So Mater’s named after a Fruit huh? Hmm, he always did seem a bit peachy.
I wonder if Mater, at one point in his life, used to be a gardener or something. Can’t imagine why his parents would name him something like that. Or maybe that’s his car brand?
Wow…
look at the Making of Cars featurette. Tow-Mater is indeed a pun, but Mater is named after a real guy who goes by Mater that JL met on Route 66.
Really, none of you own the DVD??? 
And continuing from Virginia’s post, the guy that Mater is named after did say something about eating so many “tuh-maters” (tomatoes) that he got Mater as a nickname.
Guys, Mater’s name is based on a guy. lol
Yay!! Legit people are backing me!! Does this mean I won?
Yes you did! 
Yes!! 
Thanks, Jess!
welcome
I wonder if it’s just a nickname and he has an actual name. I’ve also wondered the same thing about Lightning, I mean seriously, would any parent give their kid such a name? Maybe his real name is Matthew, and Lightning is Leroy or something.
Heh, when I first heard his name, I thought it was because he was a bit of a Lothario, if you know what I mean. 
Haha, yep! He’s on the Cars DVD bonus feature right? He’s a pretty chill dude.
I wonder where he got his name!
Well, I was close…he’s named after a guy that’s named after tomatoes.
And ellie-jessie-eve, LightningandDoc just said he was named that because he ate so many tomatoes.
I wish I could throw a “to-mater” at him… 
so we figured out what his name was based on but now let’s try to figure out the question above
How about Rupert?
Or Sebastian?
That’s a good one. 
How about Charles?
Or Bob? 
That’s what I first thought of writing, but that would be too obvious. How about Patrick?
I. Love. That. NAME!!! I’d rather it be an elegant, unlikely, anti-Mater name, though.
How about Poindexter?Or Phil…