So this is one of our final two choices…
[name]Rafferty[/name] [name]James[/name]
Someone from the south recently told me that there’s a restaurant chain by the name of [name]Rafferty[/name]'s. Being from the northern US, I’d never heard of it, but if my son decides to migrate south someday I’d rather not have that be the name association people make.
Any opinions? [name]How[/name] popular is this place? Is it enough for me to junk this name??
Thanks!!
It doesn’t matter if there’s some restaurant chain in some place where you don’t live. My brother’s name is [name]Duncan[/name] (Dunkin Donuts) and even with that it’s not a huge deal. Having a restaurant with your name just means people will know how to pronounce it, and unless it’s a really bad restaurant, it’s not a negative association. From my perspective, that’s a rather arbitrary reason to trash a name.
[name]Rafferty[/name] is a really cool name! I really like the combo.
I wouldn’t worry about the association. I’m from the northwest (Oregon/[name]Washington[/name]) and never heard of the restaurant. And having a restaurant named the same really wouldn’t be a big deal, I’d say.
I’m from canada so not much help, we certainly do not have [name]Rafferty[/name]'s up here. I think your name choice is stunning though, you’d be crazy to ditch it over a weak, non-negative possible association like that! 
Its nearly impossible to find a name with zero pre-existing associations, if you look hard enough you will find one. This one seems like a non-issue to me personally. [name]Love[/name] [name]Rafferty[/name] [name]James[/name]!
Thanks everyone! That helps.