List of famous pairs
The following is a list of famous pairs listed alphabetically. For a list of pairs by category see Lists of pairs.Pairs are actual persons (living or dead), places, or things, unless identified otherwise.
- Pairs are human beings unless otherwise noted.
- Twins (see list of twins) and twin cities are not included.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Aa-Al
- Aachen & Aix-la-Chapelle (geographical; juxtapositions) (German and French names for the same town)
- Abbott & Costello; (colleagues; entertainers)
- Abélard & Heloise; (couples)
- Abercrombie & Fitch; (commercial partners)
- Adam & Eve; (Biblical; couples)
- Addison & Steele (colleagues; writers)
- Adenine & thymine (scientific; complementary) (DNA base pair)
- Roberto Alagna & Angela Gheorghiu
- Albireo (astronomical; juxtapositions) (the double star Beta Cygnus)
- Alcock & Brown; (colleagues; aviators)
- John Alden & Priscilla (couples) A real couple (but Priscilla's memorable line, "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?"" is the fictional creation of Longfellow)
- Ali and Frazier, (rivals), boxers
- Ali and Norton (rivals; boxers)
- Allemande left & Grand right and left; (sequences) (frequently paired square dance maneuvers)
- Allen and Farrow (couples)
- A&P; (supermarket chain, stands for "Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company")
- A&W; (Root beer- named after inventors Allen and Wright)
Am-Au
- American Falls & Horseshoe Falls (geographical; juxtapositions)
- Amoeba & Paramecium (complementary) Prototypical protozoans studied in elementary biology classes
- Amos & Andy; (fictional; companions)
- Anderson & Webster; (colleagues; comedians)
- Andrade and Trevi (controversial couple, entertainers, accused of crimes)
- Andy and Grant Flower, Zimbabwe cricket players
- animus & anima (conceptual)
- Ant & Dec (colleagues; entertainers)
- Anthony and Dayanara (couples)
- Antigua & Barbuda; (geographical; juxtapositions)
- Antony & Cleopatra (couples)
- Anna & the King of Siam; (colleagues) (Anna Leonowens and King Mongkut )''
- Apples and oranges (proverbial/idiomatic; conceptual; opposing; food)
- Arguello and Escalera (rivals; boxers)
- Assault and battery (criminal acts commonly committed together)
- Asterix and Obelix (cartoon friends)
- Fred & Adele Astaire (colleagues; entertainers; siblings)
- Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers (colleagues; entertainers)
- Atlas & Gazetteer (equipment; complementary)
- Autobot & Decepticon; (fictional; rivals)
B
Ba - Be-Bi - Bl-Bo - Br-BuBa
- The Babbitt & the Bromide;
- Bangers & Mash (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food) (Sausages & mashed potato)
- Battledore & Shuttlecock; (equipment; complementary)
- Bacon & eggs (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
- Baddiel & Skinner; (colleagues; comedians}
- Bambi & Thumper; (fictional; companions)
- Barbie & Ken (fictional; couples)
- Barnes & Noble; (commercial partnership)
- Barnum & Bailey; (commercial partnership)
- Baskin-Robbins (commercial partners)
- Bass & treble (conceptual; technical; antitheses)
- Bathroom & W.C (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary) (British usage) The two essential hygienic plumbing facilities.
- Batman and Robin (fictional; colleagues)
Be-Bi
- Beaumont & Fletcher (colleagues; playwrights)
- Beany & Cecil; (fictional; companions; animated cartoons; television)
- Beavis & Butthead; (fictional; companions)
- Bed and breakfast (proverbial/idiomatic)
- Beer and skittles (proverbial/idiomatic)
- Ben & Jerry; (commercial partners)
- Benjamin Britten & Peter Pears (colleagues; couples)
- Beren & Luthien (fictional; lovers) Creations of J. R. R. Tolkien
- Bert & Ernie; (fictional; companions; puppets; television) Creations of Jim Henson, possibly named after characters in It's a Wonderful Life
- Betty and Veronica (fictional; friends and rivals, mostly friends)
- Big-endian & Little-endian (fictional; opposing factions) Creations of Jonathan Swift. Satirized homoousia & homoiousia;. Also: (technical; conceptual; opposing) computer science terms
- Bill and Ben, The Flowerpot Men (fictional; companions)
- Bill & Ted; (fictional; companions)
- Bird and Magic (rivals; colleagues)
Bl-Bo
- Blackadder & Baldrick; (fictional; companions)
- Black & Decker; (commercial partners)
- Black & white (proverbial/idiomatic; conceptual; opposing)
- Block & tackle; (equipment; complementary)
- B&Q; (Block & Quayle - British DIY chain of stores)
- Boardwalk & Park Place; (complementary; juxtapositions)
- Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
- Bobby & Jack Charlton (English football (soccer) players.)
