Probably the first comedy superstar, Charlie Chaplin, would fit that category. From 1913 to 1952, most of his best work was done in America. He only made two films in England, and they did not do well. What was strange was that though Chaplin did his work in America, and paid taxes in America, during the beginning of the Cold War period he was attacked for not becoming an American citizen. At a press conference for the premiere of “Monsieur Verdoux” Chaplin was harassed by a group called the Catholic War Veterans of New Jersey. They demanded to know why he did not become an American citizen. Chaplin tried to explain he was proud to be British, but the veterans kept pushing the issue. Ironically, at the same time, the FBI was trying to uncover dirt on Chaplin to keep him from becoming a citizen. Having failed to prove he was a Communist, the FBI cataloged testimony from Lita Gray Chaplin about her ex-husband’s perversions. (Chaplin once asked her to perform oral sex.) When Chaplin went to visit Europe in 1952, the FBI turned the information over to the immigration department, which decided that Chaplin would have to face a special hearing to testify on the morals charges. Rather than face that public embarrassment, Chaplin and his family settled in Switzerland. Twenty years later, he would be welcomed back into the USA to receive a special Oscar. One little irony: In 1987, PBS began running a new series about artistic geniuses called “American Masters.” Their first broadcast was about Chaplin. At least PBS considered him to be “American” even if the Catholic War Veterans of New Jersey did not.

1. Because English is a Germanic language. Many German surnames sound like or are equivalent to English ones - Walter, Wolf, Peters, Keller, Martin, Thomas - are all in the list of 100 most common surnames in Germany and all are also English surnames.
2. Because things get Anglicized. This is the process where spellings are simplified or modified toward the dominant culture. Many early 1900’s immigrants could not read pr didn’t have a standardized spelling for their surnames upon arrival at Ellis Island and their names were misrecorded as English equivalents - Fischer became Fisher, Koch becomes Cook, etc.
3. We fought some wars with Germany… anti-German sentiment ran high during both world wars (though more during the first one) this led many of German descent to adopt/change their surnames to English ones to show that they were loyal Americans and not “evil krauts.” Schmidt became Smith, Muller became Miller, Neumann became Newman, etc.

It is also the case that people groups who were not English were given English surnames at various points, which inflates the English surname number past that of those with actual ancestry. For example, a good portion of the 42 million African Americans in the US have ancestors who were slaves and took the surname of their slave owner upon emancipation. You have a lot of Williams, Johnsons, Jacksons, and Scotts who have English surnames without English ancestry (though admixture did happen, often through sexual abuse of slaves by their owners). The same happened for many Native American groups - they were given English surnames, or chose them in order to interact with majority society at some point.

Yes, I can think of a few examples of people who are famous but look nothing like their name. One example is actress Zooey Deschanel. She has a very unique look and is nothing like her name would suggest. Another example is singer Sia. She is also very unique looking and doesn’t look anything like her name.

As a hockey fan, I can think of three off the top of my head.

Jason and Nicholas Robertson sound like typical American names. The brothers were born in California and live in Michigan. Since their mother Mercedes is Filipina, they have inherited her Asian features. Both have dark hair and eyes while having some Caucasian undertone in their complexion.

Mitchell Vande Sompel is another name that can throw someone for a loop. I know that, when I first saw that name, I expected someone who was 6′4″ with blonde hair, considering that many Dutchmen are tall towheads. I did not expect someone 5′10″ and matrilineally Japanese.

I think Boris Karloff would fit that dichotomy. William Henry Pratt chose the stage name to make him sound like a sinister Russian. However, he did not look like a Russian, and his voice was more British than any other nationality. After making “Frankenstein”, he was billed mainly as “Karloff” or “Karloff the Uncanny.” It was only when he appeared at different studios that he used Boris Karloff as his full name. Apart from his stage name, he was proud of being a Pratt. His brothers had attained some distinction in working at prominent jobs in Britain. In 1934, when he returned to Britain for a Pratt family reunion, he felt self-conscious about being an actor. However, his brothers insisted he pose with them for a family portrait of the Pratt brothers.

[If an American has the surname, Newcomer, where did he come from?]

There are about 7,000 people with this surname in the USA.

