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David Bruce: Names Anecdotes

• In the early 1600s, Ana de Osorio, Countess of Chinchon, went to South America with her husband. Quickly, they began suffering from malaria. Because her home remedies didn’t work, the Countess of Chinchon decided to try a local remedy and sent people out looking for a certain species of tree — from whose bark quinine is made. The cure worked. In 1638, the Countess and her husband returned to Spain. Fortunately, the Countess took along some of the bark and used it to cure some cases of malaria in Spain. A century later, Swedish botanist Linnaeus began giving plants scientific names, and he gave the genus name Chinchonato the trees that produce quinine in their bark.

• Johann Sebastian Bach dedicated his Concerts pour Plusieurs Instrumentsto Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg, who apparently thought very little of them, because he did not include them in a catalogue of his works and there is no evidence that he ever had them played. After the Margrave died, the ownership of the works passed from person to person, until eventually they came into the possession of the Royal Library in Berlin. Finally, the works were played in 1850 — 100 years after Bach’s death. They were highly successful, and today they are known as the Brandenburg Concertos.

• In 1713, Giuseppe Tartini had a dream in a monastery where he was staying. In the dream, the Devil offered to buy Tartini’s soul for whatever price he wanted. Tartini made request after request, all of which the Devil granted, then, being a composer, Tartini requested that the Devil provide him with a sonata. The devil played a beautiful sonata on a violin, and Tartini fainted. In the morning, he did his best to recreate the Devil’s sonata, but felt as if he had recreated only part of it. Because of the inspiration he had received, Tartini called the sonata The Devil’s Trill.

• While in Tel Aviv, West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt visited the Mann Auditorium and said that it was a very forgiving gesture on the part of the Jews to name such an impressive building after a German writer. On hearing that the building was not named after Thomas Mann, author of The Magic Mountain, but was instead named in honor of Frederic R. Mann, the Jewish philanthropist from Philadelphia, Mr. Brandt asked, “What did he write?” His host answered, “A check.”

• When the Marx Brothers’ classic A Night at the Operawas finished, humor writer Al Boasberg didn’t get any credit for his gags (which was standard procedure for many humor writers who improved other people’s scripts). Therefore, the Marx Brothers sent Mr. Boasberg an autographed picture of themselves with this inscription: “To our pal, Sorry, but we couldn’t get your name on this picture either.”

• Ray Humphreys was a star reporter for the Denver Post; in addition, he wrote Western stories in which he used the names of other reporters on the newspaper. In one Western story, the name of reporter H. Allen Smith was given to a comic character — an Englishman with a monocle who was totally out of place in the American West.

• The writers of Jackie Gleason’s series featuring him as blowhard Ralph Kramden wanted to call the series “The Beast,” because they felt that Ralph was like an animal. However, Mr. Gleason felt that love was a major element of the show and underlay the arguments between Ralph and his wife Alice, so he insisted that it be called The Honeymooners.

• Alan Brady’s original name on the pilot that became the basis of The Dick Van Dyke Showwas Alan Sturdy, chosen by creator Carl Reiner because it sounded strong. The name was changed because executive producer Sheldon Leonard and actor Morey Amsterdam (who played Buddy Sorrell) both thought the name sounded like “Alan’s Dirty.”

• Hedda Hopper’s real name was Elda Furry. When she married De Wolf Hopper, she was his fifth wife. His previous wife’s names had been Edna, Ella, Ida, and Nella. Because her first name was so similar to theirs, she decided it was no longer suitable: “I changed it to Hedda, because I was afraid he wouldn’t know who I was.”

• Ian Fleming fell in love with Jamaica, and he built a house there, naming it “Goldeneye” after a wartime mission he had led during World War II. Mr. Fleming and his men had crossed the English Channel to occupied France, where they had destroyed any enemy outlook posts they could find.

• The name “Quaker” came from an English judge named Bennet. When George Fox told Mr. Bennet to “tremble at the name of the Lord,” Mr. Bennet called him a Quaker. For a long time, the name was used to mock the Quakers, but they eventually took pride in the name.

• In the 1960s TV series Get Smart, the audience never learns Agent 99’s real name. At her wedding to Maxwell Smart, the audience could have learned it, but when the preacher pronounces her name, a loud snore from Max’s best man, the elderly Admiral, drowns it out.

• Names are sometimes arrived at in strange ways. Drama executive Sydney Newman named a famous British tongue-in-cheek spy series by saying, “Let’s call it The Avengers. I don’t know what it means, but it’s a good title.”

• Humorist Ellen Orleans brought a new cat home. She named it Amanda, but it ignores its name and comes only when you call “Kitty, Kitty.” Therefore, its unofficial name is “Amanda Kitty, Kitty.”

• Sydney Smith believed that anyone who had the last name of Smith should have an unusual first name. He named his own daughter Saba, which was the name of a king in the 72nd psalm.

• People who are intensely devoted to ballet are known as balletomanes; people who are intensely devoted to melodic Italian opera are known as melomanes.

• George Balanchine once joked that all ballets should be named Swan Lake— that way, they would be guaranteed a large and interested audience.

• Anton Dolin was actually an Irish dancer of ballet. His real name was Sydney Francis Patrick Chippendale Healey-Kay.

• An actor in theater had the name Will B. Able.

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David Bruce: Names Anecdotes

• Senator Chauncey Depew once made fun of President William Taft’s obesity by looking at his waistline, and then saying, “I hope, if it is a girl, Mr. Taft will name it for his charming wife.” President Taft overheard him and replied, “If it is a girl, I shall, of course, name it for my lovely helpmate of many years. And if it is a boy, I shall claim the father’s prerogative and name it Junior. But if, as I suspect, it is only a bag of wind, I shall name it Chauncey Depew.”

• As a politician, Jeremy Thorpe, former leader of the British Labour Party, was required to memorize a great many people’s names, especially since so many people come up to a politician and say, “You won’t remember me.” After a woman said this to him, Mr. Thorpe said, “Of course I remember you. You are Miss Bag.” She replied, “No. I am Miss Gas.”

• Figure skater Elvis Stojko is named after Elvis Presley. Although it seems natural for him to skate to Elvis’ music, he resisted doing so for years, waiting until exactly the right moment. In January 1994, after he won his first Canadian national championship, he skated to Elvis’ music at the exhibition. Only three people knew about the program beforehand — it was a surprise even to his Elvis Presley-loving parents.

• Loïe Fuller (1862-1928), an American dancer who took Paris by storm, started a dancing school whose pupils danced for her. The pupils’ real names were kept secret from the general public on the grounds that they were from prominent families which might be embarrassed by the publicity, and on the dance programs they were given pseudonyms such as Buttercup, Chocolate, Peach, Pinky, and Smiles.

