View source for Famous-Named Foreigner

{{trope}}
So, you decide to create a work of fiction with some foreign characters in it. E.g., your hero battles two evil generals - a Frenchman and a German. But there's one little problem. You know neither German, nor French, and have no clue about how these wacky foreigners are usually named.

But you've got an idea!

A quick search in the dark corners of your memory reveals some scarce knowledge about French and German history and culture. With local names in it! That's the answer to all your problems!

Half a minute later, you've got names for your villains - ''Napoleon Dumas'' and ''Friedrich-Wilhelm Goethe''. That sounds pretty authentic, right? Right?

A '''Famous-Named Foreigner''' is a character [[Captain Obvious|hailing from some foreign nation]] who, due to the authors [[Did Not Do the Research|not knowing anything about local naming conventions]] and/or [[Small Reference Pools|thinking it would make their nationality more recognizable]] and/or [[They Just Didn't Care|just being lazy]], is named after some very famous person from the respective nation's history or culture. Which most of the time sounds pretty ridiculous to the local ear, [[One Mario Limit|due to those names often being quite rare and primarily associated with those same famous persons]].

This trope, as noted earlier, is often the result of either [[Did Not Do the Research]], [[Small Reference Pools]] or [[They Just Didn't Care]]. If the authors [[They Just Didn't Care|care even less]], it often results in [[As Long as It Sounds Foreign]]. And of course, names ''do'' become popular because famous people have them—for example, "Muhammad" is by far the most common name for Muslim boys (and in fact, is the single most common boy's name in the world).

Compare [[Named After Somebody Famous]], when this is done deliberately as a reference, and not just with foreign characters.

{{examples}}
== Albanian ==
* In ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' episode "The Crepes of Wrath", the Albanian exchange student/spy living with the Simpsons in exchange for Bart is named [[wikipedia:Adil Çarçani|Adil]] [[wikipedia:Enver Hoxha|Hoxha]].

== Australian (Indigeneous) ==
* ''[[Global Frequency]]'': Danny [[wikipedia:David Gulpilil|Gulpilil]]

== Bulgarian ==
* Several members of the Bulgarian Quidditch team in ''[[Harry Potter]]'' bear the names of notable historical figures; Zograf is a 19th-century painter, Levski a revolutionary hero. Krum was a king who killed the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros, and is also famous for being the first to introduce written laws. "Krum" is particularly unlikely as a surname, though it has some popularity as a given name.
** Krum''ov'' may be more plausible. It's still a stretch but it's more plausible for a last name. ''Levski'' particularly stands out, though, first of all, because it is not at all common, and even then, it was a ''nickname''. Collecting so many weird names in the team crosses the line of [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality]] breaks the [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]].

== Chinese ==
* Mao (as in Mao Tse-Tung) is fairly common, especially in anime. Note that Mao could be written several different ways in Chinese, and is a common enough surname.
** ''[[Code Geass]]''
** ''[[Darker than Black]]'': Justified in that Mao literally means "cat" and the character in question is a [[Talking Animal|guy trapped in a cat body]]—and it's a code name, not his real name.
** ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]''

== Czech ==
*  Miss Wenceslas in ''[[Sherlock]]'', presumably named for Wenceslaus of Bohemia. Unfortunately for the makers, the Czech version of the name is Václav, which is not used as a family name, and even if it were, would be lacking the "-ová" ending all female surnames that have a noun root.
* In the ''[[Night Watch]]'' series of novels, there is Czech vampire Vítězslav Hrubín. While "Vítězslav" is common name, this combination is obviously merging names of two famous Czech poets, Vítězslav Nezval and František Hrubín.
* At one point in ''[[Wet]]'', Rubi is put in contact with a Czech woman named [[wikipedia:Franz Kafka|Kafka]] [[wikipedia:Antonín Dvořák|Dvorak]].

== Finnish ==
* Early in the movie ''[[Swordfish]]'', a Finnish hacker is arrested. His first name, Axl, is not a commonly used Finnish name, but his last name is Torvalds - just like a certain other [[wikipedia:Linus Torvalds|Finnish hacker]].

