This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Gatomon41: Does Mario count? He is a Mario Brother after all.
Ununnilium: This doesn't really fit in the entry, but I have an overwhelming urge to reference it:
"Sandy Frank. Two first names, one's a girl!"
Aubri: It really should be noted that ALL names were once first names, unless they're descriptive (e.g. Smith, Carter, Fletcher, King).
Your Obedient Serpent: Point. The original observation was "surnames that are common English given names". Maybe I should think about how many COUNTER-examples I can come up with.
Branfish: I've edited the page to make note of the purely American nature of many of these "first names" - I've never met or heard of anybody with the first name of Kent, Gardner or Lane, for example.
Tanto: I'll give you the last two, but Kent's a name I've heard.
Scifantasy: Hell, I have that problem in real life. There's no stretching like "Gardner," (though "Gardner" actually means a first name for me, Gardner Dozois) either; all three of my names—middle as well, unlucky me—would, if heard in isolation, be considered more first name than last name.
Then again, I knew a kid in high school whose first and last names both sounded like last names. I always wondered whether I should have offered him a trade...
Your Obedient Serpent just added a note that Guy Guardner was named after comics writer Gardner Fox. Like Scifantasy above, I am also a victim of threefirst names. During my time in the Coast Guard, everyone commonly addressed me by my surname, which was, of course, emblazoned 'cross my chest. After working with me for almost two years, one of my co-workers suddenly realized that it wasn't my first name, and apologized.
Bob: I see your three and raise you a four first names: my first name, my two middle names and my last name. All boy's names, of course. Try having people confuse first and last names: i.e. Mr 'First Name', my best friend 'last name'...
D Durand: Hi. I'm french. Really good site, but just a little error : in French, X is pronounced one of the followers :
kz gz ks gs
G as GU (from guard, you see ?).
Not "j".
Medinoc: Only in front of a vowel, other than E or I (For the French, Y is a vowel too).
Foxley: I have three first names, with the additional kicker that the initials of my first and middle names spell one of the few 2 letter first names (ED).
bluepenguin: I have two first names too, and it's really freaking annoying — I mean, half of the time when someone asks for my last name, I'll give it and they'll go "no, your last name," as if I'm a total idiot who didn't understand them the first time. To add to the confusion, until a few years ago, my family name was more common as a given name than my actual given name was.
Removed:
- * This Troper - who qualifies for inclusion on this list (There Is No Such Thing As Notability) - was recently referred to as "one of those people who have a first name for a last name." I didn't say anything but my mental response was "I always thought of those other people as having a last name for a first name." Especially since I've never met anyone with my last name as a first name, though I have heard of it being used as a first name.
HeartBurn Kid: Removed:
- Kim is a family name in Korea, so I'm not sure Gail Kim counts here. Same goes for any Korean named Lee (e.g. Bobby Lee from Mad TV).
Because 1) Natter, and 2) all of these are family names somewhere. Otherwise, people wouldn't have them as last names.
Kkachi (the poster who added the comment about Gail Kim):
Gail Kim should not count since Kim is not a first name in Korea. It is an historical accident that it happens to be a first name in English and as such is not an INTENTIONAL case of having two first names, like "Steve Austin". Intention is important here since most of the entries are about fictional characters that have been given a name by a creator. (This includes wrestling personas.) It shouldn't count just because it's a name somewhere in the world.
[Note: In a previous version of this message, I asked Heartburn Kid to remove her. Since then, I realized that I don't need to ask permission, so I removed her myself.]
Kkachi (again): It occurs to me that there should be almost no real life examples for the same reason I mentioned above: There are plenty of cases where people have a first name as a last name, but that is (at this point) not intentional unless someone changes his name or uses a stage name that consists of two first names. Let's look at an example using Reginald Dwight, who has a name consisting of two first names. He didn't choose Dwight as a family name, but when he changed his name to Elton John, he made the choice to give himself two first names, and as such is a real life example of "Two First Names". Only these people really should be Real Life Examples.
Scifantasy: I can't agree. Though comic books/costumed heroes are the most famous example, it's actually something of a thing just to have a first name as a last name. I'll grant the "Kim" and "Lee" cultural divide, but there's got to be a place for people whose family name would normally be thought of, by their own cultures, as a first name.
I'm also launching the Troper Tales page, while I have the opportunity.
Kkachi: "there's got to be a place for people whose family name would normally be thought of, by their own cultures, as a first name"
Why? While is a bit unusual to have a family name that is simply a family name (US President Chester A. Arthur), it's not uncommon in English-speaking countries to have family names derived from first names (such as Thompson or Jones).
That said, as a TV tropes page, this page is more about characters that have been given names, and by extension, it seems that only people who have chosen two first names as a persona should be included. This is why I would include Danny Thomas (born Amos Yakoob), but wouldn't include his daughter Marlo Thomas, since she didn't choose her family name.
Chimera: This might again be British/Australian vs US, but can we make a list of the ones we really don't think qualify? Is Murdoch really a first name?
EmilyG: Does Tom Jones really count? I've almost never heard of Jones as a first name.
This Troper's mother thought that her father's surname (Scott) was his first name upon meeting him, and wasn't corrected until they'd been dating for several weeks. It got kinda awkward since she had always wanted to name one of her sons Scott, and I think that was part of the reason she started dating him. Not sure what she thought his surname was though. :S
