New Girl had its own mysteries, and the biggest one was about Schmidt’s first name, which wasn’t revealed until season 6 and he was never addressed by it – here’s what happened. Created by Elizabeth Meriwether, New Girl made its debut on Fox in 2011, and it was very well received from the beginning, with critics and viewers praising its sense of humor and the performances of the main cast. This allowed New Girl to live on for a couple more years, coming to an end in 2018 after seven seasons.
New Girl followed Jess Day (Zooey Deschanel), a bubbly, young teacher who after she finds out that her long-term boyfriend is cheating on her, moves into a loft with three complete strangers. After a period of adjustment, Jess ended up becoming close to her roommates Nick Miller (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Winston Bishop (Lamorne Morris), with her best friend Cece (Hannah Simone) also joining the fun. Like any other sitcom, New Girl had its own gags and mysteries, of which some were solved at some point. Such is the case of Schmidt’s first name, which also created a minor plot hole.
Schmidt was introduced as such, and no one addressed him by his first name, not even his family (he even competes with his cousin over the use of their last name, as there can only be one Schmidt). His first name was finally revealed in season 6’s episode “San Diego”, where he decided to use it again to further his career in the business world. He did so in front of Winston, who told him it was a very bad idea, as it turns out that Schmidt’s name is also Winston. It was later revealed that 15 years prior to that moment, both Winstons came up with a rule that stated there couldn’t be two Winstons, and so Winston Bishop kept the name and Winston Schmidt went by his last name.
Although that explains why he never revealed his first name and why Winston specifically was there when he decided to take his name back, the explanation created a minor plot hole. Schmidt met Nick in college when he suddenly arrived at Nick’s room as his new roommate. Nick was sleeping and was woken up by Schmidt eating dry ramen. He then introduced himself as Schmidt, not Winston, and at that point he hadn’t met Winston Bishop yet. This might be because the writers didn’t know Schmidt’s name would be Winston, that his name would be eventually revealed, or they simply got their flashbacks wrong.
Some fans have decided that Schmidt had been going by his last name for a while and was in the process of being addressed by his first name when he met Winston, and so the rule was created. Whatever the case, Schmidt’s real name created a minor plot hole that doesn’t affect Schmidt’s nor Winston’s arc, but it makes all those flashbacks to their college days a bit confusing.