Example: Donavan Tate and Tate Donovan are apparently two different people.
Any others like that? Since exact matches are exceedingly rare, close matches are acceptable. A triple example would be Lea Michele and Michele Lee or Michelle Lea.
There’s David Keith (Firestarter, Officer and a Gentleman)…
and Keith David (Platoon, Crash, The Thing)…
My favorite example – if a not-famous athelete counts – is the pair of pre-season teammates on the Celtics a couple years ago : Ray Allen Allan Ray. Sadly, Allan Ray got cut before the regular season started, so I never got to find out how announcers would distinguish them.
Cartoonist Paul Pope and the late pontiff Pope Paul. (Kind of wish there was a King Stephen or a Grier Roosevelt I could trot out for the purpose…)
Well, there’s Ray Stevens and the actor Stephen Rea.
Thinking about the king theme, there’s film director Henry King and King Henry (any one of several).
There was Queen Mary, and Mary, Queen of Scots.
Charles Prince and Prince Charles.
In her memoir “Trust Your Heart,” Judy Couns writes about introducing her brother Denver John to John Denver.
Appearently they thought the whole reverse name thing was hilarious. I guess you had to be there.
Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was succeeded by Warren Earl (Burger).