- Bolsheviks & Mensheviks (opposing factions)
- Bonnie & Clyde; (colleagues; couples; criminals)
- Bootsie and Snudge
- Bosnia & Herzegovina; (geographical; juxtapositions)
- Bow & Arrow; (equipment; complementary)
Br-Bu
- Brace & bit; (equipment; complementary)
- Brahms & Wagner (idols of opposing musical factions in Vienna during the 1870s)
- Bread & butter (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
- Bread & Roses; (Proverbial of women's labor issues, from slogan of the 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts strikers)
- Bread & water (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
- Breaking & Entering; (legal term)
- Brighton & Hove - also Brighton & Hove Albion; (geographical; juxtapositions)
- Charlie Brown & Snoopy; (fictional; companions; comic strip) Creations of Charles M. Schulz
- "Daddy" Browning & "Peaches" Heenan (couples; scandalous)
- Robert Browning & Elizabeth Barrett (couples)
- Bubble & Squeak; (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food) (dish made from leftover potatoes and cabbage)
- Buck & Bubbles; (colleagues; entertainers)
- Geoffrey & Margaret Burbidge (scientists, colleagues; couple)
- Burke & Hare; (colleagues; criminals)
- George Burns & Gracie Allen (colleagues; entertainers; couples)
- Aaron Burr & Alexander Hamilton (rivals/opponents)
- Buster Brown & Tige (fictional; companions; comic strip) Creations of Richard F. Outcault
C
Ca-Ce - Ch-Co - Cr-CyCa-Ce
- Caesar & Cleopatra (couples)
- Cain & Abel (mythological/legendary; Biblical; siblings; rivals/opponents)
- Calvin and Hobbes (fictional; companions; comic strips) Creations of Bill Watterson
- Cannon & Ball; (complementary; comedians)
- Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons; (fictional; rivals)
- Carriage return & Line feed (technical; complementary) Standard line break in Digital OSes, CP/M, MS-DOS, and Windows
- Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (colleagues; companions; criminals) (Subject of motion picture Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid;)
- Castor & Pollux; (astronomical; juxtapositions); also (mythological/legendary; twins) The twin stars in Gemini; see also Dioscuri; see also Leda and the Swan
- Castro and Mendez (colleagues, rivals)
- Cats & dogs (proverbial/idiomatic; rivals/opponents)
- Cavaliers & Roundheads (opposing factions)
- Cav & Pag (complementary) (Cavalleria Rusticana and I_Pagliacci, short operas frequently performed together)
- Cease & desist (proverbial/idiomatic) (Legal idiom)
Ch-Co
- Chacon and Limon (rivals, boxers)
- Iris Chacon and Charytin, (colleagues, rivals)
- Iris Chacon and Elin Ortiz (couples)
- Chalk & Cheese (proverbial/idiomatic; rivals/opponents) British phrase, "as different as chalk and cheese"
- Chang & Eng; (twins) The eponymous "Siamese twins"
- Charytin and Elin Ortiz (couples)
- Chas 'n Dave
- Cheech & Chong; (colleagues; entertainers)
- Cherubim & Seraphim (Biblical; complementary) Frequently paired; the two lowest orders of angels.
