Why John Wayne Was Nicknamed 'The Duke'

It's just one of those constants in life: death, taxes, and John Wayne's nickname was "The Duke." But have you ever wondered just how the man who might be the most recognizable Western star of all time wound up with a name that invokes aristocracy? After all, Wayne's larger than life on-screen persona was almost the exact opposite of the stuffy formalwear imagery the term "duke" conjures.

Wayne's original nickname was actually just "Duke," without the grammatical article "the" which tends to be attached to it. The name was given to him by a group of firefighters in Glendale, California, where he spent much of his childhood. Back in those days, the future film star used to run around with an Airedale dog that was called, yes, Duke. The firefighters saw the pair together often enough to dub the kid "Duke" as well. 

So John Wayne's famous nickname has effectively the same hilarious origin as Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr.'s (Harrison Ford) iconic name: both were named after a dog. But in all honesty, it's a cool nickname, so it's understandable that the young Wayne quite liked it and ended up embracing it. 

From a certain perspective, John Wayne was actually known by two nicknames, because "John Wayne" was never actually his real name, either. The man was born Marion Morrison, and he didn't start using the John Wayne moniker until he was in the movie business. Instead, he was known as Duke Morrison during his football-playing high school and college days. 

One thing you might not know about Wayne is that he didn't even come up with his famous stage name himself. Once he got into acting, he was eventually renamed John Wayne by studio execs, who based it on the famously courageous Revolutionary War general "Mad Anthony" Wayne. Before this, Wayne actually experimented with using the Duke Morrison stage name, though it only lasted for a single movie — the 1929 musical comedy "Words and Music."

Because of this, it can be said that the Duke — or just Duke — is actually the original when it comes to the many nicknames of Marion Robert Morrison. It's up for debate whether Wayne would have starred in some of the most rewatchable Western movies of all time if he'd stuck with "Duke Morrison" instead of "John Wayne," but it seems pretty clear that Duke was the moniker the star personally preferred from a young age — dog-related origin story and all.