to call him Trotwood, but (spoiler alert!)
when he later lives and works in London he evidently uses his original name, since Dora calls ...
- 2,364
10
votes
Why was Jim Turner called Captain Flint?
The name "Captain Flint" first appears in Chapter 10 of Swallows and Amazons when the Swallows befriend the Amazons.
The Swallows had imagined that James Turner was a pirate,
and Nancy then ...
- 4,470
9
votes
Accepted
Is there significance behind the name "Scout" from To Kill A Mockingbird?
Scout is her nickname, it is less symbolic than descriptive
First of all, I could not find any actual words from the author/book. There is no "official" word of why, so I sought out the definition of ...
- 6,898
9
votes
Accepted
Why Catch-22 if there was only one catch?
"There is only one catch" refers to that particular situation. The previous lines describe a character Orr, who should be grounded (prevented from flying). Which he's entitled to be, on the grounds ...
- 5,148
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