Why did Bill Watterson choose the character names he did?

Question

Several major characters in *Calvin and Hobbes* are named after fictional or historical characters. - Calvin is named after theologian John Calvin - Hobbes is named after Thomas Hobbes - Miss Wormwood is named after Wormwood in *The Screwtape Letters*, a low-level demonic tempter. Appropriately, it's also the name of a bitter substance.My question, then: why did the author choose those specific names? Were they mostly for the deliberate irony (naming Calvin after a serious theologian, Wormwood being named after both a tempter and a bitter substance, etc.), or are there more "layers" to this that I'm missing?

Answer 1

Well, only Waterson knows for sure, but I notice that Thomas Hobbes was the one who described humanity (in the absence of a powerful leader) as "nasty, brutish, and short." And how does Hobbes the tiger see Calvin in his worst moments?