J. R. (Bob) Dobbs
And my brother R. Owen 74westy.
James Hubert “Eubie” Blake
James Gordon Brown
James Timothy “Tim” Daly
James Mercer Langston Hughes
James Hugh Calum Laurie
James Timothy “Tim” McCarver
James David Graham Niven
James Danforth “Dan” Quayle
James Strom Thurmond
James Paul McCartney was already mentioned.
Lewis Paul Bremer III
Mary Flannery O’Connor
J. Paul Getty
Bumping this thread to see if there are more candidates. This has been an unexpectedly fruitful vein and I appreciate it enormously.
How about lesser politicians - Governors, Senators, Reps, MPs, etc.?
Presidents:
Hiram Ulysses Grant --> Ulysses Simpson Grant
Stephen Grover Cleveland --> Grover Cleveland
Thomas Woodrow Wilson --> Woodrow Wilson
John Calvin Coolidge --> Calvin Coolidge
David Dwight Eisenhower --> Dwight David Eisenhower
Leslie Lynch King Jr. --> Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr.
Ford’s birth father was abusive and his mother left him within weeks of Ford’s birth and they were divorced within months. When Ford was 3 years old, his mother married Gerald Rudolff Ford (note spelling) and they started calling him Gerald Rudolff Ford Jr., although he was never formally adopted by the elder Ford. He formally changed his name to “Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr.” after finishing college.
Geddy Lee.
Elizabeth Alice MacGraw
Which, as I’m discovering, ain’t a patch on the name-dropping of UK Prime Ministers. It’s hard to find one who served under his given first name.
General J.E.B. (James Ewell Brown) Stuart
John Ellis “Jeb” Bush
H. (Henry) Rider Haggard
Architect I. M. (Ieoh Ming) Pei
Blues composer W.C. (William Christopher) Handy
B.B. (Riley B.) King (although “B.B.” probably counts as a nickname, standing for “Blues Boy”).
J. Fred Muggs, for some definitions of “people.”
Maria Corazon Aquino, President of the Philippines
George Edward ‘Eddie’ Arcaro, jockey
Donald Richard ‘Richie’ Ashburn, baseball player
Freda Josephine Baker, dancer
Jose Antonio Banderas, actor
Henry Warren Beatty, actor
Ernst Ingmar Bergman, director
Winifred Jacqueline Bisset, actress
Troyal Garth Brooks, singer
Clyde Jackson Browne, singer/songwriter
Mary William ‘Billie’ Burke, actress
Eleanor Rosalyn Carter, US First Lady
Isaac Sidney ‘Sid’ Caesar, comedian
Malcolm Scott Carpenter, astronaut
George Richard Chamberlain, actor
Avram Noam Chomsky, linguist, author and political activist
Leroy Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther leader/author
William Roger Clemens, baseball pitcher
Harvey Lavan ‘Van’ Cliburn, classical pianist
Edward Montgomery Clift, actor
Virginia Patterson ‘Patsy’ Cline, singer
Alfred Alistair Cooke, broadcast journalist
Leroy Gordon Cooper, astronaut
Harold Hart Crane, poet
William Broderick Crawford, actor
Ellen Tyne Daly, actress
Ruth Elizabeth ‘Bette’ Davis, actress
Achille Claude Debussy, composer
Hillare Germain Edgar Degas, artist
Mary Elizabeth Dole, US Senator
Dorothy Faye Dunaway, actress
Robert Anthony Eden, British Prime Minister
William Blake Edwards, director
Clarence Leo Fender, guitar manufacturer
Jacob Nelson ‘Nellie’ Fox, baseball player
William Clark Gable, actor
Eugene Henri Paul Gauguin, artist
Henry Louis ‘Lou’ Gehrig, baseball player
Arthur John Geilgud, actor
Irwin Allen Ginsburg, poet
Ruth Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Grable, actress