• A ballet dancer started dancing under his real name, Patrick Kay, but when he joined the famous Diaghilev Russian Ballet, Mr. Sergei Diaghilev put his two names together to form a new name: Patrikieff. Later, the dancer changed his name to the one that is world famous: Anton Dolin.

• When he was 15 years old, Anton Dolin studied under dance teacher Nicolas Legat, who always called him by the nickname “Piccadilly.” Mr. Dolin didn’t understand the meaning of the nickname until they were traveling on a bus together. When the bus passed Piccadilly Circus, Mr. Legat pointed in its direction, and Mr. Dolin saw that he was pointing at a status of Eros.

• When Ian Fleming was looking for a simple, but solid, name for a British spy character in his novels, he looked over his book collection and found the perfect name in the ornithologist author of Birds of the West Indies: James Bond. Mr. Fleming met Mr. Bond after his books had made the name “James Bond” famous. Fortunately, Mr. Bond regarded it all as great fun.

• Suzanne Farrell was a great admirer of ballerina Diana Adams. Once, Ms. Adams gave her a pin of a mouse with painted whiskers and a long tail. Thereafter, Ms. Farrell pinned the mouse — despite its scratchy tail — inside her bra for good luck at important ballets. In addition, Ms. Farrell named her diary, to which she confided her inmost thoughts, “Diana.”

• In Jones County in West Texas is a mountain called Phantom Hill that General Robert E. Lee supposedly named. General Lee wanted to ride to the mountain, which he supposed was a hill only a few miles away, but after riding toward it for several hours and apparently being no closer to it than when he started, he gave it its name.

• H. Allen Smith once wrote a book titled People Named Smith. This was a financial move on his part, as he knew that if only five percent of the Smiths in the United States bought the book, he would be able to retire rich. Unfortunately, he discovered that “almost everyone named Smith is either (1) stingy, or (2) illiterate, or (3) both.”

• Wonderful nicknames have been used to refer to young ballet students. In Paris, the children who studied ballet at the Paris Opera were known as “les petits rats” — the short rats. In America, young female ballet students are often known as “bun heads” because of the way they wear their hair.

• Captain John Smith was an explorer of note, and an island he discovered near Cape Charles was named “Smith Island” after him. However, Captain Smith wasn’t happy with the island chosen to honor him, and he complained, “Why, I could spit across it.”

• In Rudolf Nureyev’s production of La Bayadereis a dance named “Adagio with Gauze for Solor and Nikiya” in which the characters Solor and Nikiya dance while holding the opposite ends of a long white scarf. Some ballet fans have re-named this dance the “Toilet-Paper Variation.”

• Neither Bud Abbott nor Lou Costello could remember names very well. Mr. Abbott called almost everyone “Neighbor,” and Mr. Costello called almost everyone “Tootsie.” One of their writers, Leonard Stern, introduced his wife to Mr. Costello as Mrs. Tootsie.

• Harry Hershfield made it a practice to always stand on the news photographer’s left for group photographs — that way, his name appeared first in the newspaper caption.

• In the ballet Giselle, two Wilis (vampires) are given prominent roles. They are named Moyna and Zulma, but American ballet companies often give them nicknames, such as Laverne and Shirley.

• Johann Sebastian Bach composed the famous “B-Minor Mass.” Its name comes from its opening, which is in B minor, although most of the Mass is in D major.

• ZaSu Pitts was a famous film comedienne of the 1920s and 1930s. Her first name was formed from the last two letters of the name of her aunt Elizaand first two letters of the name of her aunt Susan.

• Woody Allen says he decided to name a movie of his Bananas“because there are no bananas in it.”

• Fred Astaire had a pet cockatiel that he named Gregory — after a famous movie star — because it Pecked.

• An interestingly named opera singer is Siegfried Jerusalem.

• A high-scoring professional basketball player had the name World B. Free.

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David Bruce: Names Anecdotes

• Senator Warren Magnuson, a Democrat from Washington, has the nickname “Maggie.” At a dinner with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he was referred to as Maggie constantly. Winston Churchill asked Senator Magnuson about the nickname, then told him, “Young man, if I were you, I wouldn’t resent it. I really think the reason that I’m Prime Minister of England is I’m known as Winnie in every pub in the country.” After speaking with Sir Winston, Senator Magnuson never worried about his nickname.

• Jane Withers was a child actress who became famous because in the movie Bright Eyes, the character she played was mean to America’s darling, Shirley Temple. Even before Jane was born, her mother wanted for her to be a star. She decided to name her daughter “Jane” because “Withers” was a long name for a movie marquee, so a short first name was needed so the entire name would fit on the marquee.

• Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguesewere poems intended to be read only by her husband, Robert Browning, but because of their high quality, he insisted that they be published. The sonnets were not translated from Portuguese. Instead, the poems received this particular title because Mr. Browning called his wife, who had a dark complexion, “my little Portuguese.”

• Count Kayserling suffered from insomnia, and so he asked Johann Gottlieb Goldberg to provide music that he could listen to as he fell asleep. Because Goldberg was a pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach, he asked him to compose some special music for this purpose. To help his pupil, Bach composed an aria with 30 variations — today it is known as the Goldberg Variations.

• When Rudolf Bing became general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, his appointment was kept secret for a while. When he went to a photographer to have his portrait taken to accompany the press release that would announce his appointment, he used an assumed name. When the assumed name was called, he failed to stand up — because he had forgotten the name.

• Richard Brinsley Sheridan was once asked, “How is it that your name has not an ‘O’ prefixed to it? Your family is Irish, and no doubt illustrious.” Mr. Sheridan, who was chronically in debt, replied, “No family has a better right to an ‘O’ than our family, for in truth we owe everybody.”

• When Benjamin Disraeli grew old, he had trouble remembering names. Whenever he met someone whose name he had forgotten, he would give himself two minutes to try to remember the name. If he couldn’t remember the name, he would simply ask, “And how is the old complaint?”

• Hovis brown bread is famous in the United Kingdom. In 1890, it was named in a contest. “Hovis” is a shortened form of the Latin Hominis Vis, meaning “strength of man.” During the 1950s, TV commercials made the slogan, “Don’t Say Brown, Say Hovis,” so well known that children with the last name of Brown were nicknamed Hovis.

• According to ballet lingo, a particularly demanding dance is called a “puff,” because the dancer will huff and puff after dancing it. Of course, no matter how strenuous the role, the dancer must wait until after exiting to huff and puff.

