# Fictional character names you stumble across in real life **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2004, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125 "2004-08-03T12:51:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/21 "2004-08-03T18:14:51Z")
Went to college with **Lisa Hayes** , which you only care about if you watched Robotech as a child (and were desperately waiting for AnimEigo to finish their remastered Macross set) ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/22 "2004-08-03T18:22:49Z")
I knew a John Sheridan in high school. We were all kinda dorky, so we called him Captain. I also have a regular customer named Sarah Cynthia Stout – the first time I met her, I asked her if she had taken the garbage out. Another regular customer of mine is named John Doe. John Tuan Doe, because that’s how they Anglicized his Vietnamese name when he immigrated. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/23 "2004-08-03T18:58:27Z")
My dad used to do business with a guy named **Tom Sawyer**. I used to work with a guy whose last name was **Batman**. Back in college I worked with a guy named **Dave Edmonds** , who actually played in a local band. The local paper ran a series of feature articles of this nature in the Sunday paper about a month or two ago – local people with famous names. Some of the ones I recall: **Minnie Pearl, David Berkowitz** , and (of course) **James Bond**. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/24 "2004-08-03T19:01:30Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > Went to college with **Richie Cunningham.** He insisted on going by “Richie,” yet got really mad whenever anyone asked him “Where’s Potsie?” and the like. Don’tcha think he was asking for it? Must… resist… Office Space quote. My friend’s brother is James Brown. He’s White. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/25 "2004-08-03T19:06:42Z")
Being from Illinois, for the past several months I’ve heard the name **Jack Ryan** in a context outside a Tom Clancy novel/movie. First it was as “Republican senate candidate who used to be married to Jeri ‘7 of 9’ Ryan” and then as “Republican senate candidate who dragged Jeri ‘7 of 9’ Ryan to sex clubs against her wishes,” soon after tacking an “ex-” onto the start of the latter descriptor. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/26 "2004-08-03T19:19:06Z")
When I was at Great Lakes for basic training, the Recruit Chief Petty Officer in Company 007 was named James Bond. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/27 "2004-08-03T19:32:04Z")
I used to code with a guy named Jay Luo (pronounced as you can imagine). Poor guy, hope he’s holding up well. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/28 "2004-08-03T19:32:39Z")
Michael Jordan lives across the street from me. He’s black, but no where near as tall as the basketball guy. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/29 "2004-08-03T19:50:12Z")
The OP says “fictional names”. I think it’s odd you never see Jon Stewart and Green Lantern at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/30 "2004-08-03T20:03:39Z")
Not a fictional character, but a funny story. I once had a case where the Plaintiff, named JOHN HOLMES, was suing for a back injury. We acquired video footage of him lifting a heavy ice chest with no pain (refuting his claims). We all chuckled about the guy on our team that had to carry this video to the settlement conference. The label read “JOHN HOLMES VIDEO”! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/31 "2004-08-03T22:06:28Z")
If you read the credits for most Blizzard games, there’s a fellow with the first name “Samwise” (an artist, I think). And I went to college with a girl named Arwen. Of course, both of these were deliberately named after the fictional character, so I’m not sure if they count. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2004, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/32 "2004-08-03T22:11:51Z")
There’s a woman in my company named Laura Croft, after whom the Tomb Raider character is named (although the people at Eidos removed the u from her first name). ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/33 "2004-08-03T22:50:26Z")
This isn’t quite what you’re asking, but I went to see _Josie and the Pussycats_ with my friend Lisa Schneider. Hilarity ensued. (For those of you who didn’t see it, an evil character in the movie is revealed to be a nerd named Lisa Schneider. Yes, I know, lame movie, but this coincidence made up for that.) ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/34 "2004-08-03T23:45:04Z")
Not a fictional character, but I went to high school with an Amy Fisher. We were in high school when the “other” Amy shot Mary Jo Buttafuoco. ---
**Author:** ![Padmaraga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@Padmaraga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padmaraga)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/35 "2004-08-04T00:18:51Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > My friend’s brother is James Brown. He’s White. Oh, hey - I almost forgot - I used to work with a guy named **Jim Browne** (he’s white, too) - he’s in sales, so he likes to take advantage of his “famous name” to break the ice when he’s doing cold calls. ---
**Author:** ![Emony\_Dax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Emony\_Dax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emony_Dax)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/36 "2004-08-04T01:48:38Z")
I work at a university and once ran across a student named Snow White. Wonder if she had a wicked step-mother? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/37 "2004-08-04T02:41:53Z")
I’m not going to give away exact details (though people can probably figure it out), but when my wife and I were dating, we rented a famous Hitchcock movie, one in which an important-but-unseen character happened to have the same first and last name as my wife. During a key scene, my wife’s maiden name appears on a tombstone in a cemetery! ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/38 "2004-08-04T02:48:09Z")
I use to go to school with a Charlie Brown. ---
**Author:** ![Grit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@Grit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grit)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/39 "2004-08-04T02:56:39Z")
My former supervisor at work was Charlie Brown. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125/40 "2004-08-04T02:57:18Z")
My uncle has all his life been **Jack Bauer**. Struck me as amusing when “24” premiered. I don’t think it has ever come up at family functions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-character-names-you-stumble-across-in-real-life/258125.md?page=3)