"My name isn't Zura. it's Katsura!"
— Katsura, Gintama
There are some people who explicitly prefer to be called by their proper name. In fact these people are often irritated with nicknames.
Of course they normally have reason for this. Perhaps they find the nicknames childish while they prefer to be formal and serious, maybe they are extremely proud of their name, or they are so aloof they dislike the closeness implied in nicknaming. At any rate, this character will almost always be some sort of a uptight stick-in-the-mud or fussy straight man to his more irritating castmates.
Compare and contrast Accidental Misnaming and Malicious Misnaming. Contrast Do Not Call Me "Paul" (when a guy with an alias doesn't like to be called with his real name). Also see They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! (for insistent titling). As essentially Insistent Terminology for names, expect them to get along with one or fewer of the following: First-Name Basis, Last-Name Basis, Full-Name Basis. Expect them to be at odds with The Nicknamer, for obvious reasons. With them, everything but their prefered name may be Terms of Endangerment.
Compare to Embarrassing Nickname.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- In A Certain Magical Index/A Certain Scientific Railgun, Misaka Mikoto hates when Touma calls her ''Biri-Biri/Sparky" for apparently she finds it childish and explicitly wants him to call her by name.
- Fruits Basket: After her Character Development, Akito becomes a more open and sociable person, but she objects when Saki nicknames her "A-chan".
- Gintama: "Zura Janai, Katsura daaa!" (It's not Zura, it's Katsura!) This is the catch phrase of Katsura Kotarou, who demands to be called by his name. Even if he's supposed to be undercover or keeping a low profile. This occasionally gets parodied.
- In I Couldn't Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job, Lamdimia Do Aximemor is very proud of her name and absolutely hates it when people shorten it.
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean: Jolyne doesn't like being called "JoJo" and states the only person who is allowed to call her that is her own mother.
- In Mahou Shoujo Nante Mou Ii Desu Kara, Mafuyu shortens Pokenchiss Dil Prafsolaf name to Pochi despite how many times she tries to object.
- In Magical Domiko, the Show Within a Show from Nanaka 6/17, Domiko's sidekick is always referred to by her as Pikota... even though he constantly insists his name is Pikoto.
- Kaoru from Tamayura hates when Norie calls her Kao-tan and immediately denies the nickname to no avail.
- Natsuna, the resident Aloof Dark-Haired Girl in Wizard Barristers hates being called Natcchin by her co-workers.
Comic Books
- The Immortal Hulk: The regular Hulk gets very upset when repeatedly referred to as "Big Guy" because he thinks he's being misnamed. Hulk is Hulk! ... though in this instance things get creepy moments later when Doctor McGowan (the one being corrected) and one of the other Hulks get confused and ask "what's a Hulk?"
- Invincible: The protagonist's Muggle Best Friend William is often asked if he can be called Bill. When he refuses, people think he's arrogant.
- Last of the Sandwalkers: Lucy hates being called genius, even if she is one. (Although it's unclear if she hates being called that in general or if she just hates it when Mossy calls her that.)
- PS238: Lady Alexandria von Fogg will be addressed as such. She doesn't even let the Praetorian Academy staff call her by a code name, let alone tolerate Kevin calling her "Alex".
- Robin: The third Robin, Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne, prefers Tim but will answer to either of his last names and Timothy but he will immediately correct anyone calling him Timmy.
Fan Works
- Atsuko Kagari and the School For Witches:
- Diana hates being called "cabbage", as her mother calls her that. She gets angry whenever Amanda addresses her as such.
- The Shiny Rod would rather be called by his real name of Claiomh Solais rather than being referred to as... well, "Shiny Rod". This doesn't stop Akko or Ursula from calling him just that.
- Child Born of Love: Chrona is dismayed at earning the epithet "Dark Mistress" and would really prefer if others didn't call her that.
- Fox in the Bunnyhouse: After learning that Judy has ties to Mr. Big, Nick sarcastically asks "So, Carrots. Was it the dismal pay of a beat cop or the raging speciesism that made you turn to the mob?" Judy replies that "[he's] going to want to refrain from calling [her] Carrots," which he misinterprets as an Implied Death Threat from a Dirty Cop.
- Infinity Train: Seeker of Crocus:
- Easter takes pride in having a name — as they're originally a nameless sentient lightning bolt before having struck Specter — and gets annoyed when Yuri playfully calls them "East". Ironically, Easter itself is actually short for a moniker they call "Earth-as-Specter".
