# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/61 "2009-07-20T06:01:49Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > 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… This is utterly fitting. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/62 "2009-07-20T18:01:48Z")
Nobody’s mentioned Dick Van Dyke yet? The only people with who go by Dick are at least 60 years old. I’m 42 and growing up among my social circle dick meant wang, exclusively. When did dick become such a ubiquitous synonym for cock that it became impossible to call anyone Dick without tittering? Sometime in the 70s I guess, because I’ve never met anyone my age who went by Dick. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/63 "2009-07-20T18:06:03Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Nobody’s mentioned Dick Van Dyke yet? > > The only people with who go by Dick are at least 60 years old. I’m 42 and growing up among my social circle dick meant wang, exclusively. When did dick become such a ubiquitous synonym for cock that it became impossible to call anyone Dick without tittering? Sometime in the 70s I guess, because I’ve never met anyone my age who went by Dick. My dad was called “Dicky” as a kid. Not so much as an adult. I always wondered why the name Richard wasn’t more popular. It’s a good, strong name… and I guess the Dick effect is one reason why. There were several profs in my grad school named Richard. Of course they are all in their 50s-60s-70s, so they are all called Dick. We would say some of the most raunchy sounding things quite innocently when discussing them: “Which of the four Dicks are you working with?” “I have a research meeting with the Dicks.” “That Dick and that Dick don’t play well together.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/64 "2009-07-20T18:35:50Z")
Seeing Boutros-Boutros Ghali’s name reminded me of Secretary-General U Thant, whose name is also pretty silly looking by Western standards. I wonder if Jim Bob Cooter ever met USC’s John David Booty? Maybe not. Booty is currently a backup with the Vikings. > [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Fernando Chung (Chinese parentage; grew up in Cuba). Just as amusing is Chilean founding father Bernardo O’Higgins. > [@Ponch8](#): > > Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, Ya-ya Dia (pronounced ‘jaw’), and Boubacar Aw (pronounced ‘ow’), all Georgetown basketball players in the 1990’s How would you forget Yinka Dare? Or, on another college basketball note, God Shammgod? > [@Hyperelastic](#): > > And the Cavs just picked up Shaquille O’Neal, which you know was made up to rhyme on purpose. Just in case you’re not kidding, Shaquille is an Arabic name. However, it means “little warrior,” and Shaq is 7’3" and… let’s say he’s listed at 325 pounds. > [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > Cardinal (Jaime) Sin Then there’s that Father Cutie guy. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/65 "2009-07-21T01:03:36Z")
There’s the unfortunately named MLB players Rusty Kuntz, Dick Pole, J.J. Putz, and Antonio Bastardo ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/66 "2009-07-21T04:23:13Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Nobody’s mentioned Dick Van Dyke yet? > > The only people with who go by Dick are at least 60 years old. I’m 42 and growing up among my social circle dick meant wang, exclusively. When did dick become such a ubiquitous synonym for cock that it became impossible to call anyone Dick without tittering? Sometime in the 70s I guess, because I’ve never met anyone my age who went by Dick. The father of one of my aunts was named Harry Dick. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/67 "2009-07-21T04:25:09Z")
In my next life, I want to be named Magic Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/68 "2009-07-21T06:33:01Z")
Praise-God Barebone. William Makepeace Thackeray is the same kind of thing, but at least there it’s only the middle name. Mark Lemongello. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/69 "2009-07-21T18:43:14Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > 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. Yeah, I noticed that whilst researching them, but decided to go with what they were most known as. Besides, they dropped the more-ordinary first name and thus could have sounded less silly. (Although William Gibbs McAdoo Jr. needed to distinguish himself from his father, and Billings Hand becomes less silly by a small margin.) ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/70 "2009-07-21T20:29:54Z")
How about the Confederate general named States Rights Gist? Died at the Battle of Franklin in 1864. Apparently his brothers were named Independence and Constitution. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/71 "2009-07-21T22:33:36Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > Kenesaw Mountain Landis - Federal judge and first commissioner of baseball. There are a few [with sort of silly names](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissioner_of_Baseball_(MLB)#Commissioners). ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/72 "2009-07-22T01:15:23Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Not famous to the general public, but: > > Vesto Melvin Slipher, astronomer whose research provided the first good evidence for the expanding universe. Or the inventor of fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/73 "2009-07-22T01:31:19Z")
Richard Swett served in the U.S. House, representing New Hampshire, from 1991-95, and was the U.S. ambassador to Denmark from 1998-2001. Unfortunately, like so many Richards before him, he went by “Dick”. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/74 "2009-07-25T21:53:03Z")
Mungo Park,nineteenth c. explorer. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/75 "2009-07-25T23:20:06Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > [QUOTE=tdn] > Bassist Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond. His parents had the same last name. Evidently they were also extremely silly. Is the first Hammond for his mother or his father? [/QUOTE] Yes. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2009, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/76 "2009-07-26T04:24:52Z")
Today I came across a few quotes from a stand-up commedian, **Myq Kaplan**. I don’t know if that’s his real name or a stage name. One can only hope his brith certificate says M-I-K-E. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/77 "2009-07-26T06:14:52Z")
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono current president of Indonesia. (Thank you Mam! - Parents Betty and Barney?) I once had a whole book entitled Remarkable Names of Real People. I can’t find it now, but I found this web page with some stuff from it: [Odd Names](http://f2.org/humour/language/oddnames.html) Most of the names there (and in the book) seem to be people who (if real) are remarkable for nothing but their names, but a few might meet the OP’s criteria: > [@](#): > > Charles Adolphe Faux-Pas Bidet, Commissaire de Police, Paris, France. [Faux-Pas Bidet received heavy press coverage in the 1930s when he investigated the abduction of General Kutylpov, a White Russian leader in Paris] > > the World War I admiral named Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Ernle-Drax Not on the web page, but remembered from the book, and checked in [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudsley_Shovel): > [@](#): > > ``` > Sir Cloudesley Shovell ©. November, 1650 – 22 October or 23 October 1707), English admiral, was baptised at Cockthorpe in Norfolk, in 1650. Rising through the officer ranks he became a popular British hero, whose celebrated naval career was brought to an end in a disastrous shipwreck in the Isles of Scilly. > > ``` I also remember from the book, but cannot now confirm, some Indian potentate or religious leader whose full name included (amongst other names) the word “Sri” (=blessed, I think) repeated over 100 times. It said he was usually known as “Sri 109” (or some other similar number). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/78 "2009-07-26T14:39:09Z")
Chad Ocho Cinco, obviously. But that’s cheating. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/79 "2009-07-26T16:20:34Z")
[Leone Sextus Denys Oswolf Fraudatifilius Tollemache-Tollemache de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leone_Sextus_Denys_Oswolf_Fraudatifilius_Tollemache-Tollemache_de_Orellana_Plantagenet_Tollemache-Tollemache) is the best name ever. Not at all famous, I suppose, but he does have a wiki page. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088/80 "2009-07-26T23:49:34Z")
I’ve always been baffled by [CCH Pounder’s](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001634/) unusual name. Is it a standard of weight or currency… a menu item? But I just found out that it is simply an abbreviation for Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder. Why not just Carol Pounder? My only surmise is that it was a stand apart name to attract casting directors’ attention? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-with-silly-names/501088.md?page=5)