== French ==
* [[St. Trinian's (franchise)|St. Trinian's School for Girls]], in the 2007 reboot film, has a French teacher called Miss [[wikipedia:Maupassant|Maupassant]], though this is probably an intentional joke.
* Invisible Kid II from the [[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]] was named [[wikipedia:Jacques Foccart|Jacques Foccart]]. For added irony appeal, he was also black.<ref>Which may also be a reference to the film ''[[Mystery Men]]''.</ref>
* ''[[The X-Files]]'': Chester [[wikipedia:Napoleon I of France|Bonaparte]] (''Fresh Bones'' episode)
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' has a teacher named Jean-Louis [[wikipedia:Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon]] (Bonaparte in the English dub).
* ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]'': The Dreyfus family shares its name with [[wikipedia:Alfred Dreyfus|the most famous French Jew]] in history (not to mention Alfred's relative, [[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]].)
** Also Inspector Dreyfus of the ''[[The Pink Panther|Pink Panther]]'' films. The name itself however is originally Yiddish, a language related to German.
** In fairness, Tarantino was just dropping a reference to Julie Dreyfus.
* George de Sand from ''[[Mobile Fighter G Gundam]]''. [[wikipedia:George Sand|George Sand]] was the pen name of a ''woman''.
** And meant to sound ''English''—the French form of "George" is ''Georges'' and the French word for "sand" is ''sable''.
* ''[[Captain Tsubasa]]'': The two main players of the French team are named [[wikipedia:Le Cid|El Sid]] Pierre, and Louis [[wikipedia:Napoleon I of France|Napoléon]].

== German ==
* ''[[Code Geass]]'':
** [[wikipedia:Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]] [[wikipedia:Piano Sonata No. 21 (Beethoven)|Waldstein]].
*** Or perhaps [[wikipedia:Albrecht von Wallenstein|this one]], though the two were related.
** Jeremiah [[wikipedia:Klement Gottwald|Gottwald]].
*** Or quite possibly [http://www.gottwald.com this].
** Nina [[wikipedia:Einstein|Einstein]] (this could be a reference to her invention of the atomic bomb, a project to which Albert contributed)
* ''[[Arsenic and Old Lace]]'' has a [[Back-Alley Doctor|Doctor]] [[wikipedia:Einstein|Einstein]]. Somewhat [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in that Elaine expresses obvious surprise at hearing his name. The play goes even further when Jonathan clears it up for her by revealing that his first name is Herman, not Albert.
** Note that there was another [[wikipedia:Alfred Einstein|Dr. Einstein]] in [[Real Life]].
* ''[[Gunbuster]]'' has mostly Japanese characters, named after people on the staff, and one foreign character (Toren Smith) named after a well-known manga translator. When it came to the female German pilot, though, they fell headlong into this trap, ending up with [[All Psychology Is Freudian|Jung Freud]], which is... not exactly a name anyone is likely to have.
* Len Wein has gone on record that he came up with Nightcrawler's civilian name in 1975 by combining the first name of Kurt Waldheim (Austria, then secretary-general of the United Nations) with the family name of [[Richard Wagner]]. Kurt Wagner would hardly raise as much as an eyebrow with a native speaker, though.
* ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' has a fat villain named Heidegger, with an annoying laugh. He is in no way to be confused with either the Dr. Heidegger in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story or the eponymous German philosopher, author of "Being and Time," an inquiry into the nature and meaning of existence.

== German and Hungarian ==
* In ''Bloodrayne'' you have to kill Dr. [[wikipedia:Elizabeth Bathory|Bathory]] [[wikipedia:Josef Mengele|Mengele]].

== German and Russian ==
* The ''[[Tintin]]'' adventure [[Tintin/Recap/The Castafiore Emerald|"The Castafiore Emerald"]] has Igor Wagner, whose name is quite fitting for an accompanist to an operatic prima donna. Quite probably inspired by [[Igor Stravinsky]] as well as [[Richard Wagner]].

== Greek ==
* On one episode of ''[[American Dad]]'', a Greek butcher named ''Hercules'' is introduced. At only one point is the correlation between his name and the mythological hero pointed out, in the form of a pun in his store signage ("Witness the 7 ''Meats'' of Hercules!") Otherwise, the name is treated as perfectly normal name. This is particularly noticeable because Hercules is the ''Roman'' name for the Greek hero Herakles, and a Greek having the former name ahead of the latter, if either, is quite odd.
* In ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'', Panther's all-American, [[Black Best Friend|white best friend]] is named Homer. Not exactly a common name in the States due to who it's associated with...

