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I was reading the clive barker book "Mister B Gone" and it is obviously a pun or some such name for "Mister be gone" as in "sir, go away". I got to thinking about this and this is actually fairly common way of doing things in titles or names. "I P. Freely" is a old simpsons joke.

Is there a name for this kind of pun? Where you hide a sentence inside a title?

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  • The closest specific thing I've been able to find for this use so far is a homophonic pun, where the pun is formed by using words which sound like something else ("Atheism is a non-prophet institution" for example)
    – John Clifford
    Commented Feb 29, 2016 at 11:22
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    I'd call it a "punny title" (though a poor one).
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Feb 29, 2016 at 13:32
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    Not to pick nits, but "I. P. Freely" predates The Simpsons by many years!
    – DaveM
    Commented Feb 29, 2016 at 13:32
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    For an ongoing delight, listen to Car Talk's regular end of show credits (now in reruns). We miss them sorely.
    – bib
    Commented Feb 29, 2016 at 13:40
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    I prefer my puns intended.
    – NVZ ♦
    Commented Feb 29, 2016 at 13:41

2 Answers 2

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When a real person has a name that is especially well suited or descriptive, it is called an aptronym (or aptonym)

A person’s name that is regarded as amusingly appropriate to their occupation: he began collecting aptronyms when he saw an ad for a flower shop operated by Flora Gardner

Also euonym

An appropriate or well-chosen name; (formerly in technical use) a name that conforms to the requirements of a particular system of nomenclature. The term was popularized by its appearance as the winning word in the 1997 U.S. National Spelling Bee competition.

Oxford Dictionaries Online

A long list of such real names is found in this Wikipedia article.

The fanciful versions seem to be a logical extension.

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Consider punny

constituting or involving a pun

Or in informal contexts, puntastic

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