1. True enough for Edward Kenned "Duke" Ellington and Prince. But not so for Earl Chrisitan Campbell and Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti and changed it). Clearly you are right that stage names should not suffer the same scrutiny as a given legal name.2xDouble said:If it was your FIRST name, yes.dariuseng said:Does that mean my last name, which is Engineer, is illegal. I need to go get a lawyer.First of all, except for Eminem's, none of those are given names. They are stage names, taken as the person entered into entertainment. Secondly: Earl, Dean, and Marshal were names in English before they were titles, and each have alternate meanings.Clankenbeard said:So, there seem to be a lot of people violating this "no titles as names" rule. I can name a couple off the top of my head:
Prince (or the artist formerly known as)
Duke Elligton
Earl Campbell
Dean Martin
Marshall Mathers (though he does go by Eminem instead of his law enforcement moniker)
Methinks this judge needs a pride obliterating ***** slap from Judge Rhinehold (who is not a judge but is named as one).
2. Does time enter into it? If a title evolves from a name, shouldn't that make the word as a name no longer an option? If "President" were changed to "George" tomorrow, no one could name their kid George, moving forward. I would argue (but not too aggressively) that Earl, Dean, and Marshal should still make the list. If there is the possibility of having a Marhsal Marshall, Earl Earl, Dean Dean, or Judge Judge then it merits weeding out.