Bad celebrity names

Kinky Friedman

 

John Cheese (no relation, I assume) was sensible enough to change his name.

 

You forgot Miroslav Satan.

OK, not quite the same theme you had going.

 

I think his book said his family was already called Cleese, though Cheese was the original form.

 

Well, there you go. Learn something new every day!

 

Actually, the original Engelbert Humperdinck was a composer who wrote the opera Hansel and Gretel. It may not have been such a strange name in 19th century Germany.

 

Rip Torn
Jake Tapper (sounds like a porn star handle)

 

Randy and Magic Johnson

 

"Dick Butkus"
The Neighbors, ABC sitcom (2014):
Very Funny Show -
:22

 

I think the idea came from his manager Gordon Mills. Mills had already renamed another artist from Tom Woodward to Tom Jones, and a few years later got Raymond O'Sullivan to call himself Gilbert.

 

Rip Torn's first name was was Elmore. His father's nickname was Rip and Elmore was called little Rip.

 

Seymore Butts

 

I'm aware it isn't pronounced the way it's spelled...Bruce Cockburn.

 

Also Jonathan Tootoo

 

Johnny Wadd.

 

Vic Hitler (hill street blues)

 

The late U.S. Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman.

The former mayor of my town of birth, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Harry Baals. I don't watch Jimmy Kimmel, but anyone that does is probably familiar with the Harry Baals Government Building Controversy

 

Sounds like the name of a Zappa tune.

 

Variations of "Porn-" are very common names in Thailand.

The all-time classic name (for humor in English, that is) at my language school in Canada was a Thai girl whose name was: Titty Porn

As a hockey fan, one of the great disappointments was that Miroslav Satan never played for the New Jersey Devils.

 

"I'm the only actor to be named entirely after body parts" ~ Tony Hancock

 

One of those geographical things. The surname Cockburn is not the source of sniggery in its native Scotland that it is in the United States, where most families changed the spelling to Coburn, like in James Coburn.

Similarly, the forename Randy is amusing to us Brits, but Americans can say it without so much as a hint of a smirk.

 

We North Americans fully understand the connotation of "Randy" (see: Meet The Fockers, where one of Gaylord's cousins is named Randy Focker) but, yes, it doesn't have the same sniggery-factor as in the UK. I don't know why. Maybe it's just more common in North America...?

I've often wondered if the name Richard has declined in popularity in the recent generation or two because of its association with 'dick'.

 

Former Detroit Lions player

Harry Colon

 

If you are saying, that Arnold Dorsey chose the name of Engelbert Humperdinck to be his stage name, that is certainly true. He chose to
make that his stage name (not his legal name), which he chose after what another poster said, was the name of a 19th century German composer.

 

Pete LaCock - played for the Cubs and Royals.