Two First Names

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    Two first names, two first names, if you only got one name, it's like having no names, baby get two names.
    —Neil Patrick Harris, Saturday Night Live

    Many superheroes and their associates have surnames that are also common given names. This is almost as common as the Alliterative Name, and, in fact, many heroes qualify in both categories. This is a side-effect of the American habit of using common last names as first names - most British readers would not recognize most of these surnames as first names.

    This can make a Last-Name Basis to be difficult to realize at first.

    Examples of Two First Names include:

    Superheroes

    • Clark Kent.
    • Bruce Wayne appears to be a case of this, but the character was actually named for Robert the Bruce and Revolutionary war general "Mad Anthony" Wayne, making this actually a case of Two Last Names.
      • Robins Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Carrie Kelly and Damian Wayne. Stephanie Brown is the only Robin not to have this. Cassandra Cain and Barbara Gordon also have this, though with opposite gender last names.
      • Hush a.k.a. Thomas Elliot. When he and Bruce were kids, it was lampshaded by the two of them.
    • Barry Allen and Bart Allen.
      • Jay Garrick as well, and Wally West might count, although the only West that leaps to mind is the guy from Heroes. With Bart, at least, it really only makes sense when you realize that his full first name is actually a patronymic (it's still very rare as a first name, though, apparently because people can't be bothered with saying anything quadrisyllabic).
    • Peter Parker, though "Parker" has only recently become common as a given name.
    • Charles Xavier (although this is pronounced differently to the first name, which is generally pronounced "zavv-ee-ay" rather than "ex-ay-vee-er"; of course, the last name is also generally pronounced this way, but Middle America wouldn't have noticed it started with an X). The pronunciation is actually more slippery than this, as it has changed since the time of St. Francis Xavier (Which is pronounced Zay-Vee-Er, by the by). Javier is a phonetic respelling of the name in modern Spanish. However, the Portuguese pronounce the name with a sh sound.
    • Reed Richards almost qualifies.
    • It's pretty much a requirement for a Green Lantern from Earth:
    • Kyle Rayner, though as a first name it would typically be spelled Rainer.
    • Bobby "Iceman" Drake.
    • Steve Rogers. He even used the alias "Roger Stevens" once.
    • Donald Blake.
    • Cain Marko is an egregious example, where a given name that doesn't make a particularly good surname is pressed into service to make a Meaningful Name.
    • Kent "Doctor Fate" Nelson.
    • Ronald Raymond, the first Firestorm.
    • Rex "Hourman" Tyler.
      • And of course his son, Rick Tyler. And the Hourman from the 853rd Century, an android who went by the name Matthew Tyler.
    • Crispus Allen, the current Spectre.
    • Ted "Wildcat" Grant.
    • James Jesse, the first Trickster. To be fair, he chose this name after Jesse James. His birth name is Giovanni Giuseppe. Can you really blame him for changing his name?
    • Both versions of Captain Atom: the Charlton version is Allen Adam, while DC's is Nathaniel Adam (actually a case of Three First Names, as his full name is Nathaniel Christopher Adam).
    • Power Rangers has a few:
      • Zack Taylor. (Black Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger)
      • Jason Scott. (Red Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger/Gold Zeo Ranger)
      • Tommy Oliver. (Green/White Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger/Red Zeo Ranger/Red Turbo Ranger/Black Dino Thunder Ranger)
        • Double Points for being played by Jason David Frank.
      • Justin Stewart. (Blue Turbo Ranger)
      • Kendrix Morgan. (Pink Lost Galaxy Ranger)
      • Dana Mitchell. (Pink Lightspeed Rescue Ranger)
      • Chad Lee. (Blue Lightspeed Rescue Ranger)
      • Ryan Mitchell. (Titanium Lightspeed Rescue Ranger)
      • Jen Scotts comes close. (Pink Time Force Ranger)
      • Wes Collins comes close. (Red Time Force Ranger)
      • Cole Evans comes close. (Red Wild Force Ranger)
      • Shane Clarke comes close. (Red Wind Ranger)
      • Ethan James. (Blue Dino Thunder Ranger)
      • Bridge Carson. (Green/Blue/Red S.P.D Ranger)
      • Nick Russell. (Red Mystic Force Ranger)
      • Theo Martin. (Jungle Fury Blue Ranger)
      • Scott Truman. (RPM's Ranger Series Operator Red)
    • All Fall Down has Sophie Mitchell.
    • Edward "Eddie" Brock, the original Venom.
    • Stationery Voyagers and the Ciem Webcomic Series seem to go out of their way to avert this trope, with last names like Flippo, Hebbleskin, McArthur, Hamilton, Malestrom, Bovinez, Mantalone, Rubblindo, Goldsen, Delft, Ethereteel, Inkista, etc.

