Sir, – Your article ("A dozen things you might not know about Irish names", October 26th), states that Marilyn Monroe dropped the name Dougherty because 20th Century Fox thought it too difficult for American movie-goers to pronounce.
That is not the case – she did so because she had just divorced her first husband, James Dougherty.
Born Norma Jeane Mortenson, she chose her mother’s maiden name, Monroe, as a screen name to complement the Marilyn suggested by the studio.
– Yours, etc,
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Dr JOHN DOHERTY
Vienna,
Austria.