Coming up with names is hard. There are already so many good ones out there! So when TV show creators need to name new characters, it’s a lot easier to take ones that already exist. Here’s a few you might have thought were new, but aren’t!
Dr. House – House M. D.
His last name is a reference to Sherlock Holmes (house is to home is to Holmes). Creator David Shore based House’s character on the famous detective. The two are both drug-addicted musicians, and even have the same address. The show is full of little references if you watch for them.
John Locke – Lost
Same name as the famous English philosopher. The two don’t really have anything in common, but Lost‘s third episode of season one is titled “Tabula Rasa,” a concept central to the philosopher’s theories. That must mean Lost‘s creators obviously knew what they were doing. So why invite the comparison? If that’s your biggest question about Lost, you need to rethink your priorities. 
Meredith Grey – Grey’s Anatomy
Her last name is a reference to the surgeon, Henry Gray, who wrote the widely-read textbook, Gray’s Anatomy. It lets the show have a snappy, surgery-related name, but it’s also fitting for Meredith’s sometimes somber personality. 
Claude Rains – Heroes
This minor, but sometimes important Heroes character is named after the actor who played the Invisible Man in the 1933 film. Since the Heroes character’s power is invisibility, it works. 
Tracy Jordan - 30 Rock
Reference to Tracy Morgan, the actor who plays Tracy Jordan. Has the real Tracy Morgan ever run down a highway shouting “I am Jedi” or yelled “Baba Booey” at Walter Cronkite’s funeral? We can only hope. 
George Michael – Arrested Development
It might not be an intentional reference, but the character shares his name with the best-selling English singer. The show does reference the other George Michael in the episode “Pier Pressure.” When Michael confronts George Michael about leaving GOB a note asking for pot, George Michael insists GOB is confusing him with George Michael the singer/songwriter. Good times. 
Barney Stinson – How I Met Your Mother
The shows creators admit they named Barney after a character in the novel L.A. Confidential. The book character is never actually in the novel, he’s just a drug dealer that other characters talk about. The characters don’t seem to have anything in common, but it seems appropriate enough for Barney. 
Turanga Leela – Futurama
She was named after Olivier Messiaen’s symphony “Turangalîla Symphonie.” Not sure why the creators felt the need for this one. When I listen to orchestral music, it’s never made me think of one-eyed, purple-haired ladies from the future. But maybe I’m listening to orchestral music the wrong way. 
