# Three name people **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 31, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310 "2020-01-31T20:48:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/1 "2020-01-31T20:48:27Z")
I’ve noticed that some people have gone down in history by three names. You may be uncertain who George Carver, James Cooper, John Jones, and Martin King are, but the names George Washington Carver, James Fenimore Cooper, John Paul Jones, and Martin Luther King certainly ring some bells. Here’s a list I’ve compiled, but I’m sure it’s very incomplete. I’m looking for additions. John Quincy Adams Louisa May Alcott George Washington Carver James Fenimore Cooper Ralph Waldo Emerson James Earl Jones John Paul Jones Tommy Lee Jones Martin Luther King Sugar Ray Leonard Jerry Lee Lewis Henry Cabot Lodge [1] James Clerk Maxwell Harriet Beecher Stowe Robert Penn Warren Billy Dee Williams In addition, there’s a special category three name people: high-profile assassins who, because of the way they’re reported in the press, virtually always are known by their full name: John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, Mark David Chapman, James Earl Ray. But not all are. Jack Ruby, for example, is not. Before you make a suggestion, a couple rules. (1) The person must be known almost exclusingly by three names or, if who is being talked about is established, by one name. So even though most people know Franklin Roosevelt’s middle name is Delano, he doesn’t qualify. (2) Any hyphenated names are considered a single name. So Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Murray Gell-Mann are right out. [1] Two of them, grandfather and grandson (Jr.) ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/2 "2020-01-31T20:55:17Z")
Ruth Bader Ginsburg ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/3 "2020-01-31T20:57:35Z")
First one I thought of is Neil Patrick Harris. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/4 "2020-01-31T21:02:57Z")
Philip Seymour Hoffman Jennifer Love Hewitt Jamie Lee Curtis Sarah Jessica Parker Sarah Michelle Gellar Rae Dawn Chong Lisa Marie Presley ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/5 "2020-01-31T21:07:00Z")
Do initials count when they are always used? Like Michael J. Fox? ---
**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:** [January 31, 2020, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/6 "2020-01-31T21:07:26Z")
Kareem Abdul Jabbar ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/7 "2020-01-31T21:15:55Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > First one I thought of is Neil Patrick Harris. which reminded me of Neil deGrasse Tyson ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/8 "2020-01-31T21:35:51Z")
Rainier Maria Rilke Joyce Carol Oates Henry David Thoreau Mary Tyler Moore John Paul Stevens ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/9 "2020-01-31T21:37:59Z")
Francis Scott Key Edgar Allen Poe ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/10 "2020-01-31T21:41:22Z")
Former First Lady Hillary Clinton is frequently referred to as Hillary Rodham Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/11 "2020-01-31T21:41:34Z")
William Henry Harrison Grover Cleveland Alexander John Kimura Parker Johann Sebastien Bach Johann Christian Bach Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Edward Allen Poe Ada Louise Huxtable Arthur Conan Doyle ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/12 "2020-01-31T21:42:38Z")
And there’s former President Richard Milhous Nixon. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2020, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/13 "2020-01-31T21:46:59Z")
Charles Nelson (and) Reilly ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/14 "2020-01-31T21:50:23Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Jerry Lee Lewis [Not to be confused with Jerry Lewis](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=62082) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/15 "2020-01-31T21:55:52Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Do initials count when they are always used? Like Michael J. Fox? Nope. Must be full name. > [@cmkeller](#): > > Kareem Abdul Jabbar Please reread OP. > [@cochrane](#): > > Former First Lady Hillary Clinton is frequently referred to as Hillary Rodham Clinton. > [@cochrane](#): > > And there’s former President Richard Milhous Nixon. Neither of those are virtually always refered to with three names. I suspect a number of others suggested are the same, but I haven’t checked them out. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/16 "2020-01-31T21:59:12Z")
George Bernard Shaw Frank Lloyd Wright William Carlos Williams Earle Stanley Gardner Haley Joel Osment and Edward Allen Poe’s brother Edgar ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/17 "2020-01-31T21:59:28Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > (2) Any hyphenated names are considered a single name. So Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Murray Gell-Mann are right out. There are also compound surnames without a hyphen — for example, Ralph Vaughan Williams and David Lloyd George. Do they count? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/18 "2020-01-31T22:01:16Z")
Thought of another one myself: John Philip Sousa ---
**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:** [January 31, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/19 "2020-01-31T22:01:54Z")
Norman Vincent Peale John Foster Dulles Alan Dean Foster Charles Foster Kane C. Montgomery Burns \<—maybe not George Roy Hill ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/20 "2020-01-31T22:04:18Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > There are also compound surnames without a hyphen — for example, Ralph Vaughan Williams and David Lloyd George. Do they count? If they’re often refered with two names (e.g. Lloyd George), then no they don’t. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310.md?page=2)