Charactonym
Encyclopedia
A charactonym is a name that suggests the personality traits of a fictional character. In other words, it is the name given to a literary character that especially fits his or her personality.
Examples
- MercutioMercutioMercutio a fictional character in William Shakespeare's 1597 tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. He is a close friend of Romeo, and Romeo's cousin Benvolio, and also a blood relative to Prince Escalus and Count Paris. As such, being neither a Montague nor a Capulet, Mercutio is one of the few in Verona...
, a character in Romeo and JulietRomeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
: derived from the adjective "Mercurial" meaning "erratic" as can be seen in his 'Queen Mab' speech. It can also be linked to the phrase "as mad as a hatter" as tailors used to use mercury when making hats, continued exposure to it could cause irrational behaviour - Mara JadeMara JadeMara Jade Skywalker is a fictional character in Star Wars Expanded Universe books, comic books, and computer games. She is also wife to Luke Skywalker, and mother to Ben Skywalker. In the different video games, she is voiced by Heidi Shannon and Kath Soucie.-Concept and development:Mara Jade was...
from Star Wars Expanded UniverseStar Wars Expanded UniverseThe Star Wars Expanded Universe encompasses all of the officially licensed, fictional background of the Star Wars universe, outside of the six feature films produced by George Lucas. The expanded universe includes books, comic books, video games, spin-off films like Star Wars: The Clone Wars,...
: "Mara" means "bitter" in Hebrew; when someone is jaded they are bitter; and bitter is a somewhat simplified description of her character in the first books she appears in. One should note that if Timothy ZahnTimothy ZahnTimothy Zahn is a writer of science fiction short stories and novels. His novella Cascade Point won the 1984 Hugo award. He is the author of nine Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, including seven novels featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn: the Thrawn Trilogy, the Hand of Thrawn duology, Outbound...
originally planned her character arc to include her marriage to Luke SkywalkerLuke SkywalkerLuke Skywalker is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, where he is portrayed by Mark Hamill. He is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which he is forced to leave home, and finds himself apprenticed to the Jedi master...
, the name itself can be considered a case of intentional ironyIronyIrony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
. - Thomas Gradgrind, a character in Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' novel Hard TimesHard TimesHard Times - For These Times is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book appraises English society and is aimed at highlighting the social and economic pressures of the times....
, subjects his students to a grinding discipline of "facts, facts, facts." - Squire Allworthy, in Henry FieldingHenry FieldingHenry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
's novel Tom JonesThe History of Tom Jones, a FoundlingThe History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, often known simply as Tom Jones, is a comic novel by the English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding. First published on 28 February 1749, Tom Jones is among the earliest English prose works describable as a novel...
, is an exemplar of virtue. - RaskolnikovRodion Romanovich RaskolnikovRodion Romanovich Raskolnikov is the fictional protagonist of Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoyevsky. The name Raskolnikov derives from the Russian raskolnik meaning "schismatic"...
, the protagonistProtagonistA protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
in Fyodor DostoevskyFyodor DostoevskyFyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
's novel Crime and PunishmentCrime and PunishmentCrime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his...
, raskolnik meaning 'schismatic'. - Mrs. Malaprop in Richard Sheridan's play The RivalsThe RivalsThe Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a comedy of manners in five acts. It was first performed on 17 January 1775.- Production :...
. She was known for misusing words with humorous results. From mal- (bad) + apropos (fitting). - Remus Lupin in J. K. RowlingJ. K. RowlingJoanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE , better known as J. K. Rowling, is the British author of the Harry Potter fantasy series...
's Harry PotterHarry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
series turns out to be a werewolfWerewolfA werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
. His first name, "Remus", is an allusion to Romulus and RemusRomulus and RemusRomulus and Remus are Rome's twin founders in its traditional foundation myth, although the former is sometimes said to be the sole founder...
, the legendary twin founders of Rome who were raised by a wolf. His last name, "Lupin", can be traced to the Latin lupus meaning "wolf" (compare French "loup", or English "lupine", meaning "characteristic of or relating to wolves"). - Another example from the Harry Potter series would be Sirius BlackSirius BlackSirius Black is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Sirius was first mentioned briefly in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone as a wizard who lent Rubeus Hagrid a flying motorbike shortly after Lord Voldemort killed James and Lily Potter...
; Sirius is known as the 'Dog Star' (it is part of the constellationConstellationIn modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
Canis MajorCanis MajorCanis Major is one of the 88 modern constellations, and was included in the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy's 48 constellations. Its name is Latin for 'greater dog', and is commonly represented as one of the dogs following Orion the hunter...
, with canis being LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for 'dog'), and Black's Animagus form is a large black dog (one's Animagus form depends on one's personality), tying in with his name. - Characters in Pokémon games, such as gym leaders, usually have a name referring to their signature type.
- Daddy Warbucks - the war profiteer from the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie"
- Mr. Bumble - from Oliver Twist
- Mr. Sowerberry - the undertaker from Oliver Twist
- Alfie Doolittle, the chronically unemployed dad first in Pygmalion (by G.B. Shaw)
- Hysterium, the panicky slave in the musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
- Shakespeare's Benvolio and Malvolio
- Pussy Galore - from Ian FlemingIan FlemingIan Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
's novel Goldfinger