Final Jeopardy: World of First Names (2-19-26)
The Final Jeopardy question (2/19/2026) in the category “World of First Names” was:
Like an English-language one, this German first name of a physicist of sound & a 1930s film director means “serious”
We’re in the home stretch of the 2026 Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament. The finals will go on until one of these guys wins 2 games: Roger Craig, an applied scientist from Arlington, VA; Long Nguyen, a retired engineer from Las Vegas, NV; and Andrew He, a stay-at-home dad from Concord, CA.
Andrew won yesterday’s game, so if you want this tournament to be over, root for Andrew. If you want to see a third match, root for Roger or Long.
Round 1 Categories: Way Back When – Across the Liberal Arts – Wait! Measures! – Thistle Do Nicely – Rock Songs – Singular & Plural Are the Same
Long found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Across the Liberal Arts” under the $800 clue on the 11th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $2,400, $1,000 more than Roger in second place. Long bet everything and he was RIGHT.
Psychology: Before graduating from the University of Zurich in 1912, he got the nickname Klecks, or “inkblot” show
Long finished in the lead with $6,600. Roger was in second place with $2,000. Andrew was last with $400. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: All Over the Country – Mail Novels – Perusing Some Articles – Names in Fashion – Shows About Murder – Putting the “Double” in Double Jeopardy!
Long found the first Daily Double in “All Over the Country” under the $1,600 clue on the 3rd pick of the round. He was in the lead with $8,200 now, $7,800 more than Roger and Andrew, who were tied in second place. Long bet everything and he was RIGHT.
The extinct volcano Ilyas Dag is near the westernmost part of Turkey, while this volcanic massif is near the easternmost part show
Andrew got the last Daily Double in “Putting the ‘Double’ in Double Jeopardy!” under the $1,200 clue on the 8th pick of the round. In second place with $2,400, he had $14,000 less than Long’s lead. Andrew bet $2,400 and he was RIGHT.
An article in the journal Nature was titled this “and the wronged heroine”, about Rosalind Franklin show
Long finished in the lead with $21,600. Andrew was in second place with $12,800 and Roger was last with $5,200. All clues were shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS ERNST?
The meaning of the German name Ernst is quite obvious, as it evolved into the word “earnest”, a synonym for “serious.” The Etymology Dictionary has an entry for Ernest, the English equivalent. Ernest was a top 50 boy’s name in the USA from 1880 to 1933. Ernst was just as popular in Germany during the same time period. Per Germany’s popular first names website, it dropped out of the Top 25 in 1939.
Wikipedia has a page of people with Ernst as both a first and last name. The two people referred to in today’s clue are film director Ernst Lubitsch and physicist Ernst Mach, who coined the term “mach number.” Mach is right under Lubitsch on the list.
Roger wrote “I hope Long writes ‘Ernst!?'” That was accepted as correct but Roger bet nothing, standing pat on his $5,200.
Andrew thought it was Heinrich, which means “home ruler” and is Henry in English. Andrew lost $12,733 and finished with $67.
Long also had Heinrich, “dashing Roger’s hopes,” Ken chirped. Long lost $4,001 but won the game with $17,599. So Roger’s hopes weren’t dashed at all because he was really hoping that Long would win the game. Roger better start hoping he gets some Daily Doubles tomorrow when the finals go into Game 3!
A triple stumper from each round:
THISTLE DO NICELY ($800) Its shape tells you this name of a type of thistle often grown as an ornamental
NAMES IN FASHION ($1200) Rachel Brosnahan is the niece of this late designer whose maiden name was Brosnahan
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “ON VACATION IN ITALY”
About 30 miles from Florence, a little hill gives this tiny Tuscan town its name, familiar to American visitors show
IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR CHANGES TO THE SHOW OR COMPLAINTS, PLEASE SEND YOUR FEEDBACK DIRECTLY TO JEOPARDY!
We may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made from Amazon.com links at no cost to our visitors. Learn more: Affiliate Disclosure.
This is a must win for Roger, he needs to win Game 3 tomorrow in order to stay in the tournament. Regular games will either return on Monday or Tuesday.