A few days ago I had a client whose real name was William Shakespeare. In the interest of professionalism, and because I know I would not be the first person to say something like, “Have you written any good plays lately?” and that these guys must be tired of such lame jokes, I respectfully treated him just like I’d treat anybody else and didn’t call any attention to the fact that, “Hey, you’re named after that famous playwright!”
Even if the person was not someone I spoke to in a work-related or other professional environment I’d be reluctant to make any references to their celebrity counterpart because if I had such a name myself I’d be sick to death of people making lame jokes all the time.
So my question is, how do you approach such people, whether it’s in a professional or casual environment? Likewise, if your own name is the same as that of a famous person (and you don’t have to indicate what that name is), how do you feel when people make jokes and references to the celebrity name?
I think it would be appropriate to say something like, “Interesting name, easy to remember.” - and leave it at that. That way they have an opening to comment if they feel like it.
My name is the same as a well known character in fiction and I suffered through getting the same lame jokes over and over and over. Often when someone meets me and repeats the lame joke, they follow with, “Bet you hear that all the time.” It takes a lot of self control to keep from replying, “No, actually I haven’t heard that since third grade.”
We have had clients with famous names who turned out to be THE famous one so unless it is a long dead name we tend to basically ignore it. Like you say, they probably have heard it all their lives and its probably old. One time I did make it partly a joke but that was in person and face to face. Someone came in wanting to sell some things and introduced himself as Jack London so as I shook his hand I said “Hello - I’m Walt Whitman. Naaah - not really. But I just had to say that.” In this case the humor worked and he’s been a great client ever since.
Never make jokes or dumb remarks about a person’s name, ever. It’s easy to give offense (you don’t know their family history or what the name might mean to them), and in any case they’ve been hearing the same jokes since nursery school.
I have a famous name (although it’s becoming less so with the passage of time. I hope).
Frankly, the name jokes are super lame and honestly people, there are none that I haven’t heard. None. At all. I’m 37 years old. Every joke you make has been made by someone else 50 times.
In social settings I give it a pass (assuming the person’s not being a jerk about it) because I know that it is a talking point and sometimes people are nervous when meeting new people and there’s no need for me to be a bag about it.
However, I have no time for it in a professional setting. Typically if someone points it out in such a setting I’ll just say ‘It’s a family name.’ (which it is). If they persist I put on my best dead-pan and say something like ‘Wow. No, no one has EVER made a comment about my name - you’re the first!’ When they reply ‘Really.’ I say ‘No, not really.’
As a former pizza delivery driver, I fully understand how it feels to be approached with lame “jokes” fifty times a day. So when someone has a notable name, I simply say nothing about it.
As for my name - I have the same last name as a character on South Park, and I think it’s cool when people make the connection. That could be because it doesn’t happen often, though, so I haven’t become sick of it.
I do this quite a bit. Sometimes, when I really want to lay it on thick, I say I’ve never heard that joke before in a complete deadpan, and when they respond with surprise, say, “No, I’m kidding. I’ve heard that at least [insert actual, non-exaggerated estimate how many times I’ve heard it in my life].” It’s so great to watch that little spark in their eyes wither away when you tell them their original number has been played to be at least 100 times.
Hear, hear. My last name means something, and I’ve been hearing the obvious joke about it for more than 50 years. I usually just smile wanly and ignore it.
Bounder: Ah good morning. I’m Bounder of Adventure.
Tourist: My name is Smoke-Too-Much.
Bounder: What?
Tourist: My name is Smoke-Too-Much. Mr Smoke-Too-Much.
Bounder: Well you’d better cut down a little then.
Tourist: What?
Bounder: You’d better cut down a little then.
Tourist: Oh I see! Cut down a bit, for Smoke-Too-Much.
Bounder: Yes, he he…I expect you get people making jokes about your name all the time, eh?
Tourist: No, no actually. Actually, it never struck me before. Smoke…too…much!
Not exactly the same thing but my name is the title of a fairly famous song that, not only is it old , but frankly, a grown man should feel a bit ridiculous singing. Yet it happens all the time and it never ceases to amuse me.
As to how I approach people with notable names - luckily I have learned from this board that people are very sensitive about these things and so I keep my unoriginal, unappreciated humor to myself