• Eve Arden was born Eunice Quedens. She got her stage name by combining the name of the first woman in the Bible, which she was reading when she decided she needed a stage name, with the last name of famous cosmetics queen Elizabeth Arden.

• Actress Swoosie Kurtz was named after an airplane. Her father was a famous pilot in the Air Force, and he had flown a B-17 named “The Swoose” in World War II. When she was born, the press wrote such things as “The other Swoose has landed.”

• Bryon, nicknamed “Brynie,” was the eldest of the Seven Little Foys, whose real last name was Fitzgerald, When he met John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the President told him, “You know, Brynie, all we Fitzgeralds are related.” Bryon asked, “What about Ella?”

• Count Basie got his name early in his career, when he was often late for rehearsals. Frequently, the bandleader Bennie Moten would look around, see that Mr. Basie was not present, then shout, “Where is that no-’count Basie?”

• The brother of American dance pioneer Ruth St. Denis was never properly named by their parents. He signed himself “B. St. Denis” and was called either “Brother” or “Buzz.”

• Lillian Evanti (1890-1967) had an Italian-sounding name. Actually, she was an African-American diva who created the name by combining her real last name, Evans, with the last name of her husband, Roy Tibbs.

• Comedian Judy Holliday starred in such classic comedies as Born Yesterdayand The Solid Gold Cadillac. Her real name was Judith Tuvim — “tuvim” is Hebrew for holiday.

• When Shirley Shrift changed her name to Shelley Winters, a friend named Josh Shelley told her, “Well, that does it. We can’t get married. That would make you Shelley Shelley.”

• A dance writer once flattered Maria Tallchief by writing, “There’s only oneTallchief.” Other, more clever people reminded the writer that Ms. Tallchief’s sister, Marjorie, was a ballerina, too.

• Suzanne Farrell, a ballerina with the New York City Ballet, had three cats. They were named Top, Middle, and Bottom. (Her first cat was named Bottom because it had black patches on its bottom.)

• Actor Jack Gilford had trouble with reporters misspelling his name as “Guilford.” He once wrote a letter of complaint to columnist Earl Wilson and began the letter, “Dear Mr. Wuilson.”

• Journalist H. Allen Smith once attended and wrote a story about a convention of people named Fred Smith. The byline of his story was “By H. Allen (Call Me Fred) Smith.”

• Vicki Crooks’ four-year-old son asked her about God’s name, so she explained that God has many names, and he answers to all of them: Father, Jehovah, Lord, etc. Her son asked, “Can I just call him Steve?”

• Léonide Massine once choreographed a dance with the title “Ya s komarisom pliasala,” which means “I danced with a mosquito.”

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David Bruce: Music Anecdotes

• William R. Brody, President of the Johns Hopkins University, tells a story about two students attending Columbia University. One student was Sandy Greenberg, who discovered that he was suffering from glaucoma. The eye disease had not been discovered in time, and he became blind. Fortunately, the other student, with whom he roomed, read his textbooks to him each night, and Mr. Greenberg got his degree with honors and even earned a Fulbright Scholarship. Of course, he stayed in contact with his former roommate, who had also graduated and who also went on to do graduate work. It turned out that his former roommate was unhappy in graduate school, instead wanting to sing with a high school friend who was also interested in music, but they needed $500 to pay for a demo record. Mr. Greenberg was not rich, but he did have $500, and he sent it to his former roommate. (Mr. Greenberg said to Mr. Brody, “He made my life; I needed to help make his life.”) By the way, the roommate was Art Garfunkel, Art’s friend was Paul Simon, and the demo record resulted in Simon and Garfunkel’s first hit: “The Sound of Silence.” (Also by the way, Mr. Garfunkel sang at the wedding of Sandy’s daughter.) Here’s another Sandy Greenberg/Art Garfunkel story; this one is told by Jerry Speyer: After Sandy became blind, Art asked Sandy to accompany him on the subway to downtown as he ran an errand. Sandy agreed, but downtown, far from the campus, Art said to him, “All right then, Sandy, I’ll see you back at the dorms.” Then he left Sandy, who had not been on the subway alonesince he had become blind. Well, Sandy thought that Art had left him. Actually, Art stayed with him, but Sandy did not know that because he could not see. Sandy made his way back to the campus, and Art tapped his shoulder and told him, “I knew you could do it. I wanted to be sure YOU knew you could do it.” Mr. Speyer says, “I’ll leave out Sandy’s exact words to Art in that moment, but suffice it to say, they laughed about it later.”

• Both punk and riot grrrl (riot grrrl = punk + feminism) music believe in Do-It-Yourself (DIY) when it comes to creating music and other art. In 1994, a drunk and enthusiastic 16-year-old girl named Lauren Goften approached Rachel Holborow, who worked for the English record label Slampt. Lauren told Rachel about her band Kenickie, which she said she had formed with some schoolmates. Rachel was so intrigued by what she heard that she asked for a demo tape. Actually, the band existed only in Lauren’s head. Also, Lauren and her schoolmate Marie du Santiago did not know how to play musical instruments. No problem. They learned how to play two chords and started writing songs and recorded their first tape: Uglification. They then learned to play a third chord and started playing in public. Lauren, whose band name was Lauren Laverne, remembers that she forgot how to play her guitar solo while on stage, so she sang it instead. Basically, the band learned how to play on stage and they learned how to write songs by writing them. So what happened? Alan McGee, head of Creation Records, took a plane to see them. He liked what he heard and offered to sign them to a record deal. They turned him down. Kenickie was active from 1994 to 1998, recorded for Fierce Panda and EMI, and when they broke up, lots of female fans mourning the breakup sent letters for months to the music magazines NME(New Musical Express) and Melody Maker.

• In some parts of the world, girls are not prized as highly as boys. For example, in India, girls are sometimes unwanted because providing dowries and paying for weddings for them is very expensive. Boys, on the other hand, are valued because when they get married, they receive a dowry and bring money into the family. In India, many girls have been given the names“Nakusa” or “Nakushi.” In Hindi, these names mean “Unwanted.” In October 2011, hundreds of girls in central India attended a renaming ceremony in which they shed their unwanted names and instead chose new names for themselves. Their new, self-chosen names include “Aishwarya” after a Bollywood star, “Savitri” after a Hindi goddess, and “Vaishali,” which in Hindi means “prosperous, beautiful, and good.” A 15-year-old girl who had shed her old name of “Nakusa” for her new name of “Ashmita,” which in Hindi means “very tough,” said, “Now in school, my classmates and friends will be calling me this new name, and that makes me very happy.”