    Non-costumed Heroes and Associates

    Female Examples

    Fictional examples outside comic books

    • Ann Marie was the main character of the 1960s show That Girl and actually complained about her name at times.
    • Jimmy James, "the man so nice they named him twice," in News Radio.
      • Also Dave Nelson, Matthew Brock, Max Louis, and Jimmy's Arch Enemy Johnny Johnson.
    • In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All, Max Galactica's real name is revealed to be Billy Bob Johns. Nick hangs a lampshade on it in one inner monologue. "Yikes! The poor guy's got three first names! I guess that is pretty odd."
    • There are more than a few pro-wrestlers that fit here: Steve Austin, Simon Dean, Chris Harris, Trevor Murdoch, Mark Henry, Matt Morgan, Nick & Matt & Malachi Jackson, Kip James, Kelly Kelly, Donovan Morgan, Ricky Marvin, Brian Christopher, Shane Douglas, Dave Taylor, Chuck Taylor (no relation), Vin Gerard, Jerry Lynn, Shelton Benjamin, Joey Ryan. Shawn Michaels, Stevie Richards, Davey Richards (no relation), Christopher Daniels, Eddie Edwards, Jimmy Jacobs, Jack Evans, Erick Stevens and Petey Williams come close. Mickie James is a female wrestler with two traditionally male names, Alex Shelley a male wrestler with two female names. Simon Dean is actually named after wrestler Dean Malenko, whose real name is Dean Simon.
      • On a recent episode of TNA Impact, the Main Event Mafia took over the show and made two referees fight Booker T. The referees' names were Rudy Charles and Andrew Thomas, which ring announcer Scott Steiner pointed out during introductions.
      • Daniel Bryan...whose real name is Bryan Daniels.
      • Jim Ross, whose full name is James William Ross.
      • Justin Gabriel whose real name is Paul Lloyd Jr.
    • Ricky Bobby, the eponymous NASCAR prodigy from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. This is lampshaded early on, when his team's owner states, "He's got two first names!"
    • From Survival of the Fittest: Mason Lucien, Chance Burton, Thom Chuck, Waldo Woodrow, Blake Ross, Matthew Drew, Horace Malcolm, Jack Russell, Ryan Gilbert, and at least 20 more in V4 alone.
    • From the Scrubs episode "My Occurrence":

    Hematopathologist: Call me Dr. Bob.
    J.D.: You go by your first name?
    Hematopathologist: No, first name's Fred.
    J.D.: Fred Bob?

      • Also J.D. stands for John Dorian.
    • Campbell Alexander from Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper.
    • Lloyd Martin in the book They Melted His Brain. Naturally, nearly everyone thinks his name is Martin Lloyd. (Or was it the other way round?)
    • Doctor Gordon Gordon Wyatt from Bones.
    • Rose Tyler.
    • James Wilson, Alison Cameron and Robert Chase from House.
    • Andy Mitchell
    • Brock Samson
    • From The Mortal Instruments series, Jace, whose full name is Jonathan Christopher Wayland. We think. It's really only the last name that's a point of debate, so whether it's Wayland, Morgenstern, Lightwood, or Herondale, he's still an example.
    • Jacob Taylor from Mass Effect 2.

    Real Life

    [Note: All the examples in this entry so far have been situations in which people have given names to characters. In that spirit, please limit entries here to people who have given themselves names (stage names, pen names, pseudonyms, etc.) consisting of two first names. Many people have a first name as a family name in real life, but this section should be reserved for people who have made an intentional choice to do so.]