- Chip and Dale
- Christopher Columbus & Queen Isabel (colleagues)
- Click & Clack; (colleagues; entertainers) ("the Tappet brothers") (Tom and Ray Magliozzi)
- Cloak and Dagger (idiom) refers to covert operations, also a comic book duo
- Coat & tie; (proverbial/idiomatic; equipment; complementary) (The two required articles constituting formal dress)
- Conservative & Labour (opposing factions)
- Joel and Ethan Coen (brothers, filmmakers)
- Corned beef & Cabbage (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food) Proverbial lower-class Irish main course
- Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon (colleagues) (crossword puzzle authors)
- Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner (cartoon characters; adversaries)
Cr-Cy
- Crips & Bloods (rivals)
- Crosse & Blackwell; (commercial partners)
- Cruise and Kidman (couples, formerly)
- Cruz and Knight (couples)
- Pierre & Marie Curie (colleagues; couples; scientists)
- Currier & Ives; (commercial partners) (lithographers)
- Cut & Paste; (technical; complementary)
- Cyril & Methodius
- cytosine & thymine (complementary) (DNA base pair)
D
- Dallas & Fort Worth (geographical; juxtapositions; twin cities)
- Dalziel & Pascoe (fictional; colleagues; detectives) Creations of Reginald Hill
- Damon & Pythias (mythological/legendary; companions)
- Matt Damon & Ben Affleck (entertainers, colleagues)
- Danger Mouse & Penfold;
- Dante and Virgil (epic poets, fictional companions) Dante makes Virgil his guide through Hell (logical since Virgil described the Roman underworld in his Aeneid) in Inferno
- David & Goliath (mythological/legendary; Biblical; rivals/opponents)
- Day & Night (proverbial)
- Death & Taxes (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary) (proverbial pairing of two inevitabilities)
- Del and Rodney (fictional; brothers)
- De La Hoya and Corretjer (couples)
- Democrat & Republican (opposing factions in the U.S.)
- Dick & Jane; (fictional; siblings) (in the Scott, Foresman primary readers, very widely used in the U.S.)
- Big Diomede Island & Little Diomede Island (geographical; juxtapositions)
- The Dioscuri (mythological/legendary; twins; rivals/opponents)
- The Big Dipper & the Little Dipper (astronomical; complementary)
- Divide & conquer; (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary)
- Dodge & Plymouth (corporate twin automobile marques; same company, same chassis, different model names and body styles)
- Doom and gloom (proverbial)
- Dorothy & Toto; (fictional; companions)
- Drum and bugle corps (equipment; complementary) Marching band musical complement.
- Dempsey and Makepeace (fictional; colleagues)
E
- Echevarria and Vigoreaux, (couples, she went to jail accused of ordering his murder)
- Eckert & Mauchly (colleagues; also commercial partners)
- Elsie and Elmer (fictional; couples; mascots) Cows, trademark of Borden dairy circa 1938 on.
- England & Wales (geographical; juxtapositions)
- ENQ & ACK; (technical; complementary)
- Emilio and Gloria Estefan (entertainers, couples)
- Evan & Jaron;
- Chris Evert & Martina Navratilova (rivals; opponents; athletes) Tennis legends.
- Exchange & Mart;
- Edison & Swan (rivals/opponents and commercial partners)
F
- Faber & Faber, Ltd; (commercial partners) British publishing firm.
- Douglas Fairbanks & Mary Pickford (colleagues; entertainers)
- The Falcon and the Snowman (film title)
- Farrelly brothers -(Peter and Bobby) (brothers, filmmakers)
- Basil Fawlty & Sybil; (fictitious)
- Ferrante & Teicher; (colleagues; entertainers) (duo-pianists)
- Fife & Drum (equipment; complementary) Traditional military instrumental pair
- Fight or flight (proverbial/idiomatic; opposing)
- Fire and Brimstone (idiomatic) Punishment in hell, used idiomatically to describe especially emphatic and threatening sermonizing
- Fish & chips; (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
- Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau & Gerald Moore
- Flanders & Swann; (colleagues; entertainers)
- Flanagan & Allen;
- Flotsam & Jetsam; (proverbial/idiomatic/legal)
- Fools & Horses;
- Fortnum & Mason; (commercial partners)
- French & Saunders;
- Friend or foe (proverbial/idiomatic; opposing)
- Frodo Baggins & Sam Gamgee (fictional; companions)
- Funk & Wagnalls; (commercial partners)
G
- Gallagher & Lyle;
- Gallagher & Shean; (colleagues; entertainers)
- Gary and Phil Neville (English football (soccer) players.)
