If you have the same surname as a famous person

I know a little boy called Liam with the surname Gallagher. I always think there's no way that didn't cross his parents minds when they picked Liam as his first name.
I doubt most toddlers his age will make the connection though.

I have the same surname as a famous UK person. Not sure how common the surname is in the UK but where I live it sticks out a bit. I'm Irish and live in Ireland and I swear 90% of British person I meet (and I meet lots through work) say "Any relation to X??" as small talk when I introduce myself. I don't mind, usually joke back with them but I can only imagine what my poor child would have to listen to if I had given them the actual person's name 🤣🙈

So no in short, I wouldn't 😊

İ think it's only a problem if it is someone really really iconic that absolutely everyone knows worldwide- like David Beckham, Marilyn Monroe, Winston Churchill, Fred Flintstone, Donald Trump, etc...

People always ask me if I'm related to the name of a celebrity and I say yes, because my uncle does indeed have that name. But it's never been an issue, just vaguely amusing.

My daughter's dad's brother is actually a will smith but I never even noticed until you brought it up. İt's such a common name.

My brother is Michael Douglas. He got loads of stick when younger but not so much now

I remember a thread on here a while back where a poster had called her son Louis not realising that there was a famous Louis with her exact same surname (Walsh) and was getting annoyed at all the comments she was getting. I'd personally never heard of the famous Louis Walsh, but I was very much in the minority on that thread!

I'd definitely avoid a first name/surname combo that was associated with a famous person even if the name was quite a plain one like Tom Jones. The constant references to it would get so bloody boring.

Obviously you can't see into the future and see who'll be famous/notorious 20 years from now but I'd definitely discount all name that were currently associated with someone with a medium to high level of fame.

I know a man roughly the same age and with the same name as Peter Sutcliffe. Now that is unfortunate!

Yes, I would avoid it but sometimes you will end up in that situation anyway. I have felt very sorry my friend Matt Hancock for the last 18 months.

I know a Harry Potter, born about a decade before the books came out. He hates it, constant comments, jokes etc.
I also know an Elsa, born a few months before Frozen was released. Her parents, whilst they still like the name, admit they wouldn’t have used it if they had known how much it would be related to the film character.

@BikeRunSki

Alice Cooper?

My son has the same name as a celebrity. Our surname is Smith so I guess that would rule out a lot of names. His name is Elliot. I’ve had a small amount of people mention the singer Elliott Smith but it is rarely mentioned. I may think differently if it was someone very very famous like Michael Jackson though.

I think it depends on how usual the name is and how famous the person.

If my surname was Thatcher I wouldn't name my DD Margaret for example.

But if my surname was Jones I might call my child Matthew.

My cousin has the same name as a reality show celeb. Just googled the person, my cousin is 2 years older in her 40s, and the ‘celeb’ became ‘famous’ about 10 years ago

We avoided a couple of names which we might have otherwise considered due to very high profile famous people with our surname

I wouldn't be too worried about a lesser known soap actor or band member

My married name is a famous person but I wanted to change it so had the same name as DC. It does get commented on alot! I usually use a shortened version of my first name (which they dont) which makes it abit better!

My dd has the same name as a famous person (spelt differently). The famous person was unknown when she was born 24 years ago. Luckily older people and very young people haven't heard of this person. Don't do it.

BIL has the same name as a mildly famous soap actor. There’s no way his parents could have known when naming him as he wasn’t known then so it’s a coincidence but he got lots of comments at school about it. He hated it.

I used to work with someone called Harry Potter. He was born before the books were written and I'm sure his parents thought they were giving him a perfectly normal name 😁
He got so many remarks about his name though, it must have been very annoying. And still is I guess.

Very common first name plus very common surname is fine i think. I've known a Tom Jones and a Michael Jackson. (The Michael Jackson was really well known in his own field)

When either the first name or surname is rarer it becomes more obvious, as that name can be associated with the famous person without the other half, then adding the other half makes it obvious.

I have a girl's name which I have always loved the idea of for a future child, but unfortunately when paired with my married surname it makes the name of a celebrity who is a 'household name' and she is not particularly well regarded, so I know it would be cruel to give that name to a child. I think it depends on the name!

My parents disregarded one name because with my surname it would have been someone famous.

Many many years later I was changing planes in Germany and as I'm disabled I had 'assistance' the two, not sue what you would call them, porters? Any the two people taking me tot he plane kept giggling and said, "We have been telling all our friends we are meeting Miss sashh today"

I didn't get the joke so asked and they said , "you are ..." name of famous person.

Godess knows what they would have thought if my parents had given me the full famous person's name.

One of the baby names we were considering was the first name + surname of a slightly famous person (a soap actor). I discounted it for this reason. If he became mega successful and famous I think it would be embarrassing for DC to have the same name.