Does Pythagoras have a middle name?

Answer 1

No. For that matter, he didn't really have a last name. His name was Pythagoras. If anyone wanted to make sure that he didn't get confused with some other Pythagoras, they'd say something like "Pythagoras of Samos" (except, of course, that they'd say it in Greek: Î?υθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος).

The reason we have last names, middle names, etc. now is to avoid any confusion of this sort. Pointing up the need is the fact that there actually was another (semi-) famous Pythagoras living in Samos who was a sculptor and, to make matters worse, according to Pliny the Elder (see, there's another one we need to add a distinctive to; the modern system is looking smarter and smarter) he apparently looked a lot like the philospher/mathematician.