http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892.[6] In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James B. Duke established The Duke Endowment, at which time the institution changed its name to honor his deceased father, Washington Duke.
According to Wikipedia, a firefighter started calling Wayne "Duke" around 1916 because he always had his dog named Duke. So he was Duke before Duke was Duke.