this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2025
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Is it "Thelonious" or "Thelmoious"?

I can't find any good articles discussing the reasons for the differences in the spelling of Monk's first name/stage name. His wiki page says his birth name is "Thelious Monk Jr."

Surely someone has written about this, right?

EDIT: I forgot I was using a Firefox extension that swaps “Elon” to “Elmo” and I guess it was doing it within words too. LOL

#thelmoiousmonk #thelmoiousmonk #jazz @jazzfm @jazz #music @[email protected] @[email protected] @jazz

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I feel like I'm having a seizure reading this. Please fix the spelling of what you are trying to ask.

Thelonious Sphere Monk was born on October 10, 1917, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of Thelonious (or Thelious) and Barbara Monk. His sister, Marion, had been born two years earlier. His birth certificate spelled his first name as "Thelious" and did not list his middle name, taken from his maternal grandfather, Sphere Batts.

via Wikipedia

see also: Straight, no chaser : life and genius of Thelonious Monk by Gourse, Leslie

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago

Monk is a legend. I didn't realize there was a discrepancy on his birth certificate. TIL.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

@gedaliyah

Sorry, I fixed the original question. Is it Thelonious or Thelmoious?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

After the correction, I have no answer for you. "Thelmoious" returns zero web search results. No one here has ever heard this name or seen this spelling before you posted this question. I assumed it was a typo.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

@gedaliyah OMG. I figured it out.

I was using a Firefox extension that was changing “Elon” to “Elmo”… I didn’t put a space before and after “Elon” in the prompt, so it was changing it everywhere. Even within words.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

@gedaliyah

One of the funniest/most embarrassing things I've done all year... so far.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] -2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

@foggy

Then why is it "Thelonious" on his album covers?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Then why is it "Thelonious" on his album covers?

Because that is how it is spelled.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelonious_Monk_discography

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

@foggy So are you saying his stage name ins “Thelonious”?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago

I am saying his name was always "Thelonious" and never any other name or spelling.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I'm not entirely sure what your question is but plenty of people have one name on their birth certificate while using another name, even on legal documents. My aunt was in her fifties when she found out her birth certificate said Diana instead of her legal name, Diane.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago
[–] [email protected] -1 points 6 days ago

@oxjox

Sorry, I messed up the title.... His name on albums is "Thelonious"...