# Is Wayne an uncommonly common middle name for criminals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wayne-an-uncommonly-common-middle-name-for-criminals/329576 "2005-11-05T00:08:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wayne-an-uncommonly-common-middle-name-for-criminals/329576/41 "2005-11-08T15:46:47Z")
And don’t forget Steve Zahn’s petty-criminal character in the movie “Happy, Texas,” whose name was (wait for it)… Wayne Wayne Wayne Jr. I love the fact that he’s a Junior… which means his dad was saddled with the same ridiculous name! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wayne-an-uncommonly-common-middle-name-for-criminals/329576/42 "2005-11-08T15:56:15Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > There have been a sting of break-in robberies on Long Island. One of the persons arrested for it on Saturday had the unforgettable name of: Efraim Zembalist Russell. John Wayne, [Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.](http://www.fuuko.com/zorro/efrem.html)…to each his own hero. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2005, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wayne-an-uncommonly-common-middle-name-for-criminals/329576/43 "2005-11-09T10:21:13Z")
and Bruce Wayne often had to stretch the law in his work 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sudont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@sudont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sudont)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wayne-an-uncommonly-common-middle-name-for-criminals/329576/44 "2012-11-02T19:12:04Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > So let’s suppose that both policemen and criminals come from working-class and lower-middle-class backgrounds more often than one would expect at random. My guess is that people from these backgrounds tend to give their sons the middle name of Wayne more often than one would expect at random. My offhand observations are that, more specifically, this is particularly true if you restrict yourself to white Southern working-class to lower-middle-class families. I don’t know why the middle name “Wayne” became popular in this group. Perhaps, as people have mentioned, it has something to do with the popularity of John Wayne. Or, as the saying goes, “a cop is a just criminal with a badge.” ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wayne-an-uncommonly-common-middle-name-for-criminals/329576/45 "2012-11-02T19:50:01Z")
> [@scm1001](#): > > and Bruce Wayne often had to stretch the law in his work 🙂 Arggh, came in to post that and was just beat by… err… 7 years. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wayne-an-uncommonly-common-middle-name-for-criminals/329576/46 "2012-11-02T19:56:06Z")
Actual factual research on the middle name “Wayne” and criminality can be found [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15123596&postcount=36)! ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wayne-an-uncommonly-common-middle-name-for-criminals/329576/47 "2012-11-02T20:11:33Z")
I have reason to believe that **sudont** is a zombie in addition to just this thread being one. 5 posts this year but before that, a 9 year absence!!! So seeing as both the thread and the resurrector are back, I think this may actually be considered a current thread. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wayne-an-uncommonly-common-middle-name-for-criminals/329576/48 "2012-11-03T05:59:56Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Why? Why not? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wayne-an-uncommonly-common-middle-name-for-criminals/329576/49 "2012-11-03T06:01:29Z")
> [@scm1001](#): > > and Bruce Wayne often had to stretch the law in his work 🙂 Precisely, old chum! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wayne-an-uncommonly-common-middle-name-for-criminals/329576/50 "2012-11-03T13:00:38Z")
sudont writes: \> Or, as the saying goes, “a cop is a just criminal with a badge.” So you’ve returned to the SDMB just so you could misinterpret my post from seven years ago? I’m not saying that police are similar to criminals in their attitude to crime. I’m saying that police tend to come from similar socio-economic backgrounds to criminals - and nothing else. And incidentally, with seven years to think about it, I’d also like to say that I’m not so certain that even that is true. ---
**Author:** ![RFEngineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@RFEngineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RFEngineer)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wayne-an-uncommonly-common-middle-name-for-criminals/329576/51 "2012-11-03T13:32:02Z")
What an interesting thread! But John Wayne’s real name was Marion Robert Morrison. We should be blaming “Mad” Anthony Wayne, George Washington’s favorite General, for the name’s bad rap. If you want to see bloody violence, just look at what he did to the British in the midnight attack on Stony Point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wayne-an-uncommonly-common-middle-name-for-criminals/329576.md?page=2)