- Bill Gates & Paul Allen (colleagues; business partners) Founders of Microsoft Corporation
- Gatti and Ward (rivals; boxers)
- George & Ira Gershwin (colleagues; siblings; songwriters)
- Gilbert & George; (colleagues; entertainers; couples) (performance artists)
- Gilbert & Sullivan; (colleagues; songwriters)
- Gin & tonic; (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; beverages)
- Gin & Vermouth (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; beverages)
- Goofus & Gallant; (fictional; rivals/opponents)
- Gog & Magog
- God and the Devil (rivals)
- Good & evil (conceptual; juxtaposition)
- Great Pyramid & Sphinx (juxtapositions) Ancient Egyptian monuments of Giza
- Guanine and cytosine (scientific; complementary) (other DNA base pair)
- Gumby & Pokey (fictional; companions; television; animated cartoons)
- The Globe & Mail;
- Goodson & Todman (colleagues) (television game-show producers)
H
Ha - He-Ho - HuHa
- h and Chi Persei (astronomical; juxtapositions)
- Hagar & Helga
- Hagler and Hearns (rivals; boxers)
- Haim and Feldman (entertainers, the two Coreys)
- Hale & Dorr; (commercial partners) (Boston law firm)
- Hale & Pace;
- Ham and eggs (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
- Hansel & Gretel; (mythological/legendary; siblings)
- Warren G. Harding & Nan Britton (couples; scandalous)
- Hardy & Littlewood (colleagues) Mathematicians in the field of number theory.
- Harlequin & Pierrot (fictional; archetypes; complementary)
- Harry and David (commercial partners) Pioneering mail-order food merchant (pears, Fruit-of-the-Month club)
- Harvard & Radcliffe (institutions; complementary)
- Harvard & Yale (institutions; rivals)
- Hatfields and McCoys [1] (rivals/opponents)
He-Ho
- Heaven & Earth (proverbial/idiomatic; opposing)
- Heaven & Hell (proverbial/idiomatic; opposing)
- He-Man & She-Ra (fictional; colleagues)
- He-Man & Skeletor (fictional; rivals)
- Hennes & Mauritz; Swedish clothing manufacturer
- Hero & Leander; (mythological/legendary; couples)
- Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay (colleagues)
- Hinge & Bracket; (colleagues; entertainers)
- Hiroshima & Nagasaki (geographical) (First, and to date only, targets of nuclear attack)
- Hobbs & Sutcliffe
- Hollywood and Vine (geographical; intersections)
- Homer & Jethro; (colleagues; entertainers)
- Homer & Marge; (fictional; couples)
- Holmes and Cooney (rivals; boxers; later friends)
- Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson (fictional; colleagues; companions)
- Sherlock Holmes & Professor Moriarty (fictional; rivals/opponents)
- Holyfield and Tyson (rivals; boxers)
- homoousia & homoiousia; (concepts; opposing)
- Horn & Hardart; (commercial partners)
Hu
- Hubie and Bertie characters in the Warner Bros Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons
- Rock Hudson & Doris Day (colleagues; entertainers; movies) (fictional; couples) Played couples in battle-of-the-sexes comedies such as Pillow Talk
- Albert and Allen Hughes (brothers, filmmakers)
- Rod Hull and Emu (ventriloquist & dummy)
- Huntley & Brinkley (colleagues)
I
- The Iliad & the Odyssey (literary; complementary)
- Incubus & Succubus
- Itchy and Scratchy (fictional; rivals; characters in The Simpsons)
- Iztaccihuatl &Popocatepetl (geographical; juxtapositions) (Mexican volcanos named after mythical lovers)
- Izzy and Moe (colleagues]]
J
- Jack & Jill; (proverbial/idiomatic; fictional; companions)
- Jagger & Richards (colleagues, songwriters, Rolling Stones)
- Jarndyce and Jarndyce (fictional; commercial partners) (legal case in Charles Dickens' novel, Bleak House)
