# Sharing a name with a famous song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2017, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023 "2017-02-17T03:38:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/41 "2017-02-17T19:41:14Z")
> [@Alma](#): > > The head of a company we work with is named Jude. It is practically impossible not to say “Hey Jude” when he calls, even if you aren’t trying to reference the song. I worked with a guy named Jude last year. When I greet someone in the office, I do tend to use, “Hey, [name]” – I found myself actively trying to _not_ do that with Jude, as I was sure he’d heard it a million times. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/42 "2017-02-17T19:50:52Z")
My name is Jessica and the Allman Brothers song “Jessica” is awesome - and lyric-less! For some reason, though, there have been plenty of people throughout my life that think my name is the same as the person being sung about in “Jessie’s Girl.” It’s a song about a guy named Jessie and his girlfriend, not a girl name Jessie. So it’s not only annoying when people (guys) try singing “Jessie’s Girl” to me, it’s just _wrong_! ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/43 "2017-02-17T20:04:16Z")
I used to work with a Jolene. Not breaking into song when she called was quite the exercise in self-control, at which I did not always succeed. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/44 "2017-02-17T20:05:11Z")
> [@Magicicada](#): > > Let’s say my name is Diane and I spend a lot of time down at the Tastee Freeze, and now let’s say I start dating a guy named Jack who has a habit of doing James Dean impressions, but because I’ve never heard the song Jack and Diane I can’t figure out why everyone keeps laughing. Except substitute a different set of names, a different set of oddly specific characteristics, and a much, much worse song. Not fun. Now I’m dying of curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/45 "2017-02-17T20:07:10Z")
My first name is Joe. Throughout all of high school and college, no less than once a day I heard someone say “[Hey, Joe — where you goin’ with that gun in your hand?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3JsuWz4xWc)” and then laugh like it was the first time anybody ever thought of saying that. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/46 "2017-02-17T20:07:20Z")
I am Daniel…NOT your brother…or (anymore) a boy…Or Dan Tucker…or Daniel Boone…though at times I can be nasty. > **[The Best Songs About Daniels](https://www.ranker.com/list/the-best-songs-about-daniels/reference)** > > Songs with a person's name in the title are quite common, but for this list we're only ranking the best songs about people named Daniel. Do you have a favorite Dan song? We want you to vote for your favorite songs about Daniel, whether it's a country... ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/47 "2017-02-17T20:26:42Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I used to work with a Rhonda. When one of us needed her assistance, she greatly preferred that we not break into song. > mmm I knew a girl named Rhonda in junior high. She hated that song too. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/48 "2017-02-17T20:27:50Z")
I once knew a girl named Maggie who told me she hated the song _Maggie May_ “with a passion” as a result of having had selected lyrics quoted to her _ad nauseam_. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/49 "2017-02-17T20:35:04Z")
My mother told me I was almost named “Bruce”. I would have [killed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH6GaZzNX8U) her first, then myself. Knew a very buxom young woman named Denise. One day when she walked into the office, I and two other security guys at the embassy lined up and sang [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_fxkf5Owss). She didn’t seem pleased. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/50 "2017-02-17T21:34:52Z")
> [@LightWithoutHeattttttttttttttt](#): > > I went to high school with a girl named Roxanne. She heard it EVERY day … mostly from me. Also dated a girl named Bernadette. I never had heard the song before then. But whenever I would introduce her to someone or mention her name, people would sing out “Bernadette!”. I worked with a woman named Roxanne, who once said, “After all these years they make a song using my name and she’s a prostitute?” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/51 "2017-02-17T22:27:01Z")
I’m 6’4", and my first name is John. I have probably heard classmates, neighbors and others sing Jimmy Dean’s “Big Bad John” a few trillion times. Luckily, it never, ever, ever gets old. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/52 "2017-02-18T02:05:48Z")
Not a song, but… when I was born, my older brother was really into Winnie the Pooh. So my parents came very close to naming me Christopher. Middle name Robin. > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I’ve always wanted to piss on the grave of the guy who wrote: “Open the Door Richard”. Thankfully that song has just about sunk into the obscurity it deserves. I have a cousin named Richard, and my father sang that song to him every damn time they met. > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I worked with a woman named Roxanne, who once said, “After all these years they make a song using my name and she’s a prostitute?” Guess she never heard the musical “Cyrano de Bergerac”. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/53 "2017-02-18T04:54:01Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I found out recently that “Sara” is about a baby Stevie Nicks aborted, and regretted doing so. :eek: ☹ > > There’s also Hall & Oates’ “Sara Smile”. Dang I never knew that! And yes those were the three songs I was thinking of. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/54 "2017-02-18T12:05:18Z")
The 1985 **Marillion** song **Kayleigh** was semi-autobiographical by the lead singer **Fish** and one of his former girlfriends was indeed named Kayleigh. Since the name was fairly rare it led to recognition for her which she reportedly found unwelcome. I once met a girl who was called Kayleigh and half joking (she was born at least 15 years after the song) I asked if she knew of the song. She said she did and indeed was actually named after it. I asked her if she liked the song and she shrugged (teenager) but seemed to think it was OK. A nice enough song from a long forgotten (in her estimation) band. I felt so old. When the song was released I was older than she was then… TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/55 "2017-02-18T17:33:04Z")
There may be a delta and flower sung about a mythical person with my real name. I have heard that song a lot. Also “Oh Donna”, which isn’t my name, but people seem to think it’s close enough. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/56 "2017-02-18T17:55:40Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > I am Daniel…NOT your brother…or (anymore) a boy…Or Dan Tucker…or Daniel Boone…though at times I can be nasty. > > [The 45+ Best Songs About Daniel, Ranked By Votes](http://www.ranker.com/list/the-best-songs-about-daniels/reference) But, but, the pipes. The pipes are calling. From glen to glen. And down the mountainside. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/57 "2017-02-20T15:28:22Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > There may be a delta and flower sung about a mythical person with my real name. I have heard that song a lot. > > Also “Oh Donna”, which isn’t my name, but people seem to think it’s close enough. People around here pronounce “Dawn” as “Don”. It’s very confusing! ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/58 "2017-02-21T04:39:09Z")
I met an Eleanor Rigby. I asked her about the song, but I’m sure that happens many times a day. She thought it was okay. She was quite elderly, and not named for the song – which is probably good under the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/59 "2017-02-21T05:12:36Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > People around here pronounce “Dawn” as “Don”. It’s very confusing! Does _anybody_ pronounce them differently? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023/60 "2017-02-21T06:24:02Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Does _anybody_ pronounce them differently? Yes, in the Midwest, “Don” has a vowel sound that is a little flatter than “Dawn” – like a tad closer to a short “a”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-name-with-a-famous-song/780023.md?page=4)