- Easter's distaste for nicknames is used to indicate that something's seriously wrong when they don't react to Tony calling them "Mr. Sparky", even though that doubles as misgendering them (they're non-binary). Easter's too busy being upset by how King Lugh, the deity that crafted their car and freed them from servitude of Zeus, is being used to cause evil.
- Yuri Ichiro loves giving nicknames to others but does not want Tony Clark to call him "Yu-ster". However, this doesn't mean he hates nicknames at all, as his father gives him an Affectionate Nickname in "Little Rockruff".
- Kaleidoscopic Katamari:
- Downplayed by Velvet, who specifically dislikes any nickname that riffs off of 'bell'. Possibly in part because her controlling mother frequently calls her "My Belle". She doesn't appear to mind being called "Vel", however.
- Velvet also takes offense to how Bossanova is more commonly referred to as "Drooby", something Velvet personally regards as an Embarrassing Nickname since it riffs off of part of her second cousin's anatomy. (For her part, Bossanova/Drooby herself is totally fine with it and finds Velvet's reactions amusing.)
- Kingdom Hearts Ψ: The Mistress of Evil: Inch by Inch, Row by Row shows that Leon doesn't appreciate how Snow calls him "boss". That said, he doesn't mind Rinoa calling him "Squall".
- Luminosity : Radiance demonstrates that while Allirea is more visibly an example of the opposite trope, she also hates being nicknamed herself. This could be because Demetri, who has vampire-mate-bonded with her and doesn't comprehend that half-vampires don't automatically reciprocate like full vampires do, insists on calling her "Alli".
- The Mountain and the Wolf: Ramsay demands to be known as Bolton as he's been legitimized. The Wolf, who's there to kill him and doesn't like him in the first place, instead deliberately calls him by a variety of names, and never the right one: Snow (the generic name for bastards, though the Wolf doesn't know that), Snolton, and finally Snotling (the utterly weakest type of orc).
- My Hero Playthrough: While Cassandra Cain doesn't mind being called by her first name or simply "Cass", but asks Izuku not to call her "Cassie", as that's what her Archnemesis Dad calls her.
- The Owl Lady's Chick:
- Strix calls Luz "Luzer" as a form of friendly ribbing. While she initially rejects the nickname, she comes to accept it as they bond... though this doesn't prevent others from using it cruelly.
- Philip Wittebane glares at Strix and warns him not to call him Phil. When Strix says it again during "Hollow Mind", he nearly gets Belos' scythe arm straight to his face.
- Bill really doesn't like being called "Billy"; again, this doesn't stop Strix.
- YuyaVision: Dragon's Lair focuses on Gongenzaka, and shows that he doesn't appreicate being called "Gong Strong".
Film — Animated
- The bulldog Francis from Disney's Oliver & Company insists upon "Francis", which the chihuahua Tito abuses with sadistic abandon. Francis fancies himself a Shakespearean thespian; in reality, he plays dead as part of a street hustle.
"My name is Francis. Not Frank. Not Frankie. Fran-cis."
Film — Live-Action
- In Annie Hall, Alvy's friend Rob insists on addressing him as "Max", arguing, "It's a good name for you."
- In Back to the Future Part III, Biff Tannen's ancestor Buford's nickname, "Mad Dog", is a major Berserk Button to him.
- In Bloody Mama, the Barkers abduct Samuel Pendlebury, who allows them to call him Sam but corrects them if they call him Buddy or Mister, to the bafflement of Herman, who can't believe Sam is pushing his luck with the hostage takers.
- David Staebler from The King of Marvin Gardens corrects anyone who calls him Davey.
- Virginia from Like Normal People dislikes her childhood nickname, Ginny Rae, which she sees as a little girl's name.
- Men in Black (1997): When J agrees to join the MIB, he insists that they respect him and refrain from giving him some cheesy rookie nickname. So K and Zed naturally spend the rest of the movie calling him all kinds of cheesy rookie nicknames.
- Men in Black 3: If you value your existence, do not under any circumstances call Boris "The Animal."
- Thunderbolts* (2025): Bob Reynolds doesn't like being called "Bobby" by the U.S. Agent, as it was what his abusive father used to call him.
- Turkey Hollow: Annie repeatedly objects to being called "Banana", which is the nickname her dad uses for her, saying she hates it.
- In White Frog, Nick dislikes his parents' nickname for him, B. B.
Nick: I am not your B. B., and I am not your baby!
Literature
- Samuel from Afrotistic hates being called Sam. To his frustration, people often assume he's okay with being nicknamed, and he can't always find the words to correct them.
