Top 10 Men With Salad Names

Recently, we brought you Top 10 Men With Meat Names, culled from an online collection of men who share their names with different kinds of animal flesh. It got us thinking, though — what about all those gentlemen with vegetables for last names? Where was that amusing website designed exclusively for them? Turns out there isn't one, so we decided to come up with a list on our own. Some who didn't make the cut include Indian American composer and musician Karsh Kale, erstwhile Bud Light mascot Spuds MacKenzie, Colonel Mustard, and a minor Biblical figure in the book of Genesis known as Mash. Read on for our own, custom-designed list of Top 10 Men With Salad Names, and don't forget to comment with some suggestions of your own. Now, eat your greens.

10. Basil Rathbone, actor

Sir Basil Rathbone (1892-1967) was born in South Africa, became a famous actor in England, and died in New York City. Global varieties of basil include Baja, Genovese, New Guinea, Thai, and African Blue Basil, as well as Aussie Sweet Basil.

9. Albert R. Broccoli, film producer

Also known as “Cubby,” Albert R. Broccoli (1909-1996) was the producer of the James Bond films. His children are honoring his legacy by continuing with the 007 franchise. Do you think they go by “Broccolini”?

Albert Broccoli; Credit: Film Reference

8. Eric Bibb, musician

This American acoustic blues singer-songwriter lives in London, where the bibb variety of butterhead lettuce is more popular than in the United States.

Eric Bibb in concert; Credit: Michel Verlinden

7. William Romaine, evangelical priest

William Romaine (1714 – 1795) went to Oxford University, and was both a preacher and an astronomy professor. As a lettuce, Romaine is commonly used in Caesar salads.

Portrait of William Romaine by Francis Cotes (1758); Credit: © National Portrait Gallery, London

6. Cabbage Head, character in Kids in the Hall

Cabbage Head was a character played by Bruce McCulloch in the TV series Kids in the Hall. He had leaves instead of hair and smoked cigars. In 1877, New York Times reported that some companies used cabbage leaves in their cigars to avoid paying tobacco taxes.

5. Charles Rocket, actor

Charles Rocket (1949-2005) was a film and TV actor who was a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Rocket is also commonly known as arugula. Wild rocket, however, is an unrelated plant belonging to the mustard family.

Charles Rocket; Credit: Dipity

4. Herb Alpert, musician

Herb Alpert played with Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass and is the “A” of A&M Records. He has had five number-one hits, twenty-eight albums on the Billboard charts, eight Grammy Awards, fourteen Platinum albums and fifteen Gold albums. There are roughly seventy kinds of culinary herbs and nearly thirty medicinal ones.

3. Alfalfa, character in Our Gang

Carl Dean “Alfalfa” Switzer (1927-1959) was an American child actor who appeared in the Our Gang films. He was also a professional breeder of hunting dogs, and he was killed after a dispute involving a reward for a lost dog. Some breeders say that feeding a dog alfalfa sprouts will satisfy its natural urge to graze.

Alfalfa; Credit: William Collins Uchtman

2. Carrot Top, comic

Scott Thompson, also known as Carrot Top, is a prop comedian with trademark curly red hair. But because the carrot is a root vegetable, its tops aren't red, but a leafy green.

Carrot Top; Credit: Hank Ashby

1. Mr. Potato Head, toy

In 1952, Hasbro debuted Mr. Potato Head, which originally consisted of plastic parts that would be inserted into a real potato. The potato body has been part of the package since 1964, and Mr. Potato Head has been in production ever since. Mr. Potato Head was the first toy to be advertised on television, and now he's bringing in yet another honor — he's the number-one man with a salad name.

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