Snake's real name, David, was not a reference to his voice actor, David Hayter, as it was present in the Japanese script long before he was hired to provide Snake's voice. The name is instead a dual reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Policenauts.

In Otacon's ending, Snake gives Otacon his real name, and Otacon replies "I'm Hal, Dave." to which Snake jokes they should "take a trip to Jupiter", referencing the Stanley Kubrick 1968 movie and book 2001: A Space Odyssey which starred a main character named "David" Bowman and the famous supercomputer "HAL"-9000.

In Meryl's ending, Snake gives his real name to Meryl, who calls him "Dave". This is actually one of many references to Kojima's previous game Policenauts, in which Meryl Silverburgh was a member of the Beyond Coast Polices Vice unit, and was partnered with a young officer named "Dave" Forrest.