This surname appears to be largely/solely of Swiss origin, with a strong connection to the village of Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland. Bearers of the surname appear to have been Mennonites. Seeking religious freedom many migrated to Pennsylvania, a state where by German and Swiss immigrants were welcomed by William Penn.

It is an Anglicized form (translation into English) of Swiss-German Neukommet an extinct variant of Neukom “newcomer” and possibly also of some other surname with this meaning such as German Neukam. Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022.

Because this immigration took place nearly 400 years ago, a person with this name was likely born and raised in America.

Here is the worldwide diffusion of this name (Source: “Forebears” website):

According to recent census these are the most common ancestries in the USA:

18% Hispanic (any race)

14,5% German

12,5% Afro-American

10,5% Irish

8% English

7% “American”

6% Italian

3% French

3% polish

1,5% Scottish

As you can see Germans are only less than 15%,and some of them have switched to an English surname, let's say a third,so German surnames account 10% of population.

What about English surnames?

First of all we have the so called “American ancestry”,in fact overwhelming english and some Scottish ancestry from colonial times. Than we have the Irish, Scottish and Scots-irish (Ulster Irish) who have also a majority of English surnames.

And finally Afro-Americans,who have all of them English surnames.

So in totality English+”American”+majority of Irish and Scottish+some Germans+Afro-Americans and we have a 33–40% of English surnames against a 10% of German surnames, Spanish surnames account a 18% (2nd most common).

Another point is that many German surnames although very common,they can pass as English due to the link between both languages.

Some examples are: Becker, Schmidt, Spielberg, Hoffman, Bauer, Lang, Lorenz, Mann, Hartman, Franz, Koch, Lehman and many others really common surnames in the USA that people assume they are English.

For a start, some surnames with Native American origins have been corrupted into American English versions. For example the Muskogee (Creek Indian) male titles haco and emarv are the origins of the surnames Harjo and Emarthla. The -ar- in each name represents the influence of the southern American drawl on the pronunciation of these names. Still, even though these names could be carried by people who are not members of any Indian tribe, they do have Native origins, so they may be ruled out-of-bounds for this question.

So let's move on. Some European names have acquired unique respellings in North America. For example, a German name like Baumgärtner (meaning "orchardman," literally "tree gardener") lost its umlaut, becoming Baumgartner. But didn't the same thing happen in Britain and other English-speaking countries? Sure it did; there are Baumgartners in Australia, for instance. But many names in North America underwent a further, unique, sometimes radical respelling.

This might happen because no one in the family wrote down the name for one or more generations, so children were eventually obliged to spell their own surname according to how it sounded. Or it might happen because someone in authority spelled the name incorrectly and the family accepted the new spelling as correct. For example, a Mr. Baumgartner might enlist in the U.S. Army and find that his captain's adjutant had recorded his name as Bumgardner. From then on, Baumgartner might find it easier to conform to the Army's spelling when applying for veteran's benefits or looking for work. His wife and children, if they survive him, will also have good reason to call themselves Bumgardners.

Similar orthographic misfortunes could befall a surname in Britain, Australia, or South Africa, of course. But it probably happened with the greatest frequency, and to a greater variety of names, in North America. Note that it is only in the last two centuries, more or less, that these spelling discrepancies have been considered worth noticing. Before then, most people were unable to write, so naturally they never worrried about how their names were spelled. In the 1600s and earlier, Smith and Smyth were two ways of spelling the same surname. In modern times (and that includes all of U.S. history) we assume that different spellings represent distinct identities.

Immigration from central and eastern Europe to the United States sometimes led to simplified respellings, some of them unique to North America. For example, Blaszak might become Blazak because, to English eyes, the S and Z in Blaszak seem to be doing the same job, so one of them can be dropped. It would take extensive research to prove it, but I believe all the Blazaks in the world either live in the U.S. or have roots there. Similarly, all the Swedish descendants named Youngren (instead of Ljungren) are probably connected to the U.S.

I've assumed that this question is seeking surnames that have unique spellings. But there are cases in which North American families have changed to a non-unique name, but for a unique reason, thus creating a new history for an old name.

