Name's the Same/Real Life: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

__NOTOC__

* ''ESPN the Magazine'' has a semi-regular feature called "Right Name, Wrong Number" where they briefly interview someone with the same name as a big figure in the world of sports -- with questions only appropriate for the real deal. According to an article on the feature, it takes a couple of tries to get people who are willing to play along.

* Then again, there's [[Beck (musician)|Beck Hansen]] of "Loser" fame (who plays guitar), and guitar legend [[Jeff Beck]].

* '''[[Justin Bieber]]''' is a famous singer. Behold, '''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE4fBkCUy5g Justin] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABVmyG6_Ph0 Bieber]''' the 35 year old tech support specialist from Jacksonville, Florida.

* '''Robert Blake''' was an actor who ([[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgement|allegedly]]) murdered his wife. [http://www.j-archive.com/showplayer.php?player_id=512 Bob Blake] was a 5-time ''[[Jeopardy!]]'' champion who was not only the first player to earn over $75,000 in regular competition (which was the then-winnings cap), but also won the 1990 Tournament of Champions. Neither seems to be related to Robert M. Blake, creator of the [[World of Fizz]].

* '''[[Steve Blum]]''' is a voice actor known for roles in (among others) [[Cowboy Bebop]] and [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]. '''Steven Blum''' is an associate director of ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?|Whose Line Is It Anyway]]''. Neither seems to be related to '''Steve Bloom''', a South African photographer and published author.

* In [[Carl Sagan]]'s ''The Demon-Haunted World'', he tells a story of being picked up at an airport by a driver named '''William Buckley'''. The driver thought Carl had the same problem as he did, since Carl had the same name as "that science guy." (His response: "I '''am''' that science guy.")

* '''Buffalo, Texas''' changed its name twice because of sports: first to '''Blue Star, Texas''' when the Dallas Cowboys played the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl (twice), and later to '''Green Star, Texas''' when the Dallas Stars played the Buffalo Sabres for the Stanley Cup.

* And when I say '''Robert Burton''', do I mean the author of ''The Anatomy of Melancholy'' or the British track star?

* '''Kate Bush''': [[Kate Bush|a beautiful and amazingly talented but notoriously reclusive British singer with her own unique style]] or [http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/Kate_Bush a character from Gundam].

** "Kate" is short for her birth name "Catherine". Which she shares with '''Catherine Bush''', a successful novelist.

* '''Brett Butler''' is the name of [[wikipedia:Brett Butler (baseball)|a former MLB center fielder]], [[wikipedia:Brett Butler (comedian)|a stand-up comedian]] and former star of the ABC sitcom ''[[Grace Under Fire]]'', and [[wikipedia:Brett Butler (voice actor)|a stage and voice actor]] known for playing Dr. Quinn on ''[[Sealab 2021]]''.

 

== C ==

* '''Sylvie Davidson''': A black French singer, or a white American theare actress and folk/country singer (also from Seattle)? This name combination is surprisingly common.

* General '''Jefferson Davis''' (1828-1879) of the Union should not be confused with President Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) of the Confederacy. Both were active in [[The American Civil War]]. Jefferson Davis (1862-1913), Governor of Arkansas, was not related to either man. Though some of his voters reportedly mistook him for a son or nephew of the President. "A belief that Davis did nothing to discourage".

* '''Jim Davis''', the creator of ''[[Garfield (Comic Strip)|Garfield]]'', was not an animator on ''[[Fritz the Cat (animation)|Fritz the Cat]]'' and ''[[The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat]]''. The animator, who also went by '''James Davis''', had a long career in animation, originally working for [[Warner Bros]] and [[MGM]] animation. The book ''Forbidden Animation'' confused the two, as did [[IMDb]] for a time.

** It doesn't help that the play/film ''Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean'' is about James Dean.

* '''Reginald Denny''' was the name of an old Hollywood character actor, as well as that of a truck driver who was attacked and beaten during the Rodney King riots in 1992.

* In the past, there were two open-source programs named '''Firebird'''; a database server and a Web browser. To avoid confusion, the Web browser's name was changed to the more familiar [[Mozilla Firefox|Firefox]]. The database server is still called Firebird.

** What's more, its name was changed to Firebird because its original name, Phoenix, is also the (trademarked) name of a company that develops BIOS software for PCs.

* An actor named '''"[[Ian Fleming]]"''' once had a minor role on an episode of ''[[The Prisoner]]''. He shared his name with the author of the [[James Bond (novel)|James Bond]] series.

* '''[[Harrison Ford]]''' shares a name with a [[Silent Movie|silent film]] actor, who famously had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame long before him.

