# 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:** 9
**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:** [July 18, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/161 "2013-07-18T22:21:41Z")
> [@Werekoala](#): > > CoCo Crisp. Crisp’s real first name is Covelli. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/162 "2013-07-18T22:29:50Z")
[Thurl Ravenscroft](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurl_Ravenscroft), voice of Tony the Tiger ---
**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:** [July 18, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/163 "2013-07-18T22:30:42Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > Who could forget those two famous soldiers Flex Plexico and Max Fightmaster? Plexico’s real first name is Alvin. ---
**Author:** ![Evin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@Evin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/164 "2013-07-18T22:36:09Z")
Dick Armey ---
**Author:** ![eltro102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@eltro102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eltro102)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/165 "2013-07-19T00:59:48Z")
Richard Littlejohn ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/166 "2013-07-19T01:37:41Z")
According to his bio, the Scottish singer Johnny Cymbal, known for his 1963 hit “Mr. Bass Man,” was born John Hendry Blair but was adopted as a child by his stepfather, Polish-born Nick Cymbal. I think that counts as not being a pseudonym. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2013, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/167 "2013-07-19T06:21:32Z")
Megan Fox sounds like the kind of name a starlet would be given by some studio executive. But it’s her real name. (Jamie Foxx, on the other hand, is faking it. His real name is Eric Bishop.) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/168 "2013-07-19T12:18:01Z")
Let’s not forget the SF writer [A. E. van Vogt,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._E._van_Vogt) which sounds like a pseudonym but is not. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/169 "2013-07-19T14:05:26Z")
I’m not sure it fits but it amuses me, so I’ll mention that the niece of the previous president (and granddaughter of another president) married the son of the guy who founded the Polo clothing line. She ended up with the married name Lauren Bush Lauren. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/170 "2013-07-19T14:12:37Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Lauren Bush Lauren. There’s gotta be a all-girl porn movie in that title somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/171 "2013-07-19T14:17:13Z")
Neil Diamond. Early in his career he considered changing his name to something plainer because he thought his real name sounded too fake. Ric Flair changed the spelling of his name, but that is his given name phonetically. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/172 "2013-07-19T15:36:26Z")
[Kurt Vile](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_vile) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/173 "2013-07-19T15:54:17Z")
“Eddie Rabbitt” sounds like a great stage name for a country singer, but it wasn’t a stage name. “Rabbitt” is a fairly common last name in Ireland (it was the last name of the family Roddy Doyle wrote about in his popular “Barrytown Trilogy”). Future country music star Edward T. Rabbitt, who was born in Brooklyn, was the son of two Irish immigrants. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/174 "2013-07-19T15:58:53Z")
Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/175 "2013-07-19T16:30:48Z")
> [@Werekoala](#): > > CoCo Crisp. Yeah, but that’s not his birth name. FWIW here’s a previous thread (of mine) on fun real sports names. > **[What's the weirdest or funniest name in sports?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=536682)** > > I’ll start the ball rolling (err puck rolling) with Valeri Zelepukin, feel free to “raise it” from there. Only rule I’d say is it has to be their real name. “Oil Can” Boyd is all well and good, but he’s actually Dennis. I still lament that it looks like Miroslav Satan will retire from the NHL having never played for the Devils. Angel Pagan is a pretty good one too, from MLB. And just to round out the religiosity, of course there was the NBA’s God Shamgod. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/176 "2013-07-19T16:33:18Z")
Also, some may remember former CNN and Headline News anchor Linda Stouffer. I think she’s on an ATL local station now… When she was on WSVN here in South Florida she was **“Cinnamon”** Stouffer. I suppose there’s no room for Cinnamons at CNN, sounding a bit too strippery. But her real name is Cinnamon Linda Stouffer. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/177 "2013-07-19T17:01:59Z")
Murry State’s Women’s golf coach (she’s famous. She won coach of the year in 2010), is named [Velvet Milkman.](http://goracers.com/coaches.aspx?rc=419) ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/178 "2013-07-19T17:21:15Z")
[Benedict Cumberbatch](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1212722/?ref_=tt_cl_t1). It just seems too English and too Dickensian to be someone’s real name. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/179 "2013-07-19T18:11:12Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > Also, some may remember former CNN and Headline News anchor Linda Stouffer. I think she’s on an ATL local station now… > > When she was on WSVN here in South Florida she was **“Cinnamon”** Stouffer. I suppose there’s no room for Cinnamons at CNN, sounding a bit too strippery. But her real name is Cinnamon Linda Stouffer. Speaking of “Cinnamon,” Johnny Cymbal, whom I mentioned in Post #166, recorded the 1968 #11 hit “Cinnamon” under the name “Derek,” which he borrowed from his brother. I was going to put that in above, but I’d spent so much time trying to put in links from my iPad I gave up. I had no idea he died so young or lived in Cleveland so long. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190/180 "2013-07-19T22:36:45Z")
Recent _Computer Chess_ star [Wiley Wiggins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiley_Wiggins). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-names-that-sound-like-pseudonyms-but-arent/594190.md?page=10)