# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/61 "2020-02-01T07:55:59Z")
[Alfred Russel Wallace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace) [Henry Walter Bates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Walter_Bates) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace) [Pierre Teilhard de Chardin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Teilhard_de_Chardin) (de Chardin being a single name) Evolutionists ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/62 "2020-02-01T08:37:18Z")
OK, you guys are not actually following the OP very well. I asked about people who were virtually _always_ refered to by three names. Many of the suggestions are people who we know the middle name of and they are only sometimes referred to with it. Mary Shelley and William Taft, for examples. There’s probably a bunch of others. Well, I guess it’s my fault. I should have known this would happen. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/63 "2020-02-01T10:01:40Z")
Actress Jennifer Jason Leigh. Born Jennifer Leigh Morrow (Vic Morrow’s daughter), she changed her name and is now known exclusingly (sic) as indicated. She chose Jason in reference to actor and family friend Jason Robards. She’s _killed_ in a number of roles (a good thing), but I don’t think she’s killed anyone (which is a good thing, too). ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/64 "2020-02-01T14:16:05Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > There are also compound surnames without a hyphen — for example, Ralph Vaughan Williams and David Lloyd George. Do they count? > [@dtilque](#): > > If they’re often refered with two names (e.g. Lloyd George), then no they don’t. That eliminates Conan Doyle. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/65 "2020-02-01T20:42:52Z")
I keep a trivia file that I recently reviewed before the Jeopardy online test. I notice a lot of three-named people in there. It seems to me I usually hear all the following referred to by all three names, but I can’t swear they’re “virtually always” referred to that way: James Whitcomb Riley John Greenleaf Whittier Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Joel Chandler Harris Samuel Eliot Morrison Eva Marie Saint Zora Neale Hurston John Peter Zenger John Stuart Mill Sasha Baron Cohen Paul Michael Glaser Laura Ingalls Wilder Andrew Lloyd Webber Carly Rae Jepsen William Jennings Bryan Mary Ann Mobley John Nance Garner Sandra Day O’Connor Bret Easton Ellis John Kennedy Toole Julia Ward Howe Juliette Gordon Low David Foster Wallace Edgar Lee Masters Katherine Anne Porter William Randolph Hearst Isaac Bashevis Singer Thomas Hart Benton Frances Hodgson Burnett Sue Monk Kidd Rob Roy Macgregor (best known as a character in the historical novel, but he was a real person) Richard Henry Lee William Lloyd Garrison Stephen Jay Gould Kennesaw Mountain Landis Junius Brutus Booth Elizabeth Cady Stanton Neil Clark Warren Questionable because they’re foreign names with different naming conventions: Peter Paul Rubens Le Duc Tho Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Eun, Kim Il Sung Kiri Te Kanawa Erich Maria Remarque Sun Myung Moon Other questionable cases: Babe Didrikson Zaharias (“Babe” was a nickname) Sugar Ray Robinson (As with Sugar Ray Leonard, “Sugar” was a nickname) Ford Maddox Ford (not his birth name) Honorable mention for a four-part name: William Lyon Mackenzie King. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/66 "2020-02-01T20:43:19Z")
Oliver Wendell Holmes ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/67 "2020-02-01T20:57:11Z")
John Wayne Gacy John Wayne Glover John Wayne Bobbit ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/68 "2020-02-01T20:59:01Z")
I think the Korean and Vietnamese should not count. In those countries, 3 names is normal, 2 names is peculiar. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/69 "2020-02-01T21:43:35Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > That eliminates Conan Doyle. I mostly see his name written with an initial rather than first name, so he’d be eliminated on that basis. > [@mbh](#): > > I think the Korean and Vietnamese should not count. In those countries, 3 names is normal, 2 names is peculiar. Consider it done. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/70 "2020-02-01T21:52:57Z")
Catherine Cortez Masto Shelley Moore Capito Mary Higgins Clark William Makepeace Thackeray ---
