Those who grew up with Boy Meets World have fond memories of Topanga Lawrence (Danielle Fishel), but there’s a story behind the character’s unusual name. Airing from 1993 to 2000, Boy Meets World was one of the biggest shows to emerge from ABC’s famous TGIF comedy block, alongside Full House and Home Improvement. While ostensibly focused on the titular boy named Cory Matthews (Ben Savage), Boy Meets World became more of an ensemble comedy as it went on, with Topanga often stealing scenes.
Boy Meets World began with Topanga being sort of a foil to the shenanigans of best friends Cory and Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong). As they grew older, it became apparent that Cory and Topanga were destined for each other. By the end of Boy Meets World‘s seven-season run, Cory and Topanga are married, despite many around them feeling they are too young to settle down. It works out though, as Cory and Topanga’s marriage was still alive and thriving by the time of 2010s sequel series Girl Meets World.
Throughout her younger days on Boy Meets World though, Topanga often found herself the target of teasing for some of her stranger beliefs, and, of course, for her decidedly unique name. She’s a Topanga among a cast of characters named Cory, Shawn, Eric, Jack, Angela, and other much more common names. Amusingly, this choice wasn’t a deliberate attempt to be different by Boy Meets World creator Michael Jacobs. Heading into the start of production, Jacobs had yet to name the character, and when pushed to do so on the phone, Jacobs blurted out Topanga due to his driving by Los Angeles’ Topanga Canyon at the time. Needless to say, the name stuck, and thanks to Topanga returning for Girl Meets World, it became known to a new generation.
In hindsight, Topanga’s name was perfect for her character, helping to further the many differences in personality and philosophy she had with most of Cory’s circle, especially in the early seasons. It also fit with Danielle Fishel’s somewhat exotic look when compared to the rest of the original entirely white cast, although she herself was still technically a Caucasian of partly Maltese ethnicity. Boy Meets World actually wouldn’t add a prominent character of color until Shawn’s girlfriend Angela (Trina McGee) joined the cast in season 5.
The Topanga name has proven to be so memorable that the masses have never really stopped using it to refer to Fishel, a fact she seems to be okay with. Just recently, Fishel appeared in a music video by rapper Jack Harlow, and the reveal was instantly met with excited shouts of Topanga throughout the world of social media. At the end of the day, Fishel and Topanga seem to have been a perfect combo of actor and character, cementing her as a sitcom icon to anyone who came of age alongside Boy Meets World.
