# Famous people with names that sound like pseudonyms but aren't **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 26, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190 "2011-08-26T16:07:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/81 "2011-08-29T13:50:29Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I nominate _Christian Christiansen_, discoverer of the optical _Christiansen Effect_. Um… why? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/82 "2011-08-29T14:11:38Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Um… why? Because it sounds like the name of a snooty frat guy from a John Hughes movie and not that of a respected physicist? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/83 "2011-08-29T14:18:32Z")
> [@Astral\_Rejection](#): > > I had a professor in college who wrote an episode of NYPD blue, so I’ll consider him famous enough for this thread. > > His name was Rift Fournier. Awesome. If you ever run into him, you may want to mention [this company](http://www.nhfournier.es/en/home). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/84 "2011-08-29T14:19:36Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Because it sounds like the name of a snooty frat guy from a John Hughes movie and not that of a respected physicist? Hm. Just sounds like a Swedish guy to me. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/85 "2011-08-29T16:03:27Z")
[William Fold](http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=fold--001wil). Minor league baseball player. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/86 "2011-08-29T16:12:33Z")
Thought of a few more: Charley Pride, black country singer. (I always just kind of thought it was a reference to “Black Pride”.) Phil Ramone, record producer. (But he never produced the Ramones.) Johnny Cash (but not Johnny Paycheck!). And, if I may partially derail my own thread, I might mention Brian Eno. It doesn’t really sound like a pseudonym, but it is such a distinctive-sounding name (as well as being an anagram for “one brain”.) His birth name really is … …Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/87 "2011-08-29T17:02:34Z")
There’s a TV producer named [Bud Wiser](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0936510/) who doesn’t have enough biographical info on IMDb to tell me for sure if that’s his real name. I mean, I doubt “Bud” is on his birth certificate, but that doesn’t really make it a pseudonym. ---
**Author:** ![Nightfall1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@Nightfall1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightfall1)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/88 "2011-08-30T00:22:53Z")
Science fiction/fantasy writer L. Sprague de Camp Yes, that’s his real name. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/89 "2011-08-30T03:17:07Z")
> [@Nightfall1](#): > > Science fiction/fantasy writer > L. Sprague de Camp > Yes, that’s his real name. You should give the whole name. The “L” stands for _Lyon_. Lyon Sprague deCamp And what’s so weird about that? I still think Christian Christiansen is weirder. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/90 "2011-08-30T03:30:35Z")
Character actor and star of 70s daytime action show _Emergency!_, [Randolph Mantooth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randolph_Mantooth). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/91 "2011-08-30T04:26:18Z")
Obscure unless you just happen to live in 17th century England, but one of my favorite names of any historical figure: [Praise-God Barebone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praise-God_Barebone). ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/92 "2011-08-30T05:04:43Z")
The current President of Nigeria is named [Goodluck Jonathan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodluck_Jonathan) - and he’ll need it. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/93 "2011-08-30T10:10:08Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > [Picabo (pronounced “Peek-a-boo”) Street](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picabo_Street) Not coincidentally, they named a [street](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Picabo+Street,+Park+City,+UT&hl=en&sll=45.422555,-122.63939&sspn=0.014051,0.016243&vpsrc=0&t=h&z=17&iwloc=A) in a ski town after her. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/94 "2011-08-30T13:15:26Z")
Frasier’s Peri Gilpin. Yep, that’s her real name. NJ Governor Chris Christie’s real first name is Christopher. Christopher Christie. Did his parents hate him? ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/95 "2011-08-30T13:24:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I nominate _Christian Christiansen_, discoverer of the optical _Christiansen Effect_. [Kristian Kristiansen](http://www.historiskastudier.gu.se/english/Staff/kristian-kristiansen) (the Scandic spelling of the same name), is a renowned Danish professor of Archeology in Sweden. Also, [a famous Norwegian writer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristian_Kristiansen) had the same name. Given these two public figures, there must be dozens if not hundreds of Kristian Kristiansens in the Nordic countries as well as loads of Christian Christiansens in America. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/96 "2011-08-30T13:32:20Z")
I first thought ‘January Jones’ sounded like an assumed name. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/97 "2011-08-30T13:42:32Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > [Kristian Kristiansen](http://www.historiskastudier.gu.se/english/Staff/kristian-kristiansen) (the Scandic spelling of the same name), is a renowned Danish professor of Archeology in Sweden. > > Also, [a famous Norwegian writer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristian_Kristiansen) had the same name. > > Given these two public figures, there must be dozens if not hundreds of Kristian Kristiansens in the Nordic countries as well as loads of Christian Christiansens in America. How fortunate that such a small proportion of them are famous. It saves the rest of us from saying “Which one?” all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/98 "2011-08-30T14:02:48Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > I first thought ‘January Jones’ sounded like an assumed name. “With a name like that she 's either going to be very famous or end up in porn.” - quote from unnamed Hollywood agent in an Esquire article on January Jones. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/99 "2011-08-30T14:29:52Z")
Seriously? Who could forget Sgt. Max Fightmaster? ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/100 "2011-08-30T15:08:13Z")
I’ve always thought author [Clive Cussler](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Cussler)’s name sounded made up. But it’s not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190.md?page=6)