# Know anybody named after famous people? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2016, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522 "2016-03-10T03:57:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/61 "2016-03-12T02:55:40Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I had a friend growing up whose first and middle names were John Wayne. His last name wasn’t _Gacy_, I hope. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/62 "2016-03-12T05:40:51Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I had a friend growing up whose first and middle names were John Wayne. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > His last name wasn’t _Gacy_, I hope. LOL, no. Also, I’m not _that_ old! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/63 "2016-03-12T10:28:58Z")
My son’s middle name is from a long-ago South Asian king (the one who converted to Buddhism). My second-choice pick for his first name was partly after Pete Seeger, the folk singer who died about 3 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/64 "2016-03-12T14:06:08Z")
I went to school with a boy named John Kennedy. He was born early in 1964. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/65 "2016-03-12T15:41:04Z")
All the men in my family are given the middle name “Howard.” We’re descended from the same Howard family as all the politicians. A great niece got pregnant on the night she saw Bring in da Noise, Bring in the Funk. She named her son Savion. ---
**Author:** ![UCBearcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/77aa72/32.png) [@UCBearcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UCBearcats)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/66 "2016-03-13T03:01:24Z")
My grandfather and great-grandfather were named James Garfield (surname). ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/67 "2016-03-13T03:27:41Z")
My niece is named for a then-popular soap opera character. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/68 "2016-03-13T03:30:00Z")
I’m named after a person in the world’s best-selling book of all time! ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/69 "2016-03-13T03:39:25Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > I’m named after a person in the world’s best-selling book of all time! Noah Webster? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/70 "2016-03-13T16:48:30Z")
Well, if fictional characters count… I was working with a client the other day and he had sent in an application listing his name as T. John LastName. I called him to tell him we would note that he went by John but we needed his full legal name for our system. There’s a pause on his end and then he says “Trapper”. Me: “Trapper John?” Him: “Yep. Dad was a big M_A_S_H_ fan.” Me: “OK then… Have a good day, John.” ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/71 "2016-03-13T18:54:20Z")
My niece is Katharine Spencer after Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/72 "2016-03-13T20:14:26Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Noah Webster? Noah Webster was in the Bible? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/73 "2016-03-13T21:37:49Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I had a friend growing up whose first and middle names were John Wayne. I knew a U.S. Marine whose name was John Wayne Benefield. I can’t imagine the shit he took in boot camp. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/74 "2016-03-13T22:05:05Z")
I used to work with a guy named Jeff Davis. I don’t know if his full first name was Jefferson but he seemed like the kind of guy that might have been named after the [President of the Confederate States of America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Davis). ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/75 "2016-03-13T23:08:35Z")
I had a great-aunt by marriage. Her brother, who had died at the age of sixteen, was named Robert Edward Lee surname. Their father is the only Confederate veteran buried in the cemetery where I will eventually go. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/76 "2016-03-14T00:00:31Z")
I went to school with a kid named Donovan, after the singer. My great-grandfather was born during the 1856 presidential campaign and was named James Buchanan Surname, after the eventual winner. I’ve never known for sure but I suspect my father was named for Warren Harding, who was president when he was born. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522/77 "2016-03-14T02:48:55Z")
I met a man named Audie Murphy. Not this Audie Murphy but named after him. A patient’s SO gave his first name as Braxton, so I asked “As in, General Braxton Bragg?” Bless his heart, he thanked me for knowing who General Bragg was and said he had indeed been named for General Bragg. Several Elvises (Elvi?? :D) I named my daughter the name of an actress I saw guest starring on a game show not because I liked the actress in particular but her name just spoke to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-anybody-named-after-famous-people/748522.md?page=3)