I think you\'re right about the Jacob-Jack thing because Jack is a derivative of Jacob. So you\'re right there. There are also hidden meanings behind the names. Like if you look up the meaning of the names, that reveals a little more about the characters. Also, they use a lot of Philosophe, scientist, and author names. For example: I am utterly convinced Charlotte Staples Lewis has been to the Island before. Maybe it was her giggly delight as she splashed about in the Island\'s inland waters. True, the would-be freighter savior (or devil) could have been celebrating the mere fact that she had survived her harrowing arrival. But there was something more to her reaction — something that reminded me of another fantastical tale about an enchanted homecoming. The book is Prince Caspian, by C.S. Lewis, the sequel to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The story starts with a chapter called \'\'The Island,\'\' in which the Pevensie kids return to Narnia via a mysterious island marked by ancient ruins and odd creatures. First thing they do: play in the water. Maybe I\'m just fishing again. But if you think I\'m wrong, then you owe me a better explanation why Charlotte Staples Lewis has been assigned a name so conspicuously similar to the author\'s unfurled handle, Clive Staples Lewis. http://bittersweetblue.blogspot.com/2008/02/cs-lewis-arrives-in-lost.html Interesting huh? Here\'s a longer list of names: John Locke -- John Locke (obviously) Jean-Jacques Rousseau -- Danielle Rousseau Lord Anthony Ashley-Cooper -- Anthony Cooper (Locke\'s dad) Thomas Carlyle -- Boone Carlyle David Hume -- Desmond Hume John Desmond Bernal -- Desmond Hume Edmund Burke -- Edmund Burke (Juliet\'s ex-husband) Mikhail Bakunin -- Mikhail Bakunin Jeremy Bentham -- John Locke (his name in the obituary when he dies) Stephen Hawking -- Eloise Hawking Michael Faraday -- Daniel Faraday Hermann Minkowski -- George Minkowski Ram Dass (birth name Richard Alpert) -- Richard Alpert C.S. Lewis -- Charlotte Staples Lewis Interesting.