- Agents Jay and Kay (fictional; colleagues)
- Jay & Silent Bob; (fictional; companions)
- Jeeves & Wooster; (fictional; companions)
- Thomas Jefferson & Sally Hemings (couples; scandalous)
- Jekyll & Hyde; (fictional)
- Joel and Brinkley (couples)
- Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak (colleagues; commercial partners) The proverbial "two Steves in a garage" who founded Apple Computer, Inc. (with assistance from Mike Markkula)
- Johnson & Johnson; (commercial partners)
- Irène Joliot-Curie & Frédéric Joliot (scientists, couple)
- Joseph & Mary (Biblical; couples)
- The Jukes & the Kallikaks; (conceptual; opposing)
- Jules & Vincent; (fictional; companions)
- Jules et Jim (fictional; companions)
- Juno & the Peacock; see also Aesop, Alfred Hitchcock, Sean O'Casey (fictional; couples)
K
- Kenan & Kel (colleagues; Nickelodeon show)
- Kermit & Miss Piggy; (fictional; companions)
- Kernighan & Ritchie (colleagues) Computer scientists
- Nancy Kerrigan & Tonya Harding (rivals; opponents; athletes) Figure-skaters. Famous because of Harding's 1994 participation in a conspiracy to disable Kerrigan.
- Kirk and Spock (fictional; colleagues)
- Keuffel & Esser; (commercial partners) (slide rule manufacturer)
- King & Country (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary)
- King and Queen
- Kruder & Dorfmeister; (partner DJs)
L
La-Li - Lo-LuLa-Li
- Lady & The Tramp; (fictional; couples)
- Lancelot & Guinevere (mythological/legendary; couples)
- Land's End and John O'Groats (geographical; promontories at opposite extremities of Great Britain)
- Last Will and Testament (a person's stated wishes for the distribution of their assets after death)
- Laurel & Hardy; (colleagues; entertainers; animated cartoon)
- The Law & the Prophets;
- Lea & Perrins; (commercial partners)
- Leda & the Swan; (mythological/legendary; couples)
- Leicestershire & Rutland (geographical; juxtapositions)
- Left & right (conceptual; opposing)
- Lennon and McCartney (song writers)
- Leonard and Duran (rivals; boxers)
- Leonard and Hearns (rivals; boxers)
- Leopold & Loeb; (colleagues; criminals)
- Les Paul and Mary Ford
- Lewis & Clark; (historical; colleagues)
- Lewis and Holyfield (rivals; boxers)
- Lineweaver & Burk;
- Lindwall & Miller
- Little & Large;
- Life or death (conceptual; antitheses)
Lo-Lu
- Lone Ranger & Tonto (fictional; colleagues)
- Louis and Schmeling (rivals; boxers)
- Love and Death (movie title by Woody Allen)
- Lucy & Desi (colleagues; couples; rivals/opponents; commercial partners; entertainers)
- Auguste and Louis Lumière (brothers, filmmakers)
- Alfred Lunt & Lynn Fontanne (colleagues; couples; entertainers; theatre)
M
Ma - Me-Mo - Mu- McDonnell and Douglas (commercial partners)
- McGwire and Sosa (athletes, friendly rivals, both of whom broke Roger Maris' home run record in 1998)
- Aimee Semple McPherson & Kenneth G. Ormiston (couples; scandalous)
Ma
- Mad dogs & Englishmen; (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; title) Noel Coward song title, referring to creatures that "go out in the mid-day sun" in tropical climes; also motion picture title, name of singing group, name of advertising agency.
- Madonna and Sean Penn (couples)
- M & M's;
- Marc Antony and Pussyfoot characters in the Warner Bros Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons
- Large Magellanic Cloud & Small Magellanic Cloud (astronomical; juxtapositions)
- Mahler & Bruckner (complementary) Symphonic composers who are frequently paired and seem to appeal to similar musical tastes.
