We all know that the characters played by big movie stars in action thrillers and TV series always have an abbreviated manly sound. All screenwriters understand this. You don’t give the brawny hero a name like David Poland or Ron Fairly or Jeffrey Wells or Lytton Strachey. Those names convey mild-mannered equivocation, learned liberalness, moderation. No, the studly, stand-alone action hero has to be called Frank Bullitt or Josh Randall or Walker or Bronk or Jack Reacher or Lew Harper or Shane or Ethan Hunt or Ram Bowen.

The latter is the name of Paul Newman‘s character in Paris Blues. It fulfills the basic requirements of all Sammy Stud names by implying physical force or sexual assertiveness (i.e., “Ram”) and a simile of some sort (“Bowen” sounding like “boning”). The latest Sammy Stud name is Harrison Ford‘s character in Paranoia — i.e., Jock Goddard, which of course implies a guy who used to play sports in high school or college and who carries a jockstrap or two in the trunk of his car and otherwise knows his way around a locker room but is also a visionary swaggering capitalist stud. And who watches ESPN and offers a firm handshake.

What are the HE readership’s favorite Sammy Stud names?