Henry Graham Greene, novelist
Pearl Zane Grey, author
Samuel Dashiell Hammett, author
Mary Patricia Highsmith, author
Audrey Faith Hill, singer
Philip Anthony Hopkins, actor
Mary Laurence ‘Lauren’ Hutton, model
John Donald ‘Don’ Imus, radio talk show host
Nelust Wyclef Jean, singer
Arthur John ‘Jack’ Johnson, boxer
Diana Naomi Judd, singer
Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo, artist
Alfred Joyce Kilmer, poet
Joseph Rudyard Kipling, poet
Edward Charles ‘Chuck’ Knoblauch, basketball player
Jesse Donald ‘Don’ Knotts, actor
Mary Leta Dorothy Lamour, actress
David Jude Law, actor
Frederick Carlton ‘Carl’ Lewis, track and field athlete
Harry Sinclair Lewis, author
Clarence Malcolm Lowry, novelist
Rosalie Anderson ‘Andie’ MacDowell, actress
Maurice Harold MacMillan, British prime minister
Vera Jayne Mansfield, actress
Terence Stephen ‘Steve’ McQueen, actor
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn, composer
Oliver Burgess Meredith, actor
Alton Glenn Miller, bandleader
Robert Joan ‘Joni’ Mitchell, singer/songwriter
James Arthur ‘Art’ Monk, football player
Vernon Earl Monroe, basketball player
Jean Iris Murdoch, novelist
Keith Rupert Murdock, publishing and broadcasting magnate
Morna Anne Murray, singer
Frederic Ogden Nash, poet
John Byron Nelson, golfer
George Robert ‘Bob’ Newhart, comedian
Carson Wayne Newton, singer
Patrick Ryan O’Neal, actor
Olive Marie Osmond, singer
Eldred Gregory Peck, actor
Maria Eva Peron, Argentine First Lady
Matthew Ryan Philippe, actor
William Bradley ‘Brad’ Pitt, actor
Paul Jackson Pollock, artist
Helen Beatrix Potter, author/illustrator
Frederick Tyrone Power, actor
Mary Violet Leontyne Price, opera singer
William Claude Rains, actor
Philip St. John Basil Rathbone, actor
Charles Robert Redford, actor
Robert Oliver Reed, actor
Michael Trent Reznor, rock musician
Joseph Henri Maurice Richard, hockey player
Wesley Branch Rickey, baseball executive
Jean Nicholas Arthur Rimbaud, poet
Margaret LeAnn Rimes, singer
Granville Oral Roberts, televangelist
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, US First Lady
Alfred Damon Runyon, author
Ahmed Salman Rushdie, novelist
Ernestine Jane Russell, actress
H. Norman Schwarzkopf, general
Edith Norma Shearer, actress
Marvin Neil Simon, playwright
Michael Sylvester Stallone, actor
Fernande Danielle Steele, author
William Payne Stewart, golfer
William Oliver Stone, director
Johan August Strindberg, playwright
Newton Booth Tarkington, novelist
Joseph Philippe Pierre Trudeau, Canadian prime minister
Mary Kathleen Turner, actress
Robert Edward ‘Ted’ Turner, media mogul
Stanley Robert ‘Bobby’ Vinton, singer
Wilhelm Richard Wagner, composer
Marie Dionne Warwick, singer
George Orson Welles, actor/director
Karola Ruth Westheimer, sex therapist
Jacques Dominique Wilkins, basketball player
Walter Bruce Willis, actor
Mary Debra Winger, actress
Jon Steven ‘Steve’ Young, football quarterback
He dropped his last name (Weinrib), not his first. “Geddy” is just a nick for his real name, Gary (based on how his Polish mom pronounced it).
If she was born Robert, she must have dropped something besides her name!
Typo. Should’ve been Roberta Joan ‘Joni’ Mitchell
(Although Howard Allen O’Brien managed to become Anne Rice without changing anything but her name. But I digress.)
Singer and songwriter Mimi Fariña was born Margarita Mimi Baez, younger sister of Joan.