History Main / GunmanWithThreeNames

* Johnny Paul Penry, convicted of killing Pamela Carpenter (sister of AmericanFootball player Mark Moseley) and sentenced to death. (Various anti-death penalty activists have since called his sentence unconstitutional, claiming that he only has the mental ability of a 7-year-old.)

* Zig-zagged with Fanny Yefimovna Kaplan, the gunwoman who [[KangarooCourt supposedly]] tried to kill VladimirLenin. She did have three names according to the standard Russian naming convention, but she is universally known to history as ""Fanny Kaplan", without the Yefimovna patronymic.

* In Presidential assassins it's 50/50, but the three-named ones are a ''lot'' more famous due to the Lincoln/Kennedy assassinations being a major part of American history, unlike the Garfield/[=McKinley=] ones [[note]]Lincoln's had ties to the U.S. Civil War, while Kennedy's spawned numerous conspiracy theories. Garfield's and [=McKinley's=] didn't really have anything special about them.[[/note]]
** John Wilkes Booth -- assassin of President UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln

** Curiously, the victim in this case is also usually known by three names.

->''"Serial killers only have two names. Ever notice that? But lone assassins always have three. [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln John Wilkes Booth]], [[JohnFKennedy Lee Harvey Oswald]], [[Music/JohnLennon Mark David Chapman]]..."''\\
--'''[[Creator/MelGibson Jerry Fletcher]]''', ''Film/ConspiracyTheory''

* TheDragon in the Film/JamesBond film ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'' is called "Emile Leopold Locque".
* The lone sniper played by MarkWahlberg in movie ''{{Shooter}}'' rejoices in the name of Bob Lee Swagger. Lee referencing no other than Lee Harvey Oswald.

* Classic example of how this prevents overlap with NamesTheSame: Joel (Patrick) Courtney (b.1966), rapist and serial killer, not to be confused with Joel Courtney (b.1996), star of ''{{Super 8}}''. To make matters worse the former's TruTV [[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/joel_courtney/7.html Crime Library page]] is headlined "Bad Actor".

** Lee Harvey Oswald -- assassin of President JohnFKennedy
** Leon Czolgosz -- assassin of President WilliamMcKinley (his middle name was "Frank," but he never used it. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Frank_Czolgosz Though his Wikipedia article begs to differ]]).

* Sara Jane Moore, who attempted to assassinate President GeraldFord.

->''"Serial killers only have two names. Ever notice that? But lone assassins always have three. [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln John Wilkes Booth]], [[JohnFKennedy Lee Harvey Oswald]], [[Music/JohnLennon Mark David Chapman]]..."''
-->--'''[[Creator/MelGibson Jerry Fletcher]]''', ''Film/ConspiracyTheory''

->''"Serial killers only have two names. Ever notice that? But lone assassins always have three. [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln John Wilkes Booth]], [[JohnFKennedy Lee Harvey Oswald]], [[Music/JohnLennon Mark David Chapman]]..."''\\
--'''[[Creator/MelGibson Jerry Fletcher]]''', ''Film/ConspiracyTheory''

-->-- '''[[Creator/MelGibson Jerry Fletcher]]''', ''Film/ConspiracyTheory''

->''"Serial killers only have two names. Ever notice that? But lone assassins always have three. [[AbrahamLincoln John Wilkes Booth]], [[JohnFKennedy Lee Harvey Oswald]], [[JohnLennon Mark David Chapman]]..."''

* Mark David Chapman, murderer of John Lennon.

** John Wilkes Booth -- assassin of President AbrahamLincoln

** Charles J. Guiteau -- assassin of President JamesGarfield (his middle name was Julius, but he never used it)

* Aversion: The eponymous assassin of ''{{The Day of the Jackal}}'' is known [[NoNameGiven only by his code name.]]

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in one episode of ''TheCloser'':

* Discussed in ''TheNanny''; When Fran thinks that Niles is about to snap and kill the family, Val goes over all the warning signs with her, when they get to the three name rule, Fran stops for a second because [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep nobody actually knows what his middle and last name is.]] She eventually decided to grasp a fringe of logic to make him fit this rule.

** It can lead to a "Hitler ruined it" effect. This troper once met someone who had changed their name to "Ted Jackson" because their given surname was "Bundy" and they didn't want to stop being called "Ted" (their forename was Edward).

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' season 6 episode "Endgame", with regard to a serial killer.

* In Presidential assassins it's 50/50, but the three-named ones are a ''lot'' more famous due to the Lincoln/Kennedy assassinations being a major part of American history, unlike the Garfield/[=McKinley=] ones [[hottip:*:Lincoln's had ties to the U.S. Civil War, while Kennedy's spawned numerous conspiracy theories. Garfield's and [=McKinley's=] didn't really have anything special about them.]]

* A serial killer example comes from Garrett Jacob Hobbes in ''Series/Hannibal''

* In the book ''AllAmericanGirl'', the title character saves the president from an assassin named Larry Wayne Rogers.

* The backstory of ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' mentions a gunman named Michael Moser Lang who assassinated the US and Chinese presidents with a powerful submachine gun several years before the events of the first game. (Both at once. The Chinese president tackled the American, trying to shove him out of the way, and the slugs fatally penetrated both bodies. It's implied he only intended to kill the American.) Shepard gets his/her hands on the original weapon (and a copy) in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''.

** Lee Harvey Oswald -- assassin of President JohnFKennedy (not really him)
** Leon Czolgosz -- assassin of President WilliamMcKinley (had no middle name)

* In Presidential assassins it's 50/50, but the three-named ones are a ''lot'' more famous:

!!Examples

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* Sports writer Bill Simmons has stated that every New England Patriots fan refers to the player that injured Tom Brady, Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski using his middle name: Bernard Karmell Pollard.