• So where did the title of John Lee Hooker’s song “Boom Boom” come from? He got the title from a bartender named Luilla at the Apex Bar in Detroit. Mr. Hooker was playing with a band, and he always arrived late. Whenever that happened, and it always happened, Luilla pointed at him and said, “Boom boom, you’re late again.” Mr. Hooker recognized a good song title when he heard it, so he created a song, and it was a hit first for him and later for the Animals. What about Luilla? Mr. Hooker says, “She went around telling everyone ‘I got John Lee to write that song.’ I gave her some bread for it, too, so she was pretty happy.”

• Sometimes, male audience members would yell “Show us your tits!” at the all-female San Francisco band Frightwig. They always yelled back, “Show us your dicks!” Soon, they began inviting a male audience member to come on stage and strip and dance as they played the song “A Man’s Gotta Do What a Man’s Gotta Do.” Once, four young fans asked if they could dance on stage to the song. They danced in their underwear and then turned around and mooned the audience. Frightwig member Deanna Ashley remembers that they had FRIGHTWIG written on their butt cheeks. She says, “It was so cute.”

• “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” — William Shakespeare

• “A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.” — Leopold Stokowski

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David Bruce: Names Anecdotes

• While writing her children’s book, The 18th Emergency, Betsy Byars wanted a good, original name for the bully — she felt that she had used the name “Bubba” too often for the bullies in her books, although she had known a real bully named Bubba when she was a child. She thought hard and came up with the name “Marv Hammerman,” which she liked because of its hardness. Because she thought the name was original — after all, she had just thought it up — she wrote in the book, “There had been only one Hammerman, just as there had been only one Hitler.” One day, she received a telephone call, and the caller told her that he was Marv Hammerman. At first, she thought that the caller was joking, but he was really named that. What’s more, he was a teacher who had read her book to his class, and his young students were delighted to hear that there were twoterrible Marv Hammermans.

• Stan Freberg’s ancestry is Swedish, but despite not being named Johnson, he comes by his name honestly. When his grandfather, Paul Johnson, came to America, the immigration official told him, “What? Not another Johnson? Do you know how many thousands of Swedes I’ve logged in here with the name of Johnson? Forget it! What don’t you change it to something else?” Mr. Johnson thought about what name he wanted the immigration official to put down in writing, and because his mother’s name had been Elna Friberg, he spelled her last name for the official, who pronounced it Fry-berg. Mr. Johnson explained that in Swedish the iwas pronounced e, as in Free-burg. The official said, “OK, Freberg,” wrote down the name, and the newly named Paul Freberg began life in his new country.

• Eleanora Fagan was born on April 7, 1915, in Baltimore, Maryland. Later, her mother, Sadie Fagan, married her father, Clarence Holiday, and Eleanora Fagan became Eleanora Holiday. As a youngster, she admired film star Billie Dove, and so she began calling herself Billie Holiday. As a young woman, she started singing and waiting tables at clubs where the other women would pick up their tips with their thighs. Billie declined to do that, and the other women taunted, “Look at her — she thinks she’s a lady.” Billie then became known as “Lady.” After Billie become a well-known jazz singer, saxophonist Lester Young shortened her last name, using only its last syllable, and so Eleanora Fagan, aka Billie Holiday, became known as “Lady Day.”

• Children’s book author Tomie dePaola has an oddly spelled first name. At first, it was spelled the normal way, but little Tommy was a talented child who was sure to grow up to be famous, so a famous cousin of his mother — Irish tenor Morton Downey — gave him the new, unusual spelling. According to Mr. Downey, “He’s got to have an unusual spelling for his first name so people will remember it.” Everyone respected the new spelling for his name, except for his teachers at school, who made him spell it “Tommy,” because that was the “correct” spelling.

• Very early in her career, American painter Mary Cassatt wanted to get one of her paintings in the prestigious Salon exhibition in Paris. She felt that the judges selecting which paintings would be hung in the exhibition favored foreign artists, so she submitted a painting that was signed only with her first and middle names — “Mary Stevenson” — because she knew that her middle name sounded more foreign than “Cassatt.” The idea worked. Her painting was selected to be hung in the exhibition.

• Stanley Kirk Burrell is better known as rapper M.C. Hammer. “M.C.” is a slang way of saying “Rapper,” and “Hammer” is a nickname he was given when he became the Oakland Athletics batboy after Charley Finley, the owner of the Athletics, saw young Stanley singing and dancing in the Athletics parking lot. Stanley resembled home run hitter Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, and so he was called Little Hammer.

• When Luciano Pavarotti decided to make a movie, he met with the movie’s producer to discuss the name his character should have. The meeting was held in Giorgio Fini’s restaurant, and the food that day was cooked especially well — so well, in fact, that Mr. Pavarotti decided to name his character — with Mr. Fini’s permission — Giorgio Fini. The movie was titled Yes, Giorgio.

• Jazz singer Anita O’Day was named Anita Belle Colton when she was born. She took the name O’Day because in pig Latin it means “dough,” and she hoped to make a lot of dough as a professional walkathon contestant. (During the Depression, people tried to make money winning marathon walks, where they walked for days in front of an audience with only occasional 15-minute breaks.)

• Babe Ruth was terrible at remembering names, and he was sometimes terrible at remembering faces. Miles Thomas had been a Yankees pitcher for three or four years, but one day someone decided to have some fun and introduced Mr. Thomas to Babe as a new Yankee pitcher. Babe told Mr. Thomas, “Nice to see you, kid. Welcome to the Yankees.”

• Many people wonder where actor/writer Quentin Tarantino got the name for his hit movie Reservoir Dogs. It comes from the days he spent as a video store clerk when people often asked for Louis Malle’s Au Revoir les Enfants. Mr. Tarantino had difficulty pronouncing the title, so he ended up calling it Reservoir Dogs.

• When Nat Cole was a young entertainer, he needed work. To get one job, he was forced to wear a gold paper crown and call himself “King” Cole. As soon as he could, he got rid of the crown, but forever after, he was known as Nat King Cole.

• Michelle Kwan’s father, Danny, is a fan of music by the Beatles. In fact, he liked the Beatles’ song “Michelle” so much that he named his second daughter after it.

• Dorothy Parker once owned a black French poodle she named Cliché because at the time black French poodles were very popular in her neighborhood.

• One of the people participating in the CB radio fad of the 1970s was First Lady Betty Ford. She used the CB handle “First Mama.”

