I find it interesting that some people are given forenames that exactly match their surnames. A few historically significant examples include:
- Henry Henry (1846-1908), Irish Catholic bishop
- James James (1833-1902), composer of the Welsh national anthem
- Morris Morris (1845-1906), Jamaican-American stage actor
- Morgan Morgan (1688-1766), early West Virginia settler
- Thomas Thomas (1804-1877), Welsh Anglican clergyman
- Thomas Thomas (1917-1998), Indian cardiothoracic surgeon
- Thomas Thomas (1880-1911), boxing champion
(Ford Madox Ford and Horst P. Horst don’t quite count, as they were born Ford Hermann Hueffer and Horst Paul Albert Bohrmann.)
There are also many forename/surname sets out there that come close to matching, such as:
Have you ever met someone whose first name and last name were identical (or nearly so)? Do you like these sorts of names?
Update – I just found out about Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, 1794-1852, who served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior for a few weeks in 1850. This is as close to a double double as I’ve ever seen.
11 Comments
There was a guy at my university named Hussein Hussein. (Unfortunate choice considering world events, I guess.)
There’s also Ivan Ivankov, a Bulgarian gymnast who just competed in his fifth Olympics!
The city of Oakland, California (where I live), used to have a city manager named Robert Bobb. Yep–Bob Bobb.
In my high school there was a girl named McKenzie S who dated C MacKenzie…
Also where I work there is a lady named Wendy Endy and this is her married name.
Not quite the same but along the lines.
I know a female Kelly who married a man named Christopher Kelly, so she “became” Kelly Kelly.
I also know a young boy named George Papageorgio.
two, actually. a professor in grad school named Thom Thomson and a friend from college named John Johnson. I think they were both younger children from big families, but still …. not very creative on the part of the parents.
Cathy, your friend is good example of why women shouldn’t necessarily change their names upon marriage.
LisaS, agreed, but like me, Kelly wanted to share the same surname as her children, and because she was doing the traditional “American-thing” her kids got her husband’s surname. Prior to having children, while she still worked outside of the home, she hyphenated her maiden name with the Kelly married surname. She thinks it’s fun & funny, though (she’s got a great sense of humor), so it doesn’t bother her. Plus, she says she never messes up on forms, putting her surname where her first name belongs or vice versa, haha!
My first name and my surname are nothing alike, but like Kelly Kelly, I kept my maiden name until I had children (7 years after marriage), at which time, I really wanted all of us to have the same surname, so I legally changed mine (without any pressure from my husband at all) to match his.
One of the TV stations in Chicago, IL has a news caster named Robin Robinson.
Thanks, Nancy! I’ve added her to the list.
i have enjoyed the double name my parents gave me fifty years ago….and as a talk show host, it works very well for me every day
lars
I’m glad you like yours, Lars!