25 People Much Cooler Than Their Names

By Pamela Redmond Satran

We like to think the names we choose will help determine the people our children grow up to be.  Serious, classic names create serious, classic (and classy) people; gorgeous names breed future stunners; and cool names will make your kid cool.

And sure, it works out like that sometimes.  From Beyonce to Leonardo Di Caprio, there are lots of examples of cool people with cool names.

But sometimes people transcend the image of their names, like the 25 folks here who are undeniably cool yet have names that are pretty much not.

1. Allen Ginsberg

2. Armie Hammer

3. Bruce Springsteen

4. Cindy Sherman

5. Edna St. Vincent Millay

6. Ernest Hemingway

7. Frances McDormand

8. Gary Shteyngart

9. Gertrude Stein

10. Heidi Klum

11. Herman Melville

12. J.K. Rowling

13. Jerry Seinfeld

14. Jon Hamm

15. Larry David

16. Lenny Kravitz

17. Marge Simpson

18. Marlon Brando

19. Marvin Gaye

20. Merle Haggard

21. Michelle Obama

22. Neil Gaiman

23. Sidney Poitier

24. Stanley Kubrick

25. Wilma Rudolph

Who would you add to the list?  What names would you take away?

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