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David Bruce: Names Anecdotes

• When she was a child, Joanna Kathleen Rowling, aka Jo, became friends with two kids in her neighborhood: a brother and sister named Ian and Vicki Potter. Ian liked hijinks and dares. He once dared Vicki and Jo to run through some wet cement—they did. Of course, Ian and Vicki’s last name became the last name of J.K. Rowling’s most famous literary creation: Harry Potter. As an adult, Ian read the Harry Potter books out loud to his children. He remembers how he, Jo, and Vicki would play dress-up when they were kids: “And nine out of ten times, it would be Joanne who had the idea, and she’d always say, ‘Can’t we be witches and wizards?’” J.K. Rowling’s own last name has led to her having lots of nicknames: Jo Rolling Pins and Miss Rolling Stone. When she taught English as a second language in Portugal, her students sometimes sang the theme song from the TV series Rawhideto her: “Rolling, rolling, rolling … keep those wagons rolling!”

• When pitcher Greg Maddux broke into the major leagues with the Chicago Cubs, he received the nickname “Batboy” because of his youth. In 1987, he acquired a new nickname. In the 8^th inning of a tie game with the San Diego Padres, Mr. Maddux was put on base as a pinch runner. Shawon Dunston hit to left with Mr. Maddux on second base with two out. Mr. Maddux rounded third and headed for home, where it looked like he would be thrown out. Benito Santiago, catcher for the Padres, bobbled the ball, and Mr. Maddux slammed into him for the run. The Chicago Cubs won the game that day, and Mr. Maddux’ teammates started calling him “Mad Dog.” (And the press started calling him the “Baby-faced Assassin.”)

• Before becoming a famous comedian, Sid Caesar was a jazz saxophonist. He played with Gene Krupa’s band, along with pianist Teddy Napoleon and Teddy’s sister, Josephine, who was the vocalist. One day, Sid, Teddy, and Josephine were driving to a gig, and a police officer stopped them. Teddy was driving, so the police officer looked at his driver’s license. He was amused by Teddy’s last name, Napoleon, and Sid laughed and said that his name was Caesar. The police officer looked at the only woman in the car and said, “And I suppose you’re Josephine.” Teddy’s sister replied, “Yes, how did you know?”

• Mary Effie Lee was serious about her writing. In fact, at age 11 she wrote a “novel” that was all of three chapters and four pages long. Actually, she is better known as Effie Lee Newsome, the name under she published collections of poetry for children such as Gladiola Garden: Poems of Outdoors and Indoors for Second Grade Readers. When she married the Reverend Henry Nesby Newsome, she took his last name and dropped her first name. Why? She explained, “Because four names in a row would be like the long row of houses on our street in Philadelphia.”

• Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish make up the Chicago rap duo known as the Cool Kids. Actually, “Mikey Rocks” is a pseudonym. His real name is Antoine Reed, but he chose his stage name because of his youthful hero-worship of NBA star Michael Jordan. When Mr. Reed had to choose a stage name, he regarded it as an opportunity: “As a little kid, I would try to change my name to Mike, like write it on papers and I would tell my mom to call me that but she wouldn’t do it, so I just saw this as my opportunity to have the best name that I could possibly have.”

• Teenage mega-pop star Miley Cyrus was named Destiny Hope Cyrus at birth, but her always smiley face led to her being nicknamed first Smiley and then Miley. After becoming a huge star in Disney’s Hannah Montana TV series, she had her name legally changed to Miley. Her father is country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, best known for “Achy Breaky Heart,” and Miley has always been around music. Her first memory is of an all-star concert where superstars such as Aretha Franklin made a fuss over her.

• Chicago-born artist Judy Cohen ended up choosing to use a different name: Judy Chicago. She worked in California, and because she had a heavy Chicago accent, lots of her fellow artists called her Judy Chicago. In addition, lots of artists in Los Angeles used underground names in the telephone book listings, so Judy used “Judy Chicago.” Her name does have a major advantage. When she returns to Chicago and tells people her name, they exclaim, “What a great name!”

• Robert Towne wrote the screenplays for such classic movies as Chinatown and The Last Detail. His paternal grandfather had worked as a tanner in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but left because of the cold winters and came to California. In San Pedro, he opened a women’s clothing store that was named the Towne Smart Shop, and when people started calling him Mr. Towne, he began to use “Towne” as his surname and passed the name down to his descendants.

• Like other actors, Archibald Leach took a new name. He had played the role of a character named Cary Lockwood, so he took the name “Cary.” He needed something shorter than “Lockwood” so it would easily fit on a movie marquee, so his movie studio produced its list of short, Anglo-Saxon names that it kept on hand for actors with Archie’s problem, and Mr. Leach read down the list, decided that he liked the name “Grant,” and so he became Cary Grant.

• When Elizabeth Taylor was 14 years old, she became a sensation by starring in the movie National Velvet. When renowned portraitist Yousuf Karsh arrived to photograph her, she was playing with one of her newest pets: a cat. Mr. Karsh named the cat Michael. The next day, both young Elizabeth and Mr. Karsh was on the MGM studio lot, and Elizabeth had her cat with her. She called out to Mr. Karsh, “Look who I have with me: Michael Karsh Taylor.”

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David Bruce: Names Anecdotes

Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt began performing at age five. She turned up missing as her family was eating at a dining club, so her mother went looking for her. She found the five-year-old Love on a baby grand piano, singing to the diners “Help Me Make It Through the Night.” Of course, Love is an unusual name. She is named after a beautiful woman—her mother’s best friend in college. Love says that her mother’s best friend is actually very little like her. The best friend was 5-feet-11, with very long blonde hair and an hourglass figure. In contrast, Love is around 5-feet-3, with brown hair and, she says, “half an hourglass figure.” With a name like Love, she should be a natural in the romance department, right? Not quite. Everyone has to learn the romance stuff as they go along in life. Her first on-screen kiss occurred when she was 14 years old—and had not had a real kiss yet. Her first attempt at an onscreen kiss resulted in the director ordering her and her kissing co-star to practice for a while before they attempted a second kiss for the cameras.

Ira Dutton, aka Brother Joseph, worked among the lepers with Father Damien at Molokai, and he continued his work after Father Damien died. One thing that Brother Joseph requested from President Theodore Roosevelt was that he order a United States battle fleet to sail by Molokai during its around-the-world journey. Brother Joseph felt that the lepers would enjoy the sight of the ships. President Roosevelt sent the battle fleet to Molokai, and as each ship passed Molokai, it dipped its flag in salute. Brother Joseph was not a member of a religious order, and he once declined to become a priest because, he explained, “I am not fit.” However, he spent decades working among the lepers, and he once explained why he called himself Brother Joseph although he was a layman: “That is because I want to be a brother to everybody.”

