I share a name with a very famous professional athlete. I don’t even think about it usually but as soon as I have to give my name to someone I can pretty much count on some remark about the athlete by the same name.
I’ve dealt with this in many ways over the years but my most recent method is to pretend to have never heard of that famous person by the same name. That makes the conversation awkward and they usually move on.
Also, if you meet someone who shares a name with a celebrity, keep these things in mind:
- There is nothing you can say about it that is funny or clever. We have heard it all before. Just don’t.
- If you do have something to say about it that is truly original and absolutely hilarious, see the previous rule.
My family shares a fairly uncommon surname with a professional athlete we are (as far as we can tell) completely unrelated to.
My father always joked that we should answer “we don’t discuss that” when asked about it, as if there had been some huge falling-out.
I do this when time travel comes up, but more because I get tired of explaining the block universe theory and no one likes a guy that tries to convince them that they don’t have Free Will.