# 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:** 3
**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 27, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/41 "2009-06-27T15:38:28Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Fanny Ramsbottom Intriguingly, a Google search for Ramsbottom reveals that there was somebody named Fanny Jeffcock. I’ve seen a Hitchcock, I’ve seen a Babcock, but I never saw a Jeffcock… ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/42 "2009-06-27T15:51:53Z")
> [@Kingspades](#): > > “The wind doth smell so bittersweet > Like jasper wine and sugar > It must have blown through someone’s feet > Like those of Caspar Weinberger” Win! I love _Bloom County_! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/43 "2009-06-27T16:01:38Z")
> [@De\_La\_Rue](#): > > Melvin Purvis (FBI agent) Melvin Purvis is not a silly name. Pervis Ellison (of the NBA), however, is. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/44 "2009-06-27T16:01:45Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Didnt I heard in the SDMB about the time of the elections of some politician called Mike Hunt? [Mike Cox](http://www.mikecox2010.com/) is some big wig in Michigan. He’s runnin’ for governor. Mike Cox for Governor. I have no idea what he stands for, but I’m getting a sign and a tshirt. A vote for Mike Cox is a Vote for America! ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/45 "2009-07-05T07:35:39Z")
Felix Frankfurter. Harry Byrd. Bourke Hickenlooper. Elspeth M. Lightbody (a named that appeared in the phone book for Long Beach, CA). Dusty Sweeten (a cook I used to work with in Redondo Beach). Colonel Busted Baldwin (“Lady”) a 19th-Century major-league pitcher. Fernando Chung (Chinese parentage; grew up in Cuba). ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/46 "2009-07-05T09:37:48Z")
Isambard Kingsdom Burnel. And “Bhoutrous” is the Arabic term for Peter. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/47 "2009-07-05T09:58:26Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Isambard Kingsdom Burnel. [Isambard Kingdom Brunel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel). I was going to offer cricket umpire Dickie Bird, but discovered that it is a nickname - his real name is Harold. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/48 "2009-07-05T16:39:16Z")
> [@Carl\_Corey](#): > > The best part about Boutros-Boutros Ghali is that his friends call him “Boo-boo.” Don’t forget his little brother, Goodness-Goodness. ---
**Author:** ![Offkenter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f08c70/32.png) [@Offkenter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Offkenter)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/49 "2009-07-05T16:48:40Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Isambard Kingsdom Burnel. > > And “Bhoutrous” is the Arabic term for Peter. Also, “Ghali” is Arabic for “pumpkin eater” (No, not really) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/50 "2009-07-05T17:08:01Z")
> [@De\_La\_Rue](#): > > 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) For the record, Judge Billings Learned Hand wend predominatly by his middle name and surname, while Sen./Sec. William Gibbs McAdoo nearly always used his full name. AFAIK the other four are right on target. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/51 "2009-07-05T18:05:14Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > [Button Gwinett](http://virtualology.com/declarationofindependence/ButtonGwinnett.com/) signer of the Declaration of Independence. There are also Cotton and Increase Mather, among others. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/52 "2009-07-05T19:34:05Z")
My favorite is the wife of Provanence, Rhode Island’s mayor Buddy Cianci, **Nancy Anne Cianci.** ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/53 "2009-07-05T19:57:25Z")
Not hilarious, but I always found it amusing that there was a BASEball player named Al Kaline. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/54 "2009-07-05T20:02:33Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Not hilarious, but I always found it amusing that there was a BASEball player named Al Kaline. The problem, of course, is that he was an outfielder. Now, if he’d been in the battery…! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Universe_Lashes_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/55 "2009-07-05T20:16:48Z")
Former Tennessee Volunteer backup quarterback Jim Bob Cooter. Mr. Cooter has been in the news recently too. “The warrant says Cooter climbed through woman’s window on Franklin Station Way, stripped down to his underwear and got into bed with the woman Saturday.” ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/56 "2009-07-05T20:36:09Z")
Don’t forget famed Tennessee sheriff Buford T Pusser. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/57 "2009-07-05T20:41:35Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > My favorite is the wife of Provanence, Rhode Island’s mayor Buddy Cianci, **Nancy Anne Cianci.** This is not a smart-ass post, though it may sound like one. Was the commuynity name a typo for the city of Providence, or is there actually a small town named “Provenance” in Rhode Island? (After seeing the origins of some town names, I could believe it!) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/58 "2009-07-05T20:50:20Z")
Tom Tancredo always gets me. In Spanish, a Tancredo was originally a kind of clown: they stand completely still while a fighter bull looks for something to attack, then make wild gestures whenever the bull is looking the other way. It also means someone who’s unable to react. I don’t know anything about the guys’ political career other than he had one, but damn what a name… ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/59 "2009-07-05T21:48:26Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > This is not a smart-ass post, though it may sound like one. Was the commuynity name a typo for the city of Providence, or is there actually a small town named “Provenance” in Rhode Island? (After seeing the origins of some town names, I could believe it!) I was posting in a hurry and didn’t check it. Alas. Nancy Anne Cianci is still my favorite funny name. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/60 "2009-07-05T22:22:00Z")
Zimbabwean President [Canaan Banana](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan_Banana) [Sue K. Hicks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_K._Hicks) (Scopes trial figure and possible inspiration for a Johnny Cash song about a boy) When I was a kid, I had a toy called “Play Puzzle City”. The box proudly proclaimed that the product was designed by Arnold C. Arnold. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088.md?page=4)