
When the characters were given names for the television series The Addams Family, he was originally going to be called "Pubert" (a derivation of the word puberty, possibly a reflection of his age), but it was rejected as it sounded too sexual, and the name Pugsley was chosen instead. In the television series, Pugsley usually eats over five pieces of cake at birthday parties.

Originally unnamed (as were all of the family members), the character who was apparently the prototype for Pugsley first appeared in the Charles Addams cartoons in The New Yorker during the 1930s.

Pugsley was first portrayed as the oldest child of Morticia and Gomez Addams, but later was shown to be younger than Wednesday.
