# Mind dating someone with the same first name at all? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 6, 2011, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717 "2011-08-06T09:59:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/21 "2011-08-06T16:11:39Z")
Yea, as a practical matter, one or the other of you is going to get nicknamed pretty quickly by your friends and family. And if having the same name bothers you, you can use a nickname for your SO as well (most couples seem to rarely call each other by name anyways). So it seems kind of a silly thing to get worked up about, chances are if you stay together for any appreciable amount of time, you’ll only be commonly called by the matching names during formal occasions. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/22 "2011-08-06T16:16:08Z")
The OP reminds me of a great thread from a while back, something like “what’s your Sienfeldian limit” or whatnot. Don’t remember even enough to get a good search, but it noted how many trivial things Jerry broke up with people over (e.g. man hands) and Dopers posted their own versions. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/23 "2011-08-06T16:17:37Z")
I knew a Terri and Terry. Weirder than the names were the circumstances. Terri was Tom’s twin sister. Terry was Tom’s best friend from childhood. Not long after Tom left home for college, Terri and Terry hooked up. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/24 "2011-08-06T16:34:42Z")
I think a lot of people who would find the same names off-putting are those that already have a significant other. There are so many more important aspects other than names, which are more along the line of meaningless in the overall scheme of things. If I found someone with whom I was happy, and them with me, I would consider myself lucky, and cannot imagine something like a name deterring anything. Life is just to short to prioritize names, at least over anything of real substance, imo. ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/25 "2011-08-06T21:02:59Z")
I know a couple through work that are both named Robin. And they have the same birth date. That’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/26 "2011-08-06T21:14:34Z")
No. Sorry, but a man named Laura would be too strange. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/27 "2011-08-06T21:28:40Z")
I briefly dated a girl with the same name as my sister. It was beyond weird but I put up with it as she was exceptionally hot. I tried to advert some of the awkwardness by pretty much calling her “Babe” or some other pet name exclusively. I think the last straw was when I accidentally texted my sister a rather graphic “sext messege” (No pictures just dirty talk) Honestly, we broke up for legitimate reasons but man, I don’t know that I’ll ever date a girl with that name again. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/28 "2011-08-06T21:29:23Z")
I know a couple who are both named Alex. It’s a little weird occasionally, but nothing major. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/29 "2011-08-06T21:36:09Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > We met a couple a few months ago. Her name is Roberta. Her SO’s name is Robert. At one point the strangeness hit me and I whispered to my gf, “Hey, the cat’s name is Bob. Think about it”. It took a minute, but she grinned. > > They were very strange, indeed. My name’s Robert. I don’t think I could be with a Robert, Roberta, Rob, Bob, Bobby, Bobbi, or Bert. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/30 "2011-08-06T23:51:20Z")
Oddly, I have a strongly male-gendered first name, and I’d only have an issue with it if the potential romantic partner was a guy - it would be something of a turn on to meet a gal who had it (it’s weird, I know, but I have a ‘thing’ for cross-gendered names). ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/31 "2011-08-06T23:59:39Z")
With a name like Jamie, I’ve found myself in this situation more than once in my life. I don’t have any issue with it at all, and I actually find that it can make for a great ice-breaker. What I do is I say I spell Jamie the “masculine” way and all the others are “feminine” varieties. Tongue-in-cheek, of course. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/32 "2011-08-07T01:08:11Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Wouldn’t bother me one bit - although I am straight and the chances of me dating someone with my own (unusual but very clearly feminine) name would be between zero and nil. > > I’ve dated two men with the same name as my father, and one with the same name as a brother…I thought it would be strange, but it wasn’t. > > I used to know a married couple called Gene and Gina. I have an uncle Gino (Luigino) married to a woman named Gina (Luigina). (My aunt Gina also has a sister named Regina, but that’s another issue.) My name is Regina and if I dated a guy named Reginald, I wouldn’t mind. Some of my family call me Reggie, but not often enough that I would feel weird even if the guy went by Reggie. Fortunately, my father’s and brother’s names are so unusual in the US that I have very little chance of dating anyone with the same name. But I have a family friend who married a woman with the same name as his sister, and I’ve always thought that must have been so awkward, at least in the beginning of their relationship. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/33 "2011-08-07T01:17:21Z")
I have the same name as my brother’s girlfriend. This has led to some embarrassing and _deeply disturbing_ text messages intended for her being received by me. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/34 "2011-08-07T01:17:53Z")
One of my husband’s brothers has a daughter named Nickie. He also has a son named Nicholas. Nickie’s husband is named or called Nick. I always get them confused. I don’t think that I’d mind dating a guy named Lynn, though I can see that if someone called out “Hey, LYNN!”, both of us might turn around to see who’s paging us. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/35 "2011-08-07T02:12:23Z")
I’m also an Alex, and I think it’d be weird dating another Alex but I’d get over it pretty quick if we were otherwise compatible. My wife and my mother have the same name. Again, a little weird at first, but you get used to it. OTOH, in the nearly 20 years we’ve been together I’ve probably referred to my wife by her name no more than a few dozen times. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/36 "2011-08-07T02:19:44Z")
I have a generic first name, and yes I’ve dated girls with the same name as me. It made it interesting when we went out and someone who knew one of us saw us and called out our name. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/37 "2011-08-07T02:34:35Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I have the same name as my brother’s girlfriend. I know someone named Lisa, whose brother married someone named Lisa, so she loses the uniqueness of her name, to, of all people, her sister-in-law. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/38 "2011-08-07T03:25:06Z")
My first and middle name are the first and last name of a famous male comedian, who I happen to loathe entirely and who happens to play a character with the same first name on TV. (You probably just figured out who.) Consequently I have a reflexive negative opinion of men with our first name. I would date a woman with the name, though. It’s fairly common in my age bracket, and it wouldn’t bother me if I had a connection with the woman. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/39 "2011-08-07T03:41:42Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I know three similar-named couples, and it gets annoying when I call their house and need to ask for “lady-Chris” Well, think how bad it would be if you had to share a class with your near-identically named female cousin. It was not my easiest term ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717/40 "2011-08-07T03:42:50Z")
Who would even have pause about such a silly thing? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-dating-someone-with-the-same-first-name-at-all/591717.md?page=3)