# Name Puns > Name Puns are 2008 image-macro memes from b3ta featuring two-panel jokes that alter both celebrity images and names to create visual-verbal puns. Name Puns are multi-panel image macros where the first panel shows a celebrity or fictional character with their name captioned, and the second panel alters both the image and the name to create a visual-verbal pun. The format originated on the b3ta message board in September 2008 with a Reese Witherspoon joke and went viral on Reddit and Tumblr in early 2012[4]. The meme sits at the intersection of Photoshop culture and wordplay humor, building on a tradition of visual punning that stretches back centuries[6]. ## Origin The first known Name Pun image macro appeared on b3ta, a British art and humor message board, on September 8, 2008[4]. The anonymous creator posted a Photoshopped image of actress Reese Witherspoon holding a spoon in the first panel[9]. The second panel showed the same image with the spoon removed from her hand, captioned "Reese Withoutaspoon"[4]. The concept had precursors in online Photoshop culture. Something Awful's Photoshop Phriday ran an "Anagrammed Movie Posters" contest as early as 2003, asking users to rearrange movie titles and alter their posters to match[4]. Worth1000 hosted a "One Letter Movie Posters" contest in 2006 with a similar premise[4]. The celebrity-focused Woll Smoth meme also played in related territory, shrinking celebrities' mouths into an "O" shape and replacing all vowels in their names with O's[4]. Outside the internet, visual punning is ancient. A gable stone in the village of Batenburg, placed on Amsterdam's Prinsengracht, depicts a castle overflowing with coins, punning on *baten* (to profit) and *burg* (castle)[7]. Worth1000 ran dedicated visual pun image contests starting around 2005[8]. - **Platform:** b3ta (original post), Reddit / Tumblr (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown (b3ta user, original Witherspoon macro), crawsome (Reddit viral Jafar post), i-am-oregonian (Tumblr viral Jafar repost) - **Date:** 2008 ## Overview Name Puns follow a simple two-panel formula. The first panel presents a recognizable person or character alongside their name. The second panel modifies the image to match a punned version of that name. The humor comes from the double hit: the wordplay lands at the same moment as the visual gag. For example, a photo of Reese Witherspoon holding a spoon becomes "Reese Withoutaspoon" when the spoon is digitally removed[9]. A picture of Jafar from Disney's *Aladdin* transforms into "Ja-close" by zooming in on his face[4]. The format relies on reverse captioning, where the image is manipulated to match the caption rather than the other way around[4]. This makes them a subset of visual puns, a form of humor combining images and language that dates back to medieval European gable stones and heraldic canting arms[6]. ## How It Spread The Witherspoon macro circulated through humor aggregators like Laugh It Out, Lowbird, and Demotivate.info throughout September 2008[4]. In 2009, a Kanye West version went around using a mirrored image of the rapper, changing his name to "Kanye East." The joke tied into the popular Kanye Interrupts meme format circulating at the time[11]. The format didn't truly explode until February 19, 2012, when Reddit user crawsome posted a Jafar version to /r/funny[4]. The image showed Jafar from Disney's 1992 *Aladdin*[5] in two panels, playing on the character's name. Before archiving, the post pulled in over 3,100 upvotes and 20 comments[4]. That same day, Tumblr user i-am-oregonian reposted the macro, where it racked up more than 65,600 notes by April 2012[4]. The Jafar version spread to FunnyJunk, College Humor, and LOLROFLMAO[4]. The humor blog Slacktory began regularly posting Name Puns under its "Visual Puns" tag[1]. In March 2012, comic artist Max Garcia brought the format into print, using a Name Pun in his New York Daily News strip *Between the Lines*[4]. Between September and December 2012, roundup collections appeared on Smosh, Bored Panda, Pop Hangover, and List25[9][10]. December 2012 saw the creation of the dedicated subreddit /r/NamePuns and the Twitter account @CelebNamePuns, which had picked up nearly 3,000 followers by February 2013[4]. On Tumblr, users tagged their creations under "celebrity pun" and "name puns," creating browsable archives of the format[3]. ## How to Use Creating a Name Pun typically follows these steps: 1. **Pick a name with pun potential.** Celebrity names, fictional characters, and historical figures all work. The name needs a word or syllable that can be swapped to create a different meaning (Witherspoon → Withoutaspoon, West → East). 2. **Make the first panel.