# "That Famous Middle Name" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2020, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-famous-middle-name/850200 "2020-03-24T22:00:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mellsworth\_denver\_yahoo.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mellsworth\_denver\_yahoo.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mellsworth_denver_yahoo.com)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-famous-middle-name/850200/1 "2020-03-24T22:00:26Z")
Does anyone have a collection of these columns or can tell me how to find one? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-famous-middle-name/850200/2 "2020-03-24T22:29:38Z")
What is it? I can’t find anything like a column titled “That Famous Middle Name” when I search. Please explain this to us. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-famous-middle-name/850200/3 "2020-03-24T22:55:28Z")
This short thread on “Wayne” was all I could find but I swear there was more: [The middle name "Wayne" and bizarre violent incidents - Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS) - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=80127) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-famous-middle-name/850200/4 "2020-03-24T23:13:55Z")
O.K., I remember reading about the supposedly large number of murderers named Wayne. I don’t think there’s a collection of columns about this. I don’t think there was more than one thread in the SDMB about this. Again, what columns are you talking about, [mellsworth\_denver@yahoo.com](mailto:mellsworth_denver@yahoo.com)? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-famous-middle-name/850200/5 "2020-03-25T02:49:06Z")
[News of the Weird](https://www.uexpress.com/news-of-the-weird) made murderers whose middle name was Wayne a regular feature in its weekly columns. Three books were collected from the columns: [The News of the Weird](https://www.amazon.com/News-Weird-Plume-Chuck-Shepherd/dp/0452263115) (1989), [More News of the Weird](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452265452/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3) (1990), and [Beyond News of the Weird](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452267161/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2) (1991). A fourth book, [The Concrete Enema: And Other News of the Weird Classics](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0836221818/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i1) was published in 1996 but I don’t know if it has new content or is just a selection from the first three. The column is still going at the link given above and still mentions Waynes but you’ve have to dig through their archives or do a Google search. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-famous-middle-name/850200/6 "2020-03-25T05:10:36Z")
Thanks - that must be where I remember it from. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-famous-middle-name/850200/7 "2020-03-25T15:46:32Z")
Here is a list of 225 murderers whose middle name is Wayne: > **[List of Killers with the Middle Name of Wayne](https://thenewstalkers.com/community/discussion/2531/list-of-killers-with-the-middle-name-of-wayne)** > > My husband and I were talking last night, about how everyone that is a real criminal seems to go by 3 names, and that many murderers have the middle name of Wayne. > Is it coincidence? Probably. Statistically speaking, it is likely expected. Is it... A large proportion of them are from the southeastern U.S. That may only mean that Wayne is a common middle name there, while it isn’t very common elsewhere. Some websites claim (without giving any numbers) that more specifically, Wayne is a common middle name among white families in the southeastern U.S. whose income is below average. I have no idea if any of those claims are true. I don’t even know if the list given in the link I just gave is an accurate list of murderers whose middle name is Wayne. Here’s another SDMB thread about this topic: > **[Is Wayne an uncommonly common middle name for criminals?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343254)** > > You may be familiar with Chuck Shepard’s News of the Weird - a weekly column devoted to…weird news articles (duh). One item that is periodically reported and updated is names in the news, in which he reports on people recently charged with murder -... ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-famous-middle-name/850200/8 "2020-03-26T03:44:47Z")
News of the Weird was in many of the same alternative weeklies as The Straight Dope, so I immediately knew what you were thinking of, and why you conflated it with the Dope.