- This is one of the characteristics of the goblins in Discworld. They all have names like The Tears Of The Mushroom and Of The Twilight The Darkness, and if you shorten this name in any way, it stops being their name. (Exception: there's a goblin policeman in Raising Steam called Of The Chimney The Bones, who allows his superior officer to call him "Boney". A footnote mentions that this is a special privilege.)
- The Dresden Files:
- Zig-zagged with the archangel Uriel, who absolutely refuses to let The Nicknamer Harry Dresden call him "Uri". After some consideration, Harry proposes "Mr. Sunshine", which he hesitantly accepts. Since Harry was unwittingly removing the name of Uriel's patron God from his name, Uriel's uncharacteristic anxiety is understandable.note
- Anastasia Luccio hates being called "Stacy", to the point that her visceral negative reaction to it leads to Harry using it as a Trust Password. She has nothing against being called "Ana" by people she is close to, though.
- Joel Suzuki: Felicity and her older sister Victoria both hate being nicknamed, and annoy each other by calling each other Lissy and Vicky.
- The Last Binding: Edwin's Big Brother Bully used to call him "Eddie" in mockery, so he continues to dislike nicknames well into adulthood. Nonetheless, his other siblings cheekily call him "Win", simply because they enjoy nicknaming people and are too thoughtless to notice his discomfort.
- According to the Mixels Activity Book, nicknames are one of many things that Nixels dislike. Volectro ends up keeping one Nixel as a pet, nicknaming him "Nixie", much to his ire.
- Gillian from Naked Came the Stranger is the co-host of The Billy & Gilly Show, but she hates being called Gilly off the air because "It sounds like some Lake Michigan fish."
- Cassius from the Prudence Penderhaus books angrily corrects anyone who calls him "Cass."
- Catherine from Rules keeps telling her dad not to call her "Cath," which reminds her of a baby cow.
- Robert from Stim corrects anyone who calls him Rob, Robbie, Bob, Bobby, or anything other than his name.
Live-Action TV
- BOB ♡ ABISHOLA:
- When Bob and Abishola first meet in the pilot, Bob starts calling her "Abby", which she doesn't like.
- A curious example happens regarding Chukwuemeka. He says that Abishola may refer to him as "Chewie", but his mother is the one who insists that she call him Chukwuemeka.
- The title of Bones comes from the nickname that FBI agent Seeley Booth gives the forensic anthropologist he consults with, Dr. Temperance Brennan. She starts out the series abhorring this nickname, and "don't call me Bones" was close to a pseudo-catchphrase in early seasons. It eventually grows on her as Booth does, though he is the only one allowed to call her that—not that anyone else would dare try.
- The Burn Notice episode 'Scatter Point' has an undercover Michael tell the Villain of the Week to call him "Joseph," not "Joe." He otherwise plays Joseph cool and aloof, not as somebody interested in ingratiating himself with the robbery gang.
- Community: Alex hates being called "Star-burns", but that's what to expect when you have star-shaped sideburns.
- Doctor Who:
- The Doctor usually objects to being called "Doc", although the seventh (after a few protests) puts up with being called "Professor" by Ace. Thirteenth Doctor companion Graham is one of the few people who can get away with using "Doc".
- "Voyage of the Damned": Bannakaffalatta does not appreciate attempts to shorten his name.
The Doctor: Look, can I just call you Banna? It's going to save a lot of time.
Bannakaffalatta: No! Bannakaffalatta.
- How I Met Your Mother:
- Robin hates being called by nicknames, even Ted's own.
- Barney hates the group's nickname for him, "Swarley".
- In Luke Cage, both Cornell Stokes and Mariah Dillard hate their nicknames "Cottonmouth" and "Black Mariah" respectively since both are Embarrassing Nicknames from their childhoods.
- M*A*S*H. If you're on a First-Name Basis with him, Major Winchester is Charles, not Charlie, and certainly not "Chuck".
- In Moon Knight (2022) Steven Grant is quick to insist on being referred to as such when Donna, his boss at the museum, condescendingly calls him "Stevie" instead, probably not helped by the fact that she's a nasty Bad Boss who clearly isn't using the nickname affectionately.
- One episode of Reba has Reba and Van seeing a therapist named David. Van keeps referring to him as "Dave", to which he angrily tells him his name is David.
David: How would you like it if I called you "Va?" Huh, Va? You like that, Va? Got it, Va?
- In The Sarah Jane Adventures, with the notable exception of the Doctor, Sarah Jane does not like it when people attempt to drop the "Jane" from her name.
