# Best famous-people names **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 18, 2000, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-famous-people-names/22774 "2000-06-18T12:03:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2000, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-famous-people-names/22774/21 "2000-06-19T17:51:36Z")
My two favorite are both academics: Lionel Tiger–a sociologist and Ashley Montague–an anthropologist I’m also fond of Rensis Likert, who invented a popular type of survey scale. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2000, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-famous-people-names/22774/22 "2000-06-19T19:19:13Z")
Most of my favorites are reporters (though my ABSOLUTE favorites have already been cited here: Dick Trickle and Boutros Boutros Ghali). From CNN: Christiane Amanpour; [Satinder Bindra](http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/bindra.satinder.html) (I fell in love with him when Clinton was in India; um, um, um); Wolf Blitzer (how can you go through life being called ‘Wolf’?); Jeanne Moos. NPR is rich, too; I’ve always liked Mara Liasson’s name as well. Also great is Sylvia Poggioli, especially the way she says it (I also think she’s an amazing person); and Daniel Zwerdling. For the longest time I thought his name was Daniels Wordling. There are some technical people there that I hear mentioned. I don’t know how they’re spelled, but it sounds like there is a woman who works at NPR named Sarah Sarahson. There’s another one with a similar repeated sounding name, but I can’t think of it at the moment! In the Truly Pathetic Division: There was a football player for Baylor a few years ago named Hunter Hunter. ---
**Author:** ![Sledman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Sledman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sledman)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2000, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-famous-people-names/22774/23 "2000-06-19T20:56:07Z")
From my college readings on the Civil Rights movement I remember the name Spottswood Robinson as a co-counsel on at least part of the Brown decision with Thurgood Marshall which is also a really cool name. Spottswood Robinson is just fun to say. Thurgood Marshall’s name inspires respect IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-famous-people-names/22774/24 "2000-06-20T00:44:45Z")
Let me add U Thant (what is it about secretaries-general of the UN?), Sojourner Truth, and Desmond Tutu. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-famous-people-names/22774/25 "2000-06-20T00:51:11Z")
Oh, and Svend Robinson. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-famous-people-names/22774/26 "2000-06-20T12:35:22Z")
Exchange between Kramer and Seinfeld upon seeing George’s girlfriend sunbathing topless: “Boutros Boutros Ghali.” “Yo-yo Ma.” So let’s add Chinese cellist Yo-yo Ma to the list. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-famous-people-names/22774/27 "2000-06-20T17:20:47Z")
Ron Tugnutt, NHL goalie. I laugh every time I hear his name. ---
**Author:** ![jayron\_32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/41988e/32.png) [@jayron\_32](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayron_32)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-famous-people-names/22774/28 "2000-06-20T21:06:30Z")
The NHL is loaded with great names, many of them Finns: Teemu Selane Esa Tikkanen Janne Niinimaa Jari Kurri And a few others, such as: Nikolai Khabibulin (say the Kh as “a wad of phlegm”) The already mentioned Miroslav Satan (SHA-tan) Kjell Sammuelson (Kj=Ch sound) Sandis Ozilincz (spelling may be off) For all of the British History people, there was a prominent MP during the 17th century named “Praisegod Barebones” afterwhich the “Barebones Parliament” was named. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-famous-people-names/22774.md?page=1)