Middle Names Trivia

1. There is a Lake Chandos in Ontario, Canada and a Chandos House in London, but which folk singer was born in Staten Island NY in 1941 with the middle name of Chandos?

From Quiz Danger's My Middle Name

Answer: Joan Baez

Born Joan Chandos Báez, of Mexican heritage, she is a noted performer in styles ranging from folk to rock to pop to country to gospel. Her career began with a self-title debut album that went 'Gold' in 1960. Her most successful single, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", reached #3 in the US Billboard 100 chart, #6 in the UK Singles chart, and topped the US Adult Contemporary chart in 1971. Her performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival helped popularize the music of Bob Dylan. Of the alternatives, James Joseph Croce was born in Philadelphia PA in 1943; Janis Ian was born Janis Eddy Fink in New York NY in 1951; and James Vernon Taylor was born in Boston MA in 1948.

From Quiz Fill Me In (#2)

Answer: Wilkie

William Wilkie Collins was one of the most popular and prolific writers of his time, the mid-nineteenth century. His life is as interesting as the suspenseful fiction for which he was so popular. For instance, he was apparently addicted to opium and came to believe that he was haunted by a double he himself called "Ghost Wilkie." Although he did not marry, he had active relationships with various women and became a father of three children.

From Quiz Famous People's Middle Names

Answer: Gandhi

Gandhi's real name was 'Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi'. He was called 'Mahatma' which means 'great soul'.

From Quiz Danger's My Middle Name

Answer: Byron

There are towns named Byron in states from Maine to California and from Georgia to Minnesota. South Dakota's Lake Byron, which feeds the James River, is particularly popular with game fishermen. Cape Byron, just north of the town on Byron Bay in northern New South Wales, is the easternmost point of mainland Australia. It was named by Captain James Cook, not though for the poet Lord Byron but for British explorer John Byron, who circumnavigated the globe in the 1760s in HMS Dolphin. The 65-mile wide Byron Crater on Mercury, though, was named for the poet. James Byron Dean was born in Marion IN in 1931. After a handful of uncredited film appearances in the early 1950s, he made only three films in starring roles but was nominated twice for a Best Actor Oscar. He died in a 1955 auto accident before the last of those three films ("Giant") was even released.

From Quiz Fill Me In (#2)

Answer: Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (nee Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin), came from a very famous family. Her father, William Godwin, was a philosopher who wrote "An Inquiry Concerning Political Justice," and her mother was Mary Wollstonecraft, a famous early feminist who wrote "A Vindication of the Rights of Women." Mary Shelley's brilliant, subtle novel of a doctor and his created "monster" dramatizes energies of Romanticism and gives voice to the crippling effects of injustices of all kinds.

From Quiz Famous People's Middle Names

Answer: Taliaferro

Like many former American slaves, Booker chose his own middle name, Taliaferro.

From Quiz Danger's My Middle Name

Answer: Frasier Crane

The Eagles' 1972 hit single "Take it Easy" contains the memorable verse "Well, I'm a standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, and such a fine sight to see; It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowin' down to take a look at me." The largest town of the name is Winslow Township in Camden County in southern New Jersey, which is home to around 40,000. The TV character with the middle name Winslow began life in 1984 in "Cheers" before graduating to his own series in 1993 -- Frasier Crane played by Kelsey Grammer. (Kelsey is actually his middle name -- he was born Allen Kelsey Grammer.) Curiously, Frasier's brother, Niles, although given an unusual first name was given no middle name at all. Of the alternatives, Roseanne Harris Connor from "Roseanne" was played by Roseanne Barr; Sabrina Spellman (played by Melissa Joan Hart in "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch") was not given a middle name; and poor old Malcolm (portrayed by Frankie Muniz) from "Malcolm in the Middle" was not only not given a middle name but he did not even have a last name (and nor did any of the other characters in the series).

From Quiz Fill Me In (#2)

Answer: Makepeace

William Makepeace Thackerey is the complete name of the famous author of "Vanity Fair," a novel which displays the cruelties in a society dominated by social blindness and the desire for wealth. In person, Thackeray was a tall man, about 6'3," who had been born in Calcutta, India. For decades, his wife was totally locked into a depressive state, because of which Thackerey was thought of as a widower.

