# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/81 "2020-02-02T06:22:26Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > That eliminates Conan Doyle. I’ve always assumed that his surname is “Conan Doyle,” but [according to his Wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Conan_Doyle#Name), that is incorrect. > [@](#): > > Doyle is often referred to as “Sir Arthur Conan Doyle” or “Conan Doyle”, implying that “Conan” is part of a compound surname rather than a middle name. His baptism entry in the register of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, gives “Arthur Ignatius Conan” as his given names and “Doyle” as his surname. It also names Michael Conan as his godfather.[1] The catalogues of the British Library and the Library of Congress treat “Doyle” alone as his surname.[2] ---
**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, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/82 "2020-02-02T06:32:33Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > 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. Good point. Perhaps I should remove those from the list. There’s a point where someone’s fame is such that just using a single name is sufficient to identify them. Some people are in this category who would otherwise be a three name person. Thoreau, for example. I debated adding him to the list and decided he was a single name person. Those three there may also be single name persons. Although probably not Alcott, she just isn’t that famous. ---
**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, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/83 "2020-02-02T16:11:54Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Good point. Perhaps I should remove those from the list. > > There’s a point where someone’s fame is such that just using a single name is sufficient to identify them. Some people are in this category who would otherwise be a three name person. Thoreau, for example. I debated adding him to the list and decided he was a single name person. Those three there may also be single name persons. Although probably not Alcott, she just isn’t that famous. That’s a pretty arbitrary standard IMO. I think it would be simpler (and more interesting) to use the either one name/three names standard. Some very famous people aren’t referred to by just a single name simply because their last name is too common. And Wikipedia can be used as a standard for the most common form of the name. For example, it lists Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley in those respective forms. If you Google someone by first name/last name and most results are the three name form that would be another indicator. ---
**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, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/84 "2020-02-02T16:34:25Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > That’s a pretty arbitrary standard IMO. No argument. I’m not sure I could find a good non-arbitrary standard. > [@](#): > > And Wikipedia can be used as a standard for the most common form of the name. For example, it lists Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley in those respective forms. If you Google someone by first name/last name and most results are the three name form that would be another indicator. Wikipedia is not a good standard for these things. For example, Einstein is definitely a one-name person, yet his Wiki article is under a two-name heading. Yes, you can get there by just typing Einstein, but you can also get to Percy Bysshe Shelley by just typing Shelley. On the other hand, Washington and Lincoln get you to disambiguation pages rather than those of the very famous presidents. Which one you get to for the single name of a very well known person is something of a crapshoot. Google may be a better standard, but it has problems too. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/85 "2020-02-02T16:34:42Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > 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. I would also exclude contemporary actors, who are under a restriction of using a professional name that is not shared by any other member of their union. They often use their third names because they have to come up with a way to make their names unique on a particular list of names. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/86 "2020-02-02T16:40:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Eun, Kim Il Sung I believe Jong-Il, Jong-Eun, and Il-Sung are actually one name, but you’re “supposed” to omit the hyphen when writing the name in English. This reminds me of a child named Justin-Trudeau Adam Bilal (the first name is usually not hyphenated, however). I wonder if married names violate the rules. Hillary Clinton is usually referred to without the maiden name, but then there’s Sophie Grégoire Trudeau (I heard she added her husband’s name after her surname for political purposes, which is kind of sad). ---
**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, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/87 "2020-02-02T19:48:03Z")
Broadcaster [Van Earl Wright.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Earl_Wright) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/88 "2020-02-03T10:43:29Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I would also exclude contemporary actors, who are under a restriction of using a professional name that is not shared by any other member of their union. They often use their third names because they have to come up with a way to make their names unique on a particular list of names. Why, though? Regardless of the reasons people like Sarah Michelle Gellar use three names, they’re always known by the three names. When referred to later in an article they will usually default to Gellar, but that goes for every famous person with three names, so it would mean that nobody counted except those with two surnames, who are already excluded under the OP’s rules. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/89 "2020-02-03T12:13:09Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > George Washington Carver Surely just George Washington? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/90 "2020-02-03T12:45:47Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > so it would mean that nobody counted except those with two surnames No, someone like Henry Cabot Lodge would still count. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/91 "2020-02-03T13:09:32Z")
Isambard Kingdom Brunel. And Arthur Conan Doyle is always a three-namer in our house. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/92 "2020-02-03T14:18:44Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > No, someone like Henry Cabot Lodge would still count. Yes, he’d be someone who was using his mother’s maiden name as a middle name rather than a double barreled surname. (I had to look him up). But an awful lot of the examples would be discounted. And why would he count and modern actors wouldn’t? I don’t understand the difference. Just remembered another while looking up Henry Cabot Lodge - John Maynard Keynes. Again, obviously the Wiki article and any articles would refer to Keynes after they’re said his name the first time, but when linked to he would be John Maynard Keynes, not John Keynes. It would be slightly strange to see him referred to as John Keynes. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/93 "2020-02-03T14:38:27Z")
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first commissioner of Major League Baseball ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/94 "2020-02-03T16:33:44Z")
Carol Higgins Clark and Mary Jane Clark both write mystery novels, like their mother and ex-mother-in-law Mary Higgins Clark. Andrew & Julian Lloyd Webber are an odd case. When their father William Webber was in school, there was another “Bill Webber” in his class, so he started using his middle name and became William Lloyd Webber. He liked it so much he gave the same middle name to his two sons, who now use it as a two word last name, as do their children. Andrew’s son original went by Nick Webber, but he is now known as Nicholas Lloyd Webber, ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/95 "2020-02-03T18:00:34Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Carol Higgins Clark and Mary Jane Clark both write mystery novels, like their mother and ex-mother-in-law Mary Higgins Clark. > > Andrew & Julian Lloyd Webber are an odd case. When their father William Webber was in school, there was another “Bill Webber” in his class, so he started using his middle name and became William Lloyd Webber. He liked it so much he gave the same middle name to his two sons, who now use it as a two word last name, as do their children. Andrew’s son original went by Nick Webber, but he is now known as Nicholas Lloyd Webber, The further complication being that Andrew Lloyd Webber took the title Lord (or Baron) Lloyd-Webber when he became a peer. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/96 "2020-02-03T18:49:58Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > Surely just George Washington? But George Washington is not the guy who didn’t invent peanut butter. > [@eburacum45](#): > > And Arthur Conan Doyle is always a three-namer in our house. I first learned his name as A. Conan Doyle, which is the name his books were published under. It was years before I learned what the A stood for. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/97 "2020-02-03T19:08:06Z")
Many infamous assassins and killers. ---
**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 3, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/98 "2020-02-03T19:34:04Z")
Harley Quinn Smith. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/99 "2020-02-03T19:49:51Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > Many infamous assassins and killers. Who were mentioned in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310/100 "2020-02-03T20:22:28Z")
I got one! **John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt** {Bubbadog counts silently too himself - using his fingers} Dammit! Sorry, I just like that name. He’s a friend of mine and everybody shouts at us when we hang out together in public. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-name-people/847310.md?page=6)