# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/101 "2011-08-30T15:30:55Z")
A few names that come to mind: 1. If a Hollywood studio were making up a corny, inspirational story for a movie about a heroic athlete overcoming cancer, isn’t “Lance Armstrong” the kind of hokey name they’d have given the protagonist? Are we REALLY supposed to believe that’s the REAL name of a real-life heroic athlete? 2. Back when I was in college, Playboy’s Playmate of the year was a girl named “Candy Loving.” Yeah, right. I’m soooo sure that was her real name (uh… it WAS???). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/102 "2011-08-30T16:58:30Z")
A sorta related thing. Kristen Bell’s real name is Kristen Anne Bell. But somebody who grew up with her might think she was using a pseudonym. Apparently when she was growing up she didn’t use her first name and everyone knew her as Annie Bell. But when she was a teenager that she decided to go back to using her first name. Quentin Tarantino is a somewhat similar case. His father’s name is Tony Tarantino so it’s his real name. But his parents had separated before he was born and his mother married Curt Zastoupil. Quentin grew up as Quentin Zastoupil. ---
**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, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/103 "2011-08-30T17:06:21Z")
Nicholas Lloyd Webber’s wife has the absolutely charming name of Charlotte Windmill. ---
**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, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/104 "2011-08-30T17:53:57Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > A few names that come to mind: > > 1. If a Hollywood studio were making up a corny, inspirational story for a movie about a heroic athlete overcoming cancer, isn’t “Lance Armstrong” the kind of hokey name they’d have given the protagonist? Are we REALLY supposed to believe that’s the REAL name of a real-life heroic athlete? > > 2. Back when I was in college, Playboy’s Playmate of the year was a girl named “Candy Loving.” Yeah, right. I’m soooo sure that was her real name (uh… it WAS???). She wasn’t just the Playmate of the Year – she was the 25th anniversary Playmate, so shmate of the Quarter Century, and was featured in the big Silver Anniversary Issue. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/105 "2011-08-30T18:31:21Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > She wasn’t just the Playmate of the Year – she was the 25th anniversary Playmate, so shmate of the Quarter Century, and was featured in the big Silver Anniversary Issue. I stand corrected- I never actually saw her in Playboy. I promise, the only place i ever saw her was on my little brother’s favorite TV show, “BJ & the Bear.” She made a guest appearance as herself, and was messing around with Sheriff Lobo’s crew! ---
**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, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/106 "2011-08-30T18:46:05Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I stand corrected- I never actually saw her in Playboy. I promise, the only place i ever saw her was on my little brother’s favorite TV show, “BJ & the Bear.” She made a guest appearance as herself, and was messing around with Sheriff Lobo’s crew! Well, I only read her for the articles, myself. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/107 "2011-08-30T19:04:29Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Well, I only read her for the articles, myself. And her articles were quite weighty, as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/108 "2011-08-30T19:06:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Well, I only read her for the articles, myself. Actually, admitting I watched “BJ & the Bear” is more embarrassing than it would be to lie and say I read “Playboy.” I remember that, at the time, either Time or Newsweek ran a brief feature about Playboy’s anniversary, and they mocked Hugh Hefner for swearng that his centerfold with the “enormous breasts” really was named Candy Loving. She wrote a surprisingly funny letter to the editors saying something like this: “I have to get something off my chest… or should I say my enormous breasts. My family name is Loving, and my parents named me Candis” In the meantime, however, she had gotten married and was going by her new name, Candy Prather. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/109 "2011-08-30T21:26:35Z")
When we lived in NC, there was a local law firm with the name Dunham & Sue. I almost wrecked the first time I drove past it trying to get a triple take because I was so sure I couldn’t have read it right the first two times. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/110 "2011-08-31T00:46:22Z")
Anthropologist [Lionel Tiger.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_tiger) ---
**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 31, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/111 "2011-08-31T00:58:05Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > When we lived in NC, there was a local law firm with the name Dunham & Sue. I almost wrecked the first time I drove past it trying to get a triple take because I was so sure I couldn’t have read it right the first two times. That would make a good name for a debt collection agency, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/112 "2011-08-31T01:05:07Z")
[Bear Grylls](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Grylls) sounds to good to be true for an adventurer, and it kinda is, since Bear is a long-term nickname. However, it is his real name now and ‘Bear’ from the common (at least with posh people) ‘Edward’ is the kind of nickname that can be more real than the real name. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/113 "2011-08-31T02:00:38Z")
“Bear” is a common nickname for “Edward?” Or am I misunderstanding your post? ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/114 "2011-08-31T02:35:40Z")
I think he means Edward is a common name, at least for posh people, and people with really common names tend to acquire nicknames that get used so ubiquitously they might as well be given names. It’s easier to refer to Booger, Goober, and Bubba than it is to John A., John B. and Jon C. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/115 "2011-08-31T02:46:05Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > I think he means Edward is a common name, at least for posh people, and people with really common names tend to acquire nicknames that get used so ubiquitously they might as well be given names. It’s easier to refer to Booger, Goober, and Bubba than it is to John A., John B. and Jon C. I meant that Edward is a common name for posh people and Bear is an unsurprising from-birth nickname for such a child: Edward - Teddy - Bear. So it’s reasonable that it’s the kind of nickname that did function as his name. (I’m a she, btw). ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/116 "2011-08-31T03:04:19Z")
Model and TV presenter [Summer Rayne Oakes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Rayne_Oakes) has what sounds like a cheesy stage name, but in fact it’s a cheesy real name. (She’s from rural Pennsylvania and I gather that the moniker was a sort of trailer-park effort at glamorous elegance.) And I guess we all remember [Cardinal Sin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Sin) of Manila, right? ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/117 "2011-08-31T11:38:05Z")
I made a fool of myself mocking a friend about her belief that Fontella Bass [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontella\_Bass](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontella_Bass) was a bandname/pseudonym. Damnit. ---
**Author:** ![Shin\_Ji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Shin\_Ji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shin_Ji)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/118 "2011-08-31T13:53:06Z")
My mom got her divorce done at the law firm of Semen & Frost. ---
**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 31, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/119 "2011-08-31T16:37:53Z")
> [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#): > > Anthropologist [Lionel Tiger.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_tiger) It’s worse than that. One of Lionel Tiger’s colleagues at Rutgers is **Robin Fox**. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/120 "2011-08-31T18:17:31Z")
If you were writing a novel about some rube politician in the old south, you’d probably avoid using the name Louie Gohmert, because it sounds way too cliche. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190.md?page=7)