The AKA Name Game

2.

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was the birth name of which famous woman?

• Florence Nightingale
  Not quite. Florence Nightingale sure was famous, but her name's all her own. She was the founder of modern nursing and she organized and directed a unit of field nurses during the Crimean War (1854).

  Here's a clue. A name change is usually mandatory for a person entering a religious order. The new name signifies a spiritual rebirth. So the correct answer is ... Mother Teresa. She was born in Albania in 1910, and took the name Teresa for St. Teresa of Avila.

• Mother Teresa
  You really know your names! A name change is usually mandatory for a person entering a religious order. The new name signifies a spiritual rebirth. Mother Teresa was born in Albania in 1910, and took the name Teresa for St. Teresa of Avila.
• Marie Curie
  Nope. But this Polish-born, French chemist did change her name. Marie Curie was born Manja Sklodowska. She shared the 1903 Nobel Prize with her husband, Pierre Curie and fellow chemist, Henri Becquerel for their research in radioactivity. She won a second Noble Prize for her discovery and study of radium and polonium.

  Here's a clue. A name change is usually mandatory for a person entering a religious order. The new name signifies a spiritual rebirth. So the correct answer is ... Mother Teresa. She was born in Albania in 1910, and took the name Teresa for St. Teresa of Avila.

3.

Which rock singer started out in life as plain old Gordon Sumner?

• Sting
  You got it! Image is everything, and Gordon just didn't cut it! Sting's schoolmates gave him the name because of his "buzzing" energy, and the yellow and black striped tee shirt he always used to wear.
• Bono
  Nope, but Bono's real name, Paul Hewson, is equally ordinary. This Irish rock singer originally changed his name to Bono Vox after a hearing-aid shop in Dublin. Supposedly he was not too keen on the choice until he realized it meant "good voice" in Latin.

  Sting is the right choice. His schoolmates gave him the name because of his "buzzing" energy, and the yellow and black striped T-shirt he always used to wear.

• Elton John
  Nope, but Elton John's birth name, Reginald Kenneth Dwight, is equally ordinary. This English-born performer adopted his new first name from Elton Dean, the saxophonist for the soul group Bluesology. He got his last name from Long John Baldry, a rock singer. And to really spice things up, he later added a middle name -- Hercules. Elton thought his birth name "sounded like a cement mixer!"

  Sting is the right choice. His schoolmates gave him the name because of his "buzzing" energy, and the yellow and black striped tee shirt he always used to wear.

4.

Charlotte Bronte wrote Jane Eyre under which pen name?

• Acton Bell
  Oops! Wrong Bell. The three Bronte sisters -- Ann, Emily, and Charlotte -- adopted the pen names Acton, Ellis, and Currer Bell when their first poems were published in 1846. It wasn't easy being a woman writer in 1800s, and to be taken seriously the sisters led readers to believe they were in fact three brothers. Charlotte published Jane Eyre under the pseudonym Currer, and Emily published Wuthering Heights in the same year using her pen name, Ellis.
• Currer Bell
  Ding! You're correct. The three Bronte sisters -- Ann, Emily, and Charlotte -- adopted the pen names Acton, Ellis, and Currer Bell when their first poems were published in 1846. It wasn't easy being a woman writer in 1800s, and to be taken seriously the sisters led readers to believe they were in fact three brothers. Charlotte published Jane Eyre under the pseudonym Currer, and Emily published Wuthering Heights in the same year using her pen name, Ellis.
• Tinker Bell
  Oops! Wrong Bell. The three Bronte sisters -- Ann, Emily, and Charlotte -- adopted the pen names Acton, Ellis, and Currer Bell when their first poems were published in 1846. It wasn't easy being a woman writer in 1800s, and to be taken seriously the sisters led readers to believe they were in fact three brothers. Charlotte published Jane Eyre under the pseudonym Currer, and Emily published Wuthering Heights in the same year using her pen name, Ellis.

5.

What famous outlaw began his life Robert Le Roy Parker?

• Jesse James
  Nope. Jesse was always Jesse, but Butch Cassidy found that a good alias can come in handy when you're on the run from the law. Little Robert Le Roy Parker turned out to be a bank robber. He chose the alias Cassidy, but was given the nickname "Butch" while working for a butcher.
• Buffalo Bill
  Nope. Buffalo Bill wasn't an outlaw -- he was a U.S. scout and a showman. His real name was William Frederick Cody. He got the nickname Buffalo Bill because he provided buffalo meat for rail construction crews.

  Little Robert Le Roy Parker turned out to be a bank robber by the name of Butch Cassidy. He found that a good alias can come in handy when you're on the run from the law. He chose the alias Cassidy, but was given the nickname "Butch" while working for a butcher.

• Butch Cassidy
  On the mark! Little Robert Le Roy Parker turned out to be a bank robber by the name of Butch Cassidy. He found that a good alias can come in handy when you're on the run from the law. He chose the alias Cassidy, but was given the nickname "Butch" while working for a butcher.