# Famous people with silly names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 26, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088 "2009-06-26T17:23:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/1 "2009-06-26T17:23:47Z")
Specifically in dignified positions, or some other dissonant career: Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Secretary-General of the UN) Ford Madox Ford (author) Learned Hand (judge, US Second Circuit Court of Appeals) Gibbs McAdoo (senator and US Secretary of the Treasury) Melvin Purvis (FBI agent) McGeorge Bundy (National Security Advisor to Kennedy and Johnson) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/2 "2009-06-26T17:30:40Z")
Yo Yo Ma (cellist) ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/3 "2009-06-26T17:53:10Z")
Kenesaw Mountain Landis - Federal judge and first commissioner of baseball. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/4 "2009-06-26T18:21:20Z")
Lady Bird Johnson ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/5 "2009-06-26T18:25:03Z")
Armand Hammer ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/6 "2009-06-26T18:29:33Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/7 "2009-06-26T18:29:43Z")
> [@De\_La\_Rue](#): > > Ford Madox Ford (author) William Carlos Williams, poet ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/8 "2009-06-26T18:33:41Z")
Cardinal (Jaime) Sin Wilma Mankiller, first female Chief of the Cherokee Nation ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/9 "2009-06-26T18:34:20Z")
Adolph Elizabeth Hitler (Evil dictator and fabulous dancer) ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/10 "2009-06-26T18:40:53Z")
Wasn’t there some sports player named Lucious or something? Also that guy named Plexico. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/11 "2009-06-26T18:41:03Z")
Dick Trickle Rip Torn Moon Unit Zappa Chi Chi Rodriguez Abe Vigoda ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/12 "2009-06-26T19:04:40Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Wasn’t there some sports player named Lucious or something? Maybe you are thinking of Precious McKenzie? [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precious\_McKenzie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precious_McKenzie) ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/13 "2009-06-26T19:05:49Z")
No, diffrent guy. I think his name was Lucious Pusey, or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/14 "2009-06-26T19:12:04Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Lady Bird Johnson In fairness, her real name was Claudia Taylor. “Lady Bird” was an affectionate nickname. Back in 1980, Ted Kennedy’s campaign manager for the New Hampshire primary was a woman named Dudley Dudley. Seriously, her first name was Dudley (I think it had been her mother’s maiden name), and she later married a guy whose last name was Dudley. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/15 "2009-06-26T19:15:36Z")
And, staying with the subject of Texas politicians who had family members with funny names… A century ago, the governor of Texas was a populist named Jim Hogg. And he named his daughter Ima. I’ve heard that Ima was a very common name for girls in the South, that year, as there’d been a popular poem featuring a heroine named Ima. There are legends that Ima Hogg had a sister named Ura, but that’s not true! Lest you feel sorry for her, Ima Hogg had a long, happy life, and was a well respected philanthropist. There are schools, libraries, museums and concert halls all over the state named after her. ---
**Author:** ![cardsfan1975](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cardsfan1975](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardsfan1975)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/16 "2009-06-26T19:15:36Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > No, diffrent guy. I think his name was Lucious Pusey, or something like that. How about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucious\_Harris](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucious_Harris)? cf’75 ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/17 "2009-06-26T19:17:07Z")
Dick Butkis ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/18 "2009-06-26T19:19:31Z")
One of Michael Jackson’s advisors was named [Dr. Tohme K. Tohme](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/michael-jackson-11.html). ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/19 "2009-06-26T19:21:28Z")
Not famous to the general public, but: Vesto Melvin Slipher, astronomer whose research provided the first good evidence for the expanding universe. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/20 "2009-06-26T19:47:16Z")
Joey Buttafuoco, anyone? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088.md?page=2)