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 partner's name is also the name of a very famous (mostly to boomers) multi-grammy award winner. He works in finance and he's gotten the Michael Bolton experience many, many, multiple times. He says its always super awkward, with really bad jokes or people thinking they're being clever with quips like Are you related or Do you have a new album coming out? hurr durr. But he's also never experienced anyone under 50 noticing his name, so its slowly happening less often