From Quiz Famous People's Middle Names

Answer: Penn

The book, 'All the King's Men', was based on the career of the Louisiana politician, Huey Long. Warren won pulitzer prizes in both poetry and prose, the only author to receive such an honor.

From Quiz Danger's My Middle Name

Answer: Kiefer Sutherland

The actor most recognizable as Jack Bauer, star of TV's "24", was born Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland in London in 1966. Middle names are often family names handed down from one generation to the next, but that is not the case here -- his Canadian father, star of "M*A*S*H", "The Dirty Dozen" and "Kelly's Heroes", was born Donald McNichol Sutherland, whilst his actress mother was Shirley Jean Douglas. Of the alternatives, David Lawrence Schwimmer, star of "Friends", was born in Queens NY, also in 1966. Actor/comedian Christopher Julius Rock III was born in Andrews SC in 1965, whilst Matthew Langford Perry (also from "Friends") was born in Williamstown MA in 1969.

From Quiz Famous People's Middle Names

Answer: Warren Harding

Warren Harding served a corruption filled couple years in office before his tragic death, one of the several presidents to die in office.

From Quiz Danger's My Middle Name

Answer: Harold Wilson

Appropriately, he was known by his middle name. The British Prime Minister from 1964-1970 and again from 1974-1976, he was born James Harold Wilson in Huddersfield, Yorkshire in 1916. Born in Tampico IL in 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the U.S., holding office from 1981 until 1989. Curiously, the other U.S. President with the name Wilson was also known by his middle name -- the 28th President was born Thomas Woodrow Wilson in Staunton VA in 1856. The character in the Tom Hanks movie was Chuck's friend, the volleyball named Wilson, in the 2000 film "Cast Away".

From Quiz Danger's My Middle Name

Answer: Spencer Tracy

Spencer Bonaventure Tracy made his full-length movie debut in the 1930 film "Up the River" with Humphrey Bogart. His first Best Actor Oscar nomination came for the 1936 film "San Francisco" with Clark Gable. A year later, Tracy was nominated again, for "Captains Courageous", and this time he carried the statue away too. A second consecutive Oscar win followed for what is perhaps Tracy's most famous film role, as Father Flanagan in "Boys Town" with Mickey Rooney. Tracy's posthumous nomination for the 1967 Best Actor Oscar for "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" gave him a record nine nominations in the category. Laurence Olivier tied that record in 1978. Paul Newman died one short of Tracy and Olivier's record for nominations. Jack Nicholson's 2002 nomination and Peter O'Toole's nomination in 2006 moved each of them level with Newman, one behind Tracy and Olivier. Of the alternatives, Paul Muni won his Oscar the year before Tracy's double, in 1936 for "The Story of Louis Pasteur". Muni was born with the impressive name of Frederich Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund in Lemberg (Lwów), Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Lviv, Ukraine) in 1895. Gary Cooper (another two-time winner) was born Frank James Cooper in Helena MT in 1901, and James Francis Cagney Jr. was born in New York NY in 1899.

From Quiz Famous People's Middle Names

Answer: Glasgow

Admiral Farragut was a naval hero of the U.S. civil war, and his parents were obviously fond of Scotland.

From Quiz Danger's My Middle Name

Answer: Gerald Ford

Cervidae is the animal family that includes most of the ruminant mammal species widely known as 'deer'. Rangifer tarandus is the species known as caribou in North America and as reindeer elsewhere. The most famous fictional member of the species is, of course, Rudolph. Spelled slightly differently, Rudolf Island (aka Prince Rudolf Land) is the northernmost island of Russia's Franz Josef Archipelago, and thus the northernmost island in Europe. Born Leslie Lynch King Jr. in Omaha NE in 1913, the future President's parents divorced soon after his birth and he was renamed when his mother married shortly afterwards. His new name, and the one under which he became President in 1974, was Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. Of the alternatives, Calvin Coolidge is another of those Presidents known by his middle name -- he was born John Calvin Coolidge in Plymouth Notch VT in 1872. Ford was succeeded in office by James Earl Carter Jr., born in Plains GA in 1924. Theodore Roosevelt Jr., born in New York NY in 1858 is one of a remarkable 19 U.S. Presidents who had no middle name at all.