== Italian ==
* [[Ultimate Marvel]] Captain Italy: Umberto [[wikipedia:Stefano Landi|Landi]]
** Umberto was the name of an Italian king and of polar explorer Umberto Nobile.
* The Italian Vellian Crowler in the Japanese version of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' was named [[wikipedia:Chronos|Chronos]] [[wikipedia:Lorenzo de Medici|de Medici]].
* In ''[[Babylon 5]]'', one of the characters is Michael [[wikipedia:Giuseppe Garibaldi|Garibaldi]], despite Garibaldi being an uncommon surname. To reduce the perceived oddity of this choice, in the Italian dubbed version the name becomes Gariboldi.
* There's also the Garibaldi Temple in ''[[Castlevania: Curse of Darkness]]''. Along with other oddities such as a town named ''Cordova'' in the middle of Valachian forests.

== Indian Languages ==
* Hadji Singh from the ''[[Jonny Quest]]'' series. Hadji is an obviously Muslim title, and Singh is obviously Hindu or Sikh. Also, the chances of a guy named Hadji Singh being the prince of Calcutta are about the same as a guy called Kaiser Wilhelm being the king of England or France.
** Actually worse.
* Indians in fiction named [[wikipedia:Mahatma|"Mahatma"]]. It's not a first name, it's a kind of honorific. Probably, the cause of this is [[wikipedia:Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi|Gandhi]].
** [[W. C. Fields]]'s pen name "Mahatma Kane Jeeves" for ''[[The Bank Dick]]''.
* In the late 1980s sitcom ''[[Head of the Class]]'', an Indian-American character is named "Jawaharlal Choudhury." Not only are the given name and the family name unlikely to be paired in a real Indian person because they come from two different ethnicities, but also "Jawaharlal" is obviously taken from the name of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Also, naming fashions change from generation to generation in India; thus, to an Indian, someone named Jawaharlal should have been born in the late 19th century, not someone who is a teenager in 1986.
* [http://ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/sign-12.htm Mahomet Singh] in the ''[[Sherlock Holmes]]'' novel ''The Sign of The Four''. The Penguin Books annotation calls this a solecism, and blandly remarks that "the two names would not be found together." This annotation should be accompanied by bells, whistles, flashing lights, and a [[wikipedia:Maroon (rocket)|maroon.]] Especially a maroon.

== Indonesian ==
* Subverted in the ''[[Strangers with Candy]]'' [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369994/ movie], when Jerri's new friend introduces himself as "Megawatti Sukarnoputri. Not ''that'' [[wikipedia:Megawati Sukarnoputri|Megawati Sukarnoputri]]."

== Hebrew ==
* Where else but [[Demi Moore]]'s ''[[Striptease (film)|Striptease]]'', where a stripper "from Israel" is introduced as ''[[wikipedia:Ariel Sharon|Ariel Sharon]]''? Admittedly though, the name is gender-neutral (although in Hebrew it is strictly male), and in this case likely a stage name.
* In the Gabriel Allon novels involving an Israeli spy/assassin, his superior is named "Ari Shamron" which is one letter and an abbreviation away from Ariel Sharon.

== Japanese ==
* In the Thomas Harris novel ''Hannibal Rising'', Hannibal Lecter has a Japanese aunt-by-marriage named Lady Murasaki Shikibu. The historic Murasaki Shikibu is best known as the author of ''The Tale of Genji'', one of the world's earliest novels as well as one of the most famous and significant works of Japanese literature. The character in the book is said to be a descendant of the historic author, but this doesn't make the name much more plausible because "Murasaki Shikibu" was the author's pen name. The author's real personal name is unknown, but she was a member of the Fujiwara clan. "Shikibu" isn't even an actual Japanese family name, it was a reference to the court position held by the historic author's father.
* Pretty much every 'foreign' character in WWF at least through the Attitude Era, what with Mr. [[wikipedia:Mount Fuji|Fuji]], that sort of thing. To be fair, Mr. Fuji's real name is Harry Fujiwara.
** Averted with Kenzo Suzuki,<ref>that doesn't count, it's his actual name</ref> who originally was going to be called Hirohito and come in as if he was related the the Emperor of Japan.
* The protagonist of Shaena Lambert's novel ''Radiance'' is called Keiko Kitigawa, just one letter different from the name of actress [[wikipedia:Keiko Kitagawa|Keiko Kitagawa]]. Incidentally, "ti" is not a Japanese phoneme and would never show up in any real Japanese name, though it is an entirely legal rendering of a 「ち」 syllable in the official Kunrei romanisation system. (The better known Hepburn system renders it as "chi".)
* Clarence [[Yojimbo]] in ''Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars'' by [[Daniel Pinkwater]]. Subverted as he's not actually Japanese but Venusian.


