Inicialmente prefería títulos que hacen referencia a Trimalción, el nuevo rico en Satiricón de Petronio e incluso se refiere a Gatsby como Trimalción una vez en la novela: "It was when curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that the lights in his house failed to go on one Saturday night—and, as obscurely as it had begun, his career as Trimalchio was over."