* '''Samantha Fox''', the [[Page Three Stunna|Page 3 model]] and pop singer, is not to be confused with adult film actress Samantha Fox.

* The guy who sings the German version of "[[Rhythm Heaven|Young Love Rock 'n Roll]]" is named '''[[Benjamin Franklin]]'''.

*** Similarly, the [[Doom Patrol]]'s Flash Forward is surprised to find the prosthetics expert helping Robotman is Georgian. "Naw, see, my mama, ''she'' from Atlanta, and if ''you'' a cracker..."

** In ''[[Community]]'' Troy is representing Georgia at a Model UN, and breaks out an outrageous Southern accent. It turns out he did research the right place, he just decided to do the accent anyway.

* '''Joe Gibbs''': Former Washington Redskins coach or legendary [[Reggae]] producer?

* '''Paul Gilbert''' was an actor in [[The Thirties]]. A different Paul Gilbert played guitar with pop-metal bands Racer X and Mr. Big.

* '''Alberto Gonzales''' is a former US Attorney General. '''Alberto Gonzalez''' is the name of a baseball player for the Washington Nationals. A different '''Alberto Gonzalez''' composed music for Infogrames' video games, and has written some [[Video Games/Awesome Music|Crowning Music of Awesome]] for the entire Game Boy system. And none of these are to be confused with '''Albert Gonzalez''', who hacked TJ Maxx' credit card processing system.

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gonzaal01.shtml Alex Gonzalez] and [http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gonzaal02.shtml Alex Gonzalez.] They play the same position as well (shortstop) but their careers had much more overlap. (Both even played for the Toronto Blue Jays, though not at the same time.)

* '''[[Dave Gorman]]'''. For those who don't know, Dave Gorman is a British comedian who started off by going through with a bet that "he couldn't get 50 Dave Gormans in the same room" (Paraphrased, may not have been 50). And he did. And later, he went around the world after being bet he couldn't "Meet 10 [http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Define%3Agooglewhack&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a Googlewhacks] in a row when the latest link in the chain is only allowed to find him two more Googlewhacks". The second link in one of the chains he checked out was one of the Dave Gorman's he met previously.

** 54; and he didn't have to get them in the same room, just meet them. His Googlewhack show includes a great line from the other Dave Gorman; "Make yourself at home! You might as well, your name's on the mortgage..."

* '''Sam Harris''': Atheist author, or ''[[Star Search]]'' winner and [[One-Hit Wonder]] ("Sugar Don't Bite").

* One '''[[George Harrison]]''' was the lead guitarist of [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]]. Another George Harrison was vice president of marketing at [[Nintendo]].

* '''Harry Harrison''' is the name of a [[Harry Harrison|well-known science fiction writer]], as well as a long-time radio DJ in New York.

* '''Corey Hart''' is either the Canadian rock singer best remembered for the song "[[Sunglasses at Night]]", or the outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers.

* If you're inquiring about '''Gary Hart''', it's either the former Senator or the late pro wrestling manager.

* When you say '''[[Anne Hathaway]]''', are you talking about the actress from ''[[The Princess Diaries]]'' and ''[[The Devil Wears Prada]]'', or [[William Shakespeare]]'s wife?

{{quote|'''E-mail:''' hi can you send me tips

'''Answer:''' Yes. Here's two -- don't stand downwind of flatulent people, and try not to get involved in leapfrogging unicorns. }}

* '''Fran Healy''': A singer/guitarist and songwriter for the Scottish rock band Travis, and a former Major League Baseball catcher and current New York Mets announcer.

* During [[World War Two]], there was a US soldier with the same name as '''[[Adolf Hitler]]'''. When asked about whether he would change his name, the soldier replied "let the other guy change '''his''' name."

* Lampshaded in ''[[More Information Than You Require]]'', when author John Hodgman (aka [[Mascot|a PC]]) digs up an old ad for rainwear bearing his name, and, like him, advertising Mackintoshes.

* A really old episode of ''[[Law and Order]]'' featured two actors who went by '''Phil Hoffman'''. One of them was ''Capote'' actor Philip Seymour Hoffman.

* '''John Holmes''', porn star with a [[Bigger Is Better in Bed|massive wang]]. '''Jon Holmes''', Radio 4 satirist.

** Neither of whom should be confused with ''Antony'' (no "h") Hopkins, the composer and author of ''Understanding Music''.

* In Australia, '''John Howard''' is an actor... and a ''[[Australian Politics|former Prime Minister]]''. The actor has been hired to make the joke at least twice: once in ''[[The Games]]'' (hired [[Show Within a Show|within the show]] specifically to fool foreigners) and again in ''[[News Parody|CNNNN]]'' (mistaken for the other one by the presenter).

