If you are meeting together, print out copies before class of the Name Game (one per student); the template is found here. As your students enter the classroom, hand them a game worksheet along with a pen/pencil and ask them to match the famous names of celebrities with their lesser-known given names (their legal names before they changed them.) If you are meeting online using a social conferencing platform, be sure your students have access to the Name Game pdf so they can print out a copy of their own. After a few minutes, share the answers and determine who got the most correct answers.
Answers to the game are as follows: Vin Diesel = Mark Sinclair Vincent; Natalie Portman = Neta-Lee Hershlag; John Legend = John Roger Stephens; Miley Cyrus = Destiny Hope Cyrus; Elton John = Reginald Kenneth Dwight; Tiger Woods = Eldrick Tont Woods; Lady Gaga = Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta; Whoopi Goldberg = Caryn Elaine Johnson; Katy Perry = Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson; Rihanna = Robyn Fenty; Nicki Minaj = Onika Tanya Maraj; Mindy Kahling = Vera Chokalingam; Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr = Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Discuss:
- Why do you think these celebrities don’t use their real names? (Answers will vary; some may speculate that their original names are difficult to pronounce, are not “flashy” enough, or are not easily remembered, etc.)
- Do you think that these stars would have become just as famous if they were known by their real names? Why or why not? (Answers will vary; accept all answers.)
Have any of you seen the movie Princess Bride? The main male character leaves as Wesley and returns as the Dread Pirate Roberts. Let’s listen to his explanation of his transformation into that character.
Share the following video clip with your students [2:23]:
The Story of Dread Pirate Roberts
In the clip, Wesley explains that the reason so many different men had successfully become pirates was because they had all adopted the name of the famous marauder, Dread Pirate Roberts, along with all its history and regard. Wesley said, “…the name was the important thing for inspiring the necessary fear. No one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Wesley.” It was all in the name.
- Why do you think names are so important? (Allow students to speculate; accept all reasonable answers.)
- Has there ever been a time when someone made fun of your name or used it in a rude way? How did that make you feel? (Encourage students to share about times when peers made up nicknames based on their real names or made fun of their names in other ways. Be prepared to share your own experience or the experience of a friend or classmate when you were young.)
Today we’re going to talk about the most important Name there is and why misusing it is a sign of disrespect.
Source information:
The surprising real names of 50 celebrities
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