== Mongolian ==
* ''[[World Heroes]]'': [[wikipedia:Genghis Khan|G.Karn]], who is [[They Just Didn't Care|Genghis Khan's personal bodyguard]].
* One of the ''[[Indiana Jones]]'' novels has two Mongolian characters named ''[[wikipedia:Jamukha|Jamukka]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Borte|Bortay]]''.

== Norse ==
* ''[[World Heroes]]'': [[wikipedia:Erik the Red|Erick]], [[Justified Trope|justifiable]] in that Erik is still a very common Norse name.
* Celty [[wikipedia:Snorri Sturluson|Sturluson]] of ''[[Durarara!!]]'', who came from Ireland and now lives in Japan, but ended up with a Scandinavian name along the way. Kind of runs into problems because Sturluson is a patronymic, not a last name.

== Norwegian ==
* ''[[The X-Files]]'', in the episode set in Norway, introduces the Norwegian fisherman... Trondheim (also the name of one of Norway's biggest and most important cities, and a former capital). While naming kids after cities or places is not unusual in the States, it is not a part of Norwegian naming conventions at all, neither as given names or surnames. On the other hand, Trondheim is stablished as having been born in Pensacola, which is in Florida...

== Polish ==
* ''[[Blackhawk]]'' [[wikipedia:Janos Prohaska|Janos Prohaska]]. [[As Long as It Sounds Foreign|Note that Blackhawk is Polish, the RealLife Janos Prohaska was Hungarian, the surname is Czech (Slovakia was part of Hungary until 1918), and the first name isn't Polish either (that would be Janusz)]].
** Plus a Polish name ending with -ska would be feminine.
* The creators of the strategy video game ''Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord'' decided to be nice enough to give Polish soldiers Polish names (every individual in the game had an individual name). They gave them ones they could find in the Internet quickly, though. So you could commandeer [[wikipedia:Marian Krzaklewski|Marian Krzaklewski]], [[wikipedia:Jerzy Buzek|Jerzy Buzek]], [[wikipedia:Aleksander Kwasniewski|Aleksander Kwasniewski]]. It could be quite fun for some people to send them to their death, as the first two were not so popular at the time. Good enough that they didn't use [[wikipedia:Karol Wojtyla|Karol Wojtyla]].
* In ''[[Medieval]]: Total War'' (I and II) the characters actually have names you could find in a history book, only sometimes assigned to wrong gender or forming strange combinations (like "Jagiellon Jagiello" a century before the reign of [[wikipedia:Jogaila|the dynasty founder]]). The last installment, Empire, reportedly uses the name of somewhat more obscure Polish politicians (but still fun to see them time-slipped).
* The random name generator in ''[[Europa Universalis]] III'' will occasionally churn out a name that belonged to a famous historical figure, not least because the Polish surnames in the generator's data file ''all'' belonged to figures of note in Renaissance Poland.

== Romanian ==
* The [[Anti Christ]] from the ''[[Left Behind]]'' series is named [[wikipedia:Nicolae Ceaucescu|Nicolae]] [[wikipedia:Carpathian Mountains|Carpathia]]. To be absolutely fair, his other name is [[Embarrassing Middle Name|"Jetty" (?!?!)]] and this is hardly the only offensive moment in these novels.
* Perhaps best used in ''[[Work Time Fun]]'' in the [[Rock-Paper-Scissors]] World Tournament mini-game. The Romanian character in the world league championships is named "Mayor Dracula." In fact, just about every opponent in that minigame falls under this trope, including "Victoria Potter" from England and "George Spielberg" from America.

