# last name q **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-name-q/260242 "2004-08-17T14:29:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DelawareEng](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@DelawareEng](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DelawareEng)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-name-q/260242/1 "2004-08-17T14:29:50Z")
Is Carmen Electra (sp.) her birth name? ---
**Author:** ![Fox\_Paws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/85e7bf/32.png) [@Fox\_Paws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fox_Paws)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-name-q/260242/2 "2004-08-17T14:32:33Z")
> [@DelawareEng](#): > > Is Carmen Electra (sp.) her birth name? [Google](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22carmen+electra%22+birth+name&sourceid=firefox&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) is your friend. ---
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-name-q/260242/3 "2004-08-17T14:34:30Z")
Tara Leigh Patrick What a nice Irish girl 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-name-q/260242/4 "2004-08-17T14:39:55Z")
> [@Ponster](#): > > Tara Leigh Patrick > What a nice Irish girl 🙂 Really? She changed her name from that? It’s so pretty! And it doesn’t make her sound like a porn star, either (though that might have been her intention) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-name-q/260242/5 "2004-08-17T14:47:21Z")
> [@Ponster](#): > > Tara Leigh Patrick > What a nice Irish girl 🙂 Her [heritage](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001182/bio) is Irish, German, and Cherokee. And possibly vampire 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-name-q/260242/6 "2004-08-17T14:52:05Z")
> [@Fox Paws](#): > > [Google](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22carmen+electra%22+birth+name&sourceid=firefox&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) is your friend. Well, as long as we’re on the subject, [IMDB can be your friend, too.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001182/bio) > [@](#): > > She got her name from Bizet’s Opera Carmen and from the goddess Electra (from Sophocles) _shudder_ One of her favorite movies is “Showgirls?” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-name-q/260242/7 "2004-08-17T14:52:05Z")
And here I was hoping that she was related to [Electra Woman and DynaGirl](http://web.utk.edu/~lyle/ewdg/) . ---
**Author:** ![DelawareEng](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@DelawareEng](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DelawareEng)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-name-q/260242/8 "2004-08-17T15:25:59Z")
sorry I should have googled! Is Electra a real surname, it sounds made up… ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-name-q/260242/9 "2004-08-17T16:18:11Z")
> [@DelawareEng](#): > > sorry I should have googled! Is Electra a real surname, it sounds made up… See above… Electra was a goddess in Greek mythology. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-name-q/260242/10 "2004-08-17T16:29:02Z")
I’m not sure if it’s a real surname or not, but I went to yahoo’s people search and typed in the surname “Electra” and it had 6 listings for the whole USA. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-name-q/260242/11 "2004-08-17T17:06:43Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > See above… Electra was a goddess in Greek mythology. Not exactly. She was human. Her dad had sacrificed her sister before heading off to the Trojan war. When he returned her mom killed her dad (to avenge their daughter), Electra was out of town at the time. When she returned, she and her brother killed their mom for killing their dad for killing their sister. Then her brother went mad. Kind of an odd thing to name yourself after. ---
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-name-q/260242/12 "2004-08-17T17:18:44Z")
> [@Ponster](#): > > Tara Leigh Patrick > [@tamaraqueenofgoths](#): > > And it doesn’t make her sound like a porn star Really? [Tara Patrick](http://imdb.com/name/nm0665927/) (a.k.a. Tera Patrick) has starred in numerous adult movies. Fear not, the above link is to IMDB. But you could find her listed on numerous porns sites if you [googled](http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=Tera+Patrick).