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Have you ever wondered why so many characters from your favorite '90s television shows had the strangest names? For some of these people, it seems like their creators just randomly picked their names out of a hat, but we figured there had to be more of a thought process behind character naming than that. After some investigative sleuthing, we uncovered the meanings behind the names of some of the most iconic '90s TV characters, from Topanga of Boy Meets World to Screech of Saved By The Bell. Even if you don't realize the subconscious effect '90s TV has on your actions, just make sure you don't name your kids after any of these beloved characters if you want them to avoid a lifetime of teasing and embarrassment.
Buffy Summers
Series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Years aired: 1997-2003
Joss Whedon revealed that he came up with the name Buffy because “It was the name that I could think of that I could take the least seriously. There is no way you could hear the name Buffy and think, 'This is an important person.' To juxtapose that with Vampire Slayer, just felt like that kind of thing—a B-movie. But a B-movie that had something more going on. That was my dream.” Whedon fought hard against the network to keep the name Buffy, as they accused him of being too silly.
Joey Potter
Series: Dawson's Creek
Years aired: 1998-2003
We all know it should have been called Joey's Creek, since Joey ended up becoming the character we all cared about way more than Dawson. Although Katie Holmes' character seemed to have a boy's name, her real name was actually Josephine, with Joey being a nickname given to her. She was named after Jo from Little Women.
Clarissa Darling
Series: Clarissa Explains It All
Years aired: 1991-1994
Mitchell Kriegman, the creator of Clarissa Explains It All, famously refuses to tell people how he came up with the name Clarissa. He once told Mental Floss, “That’s a secret that’s going to go to my grave with me. The only thing I can say is that I intentionally picked a name that she could say that she hated.” However, Kriegman will admit that Clarissa's last name, Darling, is named after Peter Pan's Darling family.
Xena
Series: Xena: Warrior Princess
Years aired: 1995-2001
Xena: Warrior Princess is a spin-off of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, where the title character Xena was first introduced. Most of the names from Xena are borrowed from Greek mythology, with the name Xena derived from xenos, which means stranger.
Screech
Series: Saved by the Bell
Years aired: 1989-1993
“I knew a guy named Screech Washington. He was a producer. I said I’m not going to hire him, but I’m going to steal your name,” said Peter Engel, developer and producer of Saved By The Bell.
Blossom Russo
Series: Blossom
Years aired: 1990-1995
During the run of the series, Blossom's dad Nick tells her that she was named after Blossom Dearie, the late American jazz singer.
Patti Mayonnaise
Series: Doug
Years aired: 1996-1999
Doug's love interest was inspired by someone creator Jim Jinkins knew in high school whose name was Patti. In an interview, Jinkins said, "There was a Patti in my high-school, and middle school, life. I sent her a card that was printed up to announce the premiere of the series. I wrote on the card, pay particular attention to Patti, you were her inspiration. That kinda stuff makes your heart beat a little faster. I hadn’t spoken to this person since high-school. She said later she was very nervous, but she was very pleased. It regenerated some connections to my past. We get Christmas cards for her and her family. Or, if they happen to be coming through, we have a visit." The character's last name came from another of Jinkins' childhood friends, named Pam Mayo.
Steve Urkel
Series: Family Matters
Years aired: 1989-1998
Michael Warren, a co-creator of Family Matters, named Urkel after his friend Steve Erkel, who is a writer and director. Erkel told the L.A. Times that due to the fact that he and Urkel share the same name, he has been on the receiving end of plenty of prank calls.
Ren & Stimpy
Series: The Ren & Stimpy Show
Years aired: 1991-1996
Ren was the name of series creator John Kricfalusi's building manager, and Stimpy was named after an art school classmate of his, named Stimpy Kadogan.
D.W.
Series: Arthur
Years aired: 1996-Present
D.W. Read's full name is actually Dora Winifred, so maybe her self-appointed nickname isn't that weird after all.
Oxnard Montalvo
Series: The Angry Beavers
Years aired: 1997-2001
Norbert and Daggett Beaver's favorite B-movie actor was named after two cities in Southern California.
Fox Mulder
Series: The X-Files
Years aired: 1993-2002
Fox Mulder was named after a childhood friend of The X-Files creator Chris Carter. His last name, Mulder, was Carter's mother's maiden name.
Moose
Series: Pepper Ann
Years aired: 1997-2000
Pepper Ann's tomboyish younger sister, Moose, was named Moose because Pepper Ann's classmate, Dieter, was eating chocolate mousse at the time when Moose was born.
Cosmo Kramer
Series: Seinfeld
Years aired: 1989-1998
Larry David's former neighbor and comedian, Kenny Kramer, was the inspiration for Cosmo Kramer, in name and behavior. In the pilot episode, Kramer was reffered to as “Kessler” because Kenny Kramer hadn't yet signed away the rights to his name.
Topanga Lawrence
Series: Boy Meets World
Years aired: 1993-2000
Danielle Fishel, the actress who portrayed Topanga on Boy Meets World told Maxim a cute anecdote of how her character's name came to be: “Michael Jacobs, who created Boy Meets World, says he was driving down the highway when production called and said, 'We need a name for this character!' He happened to be driving past Topanga Canyon, so he said 'Topanga.' He says that if they had called him two miles later, I would've been named Canoga, which is the next exit.”