== Russian ==
* ''[[James Bond]]'':
** General [[wikipedia:Nikolai Gogol|Gogol]].
** General [[wikipedia:Aleksandr Pushkin|Pushkin]].
** General [[wikipedia:Orlov|Orlov]].
** Valentin [[wikipedia:Vasily Zhukovsky|Zukovsky]].
** [[wikipedia:Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia|Tatiana Romanova]]. This one, at least, was [[lampshaded]]/[[Justified Trope|justified]] in the original novel. The Soviets viewed her with suspicion because of her surname, even though she wasn't actually related to the ex-royal family (a bit of [[Did Not Do the Research]], since "Romanov" is a pretty common surname and so the Soviets would have had no reason to suspect anyone solely because of their surname).
* ''Chilly Beach'' also had a Russian hockey player named Gogol.
* ''[[Command & Conquer: Red Alert]]'':
** Major Vladimir [[wikipedia:Alexey Kosygin|Kosygin]].
** Yuri & Daniel [[wikipedia:Vyacheslav Molotov|Molotov]].
* [[Marvel Comics]]:
** Natasha [[wikipedia:House of Romanov|Romanova]].
** Piotr, Illyana, Mikhail [[wikipedia:Grigori Rasputin|Rasputin]]. A recent{{when}} recton reveals that Colossus and family ''are'' in fact descended from the "Mad Monk".
*** As far as his first name goes, Piotr is most likely named after Peter the Great.
*** Also lampshaded by Hank McCoy when Piotr [[Death Is Cheap|came back from the dead;]] "Boy's named Rasputin. [[Rasputinian Death|Should have known he wouldn't be that easy to kill.]]"
*** Also Lampshaded in a [[What If]] where Natasha, Piotr and Illyana are part of a Stalinist [[Fantastic Four]]; Stalin claims to tell a lot about people by their names, and to be rather suspicious of these ones. "My own name means - " taps Colossus " - Man of Steel."
** Boris [[wikipedia:Ivan Turgenev|Turgenev]] (Crimson Dynamo II).
** [[wikipedia:Alexander Nevsky|Alex Nevsky]] (Crimson Dynamo III).
** Dmitri [[wikipedia:Nikolai Bukharin|Bukharin]] (Crimson Dynamo V).
** Tania [[wikipedia:Vissarion Belinsky|Belinsky]] (Red Guardian, Starlight).
* ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'': Pavel [[wikipedia:Anton Chekhov|Chekov]].
* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'': Colonel [[wikipedia:Pavel Chekov|Chekov]].
* ''[[Bubblegum Crisis]]'':
** Nene [[wikipedia:House of Romanov|Romanova]]. Note that Romanov(a) is a common Russian surname, and most Romanovs in real life has absolutely no connection to the royal dynasty. On the other hand, Nene [[As Long as It Sounds Foreign|isn't a proper Russian name]], but [[wikipedia:Nene (person)|an uncommon Japanese name]].
* ''[[World Heroes]]'': [[wikipedia:Grigori Rasputin|Rasputin]]. Note that this character is ''not'' the [[Real Life]] Grigoriy Rasputin, as some may think. According to [[The Other Wiki]], the ''World Heroes'' Rasputin is "a philosopher of XIII century Russia, was also a known alchemist and sorcerer".
* ''[[Wild CATS]]'': Adrianna [[wikipedia:Valentina Tereshkova|Tereshkova]] (The Void).
* ''Fiends of the Eastern Front'': Grigori [[wikipedia:Sergei Eisenstein|Eisenstein]]. Eisenstein is actually ''[[Yiddish as a Second Language|Jewish]]'' name, but still...
* ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'': The ship that took Luna Volves and Death Guard loyalist captains [[Horus Heresy|Iacton Qruze and Nathaniel Garro]] to Terra is also named after the famous filmmaker—or, rather, a pale shadow of his memory.
** Another 40K reference is Lord Inquisitor [http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Karamazov Fyodor] [[wikipedia:The Brothers Karamazov|Karamazov]], [[Kill It with Fire|Pyrophant]] [[Knight Templar|Judge]] of Salem Proctor.
* [[wikipedia:Leonid Brezhnev|Simon Brezhnev]] of ''[[Durarara!!]]''
* There's a fairly important character named [[wikipedia:Vladimir Mayakovsky|Mayakovsky]] in ''[[The Magicians]]''. Especially irritating because the characters in the book are supposed to be highly educated and you'd figure one of them would have noticed that.
* ''Eye of the Red Tsar'' also features a Mayakovsky, as well as a [[wikipedia:Sergey Kirov|Kirov]], a [[wikipedia:Aleksandr Kolchak|Kolchak]], and a [[wikipedia:Peter Kropotkin|Kropotkin]].
* ''[[Airwolf]]'' featured a General [[wikipedia:Sergey Kirov|Kirov]] as well
* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]''{{'}}s Ivan [[wikipedia:Emil Braginsky|Braginsky]] aka Russia.

