# People who have dropped their first names **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 12, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658 "2014-06-12T21:53:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/21 "2014-06-12T23:35:23Z")
George Roger Waters ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/22 "2014-06-12T23:39:16Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > George Roger Waters Sort of ironically, it was Syd Barrett whose real first name was Roger. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/23 "2014-06-12T23:45:27Z")
Literary ones: J.R.R. Tolkien E.M. Forster T.S. Eliot F. Scott Fitzgerald H.P. Lovecraft C.J. Cherryh [H.D.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.D.) A political one: (James) Harold Wilson Musical: J.J. Cale [P.P. Arnold](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.P._Arnold) ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/24 "2014-06-12T23:51:33Z")
Not to mention[Q.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Quiller-Couch) (No, not the guy from Star Trek TNG.) ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/25 "2014-06-12T23:53:46Z")
F. Murray Abraham, the actor. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/26 "2014-06-13T00:12:07Z")
L. Frank Baum k.d. lang [(Peter) Overend Watts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overend_watts) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/27 "2014-06-13T00:15:57Z")
H. G. Wells ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/28 "2014-06-13T00:18:30Z")
I’ve got Adeline Virginia Woolf and Lafayette Ronald Hubbard. By the way, does the reason for dropping the name matter? Because I think a fair amount of these weren’t consciously dropped by the person, it was just that whatever their first name was was passed down through the generations so they needed a way to distinguish themselves from relatives (I’m thinking specifically of James Paul McCartney here, but chances are it applies to others - the whole multi-generational name thing was a lot more popular in the past than it is now). ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/29 "2014-06-13T00:26:25Z")
Laura Reese Witherspoon ETA Patricia Rooney Mara ---
**Author:** ![cardinal\_fang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal_fang/32/15316_2.png) [@cardinal\_fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardinal_fang)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/30 "2014-06-13T00:29:38Z")
W. Michael Blumenthal. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/31 "2014-06-13T00:40:41Z")
E. Nesbit [B. Traven](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._Traven) (except that his first name probably didn’t begin with a B, and his last name almost certainly wasn’t Traven - but nobody knows for sure). P.D. James R. Kelly Gaius Julius Caesar ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/32 "2014-06-13T00:42:28Z")
Jerome David Salinger Edna Annie Proulx (who is now most often known as Annie Proulx but used to publish as E. A. Proulx and as E. Annie Proulx) Edmund Clerihew Bentley Always broke bad news gently. “By the way, Trent old scout, I was actually the one who took him out”. ---
**Author:** ![jehan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@jehan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jehan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/33 "2014-06-13T00:46:01Z")
Queen (Alexandrina) Victoria King (Albert) Edward Vll ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/34 "2014-06-13T01:19:08Z")
A. A. Milne ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/35 "2014-06-13T01:30:31Z")
Hollywood: [Y. Frank Freedman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y._Frank_Freeman). (That’s a very good question). [CCH Pounder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cch_pounder) (those are her initials, but she spells it without periods. Authors [R. A. MacAvoy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._A._MacAvoy) [C. L. Moore](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._L._Moore) Sports R. A. Dickey C.C. Sabathia J. C. Martin ---
**Author:** ![Andrew\_21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Andrew\_21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andrew_21)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/36 "2014-06-13T01:34:40Z")
George Thomas “Tom” Seaver Lynn Nolan Ryan ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/37 "2014-06-13T01:39:29Z")
Lady Jayne Fonda - Not a title, Lady is her actual first name. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/38 "2014-06-13T01:40:51Z")
John William Ferrell Thomas Jacob Black ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/39 "2014-06-13T02:24:25Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Literary ones: > J.R.R. Tolkien You can’t mention Tolkien without mentioning his buddy C.S. (Clive Staples) Lewis. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/40 "2014-06-13T04:02:34Z")
In the literary world, there’s also Carson McCullers, née Lula Carson Smith. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658.md?page=3)