** Neither lend their name to the John Howard Society in Canada, which is named after the [[wikipedia:John Howard (prison reformer)|English prison reformer]].

* When you say '''iFanboy''' you're either talking about an overzealous [[Apple Macintosh|Apple Inc.]] enthusiast or [http://www.ifanboy.com a really great comics discussion site] with podcasts you can download off of Apple's iTunes player.

* [[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]] creator '''[[Keiji Inafune]]'''. After his split from [[Capcom]] [http://www.siliconera.com/2011/10/10/keiji-inafune-record-of-agarest-war-director-disgaea-artist-together-for-rpg/ people thought he was doing a game named] ''Overwhelming Game Infinite Souls''. [http://www.siliconera.com/2011/10/18/the-keiji-inafune-you-know-is-not-making-compile-hearts-infinite-souls/ Turns out it was someone else with the same name.] Notable for even affecting this wiki.

 

== J ==

* '''[[The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford|Jesse James]]''': A Wild West gangster, or a chopper bike builder?

** '''Jessie James''' is an american singer.

* '''[[Andrew Johnson]]''' was not only (1) the President who was impeached but also: (2) a politician for the Prohibition Party in the 1940's; (3) an Asian actor; (4) an architect; (5) a British footballer; (6) a cross-country skier; and (7) a Civil War soldier.

* '''Charles Johnson''': Defensive end for the Carolina Panthers, former journeyman catcher in Major League Baseball, and still finds time to be a left-wing political blogger.

** The University of Colorado also had two players on their 1990 football team named '''Charles Johnson'''. One was a wide receiver who later spent nine seasons in the NFL. The other was the quarterback who won the infamous [[wikipedia:Fifth Down Game (1990)|"Fifth Down Game"]] against Missouri.

* '''Evel Knievel''', American daredevil and survivor of the [[Medal of Dishonor|"most bones broken in a lifetime"]] 433) according to the [[Guinness Book Of World Records]], should not be confused with '''Evil Knievil''', a British stock market commentator (real name Simon Cawkwell)

* The city of '''Kobe''', fifth-largest city of Japan, has no direct connection to player [[Kobe Bryant]]. Reportedly the player's parents named him after Kobe beef, a Japanese restaurant delicacy. Which happened to be named after the city.

 

== L ==

** Also DJ Premier's real name is ''also'' Chris Martin.

* '''Jessica Martin''': A British actress who voiced Empyrea in ''[[Dragon Quest]] VIII'', or a Seattle actress who voiced Samus in ''[[Metroid: Other M]]''? Or a British model?

* '''[[Billy Mays]]''', the famed infomercial man who died in June 2009, was the second Billy Mays. His father is Billy Mays Senior, and his son is known as Billy Mays III. During his televised memorial service, Billy Mays III said that he was giving serious thought to naming his first son Billy Mays IV.

** Not to mention the baseball player Willie Mays...

* In 1957 a radio announcer for baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, on being informed that '''Joe McCarthy''' had died, went into a long on-air eulogy for the former New York Yankees manager, listing all the highlights of his storied career. It wasn't until breaking for a commercial that he learned that the Joe McCarthy in question was the notorious Red-baiting former Senator from Wisconsin.

* Two of the authors of the musical ''Rio Rita'' were named '''Joseph McCarthy and Fred Thompson'''. Neither should be confused with anyone who ever was a [[Red Scare|Republican senator]] and/or appeared on ''[[Law & Order|Law and Order]]''.

* '''[[Katie McGrath]]''': young Irish actress in ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' or wife of [[J.J. Abrams|JJ Abrams]]?

* '''[[Kevin McHale]]''': Boston Celtics player or actor on ''[[Glee]]''?

* '''John McLaughlin''': jazz guitarist or political talk show host?

* '''Russ Meyer''' was a pioneering director in the sexploitation genre. Russ Meyer was also a Major League Baseball pitcher nicknamed "The Mad Monk". Neither should be confused with Russell Meyers, creator of the comic strip ''Broom-Hilda''.

* Division I college sports has '''Miami University''' and the '''University of Miami'''. Since the word "University" is often left out when referring to teams (except for those that are known best by initials, in which case the "U" is included), and it would be easy to forget which one is which, they are usually referred to in print as Miami (OH) and Miami (FL), respectively. The University of Miami is located in Coral Gables, FL (which is near [[Miami]]), and Miami University is located in the Miami Valley in Oxford, OH.

