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. It is a form of antonomasia.
Archetypal names are a literary device used to allude to certain traits of a character or a plot.
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.Egil Törnqvist (2004) "Eugene O'Neill: A Playwright's Theatre", , Chapter 8: "Personal Names and Words of Address"
Examples Persons Nanook, a Native Alaskan Tex, a cowboy Hanako, an archetypal Japanese name for girls.Takeda Hiroko (2004) "The Political Economy of Reproduction in Japan",
Groups A name may also be an identifier of a social group, an ethnicity, nationality, or geographical locality.
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
Animals
In French, the Latin-derived word for the fox () was replaced by , 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 Evil schemer: Machiavelli
Fictional or mythological characters Handsome man: Adonis Lover: Romeo Manipulator: Svengali Betrayer: Judas Womanizer: Don Giovanni / Don Juan, Lothario Self-centered: Narcissus
See also Stock character Placeholder name Eponym :Category:National personifications List of eponyms
References