I’ve had this happen to me many times, especially with younger kids. I’ll meet them, and think, “Wow, they really look like a [name]Sophia[/name], or an [name]Alexander[/name],” although I’m never actually right.
Some examples I remember:
A “[name]Jacob[/name]” that turned out to be [name]Garrett[/name].
A “[name]Malcolm[/name]” that was really a [name]Callum[/name].
A “[name]Lily[/name]” who was actually [name]Anabel[/name].
An “[name]Olivia[/name]” who was really [name]Georgia[/name] (but I later discovered she had an older sister named [name]Olivia[/name]).
This happens to me all the time. My school had freshman orientation today, so I saw lots of new names and faces:
a “[name]Morgan[/name]” - actually [name]Rachel[/name], but my second guess was [name]Nicole[/name], and I think 3 names have the same style so I had to give myself credit.
an “[name]Emma[/name]” - actually [name]Audrey[/name]
a “[name]Casey[/name]” - actually a [name]Morgan[/name]
a “[name]Molly[/name]” - actually a “[name]Mollie[/name]”. I’m personally not a fan of this spelling, but I was so happy I got one right.
a “[name]Kristen[/name]” - actually an “[name]Ava[/name]” (on a side note, this is the first [name]Ava[/name] I’ve ever met that’s older than 10 and younger than 75).
Last night I had a class and one student was named [name]Bayley[/name], but she looked like a [name]Jessica[/name] to me. Also, when I’m trying to remember someone’s name I think of what name they look like. It doesn’t always work, but some people really do look like their names.
I had a little Hispanic girl in my class, about 2 years old, who was named [name]Irene[/name]. I always wanted to call her [name]Noelle[/name] or [name]Noella[/name], not sure why.
I met the cutest baby boy the other day that would have made a great [name]Henry[/name], but his name was [name]Darren[/name].
And like kaitlinnxo, I actually got one right! A little girl walked into [name]Ben[/name] and [name]Jerry[/name]'s the other day with beautiful green eyes and long, curly blonde hair. I thought to myself, “She’d make a perfect [name]Eartha[/name]…” …and guess what her name was?
I knew someone named [name]Nicole[/name] who I thought was more of a [name]Denise[/name]. [name]Even[/name] though I knew her name was [name]Nicole[/name], I had to keep correcting myself in my head before I open my mouth and say her name out loud.
On the other hand, people say I don’t look like a [name]Karen[/name]. I got [name]Lisa[/name] a couple times (once for several months until I found out and corrected the lad), [name]Sandy[/name], [name]Stephanie[/name]… can’t think of any more right now. People who have met me and can’t remember my name for whatever reason tend to call me a different name when they see me again, but not in the usual, “sorry, was it [name]Kathy[/name]/[name]Carol[/name]/[name]Connie[/name]?” close-enough kind of way. Never anything really exotic though.
[name]Hi[/name] [name]Susan[/name]! and EVERYONE - even new people (I see a few new names posting)… Thanks for saying nice things about me. I saw that nice note you posted and responded to let you know where I’ve been so long… the internet is a fascinating collection of ideas if one is obsessed about just anything at all.
I really like coming here and all the information and sharing lives and suggestions and fun games and lists. I have this one friend and we talk about names sometimes, but he never lets me do any of the talking, so I have someplace here that I’m glad at least some people like my style of input.
I met a girl at a school dance who I thought would make a good [name_u]Harper[/name_u], but it turns out she was a [name_f]Lily[/name_f]. Now that I think about it, she is a MUCH better [name_f]Lily[/name_f] than a [name_u]Harper[/name_u]. When I told her, she said I’d make a great [name_f]Lola[/name_f].
I’ve met an “Eva” who was actually called [name_f]Maya[/name_f]. She even said she gets that a lot! Funny thing is, her mother actually considered [name_f]Eva[/name_f] for her.
We had neighbours growing up who were a lovely couple in early retirement. He was [name_m]Peter[/name_m], she was… [name_f]Alison[/name_f]. To this day I have to really think about it before I come up with her actual name, because she always struck me as such a Jill-with-a-J!
Can’t remember who, but I knew someone who looked just like a famous person or a movie character or something, and so I accidentally called them that sometimes.
yes!! I knew an [name_m]Eric[/name_m] who looked so much like my old classmate [name_u]Robert[/name_u] that I accidentally kept calling him that. He thought it was the funniest thing ever.
Another guy looked so much like [name_m]Neville[/name_m] Longbottom that the other kids started calling him that, at first he wasn’t a fan and considered it teasing, but last time I checked he was still using [name_m]Nevil[/name_m] as a nickname years later.
I might have been tempted to laugh this off in the past. But for some reason in the past few months this sensation has happened to me multiple times with the same person. It’s an acquaintance named Kristen, but for whatever odd reason, most times when I see her I have to stop myself from calling her Julia. It is very strange!
This happens to me a fair amount, but it’s usually because they look like a movie or book character, for example I’ll see someone who looks like [name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] and then I’ll think to myself that they look like a [name_u]Harry[/name_u], but I usually don’t realize right away that the only reason I think he looks like a [name_u]Harry[/name_u] is because I think he looks like [name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m]. I know I’m not the only one who does this though, I have red hair and it was very curly when I was younger, so when I was younger people would say I looked like an [name_f]Annie[/name_f], because of my [name_u]Red[/name_u] curly hair. I also get [name_f]Dorothy[/name_f] or [name_f]Judy[/name_f] a lot, because I quite a bit like [name_f]Judy[/name_f] [name_u]Garland[/name_u] when she was young, and [name_f]Judy[/name_f] [name_u]Garland[/name_u] plays [name_f]Dorothy[/name_f] [name_u]Gale[/name_u] in The [name_m]Wizard[/name_m] Of [name_m]Oz[/name_m].
