# Shawn Fain, UAW President, is not associated with Sinn Fein **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 20, 2023, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424 "2023-09-20T14:04:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/1 "2023-09-20T14:04:43Z")
I’ve been hearing his name a lot in regards to the auto worker’s strike, and I keep thinking we’ve veered into Irish politics. I’m surprised no one has mentioned the similarity on the networks or on Op-Ed pages, because the first few times I heard his name I was confused. Looking on the internet I see that a lot of other people have noticed the similarity, too. Looking up Shawn Fain on Wikipedia and elsewhere doesn’t turn up anything like “his parents supported the Irish Home Party” or anything else like that. But they must have noticed. > **[Flashpoint: UAW president is here ahead of contract talks with Detroit’s big...](https://www.clickondetroit.com/flashpoint/2023/06/25/flashpoint-uaw-president-is-here-ahead-of-contract-talks-with-detrots-big-3-automakers/)** > > Watch Flashpoint every Sunday at 10 a.m. on Local 4 News and Local 4+. I mean, surely Paris Hilton’s parents must’ve realized that people would at first be mistaking her for a hotel, right? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/2 "2023-09-20T14:20:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Paris Hilton’s parents Well, it’s a confusion they’d already be familiar with, since it was their hotels. > **[Hilton family](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilton_family)** > > The Hilton family is an American family that originally comes from Kløfta, Norway, and spans over four generations from New York City and Los Angeles. The family members hold varying degrees of power, wealth and status as socialites in the United States. They are widely known for the Hilton Hotels & Resorts Group which was established by Conrad Hilton in 1919 when he bought his first hotel. > The Hilton family is one of the world's most powerful and famous families and are worth over $14.2 billi... ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/3 "2023-09-20T14:20:08Z")
Ha, yeah, being in the suburban Detroit area, I’ve been constantly hearing his name on the local _ **and** _ national news, and I almost started a post about it myself. I also wondered if perhaps his parents were Sinn Féin supporters. As you mentions, not much on Shawn Fain’s Wiki page, other than this: > He is the grandson of two UAW GM retirees. So, if there are family ties to Sinn Féin, they must go back aways. Just a WAG, but I would think if his parents were going for a clever pun on ‘Sinn Féin’ they would have spelled his first name ‘Sean’; it’s a bit closer of a reading and more Gaelicised. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/4 "2023-09-20T14:31:27Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Well, it’s a confusion they’d already be familiar with, since it was their hotels. Obviously. But I’m still surprised they named her that. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/5 "2023-09-20T14:36:50Z")
It’s like Armand Hammer. His father apparently did name him after the “Arm and Hammer” logo of the Socialist Labor Party (although at first he was said to be named after Armand Duval, a character in a Dumas novel). Years later they were said to have looked into acquiring Church and Dwight, the company that made Arm and Hammer baking soda, because he was asked about it so often. > **[Armand Hammer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_Hammer)** > > Armand Hammer (May 21, 1898: 16  – December 10, 1990) was an American business manager and owner, most closely associated with Occidental Petroleum, a company he ran from 1957 until his death. Called "Lenin's chosen capitalist" by the press, he was also known for his art collection and his close ties to the Soviet Union. > Hammer's business interests around the world and his "citizen diplomacy" helped him cultivate a wide network of friends and associates. > Armand Hammer was born in New York Ci... > **[Arm & Hammer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arm_%26_Hammer)** > > Arm & Hammer is a brand of baking soda-based consumer products marketed by Church & Dwight, a major American manufacturer of household products. The logo of the brand depicts the ancient symbol of a muscular arm holding a hammer inside a red circle with the brand name and slogan. Originally associated solely with baking soda and washing soda, the company began to expand the brand to other products in the 1970s by using baking soda as a deodorizing ingredient. The new products included toothpaste,... In this case, the guy clearly WAS named after an “Arm and Hammer” – just not the one most people associated with the name. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/6 "2023-09-20T14:51:29Z")
Not quite the same thing, but this makes me wonder how common the family name “Kim” is in _South_ Korea? I have to expect there’s an ever growing list of given names that are off-limits to any sane set of parents named “Kim”. I suppose a wacko in the US could name his kid “John Wayne”. Expecting that most folks would think of the late actor **[John Wayne - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne)**, while Dad was thinking of the late serial killer **[John Wayne Gacy - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy)**. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/7 "2023-09-20T14:53:48Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Not quite the same thing, but this makes me wonder how common the family name “Kim” is in _South_ Korea? Proportionally (by a factor of more than 20) more common than “Smith” in the US, though there are cultural subtleties that are probably best the subject of another thread ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/8 "2023-09-20T15:07:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I suppose a wacko in the US could name his kid “John Wayne”. Expecting that most folks would think of the late actor **[John Wayne - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne)**, while Dad was thinking of the late serial killer **[John Wayne Gacy - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy)**. See also: John Wayne Bobbitt. Cursed to forever share a Wiki page with his wife: > **[John and Lorena Bobbitt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_and_Lorena_Bobbitt)** > > John Wayne Bobbitt (born 1967) and Lorena Bobbitt (née Gallo; born 1969 or 1970) were an American former couple, married on June 18, 1989, whose relationship received international press coverage in 1993 when Lorena severed John's penis with a food knife while he was asleep in bed; the penis was successfully surgically reattached. Lorena, an Ecuadorian immigrant and the primary breadwinner, claimed that her husband John, a bar bouncer and former U.S. Marine, had raped and abus The incident in w... ---
