He does plan a large number of things, and I won't doubt that he plans the characters to match up with mythology or famous people. That's the funnest part of writing a story, or at least that's what my story-writing friend says. However, some of the little details or links that the fans come up with just seem to insignificant... but I just woke up ten minutes ago, so I can't give any specifics. I do think this particular case is planned, though.