* '''[[Rags to Royalty|Kate Middleton]]''' has been kicked off of Facebook -- not [[wikipedia:Kate Middleton|that]] Kate Middleton, but [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-12270648 another one]. Ironically, the latter's boyfriend is '''[[Jonathan Ross]]''' -- the namesake of a celebrity presenter -- and he still has his Facebook account.

* '''[[David Mitchell]]''' is either a novelist or the star of [[Peep Show]] who has decided to confuse the issue further by writing a novel.

* '''[[Alan Moore]]''': famous writer of comic books, or former drummer for [[Judas Priest]]?

* Speaking of NHL Hall of Famers, '''Dickie Moore''' shares the same name as a former member of [[The Little Rascals]].

** Or an early editor of ''Dragon Magazine'', who once ran a letter praising his work in the [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] films in the letters column of an [[Practical Joke|April issue]]?

* '''Natalie Morales''': One is a host on NBC's ''Today Show'' the other you might know as either Wendy Watson from ''[[The Middleman]]'' or Lauren Cruz on ''[[White Collar]]''. The latter gets confused for the former ''a lot'' on [http://www.twitter.com/nataliemorales Twitter].

** A variant of [[Media Research Failure]] much?

* '''Randy Moss'''. Recently retired [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MossRa00.htm American football player] or [http://www.drf.com/blogs/randy-moss horse racing analyst] [[Mind Screw|(who also works for the NFL Network)?]]

* '''[[Muhammad Ali]]''': Ottoman military commander who became the [[History of Modern Egypt|viceroy of Egypt]], or legendary American boxer?

* Rapper [[Cage]] makes a point to specify that his abusive, drug-addicted father '''Bill Murray''' is ''not'' [[Bill Murray|the actor]]. Cage does play with this in his song "Stripes":

** There's also the British actor Bill''y'' Murray, no relation to either.

* '''Eddie Murray''': Long-time Baltimore Oriole first baseman, or long-time Detroit Lions kicker?

 

== N ==

* '''[[Yuuichi Nakamura]]''' is a voice actor known for playing [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|Graham Aker]] and [[Macross Frontier|Alto Saotome]]. Yuichi Nakamura is a live-action actor known for playing [[Kamen Rider Den-O|Yuto Sakurai/Kamen Rider Zeronos]]. The two are apparently friends in real life.

* '''Keiji Nazakawa:''' Renowned chef known for going against Iron Chef Japanese Masahara Morimoto? Or [[Barefoot Gen|Hiroshima a-bomb survivor best known for his manga which tells his story?]]

** Mike Nelson was also the name of Lloyd Bridges's character on ''Sea Hunt''.

* The '''New York Giants''' football team is actually officially named the New York ''Football'' Giants, because when the team was founded one of the city's baseball teams was the New York (now San Francisco) Giants.

** Speaking of the Giants, neither one is to be confused with Japan's Yomiuri Giants, nor are the Detroit Tigers to be confused with the Hanshin Tigers. The first mistake happened in the second ''[[Major League]]'' movie, where the Indians' coach is at first happy to hear they've got a player coming in from "the Giants". Similarly, in ''The Order'', during interviews with "Calamity" James Wa the interviewer repeatedly mistakes "the Tigers" that James' dad played with for the team in Detroit.

* '''Jim O'Brien''' coached basketball in Boston (at Boston College) before leaving in 1987 to coach college basketball in Ohio (Ohio State). Then in 1994 Jim O'Brien, who had previously coached college basketball in Ohio (for Dayton), became head coach of the Boston Celtics.

* '''Paul O'Neill''', [[wikipedia:Paul O'Neill (Secretary of the Treasury)|former Secretary of the Treasury]], or '''Paul O'Neill''', [[wikipedia:Paul O'Neill (baseball)|former Reds/Yankees outfielder]].

** And neither of them is Terry Riley, composer of minimalist classic ''In C''.

* '''John Oates''' teamed with Daryl Hall to form a popular singing duo, while John''ny'' Oates was a Major League Baseball player and manager.

* There are two running backs in the NFL named '''Adrian Peterson'''. Adrian Lewis Peterson is a Pro Bowl and potential Hall of Fame halfback for the Minnesota Vikings, and Adrian Nicholas Peterson is a marginal role player who most recently played halfback for the Chicago Bears.

* '''Scott Peterson''': Do you mean the [[wikipedia:Scott Peterson|convicted murderer]], the one who writes for [[Phineas and Ferb]], or the [[wikipedia:Scott Peterson (comics)|comic writer/editor?]]

