# Two actors named Peyton List? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 25, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-actors-named-peyton-list/645113 "2012-12-25T12:28:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [December 25, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-actors-named-peyton-list/645113/1 "2012-12-25T12:28:23Z")
While watching the second Wimpy Kid movie, I was surprised to find out that Greg’s love interest Holly Hills is played by a child actor named Peyton List. The actor who plays Jane Siegel on “Mad Men” is also named Peyton List. Indeed the two have separate Imdb and Wikipedia pages (one born in 1986 and the other in 1998). I thought that the Actors Guild prohibited two active actors from having identical professional names – It’s why Michael Keaton, Michael J. Fox, and Jason Alexander don’t use their birth names professionally. So how come there are two Peyton Lists? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-actors-named-peyton-list/645113/2 "2012-12-25T13:01:58Z")
While this question was perfectly fine in General Questions, I"ve moved it to Cafe Society. **samclem** , moderator ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-actors-named-peyton-list/645113/3 "2012-12-25T14:18:20Z")
If you look at the film credits, it says the younger of the two is listed as Peyton Roi List, so I assume that would satisfy the requirement for distinction between them. I don’t think IMDB usually lists middle names for people, so that’s probably why they have the same name in their search. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-actors-named-peyton-list/645113/4 "2012-12-25T14:28:30Z")
I think the rules are that they have to be registered with SAG or whatever with unique names. But that doesn’t mean that the person doing the credits gets it exactly right as they often contain spelling errors–so the onscreen credits don’t necessarily match what their “union name.” The early roles appear to be mostly uncredited, so she might not have been a member of SAG yet. And even then, sometimes the onscreen credits are not what ends up on IMDB (trust me). So, yeah, it is unusual for two actors with concurrent careers (and somewhat unusual names) to be credited the same, but it happens. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-actors-named-peyton-list/645113/5 "2012-12-25T15:29:20Z")
While it’s true that Michael Keaton (born Michael Douglas) changed his name to avoid confusion with the actor Michael Douglas and the talk show host Mike Douglas and that Michael J. Fox (born Michael Andrew Fox) made Michael J. Fox his stage name to avoid confusion with another actor named Michael Fox, even though his middle name doesn’t start with J, it doesn’t appear that Jason Alexander (born Jay Scott Greenspan) changed his name for that reason. He started using that name when he was in high school. He probably changed his name for a rather old-fashioned reason - the name “Greenspan” sounded too Jewish. Another example, incidentally, is that the actress Elizabeth Banks changed her name from Elizabeth Mitchell (her birth name) to avoid confusion with the actress Elizabeth Mitchell. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-actors-named-peyton-list/645113/6 "2012-12-25T17:09:51Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > I don’t think IMDB usually lists middle names for people, so that’s probably why they have the same name in their search. Imdb uses whatever name the actor is currently using professionally. David Hyde Pierce and Neil Patrick Harris are listed as such (and I believe they use their middle names for the same reason – the SAG already had a David Pierce and a Neil Harris) ---
**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:** [December 25, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-actors-named-peyton-list/645113/7 "2012-12-25T17:11:45Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I think the rules are that they have to be registered with SAG or whatever with unique names. But that doesn’t mean that the person doing the credits gets it exactly right as they often contain spelling errors–so the onscreen credits don’t necessarily match what their “union name.” The early roles appear to be mostly uncredited, so she might not have been a member of SAG yet. And even then, sometimes the onscreen credits are not what ends up on IMDB (trust me). . I suppose there’s always a chance of error, but I believe that the union contracts require the film producer to credit using the “union name.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-actors-named-peyton-list/645113/8 "2012-12-25T17:51:03Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I suppose there’s always a chance of error, but I believe that the union contracts require the film producer to credit using the “union name.” Maybe that’s what’s required, but I’ve seen enough errors to know that’s not reliable. And IMDB is not connected to the unions for the most part. The only thing I can think of off-hand is the WGA-supplied credits. When they submit the list of writers, that’s pretty much the end of the matter. > [@Acsenray](#): > > Imdb uses whatever name the actor is currently using professionally. . . Maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. It uses whatever name has been submitted. It has no connection to their SAG, AFTRA, PGA, or whatever registry. (But see WGA exception above.) ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-actors-named-peyton-list/645113/9 "2012-12-27T22:29:03Z")
Somewhat offtopic, but there are two actresses named January Jones and both are beautiful blondes. The first JJ’s IMDB listing: [January Jones - Credits (text only) - IMDb](http://m.imdb.com/name/nm0428318/filmotype/actress). The second’s: [January Jones - Credits (text only) - IMDb](http://m.imdb.com/name/nm0005064/filmotype/actress). I haven’t found anything indicating they’re related. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-actors-named-peyton-list/645113/10 "2012-12-27T22:40:11Z")
Another reason why IMDb uses unique numeric serial numbers (rather than names) as identifiers for actors and other people in “the bizz.” ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-actors-named-peyton-list/645113/11 "2012-12-27T22:54:52Z")
I’ll just add that the “elder” Peyton List (she’s 26) is really hot. I know her mainly from the short-lived series _FlashForward_, but she’s been in other high-profile things as well. ---
**Author:** ![smokey78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@smokey78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smokey78)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-actors-named-peyton-list/645113/12 "2012-12-29T01:49:40Z")
If you ever go to online-sweepstakes’s board, you’ll see my avatar featuring Ms.List, the older one, I’m posting as gambit78 The younger one is Peyton Roi List by SAG, and the older List came first as she started as a teenager in As the World Turns. She pops up in guest roles here and there, and also as someone mentioned Mad Men. I had once piped up on why neither List has changed their names, like how Emma Stone was Emmy Stone and Julie Roberts became Julia Roberts.