I share a name with a very famous professional athlete. I don’t even think about it usually but as soon as I have to give my name to someone I can pretty much count on some remark about the athlete by the same name.
I’ve dealt with this in many ways over the years but my most recent method is to pretend to have never heard of that famous person by the same name. That makes the conversation awkward and they usually move on.
Also, if you meet someone who shares a name with a celebrity, keep these things in mind:
- There is nothing you can say about it that is funny or clever. We have heard it all before. Just don’t.
- If you do have something to say about it that is truly original and absolutely hilarious, see the previous rule.
I went through something similar.
I realized that a Japanese dishwashing powder company is using my face as its logo.
Mr sparkle!
Well there’s your answer, fishbulb.
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We need more!
My brother in doppelnamer!!
I share a name with a fairly famous actor with a very uncommon name. After the “wait, is your name really XYZ?” comment I just say “yep, no relation.” with a laugh. I get it about once a week. It used to irritate me but it’s a good icebreaker, and they never forget my name.
I am just grateful he keeps himself out of trouble. Michael Bolton is rough, but no one wants to be the other Jeffrey Epstein.
Yeah, it could be worse. I used to work with a guy who shared a name with some random executive that went on a racist tirade that went public. He had to lock down his social media because of all of the death threats.
Father Johnathan?
A friend of my brother has the same name as a Muppet. Used to haul his ID out in bars and use it as an ice breaker. I mean he could have used “me like you” as an ice breaker, given his physical appearance, so not sure how much of an advantage this gave him.
Edit: just realized I inadvertently imitated Cookie Monster, but it was a different Muppet.
Definitely Elmo
My money’s on Guy Smiley
Wasn’t there an American president named Elmo something?
Well there was president Grover Cleveland; and president Teddy Roosevelt had a son named Kermit. Jim Henson liked to use historical names occasionally for Muppet characters. No Elmos in the White House yet though.
Bunsen Honeydew
… Floyd Pepper?
Bobby Benson
Easy, just write a program that takes the fractions of a cent that are rounded off during bank transactions and deposits them in an account you control. It’s foolproof.
It’s the plot for Superman 3.
Just don’t forget to carry the one.
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Pretty sure she gave you a fake name. For she she’s lion.
You met Jesus?
Assland?
A country I’d gladly move to
Why should I change it, he’s the one who sucks.
Calm down, Adolf.
Not exactly a famous person, but I have a somewhat unusual name that happens to be exactly the same as a fairly prolific music executive in my country.
It’s kind of a win-win, because it’s not someone most people have heard of so I don’t get the remarks, but also I’m basically un-Googleable lol
being un-googleable is seriously underrated. if I ever had kids I’d give them the most common names possible for exactly that reason. Sure it can be annoying when you’re the 8th John in your class but that’s a lot easier to get used to than the amount of bullying and harassment you could get for having a really uncommon name, especially if it’s a silly name or shared name with garbage famous person
Yeah, I have an extremely unusual name. From what I can tell there are at most three other people in the world with the same name as me, and none of them lives here in the US.
Leaving aside the fun of being hassled for having a weird name when I was a kid, as an adult I am very careful about what I put online, since there is no way to hide it. If it’s in English and connected with my name, it unquestionably concerns me.
I feel this comment.
maybe gets you get reservations at the fancy spots
I have something similar! Mine is a playwright, so not on most people’s radar, unless they Google my name. It’s great.
Oh shit, it’s dead mau five!
I share a name with and average skilled hockey player who played for long time on mediocre teams. We are also the same age.
Although my name is uncommon it is not rare. So many other lawyers, insurance sales, etc who have a larger online presence mask me very effectively.
It’s enough that googling my name is a waste of time.
It also helps that I have a small footprint online with no social media accounts linked back to my real name.
Back in April a bunch of us from work went over to Singapore to rig up backdeck equipment to mobilize this ship ready for work. Upon meeting the captain of the ship we had chartered for the operation, we learned that his last name was Kirk.
That’s just awesome
My family shares a fairly uncommon surname with a professional athlete we are (as far as we can tell) completely unrelated to.
My father always joked that we should answer “we don’t discuss that” when asked about it, as if there had been some huge falling-out.
I do this when time travel comes up, but more because I get tired of explaining the block universe theory and no one likes a guy that tries to convince them that they don’t have Free Will.
I have an uncle called Chris Hemsworth. He’s like 65 so I don’t know if he even knows the connection.
I have two middle names, and they are exactly the same names from a porn star turned politician in my country. Plenty of jokes about it.
The weirdest moment was when a teacher was correcting one of my essays and asked about the origin of my name, after I explained, he mentioned that he liked one of the movies that my name doppelgänger made, I had no answer and just said “ah…” and after some awkward silence he gave me back my essay.
Ilona Staller? Didn’t know Staller is a middle name…
It’s definitely Lauren Boebert
No. But I’ll check her out, thanks ;)
I have the same name as a barely famous YouTuber, not famous enough for people to know the name in real life. The only thing that happens is that I occasionally get emails meant for him. I do own the name’s website, so I’m hoping he gets really famous and tries to buy it off of me for a lot of money.
My tattoo guy shares a name with a very famous author and theres a sign outside his station that says “No not the author and if you ask you will be charged extra”
George Martin does tattoos?
No. But EL James does.
Everyone thinks I sell coke and have tons of money
Pablo Escobar
Hi there Mr. Quincey
Rick Ross?
Hi there Mr. Quincey
My Dad has the same name as a reasonably famous sports star in a different country. Unfortunately for me when I Google my name it’s just associated with rapists in the US… 😭
Let me guess…Your dad shares a name with hockey star Jack Draper, and he named you Chile after his favourite Jimi Hendrix song?
I have a student named Serena Williams. I asked her the first day if other professors make light of it. She said yes dejectedly and I promised her I wouldn’t. I’ve kept my word so far
Can anyone answer that question?
And we have Serena with the Ace!
