Archetypal name

An archetypal name is a proper name of a real person or mythological or fictional character that has become a designation for an archetype of a certain personal trait.^[1] It is a form of antonomasia.

Archetypal names are a literary device used to allude to certain traits of a character or a plot.^[1]

Literary critic Egil Törnqvist mentions possible risks in choosing certain names for literary characters. For example, if a person is named Abraham, it is uncertain whether the reader will be hinted of the biblical figure or Abraham Lincoln, and only the context provides the proper understanding.^[1]

Examples

Persons

Nanook, a Native Alaskan^[2]
Tex, a cowboy^[3]
Hanako, an archetypal Japanese name for girls.^[4]

Groups

A name may also be an identifier of a social group, an ethnicity, nationality, or geographical locality.^[1]

Some of the names below may also be used as ethnic slurs.

Chad, a young, confident, masculine man that makes a strong positive impression with his assertiveness
Karen, mainly used in the US for an entitled and demanding white woman
Paddy, for an Irishman: from Saint Patrick, the patron of Ireland^[1]

Animals

In French, the Latin-derived word for the fox (French: goupil) was replaced by French: renard, from Renart, the fox hero of the Roman de Renart (originally the German Reinhard).

Traits

Real persons

Genius: Einstein
Polymath: da Vinci
Womanizer: Casanova
Traitor: Benedict Arnold, Quisling
Betrayer: Brutus,^[5] Judas
Outstanding ability: Bradmanesque^[6]^[7]^[8]

Fictional or mythological characters

Handsome man: Adonis^[9]
Lover: Romeo
Manipulator: Svengali

^[10]

Womanizer: Don Giovanni / Don Juan, Lothario

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Egil Törnqvist (2004) "Eugene O'Neill: A Playwright's Theatre", ISBN 0-7864-1713-7, Chapter 8: "Personal Names and Words of Address"
^ "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow". arf.ru. Archived from the original on 22 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
^ Handy, B.; Swaeny, G. (2003-08-18), "The Summer of Bruce", Time, archived from the original on January 14, 2009, retrieved 2008-03-10
^ Takeda Hiroko (2004) "The Political Economy of Reproduction in Japan", ISBN 0-415-32190-5
^ Tempest, Kathryn (2017). Brutus : the noble conspirator. New Haven. ISBN 978-0-300-18009-1. OCLC 982651923.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ "Bradmanesque". www.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
^ Guha, Ramachandra (30 June 2016). The Picador Book of Cricket. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9781509841400 – via Google Books.
^ "Market in Bradmanesque form". www.capitalmarket.co.in. 7 February 2007. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
^ Ehrlich, Eugene (2014-01-28), What's in a Name?: How Proper Names Became Everyday Words, Henry Holt, ISBN 9781466863200, retrieved 2020-08-04
^ "Dante's Inferno - Circle 9 - Cantos 31-34". danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2021-07-23.

[tor-1] Egil Törnqvist (2004) "Eugene O'Neill: A Playwright's Theatre", ISBN 0-7864-1713-7, Chapter 8: "Personal Names and Words of Address"

[2] "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow". arf.ru. Archived from the original on 22 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-10.

[time-3] Handy, B.; Swaeny, G. (2003-08-18), "The Summer of Bruce", Time, archived from the original on January 14, 2009, retrieved 2008-03-10

[4] Takeda Hiroko (2004) "The Political Economy of Reproduction in Japan", ISBN 0-415-32190-5

[5] Tempest, Kathryn (2017). Brutus : the noble conspirator. New Haven. ISBN 978-0-300-18009-1. OCLC 982651923.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[6] "Bradmanesque". www.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 30 January 2022.

[7] Guha, Ramachandra (30 June 2016). The Picador Book of Cricket. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9781509841400 – via Google Books.

[8] "Market in Bradmanesque form". www.capitalmarket.co.in. 7 February 2007. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2009.

[9] Ehrlich, Eugene (2014-01-28), What's in a Name?: How Proper Names Became Everyday Words, Henry Holt, ISBN 9781466863200, retrieved 2020-08-04

[:0-10] "Dante's Inferno - Circle 9 - Cantos 31-34". danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2021-07-23.

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