You may not be aware of this, but characters in popular mediums are not just randomly given their names but there's often a lot of symbolism behind them, and that rings true for the Big Bang Theorys leading pair. Sheldon and Leonard were actually named after one Sheldon Leonard, a producer, director, actor and writer who the shows creators admire. Leonard is actually regarded as a pioneer of the time, and starred in films such as Its A Wonderful Life and Sinbad the Sailor. According to executive producer Bill Prady, it was Chuck Lorres idea to name the characters after him. In a similar creative twist, Leonards last name of Hofstadter was taken from the Nobel Prize winning physicist Robert Hofstadter while Sheldon takes his surname of Cooper from another Nobel Prize winner, one Leon Cooper.