# Most Well-Known Person named . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 17, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192 "2013-03-17T19:46:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Renifer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Renifer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renifer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/1 "2013-03-17T19:46:37Z")
1. Someone suggests a first name. Then the players try to determine who is the most well-known person with that name. Example: Erica. Someone would toss in the possibility author Erica Jong. Fictional examples can be used. (Example: Clarice Starling for Clarice.) Stage names or pen names are allowed. Person doesn’t have to have a last name. (Example: most well known person named Lenore could be Lenore from Edgar Allan Poe’s name The Raven. Slight misspellings are allowed. (Ex Gennifer Goodwin for Jennifer.) Names can be both genders. Starting off: Blair ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/2 "2013-03-17T19:51:34Z")
> [@Renifer](#): > > Starting off: Blair Underwood ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/3 "2013-03-17T20:25:10Z")
Blair Warner from\* Facts of Life\* ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/4 "2013-03-17T20:27:35Z")
Blair Brown (actress on _Fringe_ and _The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd_, among other things.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/5 "2013-03-17T22:27:33Z")
Encyclopedia Brown. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/6 "2013-03-17T22:39:52Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Encyclopedia Brown. Probably shouldn’t count, since it’s just a famous urban legend that his name was Blair. Blair Witch ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/7 "2013-03-18T01:59:44Z")
> [@Bootis](#): > > Probably shouldn’t count, since it’s just a famous urban legend that his name was Blair. If you’re referring to the boy detective, it’s well established in pretty much every book Donold Sobol wrote that his first name is Leroy. So I have no idea where that urban legend would have originated. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/8 "2013-03-18T02:41:06Z")
Blair Thomas, running back from Penn State ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/9 "2013-03-18T20:08:46Z")
Selma Blair ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/10 "2013-03-18T20:46:08Z")
**Renifer,** you should probably build in some general rule for when we kick it over to the next name. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/11 "2013-03-18T21:29:53Z")
Tony Blair ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/12 "2013-03-19T07:53:19Z")
Eric Arthur Blair, aka George Orwell. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/13 "2013-03-19T11:55:20Z")
I think someone should do a study on how close to the beginning of a challenge like this the first violation of the ground rules will occur. ---
**Author:** ![Snerky\_Snerk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Snerky\_Snerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snerky_Snerk)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/14 "2013-03-19T13:56:48Z")
Will Smith - The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/15 "2013-03-19T14:00:09Z")
And we have a WINNER! When DO we switch to a new name? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/16 "2013-03-19T14:56:07Z")
My two cents: all we have so far is a list of names of candidates; we have nothing to establish “most well-known” status. A poll might get closer to that, so might some follow-up lists by others who have seen the choices thus far. For instance I could vote for: Blair Witch Blair Brown Tony Blair and the one I submitted before, Blair Underwood. But unless we have some source that ranks these people in some “well-known” ranking, I am not convinced this first phase has done much besides making a list. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/17 "2013-03-19T20:26:05Z")
Since we haven’t heard back from the OP, I vote that we post a response to any name we feel we have an opinion on, and every poster needs to also provide a new name for people to cogitate. I vote Blair Witch. And, Constance. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/18 "2013-03-19T20:28:01Z")
Constance Hopkins. And, Eloise. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/19 "2013-03-21T17:54:19Z")
Eric Arthur Blair, aka George Orwell (unless surname connection is explicitly disallowed). Constance Queen of Sicily, wife of Emperor Henry VI, mother of the great Emperor Frederick II (called ‘Wonder of the World’). Eloise of the Plaza Hotel. Nathan. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192/20 "2013-03-21T18:54:29Z")
Nathan Detroit from _Guys and Dolls_. Nathan Hale. ETA: Nathan, the Biblical prophet from King David’s time. Nathan Fillion, of _Castle_ and _Firefly_ fame. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-well-known-person-named/653192.md?page=2)