I was on Classmates recently perusing the list for the high school I graduated from when I noticed the name of a guy who graduated two years ahead of me. His name got my attention because it’s the same as a famous head-banger (no, not Ozzy). Then I got to thinking, there was a girl in my Senior English class who had the same last name as the leader of the head-banger’s group. So I explored further to see of that girl has a relative with the same name as that lead singer. You know what I found? Two guys who both graduated in 1984; one named David Lee Roth and one named Edward Van Halen.
The girl in my English class was Stephanie Van Halen.
Um, Jeff… When I was at Classmates, I also saw graduates by the names of Fred Flintstone and Captain Crunch.
It may be that people wanted to see who was already listed, but didn’t want to put in their real names (which seems to be a requisite for perusing the lists.)
So check other sources (like an old yearbook) as well to see if the coincidence is genuine.
Charmian is right - I am technically registred on Classmates, but not under my own name or using an e-mail that I regularly check. Only because if my high school learns where I am, I will be inundated with mailings asking for money.
I would never tell anyone what that name is, but I did notice someone listed in my HS class with the supposed name Fyodor Platznamen. Since I know there was no one with that name in my 100 person graduating class, I’m assuming it’s a fake name.
Yeah, I had thought of that. Edward Van Halen is possibly a real name, what with Stephanie in my class. I’ll check my alumni directory when I get home.
Believe me, if they really want to find you, they will. My school found me eight years after I graduated, during which time I had been renting rooms at various addresses and had been in a homeless shelter for a time. I don’t know how but the finally tracked me down to my very first permanent address.
Sharing a famous name is common enough if the name isn’t too fancy. My friend works with Andy Garcia (not the actor) and I also met someone else… can’t think of who it is at the moment, who shares a name with a famous character (name pre-dates the character)…
Damn, I wish I could remember! It was from an 80s show like “Family Ties.”
When I was at a friend’s house once, I remember looking through her old yearbooks. The name Conan O’Brien jumped out at me from a certain page. No, it was definitely not the talk show host, as I doubt very much that’s he’s 25 or 26 at most.
I used to share an office with a poor guy named Ed McMahon. To make things worse, this was when the sweepstakes was being pushed big-time. Imagine sitting in an office eight hours a day, making calls to clients and others (sometimes at home) and having to say “heh heh heh, no, not that Ed McMahon.” He was a bit older and had a similarly toned voice too. I imagine he must have had one hell of a prescription to keep him from climbing the bell tower.