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The Top 10: People Whose Names Are Palindromes

You may not believe that there would be enough notable people to make a full list of names that read the same forwards and backwards... 

John Rentoul
Saturday 28 April 2018 10:42 BST
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Ordelafo Faledro, 34th Doge of Venice
Ordelafo Faledro, 34th Doge of Venice

I did the Top 10 Palindromes a few years ago, when Mr Memory mentioned Lord Glenelg, a cabinet minister with a palindromic surname. David Mills warned that electing a palindromic politician could be a party trap. Chris Jones suggested a suitable slogan for such a leader: “Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?”

1. Tim Smit, founder of the Eden Project. Nominated by Stewart Wood, who had the idea for this list.

2. Leon Noel, France’s ambassador to Poland at the outbreak of the Second World War. Thanks to Mr Memory and Chris Jones.

3. Revilo Oliver, professor of Classical Philology, Spanish and Italian at the University of Illinois who testified before the Warren Commission on JFK’s assassination. From Mr Memory again. I assume his name was a deliberate palindrome, but it was given to him at birth.

4. Lon Nol, prime minister and then president of Cambodia, which he renamed the Khmer Republic, until he was overthrown by the Khmer Rouge in 1975. Nominated by Andrew Denny and Patrick Kidd, who suspected reaching 10 would be hard, but I never doubted the power of Twitter.

5. Anuta Catuna, Romanian athlete who won the New York marathon in 1996 and who competed in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. Late sprint from Robert Boston.

6. Nisio Isin, Japanese novelist and manga writer, whose pseudonym is a palindrome when romanised using the Kunrei-shiki or Nihon-shiki systems. Nominated by “Peter Being Boring”.

7. Mike Kim, US-Korean author of Escaping North Korea: Defiance and Hope in the World’s Most Repressive Country, which is being made into a film. Thanks to Ian Reeve.

8. Ordelafo Faledro, Doge of Venice, 1102–17 (above). A branch of a noble family in Romagna, known as Ordelaffi, or Ordelaf, moved to Venice and inverted the surname to Faledro, or Faliero. No idea why, or why this one was given the original surname as a first name. Remarkable nomination by Ted Morris.

9. Nell Allen, artist. Thanks to Ian Simcox.

10. Anna Sanna, Democratic Left Italian mayor and MP in 1980s and 1990s. Another from Chris Jones.

I thought I was going to need stage names to get up to 10, but in the end had no need of Robert Trebor, the actor who starred in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess (born Robert Schenkman); or of Steve Evets, the British actor who starred in Looking for Eric, 2009 (born Steven Murphy); both nominated by Stephen Colvin. Nor did I need Stanley Yelnats, a character in Louis Sachar’s wonderful novel, Holes.

In the “there’s always one” category, Patrick Kidd nominated Mum. In the “sometimes there are two” category, Michael O’Connor nominated Jerome K Jerome. And in the “occasionally there are three” category, BurnMarks1962 suggested that Robert Streb, the US golfer, might be known as Bert to his friends.

Honourable mentions for Graham Kirby and Malcolm Redfellow for U Nu, the first prime minister of Burma (1948-56), but the U is an honorific.

Next week: Fictional universities, such as the Unseen University in the Discworld series

Coming soon: Song Titles that Refer to Other Artists, such as “Song for Bob Dylan”, by David Bowie

Your suggestions please, and ideas for future Top 10s, to me on Twitter, or by email to top10@independent.co.uk

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