# Most Famous Person With Your Family Name **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 23, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604 "2010-11-23T01:14:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/41 "2010-11-23T05:45:23Z")
Theres a Loni and an Anthony a Louie and John, theres a Marian a Pamela and a Richard Dean. I could go on for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/42 "2010-11-23T05:48:01Z")
Only two or three dozen people in the world have my last name. If you Google it, half of the hits are for my Dad so I’ll go with him. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/43 "2010-11-23T05:54:48Z")
I have [one of the most common surnames in the English language](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_(surname)). Writers, artists, models, athletes, politicians, actors, musicians - _dozens_ share my first and last names, let alone just the last! Martin Luther King jr is probably the most famous, though there are many other ones who are pretty high - Stephen King, Carol King, Rodney King, or Don King, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/44 "2010-11-23T06:08:18Z")
Norman Bates ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/45 "2010-11-23T06:25:50Z")
I’ve never heard of anyone having my last name who was not a member of my family, and none of us are famous as far as I am aware. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/46 "2010-11-23T07:21:55Z")
With the same spelling, no one. Only twice in my lifetime have I seen my last name associated with someone I didn’t know I was related to. I’ve checked phone books for decent sized cities; none. If we change the spelling, there was a voice actress who did a lot of work in radio and then cartoons in the '60s and '70s. Had a few on-screen credits, but I’ve only seen her once in a rerun of an old TV show. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/47 "2010-11-23T07:23:04Z")
Hmm, I wonder if **Suburban Plankton** and I are related. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/48 "2010-11-23T07:41:18Z")
A cousin who was a mountain climber. In a very different set of circles, both a second cousin who’s got a PhD in History and has published several articles and a book on heraldry, and a second uncle who was a musicologist specialising in Baroque music; he was a university professor and had a list of publications as long as a basketball player’s arm. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/49 "2010-11-23T07:44:32Z")
A famous 15-century biblical scholar and translator, who was also a Spanish politician. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/50 "2010-11-23T07:49:58Z")
A German chancellor. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/51 "2010-11-23T07:53:10Z")
Our last name is shared by a famous American naval officer, An English bass player/keyboardist, and a major league baseball player. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/52 "2010-11-23T08:51:57Z")
A former child actress. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/53 "2010-11-23T09:16:39Z")
The Guiness Book of World Records “World’s Greatest Miser.” Stingy bitch she was. Also, can I toss an island in here? The island where Amelia Earhart would likely have landed, had she been able to land her plane. Uninhabited. _yawn_ ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/54 "2010-11-23T09:34:34Z")
If we’re counting fictional people, then Buck Mulligan from James Joyce’s Ulysses. Otherwise possibly Carey Mulligan, the British actress, or whichever of the historical Mulligan’s gave his name to a “do-over” in golf. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/55 "2010-11-23T09:34:56Z")
A US Secretary of War, and a popular US character actor. Most people in the UK will have seen the name on a popular brand of drain cover. ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/56 "2010-11-23T09:37:08Z")
Probably the most famous British Jew of all time, or at least the best-known one I can think of (it’s not me :D). ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/57 "2010-11-23T11:03:39Z")
A famous gay author; famous for being gay as well as for his work. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/58 "2010-11-23T11:14:10Z")
> [@SecondJudith](#): > > Probably the most famous British Jew of all time, or at least the best-known one I can think of (it’s not me :D). Disraeli? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/59 "2010-11-23T11:23:54Z")
He was Anglican! Doesn’t count! 😉 ETA: I should say I think he is the person most famous for being active in Anglo-Jewry; I’m sure more people today have heard of, say, Rachel Weisz. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604/60 "2010-11-23T11:50:04Z")
A famous PGA golfer A famous MLB pitcher A kinda good NFL QB A famous British Rock singer (actually 2 British rock performers share my surname) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-person-with-your-family-name/561604.md?page=4)