From Quiz Fill Me In (#2)

Answer: Tecumseh

William Tecumseh Sherman (or 'Cump' as his intimates called him) was a general in the Union Army during the Civil War. (He is not to be confused with Tecumseh (or Tekamthi) who was a well known Native Amerian leader of the Shawnee). Sherman is forever associated with the "scorched earth policies" which identify the thoroughness with which he attempted to devastate the American South. Sherman's loyalty to the North, to the Union, is legend. He applied the same severity in his subsequent battles against what he called "a few thieving, ragged Indians." He completely backed the development of the railroad. Overall, Sherman's name is linked to celebrated battles in the Civil War, such as The March to the Sea, Shiloh, Atlanta, Savannah, and others.

From Quiz Fill Me In (#2)

Answer: Lloyd

William Lloyd Garrison was a passionate opponent of slavery who insisted that he "would be heard." Garrison once burned a copy of the U.S. Constitution in 1844 due to his belief that it enslaved black people. Unfortunately, Garrison and Frederick Douglass, two eloquent orators, had a profound disagreement over the role of the Constitution in the emanicipation process. Garrison criticized Douglass openly, and their feud was never resolved.

From Quiz Famous People's Middle Names

Answer: Amadeus

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, or 'Wolfie' if you're someone close. His baptismal names were Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus.

From Quiz Danger's My Middle Name

Answer: Chelsea

Best remembered as the captain who led England to victory in the 1966 World Cup Final, Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore OBE was born in Barking, Essex in 1941. When he retired in 1973, he was the most-capped England player of all-time, having made 108 appearances for the national team. Goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who eventually amassed 125 caps, went past Moore but it was not until more than 15 years after his death in 1993 (when David Beckham played his 109th international in 2009) that Moore's record as an outfield player was surpassed. The legendary Pele named Moore as the greatest defender he ever played against. Despite being given the name "Chelsea", Moore signed a youth contract with West Ham United at the age of 15 and played for that club from 1958 until 1974. He moved west across London at the end of his career, but it was for Fulham (rather than Chelsea) that he played his final three seasons.

From Quiz Fill Me In (#2)

Answer: Gordon

George Gordon Byron, also known as Lord Byron, was (or wanted to be seen as) the epitome of the Romantic hero. His most famous writings are "Don Juan," "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" and the shorter poem, "She Walks in Beauty." Caroline Lamb, one of his female friends, said of him that he was "mad, bad, and dangerous to know," thus coining a phrase that has come to be widely used. Byron was part of the group of great English poets, including Keats and Shelley, who made much of beauty, danger, and freedom. Byron died of a fever in Greece.

From Quiz Famous People's Middle Names

Answer: Sergeyevich

If you take a look, you'll notice that lots of Russian male middle names end in '-vich' or '-vitch'. The '-vich' or '-vitch' denotes 'son of...'. Thus both Gorbachev and Khrushchev were sons of Sergei.

From Quiz Danger's My Middle Name

Answer: James Joyce

Born James Augustine Aloysius Joyce in the suburbs of Dublin, Ireland in 1882, he is widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of her era. Although Joyce emigrated permanently around the turn of the Century, living the rest of his life in Trieste, Paris and Zurich, his novels are set entirely in his home city. His characters are mostly caricatures of family members and people he knew growing up in Dublin. Of the alternatives, Virginia Woolf was also born in 1882, in London. She is also known by her middle name -- she was born Adeline Virginia Stephen. Similarly American novelist Sinclair Lewis -- he was born Harry Sinclair Lewis in Sauk Center MN in 1885. The impressively named American poet Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was born in Hailey, Idaho Territory, also in 1885.

From Quiz Famous People's Middle Names

Answer: Paul

Peter, Paul ... also the name of a candy company, go figure.

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