Favorite musicians with their first name incorporated in their last name

[Babar]

Mine would undoubtedly be James "The Hook" Jamerson of the Funk Brothers





and the one and only Mitch Mitchell from the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

[Good Intentions]

That is... a rather specific category, don't you think?

[davy]

The only other one I can even think of is Kris Kristofferson.

(Is that how you spell that?)

[Babar]

I'm sure you'll rep for Dave Davies, Davy.

[Daniel]

Jóhann Jóhannsson

[reebty]

Jim is really James, so Jim James almost fits the bill.

[Andrew_TSKS]

I always figured that the dudes named Mitch Mitchell were dudes named [first name that is not Mitch] [middle name that is not Mitch] Mitchell, and everybody just called them by a diminutive of their last name. As far as Jim James goes, though, either his birth certificate says "James [middle name] James" on it (or maybe even "James James," no middle name!), which is a horrifying thing to contemplate, or it's also a wry nickname. Before getting to know our very own jebreject, who is actually named Jebediah, every other person named "Jeb" I had ever met was actually named "J____ E____ B_____" and people just called them by their initials. And then there's the fact that, here in the south where I'm from, every single man you've ever met whose name is "[first name] [middle name] [last name] III" is called "Trey." And also, explain diminutives to me, please, someone! "Hank" is short for "Henry"? "Dick" is short for "Richard"? "Bill" is short for "William"? "Jack" is short for "John"? Jack has the same number of letters as John and takes just as long to say, so why does that particular diminutive even exist? And what about "Bud," which can be short for "William," "Charles," "Clarence"... I've heard all three, no doubt there are more. And then there's the fact that people misspell or mispronounce names out of ignorance, and you're an asshole if you're like "that name is spelled/pronounced wrong." A girl who rode my bus in high school's name was "Tanya," first syllable pronounced like the color "tan." WTF? And then there's "Britney" Spears, whose first name is clearcut evidence that she is the progeny of ignorant people who don't know that it's spelled "Brittany." Stop me now, I could go on all night.

Names are really weird and I'm not very comfortable with them.

[Good Intentions]

And also, explain diminutives to me, please, someone!

It's a long story, to do with the history of a language, of the people who speak it, and a lot of phonology. And it changes from example to example.

Here's one example I know: Richard -> Dick. Some time ago English speakers would pronounce the 'ch' in 'Richard' like the Germans do 'bach' or the the heavier sound in the Scots 'loch' (depending on which English speakers and at what time you're talking about). As that consonant dropped out of the language, or as pronunciation changes through lots of use, that 'ch' sound in some cases, like in 'Richard', gets changed to a k, especially if it's at the end of a word, like you get when you shorten Richard. So we have Richard -> Rick. The R changes to a D in the same way because a rolled 'r' has the same place of articulation as a 'd' -- your tongue hits the same spot in your mouth (the hard ridge just behind your teeth) in both sounds. As the rolled r drops out, or again simply from lots of use, that trill with your tongue becomes just a single tap, which is how you pronounce 'd'. And thus Rick -> Dick.

[Good Intentions]

Once again, LPTJ + linguistics = BFF

[alistarr*]

Jóhann Jóhannsson

yeah, he is awesome!

[narlus]

Jóhann Jóhannsson

stole mine!

[coldforge]

And also, explain diminutives to me, please, someone!

It's a long story, to do with the history of a language, of the people who speak it, and a lot of phonology. And it changes from example to example.

Here's one example I know: Richard -> Dick. Some time ago English speakers would pronounce the 'ch' in 'Richard' like the Germans do 'bach' or the the heavier sound in the Scots 'loch' (depending on which English speakers and at what time you're talking about). As that consonant dropped out of the language, or as pronunciation changes through lots of use, that 'ch' sound in some cases, like in 'Richard', gets changed to a k, especially if it's at the end of a word, like you get when you shorten Richard. So we have Richard -> Rick. The R changes to a D in the same way because a rolled 'r' has the same place of articulation as a 'd' -- your tongue hits the same spot in your mouth (the hard ridge just behind your teeth) in both sounds. As the rolled r drops out, or again simply from lots of use, that trill with your tongue becomes just a single tap, which is how you pronounce 'd'. And thus Rick -> Dick.

Do you have a cite for that? What I've seen on the topic just notes that 'Rick' and 'Dick' rhyme, as does 'Hick' which is first attested at the same time (as do Will and Bill, for that matter). The strictly sound-change account you provide here seems a little just-so.

[Greg Nog]

I'll go with Martin Martini.

[davy]

[peacocks]

YES

[narlus]

Jack Johnson
 

[dieblucasdie]

Robbie Robertson

[davy]

Dang, that's a good one. I should be ashamed of myself.

[Johnp]

Siouxsie Sioux

[fishjim]

Eric Ericson, the Swedish choral conductor. Not sure if he's any good -- I only know about him cuz I come from a long line of Eric Ericsons, and I've been asked if there's any relation.

Which there isn't. Open a phonebook in Sweden and half the names are Eric Ericson.

[narlus]

Slyvain Slyvain

[Babar]

Rochelle Rochelle

No wait, that's a movie.

No wait, that's a fictional movie.

[Greg Nog]

Does Oingo Boingo count?

[Good Intentions]

Do you have a cite for that?

In conversation with someone or the other. It was on sound changes over time. I believe it, given the amount of times people hear my name as 'Madinus' when I roll my r's. Well, I believe the sound-change bits of it.

[Good Intentions]

I should be clearer: what I've been told (and makes sense to me) is one way various diminuitive forms to names might come up is that they are actually quite close phonetically to the name in question, or they used to be back when the language was spoken differently. William -> Bill is another example, since W and B have the same place of articulation (your lips). This is just a way alternative forms might be available. There are others -- rhyming happens a lot in English (Rob -> Bob, also older nicknames like Cob), and in Afrikaans you get Rinus -> Riaan and Tinus -> Tiaan, which is a regular relationship but a different one. I don't know how it gets picked which alternative form becomes common. This is just one way you might get from Richard to Dick, or William to Bill.