Balanchine ballerina Allegra Kent was named Iris Margo Cohen when she was born, but anti-Semitism led to the change of her last name. Her mother simply got tired of being turned away by anti-Semitic landlords, and so when Allegra was two years old (she was born in 1937), her mother substituted “Kent” for “Cohen.” Her name change from “Iris” to “Allegra” came about because of her sister, who changed her name frequently after becoming sixteen years old. At one point she became Wendy Drew—“Wendy” came from Peter Pan, and “Drew” came from the Nancy Drew mysteries. Before she became Wendy, she made a list of names to choose from. On that list was “Allegra,” among other names. Iris liked the name “Allegra” so much that she became Allegra Kent.

Jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker was known by the nicknames “Yardbird” and “Bird.” One story about how he got the name was that he enjoyed eating chicken, a bird that ran loose in many yards and was therefore called a yardbird. Mr. Parker would look at a menu, see chicken listed, then say, “Give me some of that yardbird.” Another story is that the car that he and some other musicians were riding to a gig hit and killed a chicken. Mr. Parker picked up the chicken and kept it, and once they had reached their destination he cooked and ate it. The other musicians teased him about this and called him “Yardbird,” which was later often shortened to “Bird.”

Albert Evans took over many of the roles danced by fellow African-American dancer Arthur Mitchell at the New York City Ballet, and many people were reminded of Mr. Mitchell when Mr. Evans danced. In fact, when Jerome Robbins was working with Mr. Evans on Goldberg Variations, he kept calling Mr. Evans “Arthur.” When Mr. Evans told him, “My name is actually Albert,” Mr. Robbins said, “OK,” then immediately slipped and said, “Arthur, can you move over here?” Mr. Robbins never did break the habit of calling Mr. Evans “Arthur” because, he explained, “You move just like Arthur.” This, of course, is quite a compliment.

Early in his career, Marvel comic-book maven Stan Lee wrote many, many comic-book stories, and he used a number of pseudonyms: Stan Martin, S.T. Anley, Stan Leen, and Neel Nats (Stan Leen spelled backwards). By the way, Mr. Lee’s real name is Stanley Martin Lieber. Because he wanted to get out of comic books later so he could write the Great American Novel, he decided to break his first name in two for his comic-book writing byline and save his real name for the serious writing he would do later. Fortunately for comic-book fans, Mr. Lee’s serious writing turned out to be his comic-book writing.

The protagonist of Paula Danziger’s book The Pistachio Prescription is named Cassie, whose problems include an addiction to pistachio nuts. Years after writing the book, Ms. Danziger met a woman who wanted her to autograph a copy of the book for the woman’s daughter, who was named Cassie. At first, Ms. Danziger thought the name was a coincidence, but the woman told her that she had named her daughter after the book’s protagonist. Ms. Danziger says, “It means a lot to me, especially since the book was so hard to write, that so many people love and identify with it.”

Late in life, blues musician Howlin’ Wolf is said to have not liked his name; however, it was preferable to other names he had acquired earlier. Born Chester Arthur Burnett, Howlin’ Wolf wore size-16 shoes. That led to him being called first “Foots” and later “Big Foot Chester.” Another blues musician named John T. Smith, who in 1930 had recorded a song called “The Howling Wolf” and had thereafter taken that name, was no longer famous when Big Foot was looking for a new name, so Mr. Burnett borrowed the name and kept it for himself.

When she was a child, Merrill Ashley took the study of ballet seriously and wore her hair in a bun even at school. Her school newspaper once made a list of notable personalities among the students, including Miss Popularity, Miss Congeniality, and Miss Hospitality. Young Merrill was Miss Bun.

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David Bruce: Names Anecdotes

When illustrator Erik Blegvad was growing up, his mother always encouraged him. Mr. Blegvad writes that their home always had lots of art books, and his mother gave his artistic endeavors “only lavish praise and encouragement.” In July of 1947, following World War II, a more grown-up Mr. Blegvad went to Paris, France, to find work as an illustrator. He took with him a bicycle, many drawings, and 10 pounds of butter that his mother said was “as good as gold” because of food shortages. However, Mr. Blegvad arrived when Paris was full of partiers celebrating Bastille Day, and he partied along with him. When the days-long party with much dancing in the streets was over, his pockets were empty and his butter had melted. Fortunately, he found work quickly. (By the way, he and N.M. (Niels Mogens) Bodecker, his friend and fellow Danish illustrator, lived for a while in Westport, Connecticut, where in their studio they kept a large bulletin board on which they put a collection of letters and other documents bearing their names—which had been variously misspelled.)

Even when she was a young girl, Johanna Hurwitz wanted to be a writer. One of her favorite books was Johanna Spyri’s Heidi. She used to cover part of the cover of the book so that “Johanna” was visible and “Spyri” was hidden. That way, she could see her first name on the cover of a book, and she could dream about what it would be like to see both of her names on the cover of a book. Of course, Ms. Hurwitz’s dream did come true and she did get to see both of her names on the covers of some books because she became the writer of such children’s books as Aldo Applesauce and Russell Sprouts.

Many actors and actresses in pornographic movies do not use their own names. For example: In the theater, many actors have taken the name “George Spelvin” when they have not wanted to perform using their own name. The name taken by the lead actress of the XXX adult film The Devil in Miss Jones is an inside joke: Georgina Spelvin. Another example: One of the star actresses in the XXX adult film The Opening of Misty Beethoven is named “Constance Money.” She received the name because she was constantly asking for money.

At birth, ballerina Maria Tallchief’s name was Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief. She changed “Tall Chief” to “Tallchief” because she wanted to avoid problems in alphabetization at school—other students wondered whether her last name was “Chief” or “Tall Chief.” Her parents called her “Betty Marie,” but when famed choreographer Agnes de Mille suggested that the world of ballet already had lots of Bettys and Elizabeths, Ms. Tallchief began to use the name “Maria” instead.

In 1953, macho actors Burt Lancaster and Frank Sinatra worked together on the film From Here to Eternity. Mr. Sinatra spent a lot of nights getting drunk, and Mr. Lancaster spent a lot of nights taking Mr. Sinatra home, undressing him, and putting him in bed. Because of this, Mr. Sinatra started addressing Mr. Lancaster by a special nickname: Mom. Later, Mr. Lancaster said, “He’ll find me on my birthday no matter where I am, and say, ‘Happy birthday, Mom.”