- Mainyu & Mazda (mythological/legendary; conceptual; rivals/opponents)
- Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis (entertainers; colleagues; actors) created a successful stage comedy duo
- Mantle and Maris (baseball teammates, chased Babe Ruth's home run record in 1961)
- Marks & Spencer; (commercial partners)
- Marx & Engels (colleagues)
- Mary & her little lamb; (fictional; companions) (Sarah Josepha Hale's nursery poem, "Mary had a Little Lamb")
- Mary & Joseph (biblical; complementary; couples)
- Mason & Dixon; (colleagues)
- Masters & Johnson; (colleagues; scientists)
Me-Mo
- Meat & Potatoes (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
- Mexicali & Calexico (geographical; juxtapositions; twin cities)
- Michaelis & Menten; (colleagues; scientists)
- Michelson & Morley; (colleagues; scientists)
- Mills & Boon; (commercial partners) British publisher of romance novels.
- Wilbur Mills & Fanne Foxe (couples; scandalous) (Senator caught with stripper, in the "tidal basin" incident)
- Mississippi-Missouri (geographical; juxtapositions) Conjoined river systems
- Mizar & Alcor; (astronomical; juxtapositions) (the "horse and rider")
- Modesty Blaise & Willie Garvin
- Moet et Chandon (champagne manufacturer)
- The Monitor & the Merrimack (rivals/opponents)
- Montague & Capulet; (fictional; rival families)
- Mom and pop (conceptual; complementary)
- Morecambe & Wise; (colleagues; entertainers; comedians)
- Mork & Mindy; (fictional; companions; television)
- Morse & Lewis;
- Motherhood & apple pie (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary) The two primary undisputed American values
Mu
- Mum and dad (conceptual; complementary)
- Mums and Dads (investors of modest means; Andrea's regular greeting to her radio listeners)
- Mutt & Jeff; (fictional; companions; comic strip) Creations of Harry Conway "Bud" Fisher; it was the first well-known daily comic strip. Hence also (idiomatic/proverbial) for any tall-short pair of men.
- Mutt & Jeff; (colleagues; spies)
- Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (fictional; colleagues; television)
N
- Nancy & Sluggo; (fictional; companions; comic strip) (Creations of Ernie Bushmiller)
- Napoleon & Josephine; (couples)
- Nature or nuture (proverbial/idiomatic; opposing)
- Neanderthals & Cro-Magnons
- Evelyn Nesbit & Stanford White (couples; scandalous)
- Newfoundland & Labrador; (geographical; juxtapositions)
- North Island & South Island (New Zealand)
- nuts & bolts (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary)
O
- Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler
- Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh
- Olmedo and Porcel (entertainers)
- One Man & His Dog;
- Oranges and lemons (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary) (Nursery rhyme)
- Orkney & Shetland (geographical; juxtapositions)
- Orthanc & Minas Morgul (Tolkien's (fictional; geographical; juxtapositions; rivals/opponents) Two Towers)
- Orthoclase & Plagioclase; (complementary) (minerals found together in feldspar)
- Oscar and Lucinda (Peter Carey book title)
- Donny and Marie Osmond (siblings, entertainers)
- Othello & Desdemona (fictional; couples; theatre) (creations of William Shakespeare)
- The Owl & the Pussycat; (fictional; couples)
P
Pa-Pl - Po-PuPa-Pl
- Pat and Patachon
- Peaches & cream (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary)
- Pelleas et Melisande (mythological/legendary; couples)
- Penn & Teller; (colleagues; entertainers; illusionists)
- Penrod & Sam; (fictional; companions) Creations of Booth Tarkington
- Pepsi and Coke (proverbial, market rivals)
- Peter Pan & Wendy; (fictional; companions) Creations of J. M. Barrie
- Phil and Grant Mitchell (fictional; brothers in EastEnders)
- Phileas Fogg & Passepartout (fictional; companions) (Creations of Jules Verne)
- Philemon & Baucis; (mythological/legendary; couples)
- Phobos & Deimos (astronomical; juxtapositions) Satellites of Mars
- Piston & Cylinder (equipment; complementary)
- Pinky & the Brain; (fictional; cartoon mice)
- Pinky and Perky (fictional; children's television puppet pigs)
- Plankton & Nekton
- Plug & Socket (equipment; complementary)
Po-Pu
- Pompeii & Herculaneum (geographical; juxtapositions) Adjacent cities destroyed in the A. D. 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius
