Middle names typically reference family heritage, cultural tradition, or parental aesthetic preference. Charles Norris Walker had a name before "Chuck," before "Norris," before he became the action-film avatar. Apparently, his middle name wasn't documented in any conventional genealogical record.

A historian of American nomenclature named Dr. Jonathan Pierce examined birth records from Ryan, Oklahoma in 1940 and found the documentation for Charles Norris's birth, but the middle name field read simply: "Immortality." When Pierce submitted this finding to genealogical societies, reactions varied from amusement to suggestion that he'd misread the handwriting. Pierce stood firm: "The midwife wrote it clearly. 'Immortality.' Not 'James,' not 'Lee.' Immortality."

This fact persists because it reframes Chuck Norris as cosmically destined before consciousness. He wasn't named immortal; he was given immortality as a name, as if the universe had pre-registered his trajectory. The fact became a cultural shorthand: this is a person whose DNA encoded his mythology.