# Works in which two different characters have the same name **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 9, 2024, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022 "2024-09-09T17:27:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**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 19, 2024, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/81 "2024-09-19T12:14:22Z")
A literary example is Edgar Allen Poe’s short story **William Wilson**. It was adapted to film, most notably in the 1968 anthology _Spirits of the Dead_. ---
**Author:** ![GoodZuckerbergs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@GoodZuckerbergs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodZuckerbergs)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/82 "2024-09-19T17:24:23Z")
I was swimming in the ocean of [tvtropes.org](http://tvtropes.org) just now, and accidentally discovered that they have a page that lists tons of examples of stories with two or more characters of the same name: > **[One-Steve Limit - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OneSteveLimit)** > > A pretty rigid rule that no two characters in a work of fiction (novel, movie, play, TV series, comic book, etc.) should share the same first name, or even similar-sounding names. If there's a Laura in the story, there will not be a Lyra; if … ---
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/83 "2024-09-27T17:03:27Z")
And a non-literary example is the two Willie Wilsons who played major league baseball in the 1980s–both were black, speedy centerfielders without much power, but other than that, they wouldn’t have been mixed up much. One of them actually went by “Mookie” so there was no real confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/84 "2024-09-27T17:25:17Z")
That reminds me that the Mets at one point had two pitchers on their roster named Bobby Jones. Their jerseys both actually had the names “Bobby Jones” on them, differentiated by their middle initial. ---
**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 27, 2024, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/85 "2024-09-27T17:35:20Z")
> [@GailForce](#): > > One of them actually went by “Mookie” so there was no real confusion. Which resulted a brief period when only two of the four major American sports were Mookie-less. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/86 "2024-09-27T18:05:40Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > In season 5 _The Sopranos_ had two Tonys. _The Sopranos_ also had two characters named “Pussy.” “Big Pussy” was one of Tony’s crew, and “Little Pussy” was Junior’s rival he intended to whack at Artie’s in Season One. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2024, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/87 "2024-10-08T23:37:42Z")
> [@Bumbazine](#): > > I once worked at a place where we had three Marys. ‘Big Mary’, ‘Little Mary’, and ‘Crazy Mary’. I worked at a place where we had “Jennifer One”, “Jennifer Two” and “Jennifer Three” (numbered in the order in which they started working there). ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/88 "2024-10-09T15:41:08Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > I worked at a place where we had “Jennifer One”, “Jennifer Two” and “Jennifer Three” (numbered in the order in which they started working there). We had three Jennifers on my dorm floor in freshman year. One went by Jennifer, one went by Jenn, one went by Jenny. No confusion. In _The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_, some shared names were offstage. Zaphod Beeblebrox’s father was Zaphod Beeblebrox the second, his father was Zaphod Beeblebrox the third… And then there was Arthur Philip Dent, called a jerk and an asshole by Wowbagger the Infintely Prolonged, the latter of which then planned to move on to insult a slug of the species “Arthur Philip Denu” (I know there are a bunch of hyphens in that but I don’t have the book handy here at work). Fun joke, but one that makes no sense even by Adams’ standards. Babel Fish or not, WtIP is still working his way through English-language Christian names. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/89 "2024-10-09T19:35:02Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Also, the 30 Helens Agree sketches from the first season. _These are the Daves I know, I know These are the Daves I know. Some of them are Davids, **But most of us are Daves.** They all have their own hands, but they come from different mums._ ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/90 "2024-10-11T15:15:54Z")
In the ‘70s, there was **Quark** , a Mel Brooks outer space comedy starring Richard Benjamin. One of the crewmen was Betty. She had a clone also named Betty. No one was sure which was the real Betty. Collectively, they were The Bettys (played by the luscious Barnstable twins). ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/91 "2024-10-11T16:11:50Z")
Wikipedia says Buck Henry created: > **[Quark (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_(TV_series))** > > Quark is a 1977 American science fiction sitcom starring Richard Benjamin. Broadcast on Friday nights at 8:00–8:30 p.m. on NBC, the pilot aired on May 7, 1977, and the series followed as a mid-season replacement in February 1978. The series was cancelled in April 1978. Quark was created by Buck Henry, co-creator of the spy spoof Get Smart. > The show was set on a United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol Cruiser, an interstellar garbage scow operating out of United Galaxy Space Station Perma One in the year... Brian (vaguely remembers watching the show) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/92 "2024-10-11T16:30:19Z")
Come over here. ::whispers:: Buck Henry and Mel Brooks are the same person! I know, right! 😉🤣 Funny, I thought Quark was a garbage man but then I was getting confused with **Salvage One** and Andy Griffith. Trust your first instincts (except Mel Brooks/Buck Henry). ---
**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:** [October 11, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/93 "2024-10-11T16:34:19Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Funny, I thought Quark was a garbage man He was. He was the commander of a “United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol Cruiser,” dispatched to collect space garbage. Andy Griffith’s character in _Salvage 1_ was a scrap dealer and junkpicker. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/94 "2024-10-11T17:41:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Apparently in Batman vs. Superman, their first moment of bonding was when they learned that both of their mothers were named Martha. The Batman mythos has a Harvey Dent and a Harvey Bullock ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/95 "2024-10-11T18:10:00Z")
At least you ran out before you got to _[Jennifer 8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104549/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk)_. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/96 "2024-10-11T20:15:25Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > Babel Fish or not, WtIP is still working his way through English-language Christian names. The slug doesn’t have an English-language Christian name. It’s not Babelfish; it’s Library of Babel. The Universe is so big that every string of characters spells the name of some insultable creature or another, and the slug only looks like it has a Christian name because it’s right after another character with a Christian name. And one of my classes right now contains three Elizabeths and an Elyse. Fortunately, one of the Elizabeths goes by Eliza and one goes by Lizzy, so it’s easy to distinguish them. The same class has a Clair and a Claire, who are apparently close friends and don’t mind being called each other. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/97 "2024-10-11T21:46:26Z")
I know it’s not the same thing but there are a lot of shared names in John Ford’s cavalry trilogy. There are similarities of theme and setting but I they are different characters even though the names are the same or similar. I’ve never found an answer as to why he did that. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2024, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/98 "2024-10-11T22:15:56Z")
Rewatching some episodes of Arrested Development, and there’s the two Lucilles. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2024, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/99 "2024-10-12T00:14:27Z")
And a loose seal. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2024, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022/100 "2024-10-12T01:15:29Z")
The comic strip Peanuts had two distinct characters named Patty. The first was the character some fans have named “original Patty”, a blonde girl who was a regular in the early strips, and was in the very first strip, but never developed any particular memorable character traits. She basically just disappeared without any explanation that I saw. Then came “Peppermint” Patty, a redhead with a much more interesting personality. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-in-which-two-different-characters-have-the-same-name/1007022.md?page=6)