Botanist Alexander Garden

The flower gardenia is named after him.

Frieda Lieder, Opera Singer

With the met. Probably, she sang a German repertoire.

Ms. Grimm, Teacher

Just reminded of this teacher with a remarkable name for her
occupation. The Ms. Grimm we know is a remarkably good teacher.

Dr. Glen Bubbly - Harvard Oncologist

You cannot make this stuff up! Dr. Glen Bubbly is a (very highly
regarded) Harvard Oncologist. From a friend and verified via Google.

Hope he enjoys Champagne!
--

Trust your data to Company named "Danger"??

In the news... T-Mobile customers using their popular "SideKick"
products were promised an automatic backup of their critical in-phone
data. The online service was provided by a subsidiary of Microsoft.

Unfortunately, there was a little server meltdown that destroyed the
backups as well. T-Mobile users are being advised "Do not reset your
phone, don't remove the battery, or you may never see your data
again!"

The name of the Microsoft sub whose operating failure destroyed the
server and the backups? Danger. Yup, Danger.

At news.google.com enter these search terms: microsoft danger t-mobile

--

Ptuj, A Town in Slovenia

Pronounced "Phh-Tui"

Of course, there's a Ptuj Tourist Board.

E.V. Goings

E.V. Goings, Chairman & CEO, The Tupperware Corporation

Alex Forger -- Lawyer

Mentioned in an article about John Edwards in the NY Times today... "Alex Forger, a New York lawyer who represents Mrs. Mellon..." Apparently Mrs. Mellon, a 99 year old heiress known as "Bunny," responded to a request for Andrew Young to provide some money for Edwards for "personal purposes."

This must be an awkward name for a lawyer !

News Reporter -- Tom Fudge

KPBS San Diego and featured Fall 2009 on NPR.

Ref. Google News

Prof. Screech

Yes, Timon Screech, Professor at Oxford. Mentioned in The Economist.

Bud Covert -- FBI Agent

This is real. Classmate of a friend. Recently retired as an FBI Agent. Remarkable things come out when I tell people about Remarkable Names.

Miss Conduct -- Ethics and Etiquette Columnist

... for the Boston Globe. Recently published a book Miss Conduct's Mind Over Manners

Geoff Sobering

An actual person. You can Google him. Perhaps he could be a spokesperson for responsible drinking.

Roger Bloch -- Woodcrafter

Produces really elegant wood items in NH. Saw at the annual League of New Hampshire Craftsmen event at Mt. Sunapee NH Fall 2009.

David Papermaster -- Computer Industry Exec

This would have been funnier in the old days when computers spewed out mountains of paper... "One of the top engineering executives at IBM Corp.'s Austin operations is jumping to Apple Inc. But IBM has filed suit in an effort to keep Mark Papermaster, one of its top executive stars."

Holly Barry -- Enjoys Winter Holidays

A real person. Current with an email address at an important college way up North. Probably adds holiday cheer to an otherwise cold campus.

David Capeless... Obviously, NOT a super hero!

Noted on a political bumper sticker... David Capeless is District Attorney in one Massachusetts community.

Frank Fish, aquatic propulsion expert

This just in:

Inventor Ted Ciamillo and marine biologist Frank Fish (yes, that's his real name) are at work on a human-powered sub designed to cross the Atlantic. What's interesting is the highly efficient propulsion system which uses a 'tail' modeled after CAT scans of a dolphin's. From the article: 'Ciamillo and Fish say they knew they were onto something when the first prototype Lunocet, a piece of sculpted foam sandwiched between two pieces of carbon fiber, essentially swam by itself. When they released it at the bottom of a test pool, its buoyancy combined with its cambered shape generated a forward thrust that made it scoot across the tank.

Jeff Flake, (R-AZ) Congressman

Perhaps I need a special category for legislators with remarkable names. Also note, Mike Crapo (pronounced "Cray-poe"). The pronunciation hint is right there on the first line of his Wikipedia entry.

Tom DeLay, Legislator

Sometimes realizations come only gradually. Tom Delay was majority leader in the US House of Representatives. And, I wondered why it took so long to produce legislation! And, then there's Richard Armey. Must have been on the Armed Services committee.

Cari Tuna, the Wall Street Journal

She's a writer for the Wall Street Journal. I first noticed the name fall 2008 when she wrote an Obit for Michael Hammer, an MIT grad and famous management consultant.

Patricia Feral, a Friend of Animals

The president of the New York chapter of Friends of Animals: Patricia Feral.

Iona Knipl

WE HAVE A WINNER in the Worst Bad Name Contest.

And after talking to the woman who has this name, I'm happy to report we have new anecdotal evidence to go with the psychological studies supporting the Boy Named Sue theory: good things can indeed come from a bad name.

The judges chose Iona Knipl because, in addition to being an embarrassing pun, it also set up an inevitable reply from people imagining they were being wittily original. I called up Miss Knipl and asked her how many times she had heard someone meet her and reply, "I own two."

"I got sick of hearing it, but what can you do?" Miss Knipl said. ...snip...

Miss Knipl shed the pun when she got married and began using her husband's last name. But, then, after they were divorced, she went back to her old name.

"In school, it bothered me, but now I think it's neat." she said. "It's different."