- Star Trek: Discovery, Michael Burnham is shown to dislike being nicknamed, though it could just be that the one coming up with her nicknames is Tilly, a Ditzy Genius who tends to unintentionally insult Burnham.
- Strike Back: Novin isn't pleased at being called "short stuff" by Wyatt at first, snapping and cussing him for it. She comes to accept it though.
- Inverted in The Thick of It with Steve Fleming, when Julius Nicholson refers to him as "Stephen", Fleming yells back "Steve!"
- The Wonder Years had an episode titled "Coda" which featured Kevin playing piano in a recital against a very formal, prim and proper boy named Ronald Hirschmuller. Kevin calls him Ron at one point and is told sternly by him to refer to him as Ronald.
Tabletop Games
- Basic Dungeons & Dragons module IM1 The Immortal Storm. In Part 3 "The Sound of Music" the PC Immortals meet a tonal named Seesquafore. She "does not like nicknames or any shorter form of address."
Video Games
- Alpha Protocol: Steven Heck at one point set fire to a man who tried to bribe him. However, before the fire came out he also took three of the man's fingers off for calling him "Steve".
- ANNO: Mutationem: Downplayed. While Ann doesn't mind Ayane calling her "darling" most of the time, when she asks her to stop, Ayane just comes up with new nicknames instead, so Ann just settles with "darling" without any future complaints.
- Baldur's Gate II: Yoshimo hates it when an NPC tries to shorten his name to "Yoshi," implying that in his culture, doing so is only appropriate between lovers.
- BlazBlue: The Nicknamer Taokaka induces this with basically the whole cast.
Taokaka: Hi Boobie Lady!
Litchi: It's "Litchi".
Taokaka: Oh! Okay Boobie Lady! - Devil Survivor: Yuzu detests the 'Yoohoo' nickname Atsuro gave her, stating that he's called her that so often that even teachers are beginning to think that's her actual name.
- Dress to Impress: Lana hates being referred to as "Nail Lady" and wants to be called by her real name
- Interestingly, although Subaru from Ensemble Stars! is The Nicknamer, he himself doesn't like being called by a nickname... which is, of course, exactly why Natsume made one up for him.
- Genshin Impact: Paimon gets peeved whenever the Traveler and other people call her nicknames like "Emergency Food", "Floating Child", and "Flying Lavender Melon" (an intentional Malicious Misnaming by Arataki Itto in "Perilous Trail") than her actual name, and will constantly correct people to call her by her actual name as if she's more important than she lets on.
- Dark Pit, from Kid Icarus: Uprising hates the many nicknames characters give him throughout the game. This works both as a Running Gag, and it shows off his more gloomy personality that mirrors the original Pit.
- Master Detective Archives: Rain Code: Makoto Kagutsuchi insists that he's called "Makoto" and nothing else, not even "Mr. Makoto" despite his position and title. Although he seems to be fine with the nicknames from his own employees ("Chief Executive Makoto" and the several Flowery Insults Yomi has for him).
Visual Novels
- In Everlasting Summer, Olga Dmitrievna forces everyone to refer to her by her full name at all times. And don't you dare refer to Alisa as "Dva-cheh".
- Due to Okabe's insistence on giving people nicknames, Steins;Gate has several characters who hate them:
- Kurisu has a lot of nicknames (and she hates every single one of them), to the point that when Okabe calls her by her real name, it's a sign things have gone terribly wrong. The most prominent nickname is Christina (probably due to the fact that "Kurisu" is exactly how one would render the name "Chris" in Japanese, albeit in katakana instead of kanji), which she always counters with "There's no Tina". Okabe also occasionally calls her things like Assistant, Celeb Seventeen, Zombie or any number of other things that aren't her name, much to her annoyance.
- Yuugo Tennouji hates everytime Okabe calls him "Mister Braun" (after the stuff he sells), even threatening Okabe if he calls him that in front of his daughter. Later on however, it is revealed that he has been using the nickname Ferdinand Braun or "FB" as an alias to order the SERN Rounders.
- Okabe also does this occasionally with Daru, calling him a "suupaa hakaa" ("Super Hacka") instead of a "suupaa hakkaa" ("Super Hacker"), which Daru is always quick to correct. It's a very subtle difference, with only a glottal stop
separating the two.
- The sequel Steins;Gate 0 gives us Maho, whom Okabe calls "Lolicon" and "Hiyajopshepina", which she also hates.
