Unusual Middle Names (not a mnemonic, but similar)

Factual Questions
1

Several decades ago, I remember hearing a list of unusual middle names of famous people. It was something like “riddle strange only true”. “Strange” is the middle name of Robert S. McNamara, who was secretary of defense under Kennedy and Johnson. The other three I don’t know; I’m not even sure those are the correct names. Does anyone else remember hearing a list like this a long time ago?

I’ve tried googling, but I’m not finding anything. “middle name riddle” only returns riddles about middle names, or Tom Riddle from the Harry Potter series.

2

Googling exactly this:

Person whose middle name is “Riddle”

… brought up many false hits as you found, but also turned up that Jimmy Hoffa’s full name was James Riddle Hoffa.

3

Maybe not exactly what you’re interested in finding, but I have always thought that the author Mopsy Strange Kennedy had the weirdest yet most easily remembered name I ever heard. (Linking so you know I’m not making this up.)

4

Yes! He was one of them. Thanks.

5

Here are some.

➤ Kate Hudson — Kate Garry Hudson
➤ Richard Gere — Richard Tiffany Gere
➤ Elton John — Elton Hercules John
➤ Billie Eilish — Eilish is actually her middle name: Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell
➤ Adele — Adele Laurie Blue Adkins
➤ Martin Short — Martin Hayter Short
➤ Hilary Duff — Hilary Erhard Duff
➤ Billie Piper — her birth name is Leian Paul Piper
➤ Will Smith — Willard Carroll Smith II

Or maybe it’s Will “get my wife’s name out yo fuc#ing mouth!” Smith

6

Moxie Crimefighter Jillette.

7

His birth name was Reginald Kenneth Dwight.

8

Quincy Jones died earlier this month. His full name was Quincy Delight Jones, Jr.

9

I know.

10

My three favorites:
Louis Comfort Tiffany
Oliver Hazard Perry
Harry S Truman

Ulysses S Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant

11

Let’s not forget the first commissioner of baseball, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. (To be clear, Judge is a title, not his first name.)

12

And then there is Nicolas Kim Coppola. Nicolas Cage.

13

From US history I’ve always been fond of

  • Warren Gamaliel Harding
  • William Tecumseh Sherman
14

James Cash Penney. Better known as J.C.

Fated to think of money.

15

My father’s middle name (and my brother’s) was “Bachelor”.

16

Arthur Purdy Stout was a renowned 20th century surgical pathologist.

Always enjoyed that name.

17

Denton True “Cy” Young

18

Excellent, so I can start a middle name version of Who’s On First?, with a ball player bonus

"Did you know that Robert McNamara’s middle name was “Strange”?
“It was, what was it?”
“Strange.”
“I mean, how strange, was it dirty or something.”
“No, it was Strange.”
“I think you’re just lying to me.”
“It was Strange.”
“True?”
“No, that’s Cy Young’s middle name.”
…

19

According the Jeopardy just now, the full name is Charles Entertainment Cheese.

20

We have three out of four now; I can’t swear it was Cy Young originally, but I’m going to go with it.

As I said, I may have misremembered. It may have been “riddle strange even true”.