Several years back I briefly dated a young woman who was quite a bit younger than I was. Eventually I found out her dad’s first name was the same as mine. Then I found out that, when she was growing up, he worked as a cook — like I do. Eventually I met the man himself and discovered his personality was almost exactly like mine.
Oh yes, she was also mentally ill, as it turned out, suffering (and making everybody else suffer) with borderline personality disorder.
Well, my brothers’ names are Matt and Andy. Never dated a Matt, but have dated a couple of Andrews. One, I called mostly by a totally different nickname, and the other, well…I promptly started calling him ‘Drew’ and that’s what it remained. There’s only one Andy, and that’s my baby brother, damnit.
Oh, and how about someone who looks like your sister?
In junior high & high school I had this good friend, Monica, but she had to move her junior year. We wrote, but we lost touch.
In college I met a girl, Laura, who often reminded me a LOT of Monica, so much that I asked her if she knew Monica. She didn’t. I could have sworn they were related, they were practically separated at birth kinds of similar, in both looks and personality. Of course we became friends, but then I transferred to another college, and again, we lost touch.
But now there is Facebook! Through the wonders of Facebook I found out that Monica had married, and her husband (of many years now) had the same name of Laura, so I asked if she knew anyone named Laura Lastname. She wrote back: Yep, her sister-in-law.
I was kind of :eek: The FB pic indicates that Monica looks much the same as in high school–that is, she doesn’t look 16 anymore but I would definitely recognize her. Eventually I looked through Monica’s friend list, and sure enough, Laura was on there (but she has married so she, too, has a different last name). I would have recognized her, too.
I am comforted by the fact that Laura’s husband couldn’t possibly also have a sister who looked just like his wife…
I hesitate to admit that my wife is uncannily like my favourite sister. Not so much that I noticed before it was too late, but once you see them together it’s plain.
My cousin married a woman with the same first name as his sister.
His sister is currently dating (and I expect them to eventually marry, having seen them together and how much they do love each other) a man with the same first name as their father.
I have to try to block it out when I’m around them.
For me it has never come up and should never happen. My father has a fairly unusual name so meeting someone with the same name is not likely. I have no brothers. However, if it were to happen, I would find it strange/weird – possible dealbreaker, but who knows. I think that is because I know exactly one person with my father’s name. The uniqueness of that name makes the association much stronger.
I think for more common names, people are used to meeting/interacting with others with that name so dating someone with a more common name is easier. One meets so many Mikes, Johns, and Daves that one wouldn’t necessarily immediately think of their familial one when hearing the name.
Excellent topic. I’ve always wondered this a lot. A guy in high school once had a crush on me and his name is one of my brother’s names. Always had him in the friend zone; think he’d at least had a shot with a different name.
A couple from my high school is now married and her name is the same as the groom’s older sister. Always struck me as odd.
ETA: Come to think of it, parents’ names wouldn’t squick me out. They’re still mom and dad. Only sibling names would.