For example, enslaved black Americans generally had no surnames until emancipation in 1865. Some took a symbolic name like "Freeman"; others took prominent American names like Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln. One family I know of took the name Bannister — not from the Anglo-Norman surname Banastre, but because, they said, their ancestor had been standing at a bannister in "the big house" when he received the news of his freedom. Similarly, some immigrants changed their surnames to a relatively commonplace "American" name like Bush, Collins, or Smith. All these names may not be unique, but they have unique histories.

He's no longer living, but in another Quora question (Who is the most lovable person of all time in the world?), I answered with Fred Rodgers:

and got several responses asking 'who?'

Hmm..this person would probably be a radio personality, a country music performer or a politician as individuals in these groups are often very popular in the United States, but virtually unknown outside of it.

My choices:

1. Don Imus - A popular US radio host who is virtually unknown outside of the United States itself.
2. Randy Travis - Formerly a very popular country music performer who is unknown outside of the United States country music scene.
3. Rand Paul - A Republican Senator from Kentucky who would only be known to those outside the US who closely follow the American political scene but is a nearly a constant in the American media.

Don Imus, Legendary 'Imus in the Morning' Host, Dies at 79

Charles Chaplin and Stan Laurel, back in the early days of cinema. Both were born in England. Bob Hope, who came upon the scene a little later, was born in England also.

Ida Lupino, during Hollywood’s Golden Age. Her father was well-known on the English stage, but her fame didn’t really take off until she came to Hollywood just when films noir were getting underway… and how perfectly she fitted into that milieu!

Audrey Hepburn, who was born in Belgium. She did actually have roles in a couple of British movies (such as “The Lavender Hill Mob”) before she made her ‘debut’ in “Roman Holiday”, but I think it’s fair to say that she wasn’t even slightly well-known until she was discovered by Hollywood, and became established as, not a foreign star (as was her contemporary, Leslie Caron, who hardly ever played a role in which she wasn’t French) but as a well-spoken and well-mannered home-grown American.

A remarkable proportion of American artists, actors, and celebrities are actually Canadian, and not a lot of Americans realize that. A partial list includes:

Rachel McAdams, Eliot Page, Ryan Gosling, Stephen Amell, Ryan Reynolds, Emily Bett Rickards, Cobie Smulders, Shenae Grimes, Emily VanCamp, Jim Carrey, Jay Baruchel, Stana Katic, Tracy Spiridakos, Seth Rogen, Katheryn Winnick, Robbie Amell, Anna Paquin, Taylor Kitsch, Evangeline Lilly, Chasty Ballesteros, Lindy Booth, Nathan Fillion, Elisha Cuthbert, Kristin Kreuk, Cory Monteith, Amanda Crew, Rachelle Lefevre, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Michael Cera, Daniel Gillies, Torrance Coombs, Michael J. Fox, Hayden Christensen, Conchita Campbell, Alexander Ludwig, Tatiana Maslany, Corey Haim, Devon Sawa, Kevin Zegers, Nolan Gerard Funk, Laura Vandervoort, Kim Coates, Charlotte Sullivan, Liam James, Jessica Lucas, Aubrey Graham, Megan Follows, James Cameron, Will Arnett, Sandra Oh, Eric McCormack, Neve Campbell, Nia Vardalos, Martin Short, Malin Ackerman, William Shatner, Dan Aykroyd, and Matthew Perry.

Just to name a few. The ones whose work I know best are in bold.

Normally, I don’t post images, but there’s actually no way to do this other than posting the image:

It may be pronounced “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince”, but it’s spelled like the image…

“Goes by” is a pretty vague description.

If I say “Zlatan” here in Sweden, everyone will know who I refer to. Lots of people all over the world will know who “Arnold” is, or at least “Arnie”.

Many artists and athletes are known under only one name, like Pele, Ronaldo, Prince.

And something many people are unaware of: Queen Elizabeth II of the UK does not have a surname, just like many other royals. She is of the House of Windsor, so it’s not completely wrong to say the full name is Elizabeth Windsor, but it’s not exactly correct, either. It’s not what it will say on any official documentation. And of course, she has two other given names, so she doesn’t go by only one name.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

You’re welcome.