# Do they say anything about people with two LAST names?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-say-anything-about-people-with-two-last-names/815168>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 31, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-say-anything-about-people-with-two-last-names/815168 "2018-05-31T03:59:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 3

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**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 2, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-say-anything-about-people-with-two-last-names/815168/41 "2018-06-02T13:34:52Z")

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Carroll O’Connor.

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**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 3, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-say-anything-about-people-with-two-last-names/815168/42 "2018-06-03T20:09:28Z")

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Sheldon Lee Cooper has three last names.

In one of life’s little ha-ha’s, James Earl Jones has three last names, while James Earl Ray has three first names.

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**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2018, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-say-anything-about-people-with-two-last-names/815168/43 "2018-06-03T21:37:24Z")

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I know someone named Thomas Thomas. I guess you could view that as two first names or two last names. He normally uses his middle name as his first name for obvious reasons.

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**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-say-anything-about-people-with-two-last-names/815168/44 "2018-06-03T21:47:34Z")

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I went to school with a David Davies. Why would a parent do that? For yuks? It seems stupid to me.

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**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2018, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-say-anything-about-people-with-two-last-names/815168/45 "2018-06-04T13:37:47Z")

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I dated a Frank Francis in high school. Again, yeah, what were his parents thinking?

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**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-say-anything-about-people-with-two-last-names/815168/46 "2018-06-04T16:00:31Z")

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My father-in-law had a first and last name that were fairly commonly used as either.

I was helping him with the sale of his dental practice, and I got a call from the business broker who, after some phumperhing and hesitation said: “Um, he’s not a licensed dentist – I checked the license registry, and he isn’t there.”

I logged on to the registry, and the broker was doubly embarrassed when I told him that he had had put in my father-in-law’s first name for his last and vice versa, and if you put them in the right way, the valid registration popped right up.

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