What's in a Name?

When college ends and all of a sudden one’s outlets for meeting new people become decidedly fewer, it would behoove any and all of us to take advantage of every opportunity to get out and meet others. Making new friends can be fun, after all. In this spirit, when one of my former roommates came to town to visit this past weekend, we went to his friend from home’s apartment to mix and mingle with some strangers. The ensuing events were fun, for sure, but I also emerged from our gathering with one particular moment stuck in my mind.

As I introduced myself to a, shall we say, striking young lady I hadn’t ever met before, I could not help but notice her combination of shock and amusement when I told her my name. At first I thought this was a good thing; perhaps she had heard of me before I even arrived. I innocently asked what was so funny, half expecting and half hoping that I could use her reply as a deserved ego booster. Not so. She gathered herself and said, “Oh, nothing. That’s my dad’s name.” Fleeting emotional boost: halted. Chances of ever being taken seriously: zero. I eventually recovered; she was very nice and had a boyfriend anyway, which probably saved me from certain humiliation later.
Her comment did get me thinking, though. Let’s say you meet someone, and you really hit it off; this person is smart, funny, intelligent, good-looking, all that. Everything seems perfect. But then, you ask the seemingly innocuous question of his or her name, and they fire back with the same name as your mom, dad, sister, brother, or some other immediate family member. Isn’t that the worst possible response? How can you come back from that? No matter what kind of interaction you have with this person going forward, it has to be impossible not to think of your relative, right? We’ve seen this play out on Arrested Development with Buster and the two Lucilles. It doesn’t end well.

Beyond the aforementioned example- from a TV show, so even that barely counts- I can’t think of any scenario where I have heard of this phenomenon happening. It’s probably for good reason, too. I had a friend in college who dated someone with the same name as her, but it seems like a different kind of situation, an almost perverse manifestation of narcissism. Or maybe it’s just a humorous and unfortunate coincidence. Or maybe it’s some of both. There is something you can do, though, to avoid any potential relationships destroyed by such an tragic coincidence. This movement is something that Hollywood, for once, has been at the forefront of: weird names for your kids! Name your son Jupiter and your daughter Pineapple. They may get ridiculed and/or beaten up on the playground when they’re young, but they’ll thank you later.
I suppose it ultimately boils down to the strength of memories and feelings tied to our family. If you don’t know your parents, maybe it’s not that big a deal?

It’s one thing to have a friend with the same name as a family member; it makes it easier to remember your friend’s name which, for the absent-minded of us, can be a challenge. However, to this expert observer, crossing over into dating is simply a bridge too far. It’s lewd, lascivious, salacious, outrageous!