Edward Villella and other dancers called ballerina Melissa Hayden “Old Ironsides” as an affectionate mark of respect for her hard work and determination. One of the things she did to get energy for dancing was to inject herself with vitamin B12. One day, thinking Mr. Villella needed some extra energy, she told him, “Honey, take down your pants.” He obeyed her—and was rewarded with a needle in his butt.

When children’s author Jane Yolen and her family moved to a farm in western Massachusetts, she wanted to name it Fe-Fi-Fo-Farm, but her husband vetoed the idea, and they called it Phoenix Farm instead. However, their children had a wonderful idea: They wanted her to write about a giants’ farm. She did, and Tomie de Paola illustrated the book—which was titled, of course, The Giants’ Farm.

In 1926, P.L. Travers, the creator of Mary Poppins, visited one of her writing heroes, the poet William Butler Yeats, in Dublin. But before visiting him, she first visited the lake called Lough Gill, where a boatman took her to what Yeats called in a poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree.” Unfortunately, the boatman was not a romantic, and he called the isle what other, not-poetic people called it: Rat Island.

Many jazz musicians have wonderful nicknames. For example, Joe “Wingy” Mannone got his nickname after he lost his right arm in a streetcar accident. He learned to play the trumpet with his left arm only, and in 1948, he published his autobiography: Trumpet on the Wing.

Some children ask funny questions. Children’s book author Ann M. Martin, creator of the Babysitters Club series of books, was at a book signing when a young girl asked her, “Do you know what the ‘M.’ in your name stands for?” (By the way, it stands for Matthews.)

When he was a youth (and later), choreographer George Balanchine had a habitual sniff or facial tic that made him bare his front teeth. Other dance students noticed this, and they gave him a nickname: Rat.

At Birdland, emcee Pee Wee Marquette showed a lot of originality in introducing the musicians. For example, Mr. Marquette introduced one-of-a-kind jazz musician Thelonious Monk as “The Onliest Monk.”

When Grace Slick and Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and Starship fame had a baby girl, Ms. Slick said, “We’re naming her ‘god’ with a small g. We want her to be humble.”

All of the children of Bill and Camille Cosby have names that begin with E: Erika, Erinn, Ennis, Ensa, and Evin. Why? According to Mr. Cosby, because E stands for Excellence.

Pop artist Andy Warhol was a cat person. He and his mother kept a couple of dozen cats in the apartment they shared together. All of the cats were named Sam.

Sportswriter Franz Lidz, in collaboration with his wife, Maggie, named their daughters “Gogo” and “Daisy Daisy.”

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David Bruce: Names Anecdotes

Carl Linnaeus became the father of classification by virtue of creating a new way of naming plants and animals using a binomial system of nomenclature, with the first name identifying the plant or animal as belonging to a specific group and the second name giving a specific characteristic of the plant or animal. Both names are in Latin, the language of science in Dr. Linnaeus’ day. For example, white clover is Trifolium repensand red clover is Trifolium incarnatum. Trifoliummeans three leaves, and clover has three leaves. Repensmeans creeping, and white clover has stems that are close to the ground. Incarnatummeans red, and red clover is of course red. One day, while Dr. Linnaeus was looking for plants, something bit him on his arm, which swelled up. To get the poison out of the arm, a surgeon cut the arm open from the armpit to the elbow. Dr. Linnaeus thought that a small worm had bitten him (he was probably wrong), and he named the wormFuria infernalis, which means a Fury from Hell.

The name “Ramones” comes from a pseudonym that Paul McCarthy used while traveling: Paul Ramone. Of course, there’s more to the name than that. Founding member Tommy Ramone points out, “It sounded tough. Like the streets of the city. Yet it also sounded ridiculous, like a joke. It was like something absurd yet dangerous. It really struck you.” Tommy was instrumental in creating the Ramones’ uniform—blue jeans, tennis shoes, T-shirts, leather jackets—and he insisted that each band member change his name to Ramone. By the way, Tommy was born Tamas Erdelyi in Hungary. He once watched a movie in Hungary about the “decadent west.” It featured a soundtrack with “animalistic” music from America, and Tomas fell in love with rock ’n’ roll.

When the Replacements performed at their first concert, they were supposed to be known as the Impediments. However, their first concert was in the basement of a Presbyterian church, and the promoter thought that the name the Impediments was not very Presbyterian and that it sounded anti-people with handicaps. Forced to pick a replacement name very quickly, they very quickly named themselves the Replacements. Of course, they had nicknames as well. At times, members of the band were so drunk that they could barely perform. At those times, they called themselves the Placemats, or more simply, the ’Mats. Once, in Portland, the ’Matswore their own clothing on stage—and over their own clothing, they wore the clothing of the opening act.

When author Judy Blume handed in the manuscript for Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, it didn’t have a title. A typist in the publisher’s office filled in the title space with the opening line of the young people’s novel, and that became the title. Judy’s young daughter, Randy, came up with the title of another book: Freckle Juice. Randy used to play in the bathtub, making a mess with powder, shampoo, and soap—a mixture that she called, yes, freckle juice. The title for Just as Long as We’re Togethercame from creative problem-solving. Ms. Blume and her agent, Claire Smith, couldn’t think of a title, so they started singing old campfire songs. The title for the book comes from a line in the song “Side by Side.”

E.B. “Andy” White picked up his nickname while attending Cornell University. The President of Cornell at the time was Andrew D. White, and students gave the nickname “Andy” to any student with the last name “White.” E.B. much preferred Andy to his real first name: Elwyn. Names were important to Andy. In his book Charlotte’s Web, he was going to name the spider Charlotte Epeira after the Latin name for the Grey Cross spider, but he took a closer look at the spiders in his barn and discovered that they were a different species. Therefore, he changed the name to Charlotte A. Cavatica.

Scottish singer Amy Macdonald regarded Pete Doherty as an early idol, and she wrote the song “Poison Prince” about his drug problems. Mr. Doherty has heard about the song, although he may have misheard its title. On television, an interviewer asked him, “So you’ve met Amy; she’s a big fan. And you’ve heard the song?” Mr. Doherty asked, “What song?” The interviewer replied, “The song she wrote about you, ‘Poison Prince.’” Mr. Doherty was not amused, saying, “Why would I want to listen to a song about me that is called ‘Poison Prick?’”

These days, you can legally change your name in Britain for only £7.50 online, and many people have taken advantage of the cheap rate. Many people have used UK Deed Poll Service to change their names. Unfortunately, some people have changed their names to such atrocities as Toasted T Cake, Daddy Fantastic, and Jellyfish Mc-Saveloy—possibly as the result of lost pub bets.Louise Bowers of UK Deed Poll Service says, “I did a Darth Vader once, and he asked me to become his Princess Leia. My husband wasn’t too pleased.”