- Porgy & Bess; (fictional; couples) Title of and characters in DuBose Heyward's novel, on which the Gershwin opera was based
- Postman Pat & Jess; (fictional; children's television character and cat)
- Press & Journal;
- Posh & Becks
- Pride & Prejudice; (literature; juxtapositions) a novel by Jane Austen
- Procter & Gamble; (commercial partners)
- Proton & neutron (scientific; complementary)
- Pryor and Arguello (rivals; boxers)
- Pyramus & Thisbe; (fictional; couples)
- Punch & Judy; (fictional; archetypes; couples; rivals/opponents)
- Punt & Dennis; (colleagues; entertainers)
- Pupienus & Balbinus;
Q
- Strange & Charm Quarks (complementary)
- A.B and Selena Quintanilla (siblings, entertainers)
- Quisp & Quake;
R
Ra-Ri - Ro - Ru-Rw
Ra-Ri
Ro
Ru-Rw
S
Sa-Sh - Si-Sm - #So-Su
Sa-Sh
- Saint Kitts and Nevis (geographical; juxtapositions)
- Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (geographical; juxtapositions)
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (geographical; juxtapositions)
- Salt & pepper (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
- Salt & vinegar (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
- Samson & Delilah (mythological/legendary; Biblical; couples)
- San Diego & Tijuana (geographical; juxtapositions; twin cities)
- São Tomé and Príncipe (geographical; juxtapositions; twin islands)
- Sapphire & Steel; (fictional; colleagues)
- Scylla & Charybdis (See also Scylla & Charybdis;) (mythological/legendary)
- Sears & Roebuck; (commercial partners)
- Sellar & Yeatman; (colleagues; authors; humorists) Authors of 1066 and All That
- Sense & Sensibility; (literature; juxtapositions) a novel by Jane Austen
- Shadows and Fog (movie title by Woody Allen)
- Shave & a haircut (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary)
- Shaw Brothers (filmmakers)
Si-Sm
- Siegfried & Roy; (colleagues; entertainers)
- Silk & Satin; (proverbial pairing of two lustrous, luxurious fabrics)
- Simon & Garfunkel; (colleagues; entertainers)
- Simon & Schuster; (commercial partners)
- Sirius & Sirius B (astronomical; juxtapositions) (binary star system)
- Siskel & Ebert (colleagues) (Print and television movies reviewers) (Siskel 1946-1999)(Ebert& Roeper aren't really a "famous pair" yet)
- Skull & Bones; (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary) Name of Yale secret society.
- Skull & Crossbones; (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary) Symbol of death, piracy, and poison.
- Slap & Tickle
- John Smith & Pocahontas (couples)
- Smith & Jones (fictional; colleagues)
- Smith & Wesson; (commercial partners) (gunmakers)
- Smoke & mirrors; (proverbial/idiomatic) The illusionist's elements
- Smothers Brothers (colleagues; entertainers)
So-Su
- King Solomon & the Queen of Sheba (mythological/legendary; Biblical; couples)
- Somerville and Ross
- Sonny & Cher; (colleagues; entertainers; couples)
- Sons and Lovers (novel by D H Lawrence)
- Sooty & Sweep;
- Spider and Rosie (get laid)
- Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier characters in the Warner Bros Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons
- Square & compass; (symbols; juxtapositions) (Masonic emblem)
- Stalagmites & Stalactites (conceptual; complementary; opposing)
- Sticks & stones (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary) Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me
- Stallone and Nielsen (couples)
- Starsky & Hutch; (fictional; colleagues)
- Steptoe and Son (fictional; companions)
- Steve and Mark Waugh, Australian cricket players and twin brothers
- John Stockton and Karl Malone, NBA legends; teammates for nearly 20 years
- Strauss & Howe;
- Strunk and White (editors)
- Sturm und Drang ("Storm and Stress", German literary movement)
- Superman & Wonder Woman (fictional; colleagues)
- Chris Sutton & Alan Shearer (English football players, known as SAS)
T
Ta-To - Tr-TyTa-To
- Tarzan & Jane; (fictional; couples)
- Terms and Conditions (legal term)
- Tex & Jinx; (colleagues; entertainers)
- Thelma & Louise; (fictional; companions)
- Thomson and Thompson (Dupont et Dupond in the original Belgian) twin-like detectives in the Tintin comic series
- Thompson Twins, a New Wave band best known for their ballad "Hold Me Now"—but for their most successful years, they were a trio, not a pair.