    • Jon Stewart from The Daily Show. Inevitable, since Stewart is a showbiz adaptation of his middle name. He was born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz.
      • He even makes jokes about it:

    "Tonight's guest, Congressman Ron Paul, a proud member, with me, of the Two First Names Club. We, uh, we meet every Thursday for cocktails with Ron Jeremy and Barney Frank."

    • Tim Allen (Home Improvement) was born Timothy Alan Dick.
    • Rose Marie was a supporting player on The Dick Van Dyke Show and a panelist on The Hollywood Squares. She seldom used her surname, Curley.
      • Similarly, actress Ann-Margaret rarely uses her surname, Olsson.
        • Likewise hyphenated is Terry-Thomas, a.k.a Thomas Terry Hoar-Stevens.
    • Stan Lee (born Stanley Leiber).
    • John Wayne (born Marion Michael Morrison).
    • Cary Grant (born Archibald Leach).
    • Kevin James from The King of Queens (born Kevin George Knipfing).
    • Dame Vera Lynn (born Vera Margaret Welch)
    • Radio broadcaster Paul Harvey, born Paul Harvey Aurandt.
    • Radio star Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky).
    • Radio star Fred Allen (born John Florence Sullivan).
    • Danny Thomas (born Amos Yakoob).
    • Moe Howard (Moses Hurwitz)
    • William Conrad, who played Marshal Dillon on Gunsmoke (born John William Cann, Jr.)
    • The Webb sisters, Loretta, Peggy, and Brenda, changed their names before becoming famous country singers, renaming themselves, respectively, Loretta Lynn, Peggy Sue and Crystal Gayle.
    • Jason Alexander (born Jay Scott Greenspan).
    • Huey Lewis (born Hugh Anthony Cregg, III)
    • Jerry Lewis (born Jerome Levitch)
    • Ray Charles (... Robinson).
    • Dennis Franz (... Schlachta).
    • Toby Keith (... Covel).
    • Lea Michele (... Sarfati).
    • Shannon Elizabeth (... Fadal).
    • Sheldon Leonard (... Bershad) (the racetrack tout from The Jack Benny Program and the old bar owner from Cheers).
    • Psychic John Edward (... McGee, Jr.).
    • Porn star Ron Jeremy (... Hyatt).
    • Rick James was born James Ambrose Johnson, bitch!
    • Sid James (born Joel Solomon Cohen).
    • Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz).
    • Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch).
    • Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman).
    • Lenny Bruce (born Leonard Alfred Schneider).
    • Buck Henry (born Henry Zuckerman).
    • Gilligan's Island's Tina Louise (born Tatiana Josivovna Chernova Blacker).
    • Joey Lawrence (Joey Russo from Blossom) (born Joseph Lawrence Mignogna, Jr.).
    • Woody Allen, born Allen Konigsberg.
    • Eddie Albert (Green Acres) (born Edward Albert Heimburger)
    • George Michael, born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (Greek: Γεώργιος Κυριάκος Παναγιώτου)
    • Dirk Benedict (Faceman from The A-Team) was born Dirk Niewoehner.
    • Serial arsonist Peter Dinsdale changed his name to Bruce George Peter Lee.
    • Talent agent William Morris, born Zelman Moses.
    • Valentino's contemporary John Gilbert – born John Cecil Pringle.
    • Garry Marshall – Anthony Wallace Marsciarelli.
    • Dean Martin – Dino Paul Crocetti.
    • Tony Martin – Alvin Morris.
    • Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster) – Patrick Alan Caples.
    • Les Paul – Lester William Polfuss.
    • Sir Cliff Richard – Harry Rodger Webb.
    • Infamous weeaboo Akemi Mokoto, who, because of his dislike of his family, renamed himself after two anime characters.
    • Alexander Siddig (born Siddig el-Tahir el-Fadil el-Siddig Abderahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim el-Mahdi). When he first started working on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, he was credited as Siddig el-Fadil, but changed his professional name to Alexander Siddig because the people around him were struggling to pronounce "el-Fadil".
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