(from the New York Times, Tuesday April 8, 2008, pg. D8)

Author Francine Prose

A revered colleague just recommended a book to me:

Reading Like a Writer by Fancine Prose.

Spies named Black

"Black" is for spying. Something very secret is a "black project."

I have been amused at finding top spies named Black. William B. Black, Jr., rose to Deputy Director at the National Security Agency. And Coffer Black spent 28 years at CIA, eventually heading their Counterterroist Center. Then, to add one more irony, he became chairperson of the private security company Blackwater USA which has been in the news in Iraq.

Dr. Margaret Hamburg heads FDA

A truly remarkable name for the head of the Food and Drug Administration. Formerly, she was health commissioner for New York City, where her name was also remarkable.

Dr. Flier

Dr. Jeffrey S. Flier, dean of Harvard Med school.

Cindy Canary

Another news items from early 2008: Cindy Canary, the head of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, says the Rezko trial puts the Obama-Rezko relationship back in the spotlight.

Andrew Wallet

A news item from early 2008, Britney Spears, troubled and in psych care, has as conservators her father and a lawyer named Andrew Wallet.

Phil Harmonic

An actual person, known to my sister... First name: Philip Last name: Harmonic

Phil Harmonic.

Truth is stranger than fiction.

Scott Laughinghouse

Just learned that Scott Laughinghouse, per public filings and Linked-in, is an executive at a NH bank.

Patrick Stiff RIP

2007 Darwin Award

(23 June 2007, Illinois) Two Valparaiso men tested their reflexes by playing "chicken" with a train. Which man could stay on the rail longest in the path of an oncoming train? At the stroke of midnight, the contest was decided. The winner, aptly named Patrick Stiff, lost his life.

The train continued on, as the conductor was unaware it hit anyone.

[Link above is to a Google search. Apparently, there is some debate about whether Patrick was actually standing on the tracks when he died.]

Juan Moore Beer

Someone is actually using this pseudonym on the internet [Google search].

Oxymoronic Names, Built-in Contradictions

I'm thinking about names with built-in contradictions... Oxymoronic names.

Demi Moore comes to mind. What other names have built-in contradictions? (e.g. a made up name "M. T. Fuller.") Are there logic bombs such as arise in self-referential statements (e.g. "This statement is false.")

Jek Porkins, Overweight Warrior

Consider Jek Porkins, somewhat overweight but courageous freedom fighter. He gave his life that we might be free.

Here is a short video tribute showing him in the cockpit on his last mission [YouTube].

Edward Upward RIP

We noted with interest the obituary of Edward Upward, English writer, on Feb 18, carried in many publications. Here's an obit by Garrison Keillor in the International Herald Tribune.

Cathy Mae Frieze

Internet posting...  "My sister's name is Cathy Mae Frieze."

Goldie Silver Diamond

From a trusted friend: "Goldie Silver married Larry Diamond, becoming Goldie Silver Diamond."

Rusty Loks... and Sister Goldie.

Internet posting, unverified: "Some people I knew growing up...  Rusty Loks... and his sister Goldie."

Dr. Pepper

Posted on an internet board: "Honest... My doctor when I was growing up... Dr. Pepper."  Unverified.

Shanda Leer

... is the daughter of Lear Jet inventor.  Noted in the NYT 9/26/07. Read here for more on Shanda Leer.

According to another source, and confirmed here, Shanda is her middle name, and the whole name is even better: Crystal Shanda Lear. The first article also mentions: Armand Hammer, Matt R. Horn, Paige Turner, all actual names.

News Reporter Robin Stringer

... has the by-line on a Sept 19 2007 article "US Diplomats Grounded in Baghdad after Blackwater Incident."

Same-Named Spouse ??

A new twist I had not anticipated.

Mrs. Kim Cosgrove is married to Mr. Kim Cosgrove.  Both are employees at the same government agency.

Similarly, Lee Marlowe is married to...  Lee Marlowe, at the same agency.  !!!

Can easily happen... Several first names are gender-ambiguous. If the woman takes the man's last name, then we have it. The possibilities boggle the mind. [In this case, I have adjusted the last names to protect the innocents.]

Ann Street Walker

A college friend reminded me that a coed in a nearby class was named Ann Street.

For a while she dated a person named Walker. If they had married, she would have become Ann Street Walker.

Good Name for Female Bank Robber

Robin Banks.

Google it. There are plenty of real people with this name.  Alternate spelling: Robbin Banks.

Maxine Cleavage

This unusual name is the (presumably made-up) name chosen by a recent spammer.

From: Maxine cleavage <3-least@admi.org>

Subject: all new pharmacy database

B. J. Liederman Composes Music

B. J. Liederman composes the theme music for many NPR shows.

In German, "Liederman" would mean "song person."

Outstanding Book on Animal Behavior

I am told that the outstanding book on animal behavior is The Imperial Animal by Lionel Tiger and Robin Fox.

Inventor of D-Con Rat Poison

The inventor of D-Con Rat Poison is Lee Ratner.

Would be funnier if it had been Les Ratner.

Reference: This Google book search result.

Genesis

While browsing at Reading International, I came upon a small book on the bargain table. Remarkable Names of Real People by John Train has given me many laughs. I decided to see how many remarkable names I could find. This book is still available at Amazon.