** Show the person or character with their real name captioned below. 3. **Alter the image for the second panel.** Use Photoshop or any editing tool to visually represent the pun. Remove an object, mirror the image, add props, or warp the photo to match the new name. 4. **Caption the second panel with the punned name.** The visual change and the name change should click together instantly. ## Cultural Impact The Atlantic covered the broader tradition of visual puns in 2012, noting that image-and-text puns help viewers "more effectively analyze the image at hand"[2]. The article placed internet Name Puns within a lineage stretching from early 20th-century object posters through photomontage to modern digital editing[2]. Name Puns also attracted attention from collections on Metafilter and Urlesque, which gathered examples of photoshopped visual wordplay[4]. Bored Panda's "24 Best Celebrity Name Puns" roundup became one of the more widely shared compilations of the format[9]. Max Garcia's use of the format in his syndicated newspaper comic *Between the Lines* marked one of the earliest crossovers from internet meme to mainstream print media for this specific joke structure[4]. ## Fun Facts - The visual pun tradition predates the internet by over 600 years. The Batenburg gable stone in Amsterdam, dating to 1385, is one of the earliest known examples of an image-based name pun[7]. - European heraldry used "canting arms," essentially visual puns on family names, for centuries. Members of the British royal family still use them[6]. - The /r/NamePuns subreddit and @CelebNamePuns Twitter account both launched in December 2012, within weeks of each other[4]. - Worth1000 ran visual pun contests as early as 2005, years before the celebrity Name Pun format took off[8]. - The Reese Witherspoon original is technically a prop-removal gag, not a Photoshop addition, making it one of the simpler edits that spawned an entire genre[9]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Name Puns? Name Puns are two-panel image macros where a celebrity or character's name is altered into a pun, with the image edited to match the joke visually[4]. ### Where did Name Puns come from? The first known Name Pun appeared on the b3ta message board on September 8, 2008, featuring Reese Witherspoon holding a spoon, then "Reese Withoutaspoon" with the spoon removed[4]. ### What does Name Puns mean? The meme is straightforward wordplay. It takes a recognizable name, finds a pun within it, and uses image editing to make both the verbal and visual joke land at once[9]. ### How do you use Name Puns? Pick a name with pun potential, create a first panel showing the person with their real name, then edit the image for a second panel that visually matches the punned name[4]. ### Is Name Puns still popular? The format peaked in 2012-2013 but still surfaces when people discover new names with pun potential. The subreddit /r/NamePuns and related Tumblr tags still host new submissions[4]. ### Who started the Name Puns meme going viral? Reddit user crawsome posted the Jafar version to /r/funny on February 19, 2012, and Tumblr user i-am-oregonian reposted it the same day, reaching over 65,600 notes[4]. ### What was the first Name Pun? The Reese Witherspoon "Reese Withoutaspoon" image macro, posted on b3ta on September 8, 2008[9]. ### How old is the visual pun tradition? Visual name puns go back to at least 1385, when the Batenburg gable stone was placed in Amsterdam's Prinsengracht, punning on the words *baten* and *burg*[7]. ### What's the difference between Name Puns and Woll Smoth? Woll Smoth replaces all vowels with "O" and shrinks the mouth, while Name Puns alter a specific part of the name and edit the image to reflect the new meaning[4]. ### Did Name Puns appear in print media? Yes. Comic artist Max Garcia used the format in his New York Daily News strip *Between the Lines* in March 2012[4]. ## References 1. [visual puns | Slacktory | This seems legit.]() 2. [The Object Poster, the Visual Pun, and 3 Other Ideas That Changed Design - The Atlantic]() 3. [celebrity pun | Tumblr]() 4. [Name Puns - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Guiana Brasileira (meme)]() 6. [Aladdin (1992 Disney film)]() 7. [Reese Witherspoon]() 8. [Visual pun]() 9. [Gable stone - Wikipedia]() 10. [Aladdin (1992 Disney film) - Wikipedia]() 11. [Freelance Logo Design, Web Design & Graphic Design | DesignCrowd]() 12. [The 24 Best Celebrity Name Puns | Bored Panda]() 13. [POPHANGOVER » Blog Archive » The Best of the Celebrity Name Puns!!!]() 14. [Kanye East Will Let Kanye West Finish | Ima Let You Finish]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/name-puns Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library