Character name origins...

[Convincing John]

Hey everyone,

I was just thinking about something. Where do the names of our beloved Sesame Street characters come from?

I was particularly interested in where they got Ernie and Bert's names from. Yes, we ALL know the names did NOT come from "Its a Wonderful Life". Sesame Workshop told us it ain't so.

Well, where did the names come from? Were they just plucked out of the air like the word "Muppet" or were they named after people like Kermit, Mokey and Fozzie? Was there some kid in Jim's 3rd grade class that was named "Ernie" and laughed like that?
Some names are obvious for characters . But what about others?

I always thought since he was red and orange, Elmo was named after the optical illusion on ship masts called "St. Elmo's Fire". Again, just a guess.

Any thoughts, guesses, etc?

Convincing John

 

[Drtooth]

Well, the origen of is more than just the obvious. Since one of his first skits is where he stole Cookies from Ernie, I'm guessing they started saying "Cookie monster" in reference to the "Cookie sketch"- sort of like what they did with Beautiful Day Monster and Luncheon Counter Monster.

 

[Katzi428]

A friend of Jim's in school was named Kermit.So that's where Jim got the name.

 

[Convincing John]

Yeah, I remember that, Katzi. It was Kermit Scott, right? I wonder if he's still around...

And as for Cookie, I remember the sketches you mentioned, DrTooth. Cookie (sort of) came from Beautiful Day Monster too because of the "Mr. and Mrs. Game" sketch. (At least that's what we're told by Sesame Workshop).

I was mainly wondering about characters with "regular" names that are fairly common (Ernie, Bert, Grover, etc.) To be honest, the only other "Grover" I can think of off hand is Grover Cleveland.

Oscar's name came from an "Oscar's Tavern" in NY (says Spinney). Roosevelt Franklin almost certainly came from Franklin Roosevelt.

And, of course, another obviously named character... .

Convincing John

 

[stephenjlizard]

I remember reading somewhere that Jim's friend Kermit (the real one) is living somewhere in Virginia. It was on an older show in one of the news segments.

 

[Fragglemuppet]

Well, Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom, and her symbol is the owl! Coincidence? I think not. It's too obscure and specific a connection for that in my opinion.

 

[ISNorden]

Two more in-joke names with the same source: The Amazing Mumford was named for a Thad Mumford who worked with CTW. So was "Dr. Thad" of "Dr. Thad and the Medications" (credited in a home-video release of "The Ten Commandments of Health").

 

[wiley207]

Little Chrissy is named after his voice actor, Chris Cerf. And Little Jerry and the Monotones, the band members are named after their respective performers.

Little Jerry = Jerry Nelson
Rockin' Richard = Richard Hunt
Chrissy = Chris Cerf
Big Jeff = Jeff Moss

In their 2000 appearance, I know Little Jerry was definitely voiced by Jerry Nelson, and Chrissy might've been Chris Cerf again. Rockin' Richard wasn't there, since Richard Hunt died and the character left the band to begin a solo career, according to what I heard. I don't know who voiced Big Jeff, though.

 

[BEAR]

Prairie Dawn was named after some random actress named Prairie Dorn, whose headshot Fran Brill saw sitting on a producer's desk.

Zoe was named after the character in the play Fran and Zoey. Originally they wanted to name her Frannie after the character's performer Fran Brill, but she didn't want that, so they went with Zoe.

 

[Drtooth]

I always thought since he was red and orange, Elmo was named after the optical illusion on ship masts called "St. Elmo's Fire". Again, just a guess.

Elmo is a funny sounding name. I wouldn't be surprised if it had an actual origen, but it just sounds funny. Plus, another monster was named Elmo (mentioned in passing) long before the red one was named. There's a skit on youtube somewhere that has it, but I can't remember if it's still up there. it has to do with Grover in a telephone booth answering the phone for someone. They probably thought it was a good name for a monster, and they kept it floating around.