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]

Archetypal names for persons

Archetypal names for 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.

Archetypal names for traits

Real persons

Fictional or biblical characters

See also

References
  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.
  3. Handy, B.; Swaeny, G. (2003-08-18), The Summer of Bruce, Time Magazine, retrieved 2008-03-10
  4. Takeda Hiroko (2004) "The Political Economy of Reproduction in Japan", ISBN 0-415-32190-5
  5. Ehrlich, Eugene (2014-01-28), What's in a Name?: How Proper Names Became Everyday Words, Henry Holt, retrieved 2020-08-04
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