- In Umineko: When They Cry, Yasuda tells the other Fukuin House servants she despises being called "Yasu". This is Played for Drama as she practically stops using the name Genji gave to her after "becoming" Beatrice and prefers living as her alternate identities, Shannon and Kanon.
Web Animation
- Multiple occurrences on Battle for Dream Island:
- Needle HATES being called "Needy" and will slap anyone who does so in her presence. Even through the TLC.
- Puffball also doesn't like being called "Puffy". She doesn't slap though, because she's nice/has no limbs.
- Pencil is Pence-Pence only to her friends.
Webcomics
- In Questionable Content, this is a point of contention early on between The Nicknamer Faye and The Comically Serious Bubbles.
Bubbles: I appreciate your understanding. However must you refer to me a "Bubs"?
Faye: Well, you wouldn't let me call you "Miss Bubbles", you vetoed "Palkyrie", and you audibly growled at "Large Metal Friend".
Web Original
- Looming Gaia: When other characters call Elska by a nickname, she always just answers that her name is Elska. In "Blue Boy", when she brawls with Javaan and kicks him so hard that he nearly dies, she reasons that he called her "Pancake".
- Protectors of the Plot Continuum: Agent Acacia gets annoyed whenever her partner Jay refers to her as Acy, to the point where her saying "Don't call me that" in response has become her catchphrase.
Western Animation
- Batman: The Animated Series: The Joker detests Harley's pet name for him, "Puddin'". In "Mad Love", Batman provokes Joker into a berserk rage by using it himself.
- In Daria, Mack is often referred to as "Mack-Daddy" by Kevin, despite his insistence that Kevin stop calling him that. "Mack" is also a nickname (his real name is Michael Mackenzie); he doesn't seem to mind it, though it's notable that his girlfriend Jodie calls him "Michael," indicating that he might prefer it.
- Darkwing Duck: Darkwing's recurring antagonist, Megavolt (f.k.a. Elmo Sputterspark), hates being called "Sparky".
- Infinity Train: MT — Mirror Tulip — hates being given nicknames because it reflects how she's nothing more than just someone else's reflection and not her own person. Doesn't help that the nicknames she gets are malicious ("Sliver", "Null", etc.)
- Kaeloo hates being called nicknames. Especially the nickname "Priscilla".
- Thorn from Kitty Is Not a Cat, really hates being nicknamed, especially if you’re a human.
- The Legend of Korra: When Aang and Toph were twelve, she took to calling him Twinkle-Toes. Decades later, when Aang is responsible for keeping the world balanced and Toph is the chief of police for Republic City, she still calls him Twinkle-Toes, something he feels no longer befits his age or position. And later still, twenty years after Aang's death and the Avatar spirit is reborn in Korra.
- Zigzagged with Rebecca Cunningham from Disney's TaleSpin series. When she's being intractable or Baloo's being obstinate, she insists upon "Rebecca." However, when these two characters are more amenable, "Becky" and "Beckers" get a pass.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): While Ivan takes to "Rocksteady" pretty quickly, Anton does not like being called "Bebop". Later on, he lets people address him by it, likely out of resignation.
- Total Drama: Alejandro really hates the nickname "Al," largely because it's what his Big Brother Bully José calls him.
- In VeggieTales, St. Nicholas as a boy is this. Octavius calls hims things like "Nick Jr." and "Nicky", much to Nicholas's chagrin.
Real Life
- Real Life Abraham Lincoln hated being called "Abe" and his first name in general, preferring to go just by his last name. All his correspondence was signed simply "A. Lincoln." This fact was a damning piece of evidence that unveiled a notorious hoax regarding a stash of scandalous love letters supposedly from him to Ann Rutledge; they were all signed "Abe".
- Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (officially Patrick Mahomes II) prefers to be called by his full first name, Patrick, and dislikes the nickname Pat (likely having to do with the fact that his family always called him Patrick to avoid confusion since his father, also named Patrick Mahomes, went by Pat). Hilarity Ensued when, after Monday Night Football announcer Louis Riddick called Mahomes "Pat" several times, Mahomes' mother took to Twitter to call Riddick out over it.
"If this announcer doesn’t stop calling my son Pat.. ugh i may scream"
- David "Davy" Crockett wasn't the biggest fan of 'Davy', and signed all his correspondence with his full given name. He actually spent a good amount of time trying to shed the nickname in his later life, but pulp magazines and his political opponents insisted on using it. And once Disney made "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" circa the 1950s, it was permanently etched into pop-culture lexicon.