# Famous couples with the same first name **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266 "2020-09-10T15:39:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/21 "2020-09-15T05:51:49Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > I wonder whether there are any English dialects in which those two names are pronounced distinctly. A lot of them, actually. I pronounce them differently (I’m from New York City.) Where do you live that you pronounce them the same? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/22 "2020-09-15T08:05:41Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Where do you live that you pronounce them the same? They’re the same in the Midwest and Pacific NW. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/23 "2020-09-15T08:31:05Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Where do you live that you pronounce them the same? My dialect is the huge pink swath marked #1 on [this dialect map](https://aschmann.net/AmEng/). We speak much the same as people in the western third of the continental US. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/24 "2020-09-15T22:41:05Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > My dialect is the huge pink swath marked #1 on [this dialect map](https://aschmann.net/AmEng/). We speak much the same as people in the western third of the continental US. The northeastern US, including New York, makes vowel distinctions not found in some other dialects. Notably, we distinguish the vowels in Mary, marry, and merry, to the befuddlement of those who speak other dialects and can’t hear a difference. Listening to examples on line, it appears that a number of dialects in the UK also distinguish Aaron and Erin. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/25 "2020-09-16T17:24:22Z")
For those who (like me) didn’t know what the posters mentioning “Luka” were talking about: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VZt7J0iaUD0/maxresdefault.jpg "Suzanne Vega - Luka") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZt7J0iaUD0) It’s a song from ~2010 that strongly implies without saying the Luka is a young boy being abused at home. And yes, if you don’t pay attention to the words it’s real nice to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/26 "2020-09-16T17:35:11Z")
Thanks for posting LSLGuy, I had assumed that almost everybody knows the song. But one quibble, it’s actually from 1990. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/27 "2020-09-16T17:37:51Z")
[1987](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luka_(song)), actually. And the actor who played the title character in the music video was later in The Sopranos. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/28 "2020-09-16T17:39:08Z")
Thanks for the correction, that’s what I get for nitpicking 😖 😆. ETA: one must concede that “Luka” is timeless pop music and could easily be from 1990 or 2010. It doesn’t sound dated even today. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/29 "2020-09-16T17:40:10Z")
No, you were right for nitpicking. I saw that mention of the song being from around 2010 and thinking, it’s way older than that. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/30 "2020-09-16T17:44:17Z")
Well, I’m a little embarrassed because I KNEW that it was from 1987, because I remember it being a hit back then, most of all because that was my graduation year at school. I somehow had a brain fart and typed 1990. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/31 "2020-09-16T17:49:29Z")
Just to wander further afield, Luka was of course a Suzanne Vega song and another big song from her was Tom’s Diner. That song was used in the creation of the MP3 standard; when the engineers were testing audio compression methods, they tried compressing that song, to see if it still sounded right. And also the diner of the title is the one shown in Seinfeld as the exterior of Monk’s Diner. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/32 "2020-09-16T21:28:24Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Thanks for posting LSLGuy, I had assumed that almost everybody knows the song. But one quibble, it’s actually from 1990. Continuing the adventure further into left field … All I knew was the official video was dated 2010 on YouTube. So I added the ~ to account for the possibility the song came out a little earlier, like maybe the previous year. I figured for sure they’re release an official vid at about the same time as the song was released. At least for anything in the post-MTV era. I guess we all learned that the date of a vid on YouTube, even an “official” one, doesn’t mean much. Oops on me. Never having heard the song before I have to say that a) I agree it’s timeless, and b) had I not been watching the rather haunting video at the same time, I might never have gotten the child abuse vibe from the words even though the singing was well enunciated, easy to understand, and 'Merican is my first language. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/33 "2020-09-17T11:55:10Z")
In “civilized” parts of the USA, these two names are pronounced quite differently. Elsewhere, it falls victim to the same inability to distinguish Marry/Merry. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/34 "2020-09-17T11:57:52Z")
I was coming to mention the Laws! ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/35 "2020-09-17T13:37:58Z")
😃 Ha! Beat ya to it 😛 ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/36 "2020-09-17T19:14:53Z")
You event? I’m a dressage person but have been to Rolex when it was Rolex over 15 times. I remember when it was proper 3 day… ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/37 "2020-09-18T03:31:25Z")
Yup. Been to Rolex every year for the last 20, and ride at Training/Prelim myself. Dressage too, of course, though I’ve not shown straight dressage in years. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266/38 "2020-09-18T05:40:06Z")
Didn’t Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner date for a while? I used to work with a woman named Pat who was married to a man named Pat. That’s the extent of my personal experience with this particular phenomenon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-couples-with-the-same-first-name/920266.md?page=1)