The following is an excerpt of Springfield Confidential, the book by The Simpsons producer Mike Reiss, now available for purchase.

“I used to be amazed by Matt Groening’s gift for coining names for characters. In the early days of The Simpsons, they seemed to pour out of him:

The neighbor? Flanders

The reverend? Lovejoy

The mayor? Quimby

The bully? Kearney

Years later, I learned these were all street names in Matt’s native Portland, Oregon. Simpsons characters have intentionally bland names, observing James Thurber’s rule ‘[Humor] never recovers from such names as Ann S. Thetic, Maud Lynn, Sally Forth, Bertha Twins, and the like.’

But there are interesting origins to some of the characters’ names. Here are a few.” —Mike Reiss