# Celebrities with last names which are never used **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254 "2004-10-26T16:34:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/41 "2004-10-27T19:02:29Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > > [@The Gaspode](#): > > > > Elvis. > > Costello? Grbac? > > How about Topol? Vendella? Charo? Liberace? So, If I say “Elvis impersonator”, you visualize someone dressing up as a small bearded Scottish guy with glasses? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/42 "2004-10-27T19:14:40Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#): > > So, If I say “Elvis impersonator”, you visualize someone dressing up as a small bearded Scottish guy with glasses? No, but I’m a huge Elvis Costello fan and the mention of just “Elvis” wouldn’t automatically make me thing “Presley.” Just’ sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![chukhung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/43 "2004-10-27T19:23:21Z")
**ShadiRoxan** , was your post (“How about Sigfreid and Roy?”) in response to the previous one by **Lute Skywatcher** (“Don’t forget Tiger.”)? Because I’m pretty sure neither Siegfried nor Roy will ever forget that tiger… ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/44 "2004-10-27T20:55:57Z")
Yanni Charo Penn and Teller Cathy (comic strip-she has a last name) Moby ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/45 "2004-10-27T21:51:09Z")
Galileo. For some reason, his last name (Galilei) is almost never used. There must be something about astronomers, because I’ve noticed that Tycho Brahe is almost always referred to as Tycho. I’m not sure these guys count as celebrities… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/46 "2004-10-27T21:53:19Z")
Gilgamesh Hammurabi Moses Zoroaster Plato Jesus Muhammad ---
**Author:** ![ShadiRoxan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@ShadiRoxan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadiRoxan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/47 "2004-10-27T23:06:06Z")
> [@chukhung](#): > > **ShadiRoxan** , was your post (“How about Sigfreid and Roy?”) in response to the previous one by **Lute Skywatcher** (“Don’t forget Tiger.”)? > > Because I’m pretty sure neither Siegfried nor Roy will ever forget that tiger… Actually it wasn’t. It just worked out to nice timing I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/48 "2004-10-28T01:46:54Z")
To continue **Jomo Mojo** ’s trend… 😉 Confucius Socrates Sophocles Aristotle More seriously: I’d lay odds on Alanis, but that could just be because it’s not that common a name. Same thing for Celine, I bet. Garth Macauley Ewan Reba Wynonna I want to say “Jack”, but I maybe wrong “Bruce” would be for me, but there’s at least two other people that could come to mind for other folks. Same for “Dave”. Mel Cecil? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/49 "2004-10-28T03:55:33Z")
Melanie 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/50 "2004-10-28T15:53:01Z")
FTR, Roseanne has apparently gone back to using Barr as her last name. At least her most recent film credit, Home on the Range (voice) lists her as such, and I hear her announced as an upcoming guest on talk shows, and on entermation shows, as Roseanne Barr. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/51 "2004-10-28T17:35:25Z")
> [@Waccoe](#): > > Hey fusoya …who owns the name Ben? This is starting to get on my nerves. Affleck. I guess it isn’t as obvious as I thought it was, although I’ve seen a number of Surviving Christmas reviews with headlines simply stating “Ben’s Career Is Over” or “Bad Ben”, which seemed like the final nail in the coffin on the name Ben. and when I wrote the OP, I was refering not to people who go by one name themselves, but by _everyone else_ whose brains can collectively ring a bell and point to one particular person just by hearing their first name ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/52 "2004-10-28T17:37:22Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > FTR, Roseanne has apparently gone back to using Barr as her last name. At least her most recent film credit, Home on the Range (voice) lists her as such, and I hear her announced as an upcoming guest on talk shows, and on entermation shows, as Roseanne Barr. Even when she was Roseanne Arnold, I remember pretty much everyone kept using the Barr name. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/53 "2004-10-29T16:32:11Z")
> [@fusoya](#): > > Affleck. I guess it isn’t as obvious as I thought it was, although I’ve seen a number of Surviving Christmas reviews with headlines simply stating “Ben’s Career Is Over” or “Bad Ben”, which seemed like the final nail in the coffin on the name Ben. > > and when I wrote the OP, I was refering not to people who go by one name themselves, but by _everyone else_ whose brains can collectively ring a bell and point to one particular person just by hearing their first name Well, I certainly don’t want Ben Affliction to be what i think of when I say Ben. I’d rather have Ben Stiller, thankyouverymuch. Bleh. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/54 "2004-10-29T20:38:16Z")
**AHunter3** , hey, Melanie was a good call. Glad to see another old timer who can remember the ‘70s. I can’t believe my memory not only stored but can actually recall Melanie’s last name: Safka. Which makes me wonder: how many serious trivia hounds can name these monomonikered celebrities’ last names without needing to look them up? Chèr Sarkisian Madonna Ciccone Yanni… ? I’m stumped, I never learned Yanni’s last name. Which reminds me of “El Greco” (Last name: Theotokopoulos). Enya’s last name is Ní Bhraoinain (or something like that… I can never remember how many extra vowels to pack in when trying to spell Irish Gaelic). But her last name applies only if you spell her first name the original way: Eithne. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/55 "2004-10-30T00:52:20Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Melanie > > 🙂 Darnit. I thought about her, too. Still have her ‘Candles in the Rain’ LP. I don’t think any other artist came up with roller skates as a metaphor for dancing the horizontal bop. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/56 "2004-10-30T01:49:13Z")
Regarding the OP - Who is **Christina**? The only one I could think of was Applegate, but she’s sort of off the radar these days. StG ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/57 "2004-10-30T02:20:12Z")
That’s Christina Aguilera. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/58 "2004-10-30T02:23:04Z")
**Kat** - That’s right - I’d forgotten about her. These days she’s almost as off the radar as Christine Applegate. StG ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/59 "2004-10-30T05:29:31Z")
World-wide, I’d say the “Ben” most people would think of would be Ben Cartwright. After all, Bonanza episodes are still shown nearly every day, in a whole lot of countries all around the world. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254/60 "2004-10-30T06:10:25Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > **Cilla** (UK & Ireland Dopers only) Priscilla Black? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-last-names-which-are-never-used/271254.md?page=4)