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Ok-Pressure-3879 t1_jdsgkpq wrote

Reply to comment by Notinyourbushes in Did the Julie Browns just "agree" have one be "Downtown"? by ThrowaDev88

There was something like that with the English actors union? David Tennant said he had to get a different name because of that.

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iMogwai t1_jdsi8qe wrote

The English actor and comedian Hugh Dennis actually uses his middle name for the same reason.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Dennis: >Dennis uses his middle name Hugh as his stage name because the actor Peter Dennis was already a member of the performing arts union [Equity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_(British_trade_union)).[16] He later revealed in a 2016 episode of BBC's [Would I Lie to You?](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Would_I_Lie_to_You%3F_(game_show)) that he had requested to keep his birth name as there was little chance of confusion between the two actors due to their age difference. Equity told him that this would normally have been allowed, but advised against it as Peter Dennis was the chair of the union's naming committee at the time.[17]

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