**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:** [September 20, 2023, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/9 "2023-09-20T15:08:20Z")
And there is a great-grandson named after him. > **[Armie Hammer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armie_Hammer)** > > Armand Douglas Hammer (born August 28, 1986) is an American actor. He began his acting career with guest appearances in several television series. His first leading role was as Billy Graham in the 2008 film Billy: The Early Years, and he gained wider recognition for his double role portraying the twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in David Fincher's biographical drama film The Social Network (2010), for which he won the Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor. > Hammer ... ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/10 "2023-09-20T15:16:50Z")
SNL had a whole sketch on this subject not long after 9/11: > **[SNL Transcripts: John Goodman: 11/03/01: Hudson Valley Community Circuit -...](https://snltranscripts.jt.org/01/01dhudsonvalley.phtml)** > >  Saturday Night Live Transcripts  Season 27: Episode 4 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/11 "2023-09-20T15:27:15Z")
> [@solost](#): > > See also: John Wayne Bobbitt. Cursed to forever share a Wiki page with his wife: True. But Bobbitt was (in)famous for being a victim, albeit a rather deserving one. Gacy was infamous for being a very dangerous wacko. The parental insanity / negligence necessary to chose Gacy as your kid’s namesake is in a whole different league than choosing Bobbit. IMO YMMV. > [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > SNL had a whole sketch on this subject not long after 9/11: Osama was a very common Arab boy’s name. There were a lot of perfectly decent boys, young men, and old men named a perfectly ordinary name on 9/10/2001. Sucked to be (many of) them starting the next day. I’ve told this story before, but as a teen I had a job where my then 30-ish manager was named “Ronald McDonald”. Poor Ron had been about 6yo when the hamburger clown was invented and his life as an ordinary unassuming grade-school kid suddenly took a severe turn for the worse. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/12 "2023-09-20T15:37:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The parental insanity / negligence necessary to chose Gacy as your kid’s namesake is in a whole different league than choosing Bobbit. I see what you mean. I actually googled to see if it’s possible that J.W. Bobbitt could have been named after Gacy, not Marion Morrison; or at least that his parents were stupid to have named him that after Gacy became infamous…Bobbitt was born in '67, Gacy in '42. But Gacy’s atrocities didn’t become public until '78. So, giving your newborn son the first and middle names ‘John Wayne’ is… Pre-1978: Kinda rednecky, but acceptable. Post-1978: insane / negligent. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/13 "2023-09-20T17:20:42Z")
But how many Americans know how to pronounce “Sinn Fein” correctly? ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/14 "2023-09-20T18:11:18Z")
It was spoken a lot in tv/radio news in the 90s. Less so now though. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/15 "2023-09-20T18:20:00Z")
Tiocfaidh ár Ford Láriat! > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Not quite the same thing, but this makes me wonder how common the family name “Kim” is in _South_ Korea? I have to expect there’s an ever growing list of given names that are off-limits to any sane set of parents named “Kim”. ~22% of Koreans. Over 50% of Koreans have 1 of 5 surnames: (in descending order) Kim, Lee/Rhee, Park, Choi, Jung. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/16 "2023-09-20T18:30:11Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Obviously. But I’m still surprised they named her that. Times Square Hilton was already in use ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/17 "2023-09-20T18:47:01Z")
If she’d been a boy they’d have named her HHonors Hilton. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/18 "2023-09-20T23:56:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Not quite the same thing, but this makes me wonder how common the family name “Kim” is in _South_ Korea? I have to expect there’s an ever growing list of given names that are off-limits to any sane set of parents named “Kim”. A couple years all four members of the Korean women’s curling team were named Kim. No two were known to be related. It is extremely common. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/19 "2023-09-21T00:05:52Z")
As I expected. But problematic. We recently had a long and ill-tempered thread about the use of “Karen” as a pejorative for “entitled whining jerkwad, possibly but not necessarily female”, and how much that was unfair to innocent folks assigned the same name by fate. When the asshole in chief of your county’s worst nightmare enemy shares a family name with 20+% of all your own country’s citizens, that’s got lots of room for unhappy. ---
**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:** [September 21, 2023, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424/20 "2023-09-21T00:13:41Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Well, it’s a confusion they’d already be familiar with, since it was their hotels. Yes, but the first time I heard of “the Paris Hilton scandal”, I assumed it was about something that happened in a hotel in France. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > When the asshole in chief of your county’s worst nightmare enemy shares a family name with 20+% of all your own country’s citizens, that’s got lots of room for unhappy. Eh, the fact that the name is SO common probably blunts it considerably. I mean, I’m sure that both Presidents Johnson had their share of detractors or even enemies, doubtless including many themselves named Johnson. And when you’ve got a fifth of an entire country with the same name, it’s not going to be used by itself to refer to any one individual. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawn-fain-uaw-president-is-not-associated-with-sinn-fein/990424.md?page=2)