**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:** [February 2, 2020, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/71 "2020-02-02T02:01:23Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Former First Lady Hillary Clinton is frequently referred to as Hillary Rodham Clinton. > [@dtilque](#): > > 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. Since I discovered that Clinton prefers just being called Hillary Clinton and was on the 2016 ballot as Hillary Clinton, I’ll accept this. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/72 "2020-02-02T02:04:02Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Since I discovered that Clinton prefers just being called Hillary Clinton and was on the 2016 ballot as Hillary Clinton, I’ll accept this. Maybe Hillary went back to a two-name, but I shall forevermore be a three-name! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/73 "2020-02-02T02:16:16Z")
My favorite repeat Colbert Report guest: Doris Kearns Goodwin ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/74 "2020-02-02T02:46:38Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Since I discovered that Clinton prefers just being called Hillary Clinton and was on the 2016 ballot as Hillary Clinton, I’ll accept this. She did go back to two names when she ran for president, but that was probably for political reasons. Either way it doesn’t matter for this thread. I’m asking about what name we collectively call the person, not what they prefer to be called. There were a lot of people who didn’t use all three names even when she wanted them to. And even if she goes back to three names, it’s virtually certain she’s still going down in history as a two name person. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/75 "2020-02-02T03:35:21Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Technically, you weren’t. There’s a couple others you added that you weren’t the first. No problem, though. > > Her name is hyphenated, though. Huh, weird, I actually ran a search on the thread and no Curtis came up. I had to double check Zeta Jones but you’re right. I remember when she first became famous in the UK in the 90s and I’m fairly sure her name wasn’t always hyphenated then, because it’s her middle name. > [@Colibri](#): > > Personally, I would allow nicknames that are based on real names (William December “Billy Dee” Williams Jr.) but not those that are just made up (“Sugar” Ray Charles Leonard), but it’s your thread. Surely that should count because it’s his professional name, the one he’s always known by. It’s not like, say, William Shatner, who seems to be called Bill among his friends, but would always be referred to as William in articles about him. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/76 "2020-02-02T04:46:17Z")
Very few people here will know him but Mormons will: Joseph Fielding Smith (Jr.) the president of the church for a couple of years when I was a child, son of Joseph F. Smith (Sr.) and grand nephew of Joseph Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/77 "2020-02-02T05:14:23Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > OK, you guys are not actually following the OP very well. I asked about people who were virtually _always_ refered to by three names. Many of the suggestions are people who we know the middle name of and they are only sometimes referred to with it. Mary Shelley and William Taft, for examples. There’s probably a bunch of others. Well, I guess it’s my fault. I should have known this would happen. Ok, apologies for Mary Shelly, but I couldn’t resist pairing her with her husband, who I think is rarely referred to as Percy Shelley.🙂 I’ll also retract Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, since Teilhard de Chardin is one of those compound last names. (It’s still a cool name.:)) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/78 "2020-02-02T05:30:12Z")
Let me raise a question related to this thread, that I’ve been wondering about: In reading the news, I’ve noticed that a great many names in the news are given with three names. I’ve wondered why this has become so common. And, how do we tell if the name-in-the-middle is actually a middle name, or part of a compound surname? How would we know, for example, that Arthur Conan Doyle is a compound surname? And for female names in the news: Is that “middle” name a real given middle name or a “maiden” name (or part of a compound surname)? But the question remains: Why is it so common that full names with three-part harmony are used? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/79 "2020-02-02T05:45:32Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Ok, apologies for Mary Shelly, but I couldn’t resist pairing her with her husband, who I think is rarely referred to as Percy Shelley.🙂 I think he’s mostly just referred to as Shelley, but I may have the wrong impression. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/80 "2020-02-02T05:52:20Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I think he’s mostly just referred to as Shelley, but I may have the wrong impression. But that seems to fit your rule one. I interpreted that to mean that if he’s referred to by more than one name, he’s referred to by three names rather than two. It seems to me that in your original list Emerson, Alcott, and Maxwell are referred to either by one name or three. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310.md?page=5)