== Serbian ==
* Draza, one of Lazarevic's lieutenants in ''[[Uncharted]] 2: Among Thieves'' was almost certainly named after Drazha Mihailovic, the leader of the Chetnik "[[The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything|resistance]]" movement during [[World War Two]].

== Spanish ==
* ''[[Soul Series]]'':
** [[wikipedia:Miguel de Cervantes|Cervantes]] [[wikipedia:Juan Ponce de Leon|de Leon]].
* [[Street Fighter]]:
** <s>Vega, the cage-fighting Spaniard.</s> What? [[wikipedia:Lope de Vega|What do you mean]] [[Woolseyism|it's a coincidence?!]]
* ''[[Dragon Quest]] 4'':
** [[wikipedia:Francisco Pizarro|Pisarro]].
* ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'':
** The pirate [[wikipedia:Hernan Cortes|Cortez]].
* [[Marvel Comics]]:
** Fabian [[wikipedia:Hernan Cortes|Cortez]].
* ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'':
** Captain [[wikipedia:Hernan Cortes|Cortez]] of the the Crimson Fists, though Cortez is a rather common Spanish surname.
** Also, Lord Inquisitor [[wikipedia:Tomas de Torquemada|Torquemada]] [[wikipedia:Hernan Cortes|Coteaz]], High Protector of the Formosa Sector.
* ''[[Sealab 2021]]'':
** Marco's full name is Marco [[wikipedia:El Cid|Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar]] [[wikipedia:Gabriel Garcia Marquez|Gabriel Garcia Marquez]]. Note that this is [[As Long as It Sounds Foreign|a horrible mangling of actual Spanish naming practices]], but then, [[Rule of Funny]].
* ''[[Sunset Riders]]'':
** [[wikipedia:El Greco|El Greco]], though the character appears to be Mexican. (Grecco-Mexican?)

== Tibetan ==
* The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial ''The Abominable Snowmen'', which was set in a Tibetan monastery, had characters with the names of prominent historical figures in Tibetan Buddhism.
* As did ''[[Thief of Time]]'', set in a [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]] version.
** There's also "[[wikipedia:Lobsang Rampa|Lobsang]] [[Honest John's Dealership|Dibbler]]" in ''[[Witches Abroad]]''. Since this is an example of a conman using the same name as a probable conman, it could be described as ''authentically'' inauthentic.
* Tenzin, the Tibetan villager that helps Nate in ''[[Uncharted]] 2: Among Thieves'', was most likely named after Tenzin Gyatso, the religious name of the 14th Dalai Lama.

== Turkish ==
* ''[[Pearls Before Swine]]'' once used Ataturk as a name for a Turkish diplomat. It's uncertain whether the author realized that this was the nickname of Turkey's founder.

== Korean ==
* ''[[X-Men]]''
** The real name of the Marauders mutant Scrambler is Kim Il Sung, after the communist revolutionary leader.

== Other / Multiple ==
* Jerry Jenkins has admitted to consistently using a variant of this to name foreign characters: first name of a famous foreigner, then a notable location in their country as a last name. When this fails, it ''really'' fails (e.g. [[Left Behind|Nicolae Carpathia]].)
* Apparently Jerry Jenkins and Ann M. Martin took the same creative writing class. Mallory of the ''[[Babysitters Club]]'' gets a boyfriend in Australian Ben [[wikipedia:Hobart|Hobart]].
* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' has the [[Wronski Feint]], named for a Polish Seeker. Wronski is pronounced the same as Vronsky, Anna's lover in ''[[Anna Karenina]]''.
** Although in this case there is also a [[wikipedia:Wronskian|"Wronskian"]] in math. (Yes, invented by some guy named "Wronski". Jozef Hoene-Wronski, in fact.) It's pronounced "Vronsky" as well.
* According to [[Word of God]], ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' character Clio Gabriella was originally going to be named Ava Gardner. Yes, that Ava Garnder.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Naming Conventions]]
[[Category:Did Not Do the Research]]
[[Category:Example as a Thesis]]