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Double Names – Thomas Thomas, Lars Larsen, Gerald FitzGerald
| 10 September 2008 | Filed under Baby Names, Boy Names, Unique Baby Names |
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 count. 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.
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!
A few more doubles:
Boutros Boutros-Ghali – Egyptian diplomat
Yusuf Salman Yusuf – Iraqi communist
Jerome Klapka Jerome – English writer
Faiz Ahmed Faiz – Pakistani poet
William William Van Wyck – U.S. Representative from New York
Leon Leonwood Bean – full name of L.L.Bean
Edwin Abbott Abbott – English schoolmaster and theologian
Galileo Galilei, who often simply went by Galileo
Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov – Russian Olympic boxer
John S. Johnston – American (?) maritime/landscape photographer
Kinda curious about Gaydarbek. Does it sound anything like the word gaydar when said aloud? Hm.
William Williams (1787-1849) – American frontiersman
Just discovered a list of people with reduplicated names over at Wikipedia. The list includes:
Adam Adami
Gordon Gordon
John Johns
Owen Owen
Tohme Tohme
A double in the news: Johanna Johannsdottir, wife of Jon Gnarr, Icelandic comedian who was recently elected mayor of Reykjavik.
Just learned that the governor of New Jersey is named Christopher Christie. Goes by the nickname Chris.
Newspapers are reporting that three Tokelauan boys, adrift in the South Pacific for 50 days and given up for dead, were just found alive. One of the boys was a 15-year-old named Filo Filo.
I also spotted the name Antonis Antoniadis recently.
The chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is named Leonard A. Leo.
Kirk Kerkorian doesn’t count, but…almost.
Wonder what the world record is for an uninterrupted string of comments on a blog post by that post’s author. :)
Essaff Essaff – a name I saw mentioned in an old newspaper (mid-1940s). I confirmed it via the Social Security Death Index.
Jonathan Jonathan – a name I spotted in an article. Here’s more:
Conchobair Ua Conchobair
Gheorghe Gheorghiu
A family of double names:
Arthur MacArthur, Sr. (b. 1815) – Scottish-born lawyer, judge, and politician
Arthur MacArthur, Jr. (b. 1845) – United States Army General
Arthur MacArthur III (b. 1876 ) – United States Navy officer
There was a fourth Arthur as well, but he died young.
Arthur MacArthur, Jr., was also the father of famed five-star general Douglas MacArthur.
A quote from British philologist Ernest Weekley:
Found it on page 11 of Weekley’s Jack and Jill: A Study in our Christian Names (1939).
I once saw a contestant on The Price is Right whose name was Nicole Nicole. I’ve never heard of Nicole as a surname before or since then.
The “first Scottish Jew to enter the medical profession,” Asher Asher.
Another Thomas Thompson. This one is a U.S. politician who typically goes by Tommy.
Speaking of Gerald FitzGerald…just discovered an actress named Geraldine FitzGerald (1913-2005).
I know a Fernando Fernandez and Bob Roberts.
Honestly, it makes me think the parents are too lazy to look for a name.
In Russian, you can have triples together with the father’s name, e.g.,
Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov (which is a bit like John Doe in anglophone countries)
@Elbowin – Good point!
Australian harpsichord builder Alastair McAllister (b. 1942).
Here’s a Mormon Mormon.
Saw Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy last night, and noticed that the Dutch cinematographer’s name is Hoyte van Hoytema.
Just mentioned Welsh poet/preacher William Williams in a post.