Lisa Marie Simpson – Lisa Groening (Matt Groening's sister) and
Lisa Marie PresleyMarge – Marjorie (commonly called Marge) Groening (Matt Groening's mother was named "Margaret" and nicknamed "Marge")
homer.com – Homer Groening (Matt Groening's father and one of his sons)
Maggie Startup – Maggie Groening (one of Matt Groening's sisters)
Bart – an anagram for "brat", a reference to Groening himself
Abraham – picked at random by writers for The Simpsons, but coincidentally was the name of Matt Groening's grandfather
742 SW
Evergreen Terrace in
Portland, Oregon is the address of the place where Matt Groening grew up. In an episode from season four, 742 Evergreen Terrace is the home of Snake, the robber, located next door to Reverend Lovejoy; however it is commonly accepted that this is the address of the Simpsons' house. Marge once called Evergreen Terrace "The street that smells like pee".
Chief Clancy Wiggum – Groening's
college love's last name and his mother's maiden name
Miss Hoover (Lisa's teacher) – one of his primary
school teachers
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (Kwik-E-Mart owner) – reference to the famous
Apu trilogy of
Satyajit Ray--a favorite of Groening's.
Ned Flanders - In
Portland,
Oregon.com the experience starts here..., Groening's hometown, there is a NE Flanders St., which is often vandalized to say "NED" Flanders St.
Reverend Lovejoy - NW Lovejoy Street, another Portland street name
Mayor "Diamond" Joe Quimby - NW Quimby Street, another Portland street name, and corrupt former Portland Police Bureau Chief Diamond Joe Purcell.
Charles Montgomery Burns - an abbreviated Portland street called West and East Burnside Street, as well as Portland's Montgomery Park neighborhood. 'Charles' is a reference to
Citizen Kane's
Charles Foster Kane, upon whom Mr. Burns is based.
Sideshow Bob Terwilliger - Terwilliger Boulevard and the Terwilliger curves on I-5 in
Portland.
The "J" in Homer J. Simpson, Bartholomew J. Simpson, Abraham J. Simpson, et al- Reference to
Bullwinkle J. Moose and therefore, by proxy,
Jay Ward. Homer's middle initial stands for "Jay".
Kearney, the bully, is named for NW Kearney St, also located in Portland.
Dolph, the bully, is named after Groening’s classmate Dolph Timmerman. Groening has said that Timmerman wasn’t a bully at all, but a “really cool guy".
Seymour Skinner – A reference to Eugene Skinner, the founder of Eugene, Oregon (neighboring Springfield, Oregon), and the namesake of
Skinner Butte, a well-known hill therein. Perhaps the "Seymour Butts" joke is involved here? (a thought that occurred to me while looking out over Eugene from Skinner Butte). Also behavioral psychologist
B. F. Skinner, especially considering his
Psycho.com-esque relationship with his mother, or a reference to "see more skin". Also, Skinner is drawn very similar to Groening's 5th grade teacher.
Maude,
Rod and
Todd Flanders – they all rhyme with "God" (Maude being pronounced 'Mod' in certain North American accents).
Kang & Kodos (aliens) – In the
original Star Trek, Kang is a
Klingon, and
Kodos ("The Executioner") is a human villain. A third alien (seen only in the aliens' first appearance in the original
Treehouse of Horror episode) was named "Serak", similar to
Vulcan characters
Sarek and
Surak.
Barney Gumble (Homer's drinking buddy) – Barney Rubble from
The Flintstones, and not
Bryant Gumbel, as commonly theorized.
Dr. Nick Riviera (enterprising physician) –
Elvis Presley's physician,
George C. Nichopoulos, was called Dr. Nick. He prescribed the large amount of pills that eventually killed Elvis.
Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten – US President
Richard Milhous Nixon, former Italian
fascist dictator
Benito Mussolini and Manson Family member and convicted murderer
Leslie Van Houten (or, far more likely, Van Houten Avenue in Portland, Oregon).
Jacqueline Bouvier:
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whose maiden name was, in fact, Bouvier
Troy McClure (actor) –
B-movie actors
Troy Donahue and
Doug McClure.
Police officer Lou was named after
baseball player
Lou Whitaker.
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