Meriwether Lewis

I like to watch the credits at the end of a film to count people who have first names as their last names. People such as George Lucas, Steve Martin, George Michael, Patrick Stewart, Darryl Hannah, Bob Hope, Ian Fleming. I could go on. Try it yourself. I guarantee you will find at least ten in a good-size credit roll.

Since I started doing this, I have found them in other areas, too. Like politics, where we have Warren Christopher, John Kerry, Helen Thomas and, I guess, even Scooter Libby. And no less than three men in Obama’s inner circle – Rahm Emanuel, Greg Craig and Barney Frank.

An interesting case is Lewis and Clark (a two-fer), which could have been their first names but are their last. Actually, since “Meriwether” isn’t even a real first name, I would argue that Lewis had his first name as a last name.

Anyway, what I’m wondering is why this phenomenon only appears in English. Why isn’t the prime minister of Sweden ever named “Göran Sven”? I know, I know, there are a few examples, but not nearly as many as in English. Just something I think about.