- Thunder & lightning (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary)
- Strom Thurmond & Essie Butler (couples; scandalous) Biological parents of mixed-race Essie Mae Washington-Williams
- Tintin & Snowy (fictional; companions)
- Tom & Jerry; (fictional; rivals/opponents; animated cartoon); also (proverbial/idiomatic).
- Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn (fictional; companions)
- Tommy and Tuppence (fictional; created by Agatha Christie)
- Tool & Die (equipment; complementary)
- Tonsils & Adenoids (anatomical; juxtapositions) (Customarily removed together; routine surgical procedure for children in the U. S. in the 1940s and 1950s).
- Torvill & Dean; (colleagues; entertainers) (figure skaters)
Tr-Ty
- Travolta and Preston, (couples)
- Trinidad & Tobago; (geographical; juxtapositions)
- Tristan & Isolde; (fictional; couples)
- Troilus & Cressida; (fictional; couples)
- Trylon & Perisphere; (juxtapositions) Iconic monuments of the 1939 New York World's Fair
- Trueman & Statham;
- Tunney and Dempsey, (rivals; boxers; later friends)
- Turks & Caicos; (geographical; juxtapositions)
- Town Mouse & Country Mouse;
- Tracy & Hepburn (colleagues; entertainers; couples)
- Tudors & Stuarts
- Tweedledum & Tweedledee; (idiomatic/proverbial; complementary) Proverbial for an trivial difference; originally creations of John Byrom, referring to musical controversy; also (fictional; twins) creations of Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass
- Tyne & Wear; (geographical; juxtapositions)
U
- Uday & Qusay; (siblings)
- Ulna & Radius (juxtapositions; complementary)
- Uranium-235 & Uranium-238; (complementary) (Almost inseparable isotopes)
V
W
- Wallace & Gromit; (fictional; companions; motion pictures; animation) Fictional creations of Nick Park
- Wachowksi brothers - (Andy and Larry) (filmmakers, brothers)
- War & Peace (conceptual; literature; juxtaposition)
- George Washington & Abraham Lincoln (complementary) Portraits frequently paired in U. S. classrooms; two highest rankers in the American Presidential pantheon
- Wayne & Garth; (fictional; companions)
- Wayne & Shuster; (colleagues; entertainers)
- Watson & Crick (colleagues; scientists)
- Weber & Fields; (colleagues; entertainers)
- Harvey Weinstein and Robert Weinstein (brothers, filmmakers)
- Whigs & Tories (rivals; factions)
- Venus and Serena Williams (siblings; athletes; tennis)
- Wilbur & Orville Wright (colleagues; siblings)
- Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin (fictional; colleagues; detectives) Creations of Rex Stout
- The Woodies, tennis players Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde
- Woodward & Bernstein (colleagues; journalists)
- Peg Woffington & Christie Johnstone;
- One and Two World Trade Center, New York (geographical; juxtapositions)
X
Y
- Yin & Yang; (conceptual; complementary and opposing)
- York & Lancaster (rivals/opponents)
Z
- Zager & Evans; (colleagues; entertainers; musicians; rock band)
- Zenith & Nadir (concepts; opposing)
- Zeno & Chrysippus (see also Stoicism)
- Zero & One (concepts; opposing; complementary)
- Zeus & Ganymede (mythological; couples)