First and last names that start with the same letter

Yesterday I read an article about this year’s college football prospects. Three of the top ten have first and last names that start with the same letter: Bryce Brown (#1), Rueben Randle (#2) and Jelani Jenkins (#10).

That seemed like a rather high concentration…so I checked out the entire top 100 for similar names. I found six more: Janzen Jackson (#17), Garrett Gilbert (#18), Shayne Skov (#45), Morgan Moses (#49), Patrick Patterson (#50) and Jarvis Jones (#72).

Nine out of 100…nearly 10%. (Could this be representative of the entire population?) At this point I was curious enough to scan all of the archived rankings:

  • 8 in ’08: Julio Jones, Armond Armstead, Janoris Jenkins, Garrett Goebel, Joshua Jarboe, Brendan Beal, Brice Butler, Brandon Beachum
  • 6 in ’07: Terrance Toliver, Chris Culliver, Tyrod Taylor, Armando Allen, Bryan Bulaga, Gary Gray
  • 6 in ’06: Mitch Mustain, Robert Rose, Tim Tebow, Stephen Schilling, Michael Morgan, Dorin Dickerson
  • 7 in ’05: Ryan Reynolds, Dan Doering, Mohamed Massaquoi, Mario Manningham, Curtis Crouch, Avery Atkins, Terrance Taylor
  • 9 in ’04: Willie Williams, Cameron Colvin, Lance Leggett, Brandon Barrett, Brandon Braxton, Josh Johnson, Brian Brohm, Tony Temple (maybe), Doug Dutch
  • 6 in ’03: Steve Smith, Dennis Dixon, Mike Mason, Donovan Davis, Jason Jack, Craig Chambers
  • 2 in ’02: Julian Jenkins, Doug Datish

So it seems there are more of these names than normal this year. Still, though, I’m curious to know just how many people in the U.S. have first names that start with the same letters as their surnames. (I also wonder whether the Name-Letter Effect has skewed the number upward at all.)

15 thoughts on “First and last names that start with the same letter

  1. I’m someone who has first and last names starting with the same letter, due to my married name beginning with P. I was Patricia B…, but became Patricia P… My younger sister was named Rebecca B… but she went by Becky B… until she married. Since many women take their husband’s surname at marriage, parents naming a girl can’t be sure she always will (if they so intend) or won’t have a first name and surname beginning with the same letter.

    It’s another matter with naming a boy who most likely will never change his surname. One of my nephews has the same beginning letter for all three of his names: Bryson Benjamin B…. I think his parents liked the name Bryson, wanted him to have his father’s name Benjamin as his middle name, and thus ended up with the initials BBB. Their second son’s name doesn’t follow that pattern; his initials are ELB.

  2. It just occurred to me that the father in my example above has first and last names beginning with the same letter too: Ben B… Again, his parents didn’t seek a first name beginning with the same letter as their last name, but just chose the name they liked best – Benjamin/Ben. Their younger son’s name begins with J.

  3. I like the way it sounds! I have a friend who just named her son Jack Jar**s, and I think it sounds like a future news reporter!

  4. My son’s name is Riley Reed. I didnt seek out an “R” first name, but I liked that one. Hhhmmm maybe he will be a football star! Hahaha

  5. i saw this and i just had to say. my intials are all the same. all M`s. i like it but im only 21 so i suppose one day it will change. and i have met someone whos initials were all Ds. he`s actually the person i`m inlove with and at one point i joked around telling him it was a sign. haha. just my input.

  6. I have all three initials the same LLL. I tried to google first middle and surnames starting with same initial and nothing came up. Several sites with first and last or first and middle but nothing with all three letters. If anyone knows where I can find such a site please help by commenting. I noticed a couple of examples in previous comments of same initials. I thought it would be interesting to see how many people have this.

  7. I can think of a few people with triple initials!
    Carla Christina Contreras, actress.
    John James Jackson, British bobsledder.
    Mary Margaret McBride, popular radio host in the 40s (there’s also Mary Margaret McCord, ex Miss Alabama and Mary-Margaret McMahon, Canadian politician).
    Frederic Fenimore Forrest, actor.
    Jessica Jane Julius, artist.
    Rachel Rose Reid, spoken word artist.
    Eric Eugene Everett, ex NFL cornerback.
    Patrick Percival Power, retired Australian bishop who has advocated for change in the Catholic Church.
    Troy Trevor Tulowitzki, Major League Baseball shortstop (he has double-T siblings Tiffany and Tyler Tulowitzki, and son Taz Tulowitzki, but I don’t know about middle initials).

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