* One-time [["God Is Love" Songs|Contemporary Christian]]-turned-mainstream singer '''Leslie "Sam" Phillips''' is a doozy depending on which name is being mentioned. If using "Sam" (a childhood nickname that she has recorded under since starting her mainstream career), that name is shared with Sam Phillips, the model and actress and Sam Phillips, the early rock-and-roll producer who discovered, among others, [[Elvis Presley]] and [[Johnny Cash]]. More confusing, her birth name of Leslie Phillips (used during her CCM days) is shared with British actor Leslie Phillips.

* The Channel 10 network in Australia has a reporter named '''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'''. Recently, they added a Hermione, and one of their news anchors goes by the admittedly common name of Ron.

* There's novelty singer '''[[Ray Stevens]]'''. And then there's pro wrestling great Ray "The Crippler" Stevens.

* '''Sarah Stiles''': A New York actress who played Kate Monster and Lucy in ''[[Avenue Q]]'' and Joanne in ''Vanities: The Musical'', a Utah photographer, a Georgetown University professor, or a San Francisco composer?

* '''George Strait''': [[George Strait|Country music singer]] or former ABC News correspondent?

* Captain '''Dorothy Stratton''' (1899-2006) was the first director of the U.S. Coast Guard Women's Reserve. '''Dorothy Stratten''' (1960-1980) was Playmate of the Year for 1980 and the victim of a murder.

* '''[[The House of Stuart|James Stuart]]''', the name of more than one Scottish/English king; and '''James Stewart''', the birth name of Stewart Granger, as well as long, tall [[Jimmy Stewart]] the actor.

 

== T ==

** Another played American football for the Green Bay Packers.

** Then there's the actor [[James Arnold Taylor]].

* '''Richard Taylor''' created some truly [[Visual Effects of Awesome]]: One for ''[[Tron]]'' and one for [[The Lord of the Rings (film)|WETA]] (I'm pretty sure these were two different people because when one Richard was creating ''Tron'' in America the other was making puppets from things found while dumpster diving in New Zealand).

* '''Roger Taylor''' of [[Queen]] did not play drums in [[Duran Duran]]. That was the other Roger Taylor.

** Interestingly, Waites' character in the film has trouble establishing any kind of transmission to the outside world, and is named Windows. Russel's character is an alcoholic loner who destroys his computer after it beats him at chess, and is named Mac. Neither operating system existed when the film came out.

** Maybe Mac owns a certain blue blob called [[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends|Bloo]]...

*** And a [[The Threepenny Opera|Knife]].

* '''Scott Walker''' is an American-born British singer who had success in the 1960s and 1970s, both with the Walker Brothers and as a solo act; and a Wisconsin governor who came under fire in 2011 over his plan to suspend collective bargaining rights for most of the state's public-sector employees; and a longtime NHL hockey player.

* '''Josh Weinstein''' is a former writer for ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''. Another Josh Weinstein is a former cast member on ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' and writer for ''[[Freaks and Geeks]]'' (and current ''[[Cinematic Titanic]]'' cohost). Perhaps to clear up the confusion, the latter has taken to billing himself as ''[[Awesome McCoolname|J. Elvis Weinstein]]''.

* '''Bob Welch''' is either a former baseball pitcher for the Dodgers and A's, or a singer who used to be with [[Fleetwood Mac]].

* '''[[WETA]]''': Consistant creators of awesome visual effects ([[The Lord of the Rings (film)|The Lord of the Rings]], [[King Kong]], [[District 9]], [[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]) or Washington DC-based station who helped make Ken Burns' ''[[Baseball]]'' documentary?

** Or a giant flightless cricket from New Zealand, which the former is named after.

** There's also Bryan "Baby" Williams aka Birdman, co-founder of [[Glam Rap|Cash Money Records]].

* There are two musicians named '''[[John Williams]]'''. One's a film composer, one's a classical guitarist. Try not to confuse them.

** John Williams was also a British character actor who had memorable supporting roles in a couple of [[Alfred Hitchcock|Hitchcock]] films.

** There were also two NBA players in the late [[The Eighties|1980s]]/early [[The Nineties|1990s]] named John Williams. One was known as "Hot Rod" Williams; the other was nicknamed "Hot Plate" due to his ample weight.

* '''Michelle Williams''': Either a blonde actress, or a former member of [[Destiny's Child|Destinys Child]].

* '''Mike Williams'''. He's an overrated NFL player who has largely eaten his way out of the league. Now, do you mean the Left Tackle from Texas or the Wide Receiver from USC?

* '''Jerry Zucker''', the director of such films as ''[[Airplane!]]'', ''[[Top Secret (film)|Top Secret]]'', ''[[Ruthless People]]'', and ''[[Ghost (film)|Ghost]], shares his name with an Israeli-born businessman. The other Jerry Zucker served as Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{SUBPAGENAME}}]]