In 1983, Barbara McClintock won the Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She was the first woman to receive an unshared Noble Prize in that area, and only the third woman to receive an unshared Noble Prize. Long before she won the Noble Prize, she had acquired a nickname: Big Mac. In studying genetics, she grew crop after crop of corn, necessitating that she wear working clothes. On cool mornings and days, she wore a denim jacket in the cornfields. The buttons on the jacket bore the brand name of the clothing: Big Mac.

Jane Austen, author of Sense and Sensibility, never married, although she was engaged once—briefly. Still, when she was a young teenager, she tore a sheet from the parish register of her father the clergyman. On it, she wrote some imagined possible names of her future husband: Edmund Arthur William Mortimer, of Liverpool, and Henry Frederick Howard Fitzwilliam, of London. Jane being Jane, of course, one name was humorous: Jack Smith.

Frank Zappa and Gail, his wife, gave their children odd names: Dweezil, Ahmet, Diva, and Moon Unit. Actually, Dweezil’s legal name is not Dweezil—it’s Ian. When Dweezil was born, a nurse at the hospital refused to write down the name Dweezil on the birth certificate.

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David Bruce: Names Anecdotes

512px-Colin_Powell_official_Secretary_of_State_photo

In Korea, Colin Powell, then a lieutenant colonel, became known as Bro P as a result of an encounter with a black soldier who was intoxicated with either alcohol or illegal drugs. The soldier was holding a pool cue and yelling, “Somebody’s gonna die! You put my buddy in jail. Nobody’s gonna put me in jail. Somebody’s gonna die first!” Fortunately, Mr. Powell was able to talk the soldier into putting down the pool cue and surrendering before the MPs arrived, wrestled the man to the ground, and carried him away in chains. Instead of being put in a stockade for a year, the soldier was placed on restriction for several weeks, then resumed regular duty. Later, the soldier said about Mr. Powell, “That’s Bro P. Brother Powell. He’s all right.”

The first black President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, was born Rolihlahla Mandela. In the language of his people, the Xhosa, “Rolihlahla” meant “pulling the branch of a tree.” Later, when he began attending school, his teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave him the name “Nelson,” possibly because Europeans found it difficult to pronounce African names. Later, when he was 16, he was given yet another name after being circumcised in a ritual that marked his coming into adulthood. His circumcision name was “Dalibunga,” which can be translated as “the founder of the rulers of the Transkei.” (The Transkei is a region in South Africa that is the Xhosa people’s traditional homeland.)

Some people are more fanatical soccer fans than others. In 1982, Trevor George of Penarth, Wales, showed his love for the game by naming his infant daughter after 20 world-class soccer players. The baby’s full name was Jennifer Edson Arentes no Nascimento Jairzinho Rivelino Carolos-Alberto Paulo Cesar Bretner Cruyff Greaves Charlton Best Moore Ball Keegan Banks Gray Francis Brooking Curtis Toshack Law George. His wife promptly responded by leaving home and having their daughter’s name legally changed to Jennifer Anne George.

One of filmmaker John Waters’ friends used to work at a movie theater, which meant that he constantly had to pick up the telephone and answer the question, “What’s playing today?” The friend reports that the most embarrassing title he ever had to say on the telephone was Eu te Amo, which is Brazilian for “I love you.” When he told them the title of the movie, some people were shocked and asked, “I beg your pardon?” Other people cursed him, and one person told him, “I hate you,” before hanging up the telephone.

The baritone Lawrence Tibbett once stopped at a record shop to buy a recording of his Prologue to Pagliacci. He asked for the record, but the sales clerk said, “There is no such recording.” Mr. Tibbett explained that he knew the record to exist, as he had made it, but the clerk insisted, “We have no such name on our list.” Mr. Tibbett then spelled his name, and at last the clerk knew it. She explained, “We call that Teebay. Do you really pronounce it Tibbett?” “Why not?” Mr. Tibbett replied. “I am an American, not a Frenchman.”

The mother of the great tap dancer Savion Glover, one of the creators of Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk, knew he was special when she was pregnant with him. In fact, his name comes from a religious vision his mother had — she saw God writing a name on a blackboard: SAVIOR. She read the name, then said, “Now, You know I can’t name him Savior.” Therefore, she substituted an “n” for the “r.” To a great extent, Mr. Glover has been the savior of modern-day tap dancing, bringing it into the era of hip-hop.

Comedian Lotus Weinstock says that her name well represents the two sides of her personality. Lotus represents her spiritual side, and Weinstock is the side that busies itself with shopping. One of the messages on her telephone answering machine says, “Lotus is here, but Weinstock is out pursuing her earthly goals. Please leave your number and we’ll call back when we are at one.”

Joseph Cardinal Martin of Rouen once mistakenly called Pope John XXIII “Your Eminence” instead of “Your Holiness,” and apologized. Pope John XXIII told him not to worry; after all, in his career he had changed his title from Don Angelo to Monsignor to Your Grace to Your Excellency to Your Eminence to Your Holiness. The Pope added, “But now I’m through with changing titles.”

James Cleveland Owens was known as J.C. as a child in Alabama, but when his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, one of his teachers couldn’t understand his Alabama accent and misunderstood “J.C.” as “Jesse.” The name stuck, and in the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, Jesse Owens won four gold medals in track events.

Peg Bracken knows that Hawaii was originally named the Sandwich Islands by Captain Cook. She wishes that they were still named that, because instead of remembering such names as Lanai, Maui, Kauai, we could instead remember such names as Ham on Rye, Egg Salad, and Pastrami.

In 1996, Jaycie Phelps won Olympics gold as a member of the United States “Magnificent Seven” women’s gymnastics team at the Atlanta Games. Her parents are Jack and Cheryl Phelps, and Jaycie got her name from the initials of her parents’ first names.

Sadye Marks was better known to her fans as Mary Livingstone, one of the stars of the Jack Benny Show— Mr. Benny was her husband. In 1947, she legally changed her name, for the very good reason that everyone, including her husband, called her Mary.

Elite American gymnast Kristin Maloney spells her name with an “i,” but when she was a child in school first learning to write her name, a teacher mistakenly taught her to spell her name with an “e”: Kristen. Today, she says that either spelling is OK with her.

When comedian Geraldine Ann “Geri” Jewell was born prematurely, there was a mixup about her name at the hospital. She was placed in an isolette on which was a chart labelled “JEWELL, PRECIOUS.”

When acerbic pianist Oscar Levant was introduced to famed actress Greta Garbo, he said, “Sorry, I didn’t catch the name.”

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