# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/41 "2014-06-13T04:20:43Z")
e.e. cummings ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/42 "2014-06-13T04:20:55Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Aubrey Drake Graham, aka Drake Aw, he had something in common with his ex, Robyn Rihanna Fenty. ---
**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, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/43 "2014-06-13T05:15:51Z")
Kristen Bell is a somewhat example. Her full name is Kristen Anne Bell and when she was very young, she decided she didn’t like the name Kristen. So her family dropped her first name and she was known as Annie Bell by everyone through her years in school. It was only when she was an adult and starting as a professional actress that she decided to go back to her original first name. ---
**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, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/44 "2014-06-13T05:25:47Z")
Eldrick “Tiger” Woods ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/45 "2014-06-13T05:39:05Z")
> [@Andiethewestie](#): > > e.e. cummings Minor nitpick: I’ve been reliably informed, by this very board, that it is E E Cummings (which is how the author signed himself). The lowercase version being a book jacket logo. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2014, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/46 "2014-06-13T05:50:39Z")
There should be a spot here for Prince Rogers Nelson. Sure, originally he dropped everything \*but \*his first name, but for a while we had the “artist formerly known as Prince” days, when he dropped that as well… ---
**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, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/47 "2014-06-13T06:53:57Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > You can’t mention Tolkien without mentioning his buddy C.S. (Clive Staples) Lewis. I think I’ve shown that I can. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/48 "2014-06-13T09:29:28Z")
I note that at least 50% of the respondents didn’t read/grasp the OP’s very clear statement about not wanting people who used two initials instead of their full name. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > NOT to be included are people who adopt stage or pen names wholly unlike their birth names, people who drop, initial or modify middle or last names, or (for the most part) the vast number of British notables of the 20th century who followed the custom of using two initials for their publication names. Thus, I wouldn’t be interested in Marion Morrison (John Wayne), Willa Seibert Cather, or A.E. Housman. ---
**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, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/49 "2014-06-13T09:42:39Z")
Jackson DeForest Kelley ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/50 "2014-06-13T13:11:43Z")
**The SDMB comes through!** Although I’ve compiled a longish list already, a good three-quarters of these are new and perfect additions. Keep it up. General credit will be issued if I complete the project. > [@Shakester](#): > > I note that at least 50% of the respondents didn’t read/grasp the OP’s very clear statement about not wanting people who used two initials instead of their full name. That’s okay, I’d rather have to pick through for good entries than miss any, and two-initial folks who aren’t 1900-1970 Brits qualify. I think the most fascinating thread in the whole topic is that there are no fewer than six US Presidents who served under names different from their birth certificates… and that’s not even counting Harry Truman or any spurious claims about the current guy. Quick, name the Prez who _completely_ changed his birth name… ---
**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, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/51 "2014-06-13T13:44:27Z")
Gerald Ford–Leslie Lynch King, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/52 "2014-06-13T13:46:13Z")
T. Boone Pickens and O. J. Simpson, of course! ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/53 "2014-06-13T13:50:11Z")
And a couple of Watergate superstars: E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/54 "2014-06-13T13:56:24Z")
[Polly Jean Harvey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PJ_Harvey) usually goes by PJ Harvey. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/55 "2014-06-13T13:57:57Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Gerald Ford–Leslie Lynch King, Jr. That’s such a hoot. > [@Labdad](#): > > …and O. J. Simpson, of course! …and how I could not have that on the list already is as mysterious as the Affair of the Glove… ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/56 "2014-06-13T15:54:52Z")
P.J. O’Rourke P.J. Soles Ozzy Osbourne Geezer Butler Lemmy Kilmister ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/57 "2014-06-13T17:01:10Z")
M. Emmet Walsh Clyde [Turk Pipkin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turk_Pipkin) ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/58 "2014-06-13T17:49:19Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Gerald Ford–Leslie Lynch King, Jr. When did he change his name? Being “the Lynch King” during the Civil Rights era would be … interesting. Bonus: Bill Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe. He took his stepfather’s surname later. ---
**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, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/59 "2014-06-13T18:21:25Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > When did he change his name? Being “the Lynch King” during the Civil Rights era would be … interesting. > > Bonus: Bill Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe. He took his stepfather’s surname later. [December 3, 1935.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658/60 "2014-06-13T18:35:00Z")
I didn’t realize that Gellett Burgess had dropped his first name altogether – no first initial, even. His real name was **Frank Gellett Burgess**. If you’re wondering who he was, he’s the guy who wrote “The Purple Cow” and its sequel _I never saw a Purple Cow I never hope to see one But I can tell you anyhow I’d rather see than be one_ He also invented the word “blurb” and was the first to use “Bromide” in the sense of “an overused adage”. It was his MIT training coming through. I was also surprised to see that, for a long time, Penguin Books was selling the works of **George Bernard Shaw** as by “Bernard Shaw” (Long before the cable news host was around). I don’t know if Shaw himself used his name that way, but I usually see it with the “George” in front. Again, no indication by way of an initial that there was ca “George” in front there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-dropped-their-first-names/690658.md?page=4)