Name's the Same



""It's probably just a coincidence, Homer. Like that guy named Anthony Michael Hall who stole your car stereo.""

- Marge Simpson, The Simpsons

When unrelated shows have characters who have the very same name. Most of the time it's unintentional. Nevertheless, sometimes the similarities in situation or personality are strong enough to inspire quite interesting Crossover Fan Fiction and Epileptic Trees.

This is, in essence, an Aversion of a Shout-Out (although there are occasional cases where it's actually done as a Shout Out). Said characters happen to have a few similar attributes and the same name, (Unless the name is a single word, not "a similar name" nor "The same first name" nor "The same last name". The entire name is the same.) but it's meaningless, or not overly significant. Alice Allusion, My Hero Zero, and Name of Cain are subtropes. Contrast One Steve Limit. See also Unfortunate Names. If this applies to a character and his/her actor/actress, see The Danza. When imposed on a character by their parents (or other namers) may lead to a Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?.

When this applies to a title, they are Similarly Named Works.

When there are a large number of entries in a section, they will be ordered in alphabetical order by last name first, to make it easier to find previous entries and the name that more than one party or thing has will be in bold. If you add an entry to a subsection organized this way, please go along, thanks.

If you're looking for the Game Show, go to The Name's the Same.

For examples comparing real life to fictional names, see the Real vs. Fictional subpage.