For most it sounds absolutely preposterous and confusing to date someone with the same name as you. Your name is what makes you unique. That is YOUR name; it distinguishes yourself from everyone else and is part of your identity. However, what if someone came along and you two clicked instantly? There's a catch though. You two have the same name. Would that be the deal breaker? Here's my experience.
For the longest I had always asked myself if I would ever be willing to date someone with the same name as me. Time and time again, I always came to the conclusion that I wouldn't because it would be too weird and unrealistic. Of course, typical of me, I didn't stay true to that pact I made with myself. Yes, I Matthew, went on a date with a fellow Matthew. And yes, I met him from Tinder for the record. 'Tis the magical age of online dating.
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When dating someone with the same name as you, some questions arise. I felt that we needed to figure out how to refer to each other. I asked him if he'd prefer me to call him Matt or Matthew. He chose Matt which meant he would call me Matthew. When I think about it now, it was pretty ridiculous that we even went through that whole process. When we first met I greeted him with, "Hey Matt!" I'd be lying if I said it wasn't rather strange saying my name out loud to reference someone else. In a way it felt like I was referencing myself in third person.
Past the awkward stage of introductions, the date went fairly well. As the date progressed I began to slowly let go of my preconceived conceptions of dating a person with the same name as myself. I started to ask myself if it even is that weird? What makes it weird to begin with? Lo and behold, I couldn't answer these questions I was posing. Instead, I answered my questions with a question. Why do we put so much emphasis on our names?
As I have stated before, your name is part of your identity, however, it isn't your whole identity. Your identity consists of your personality, cultural background, ethnicity, racial identity, etc. With that being said, should we be putting so much stress on our names? After the date was over I reflected on who I was as a person. I thought about what makes me, well, me. I concluded that some of the main qualities that distinguishes me from people is my style, way of speaking, humor, and the overall aura I give off.
Don't think too hard about it. Dating someone with the same name as you isn't that serious. It really isn't as big deal as you may make it to be. Try to have a sense of humor about it. Your name doesn't define who you are as a person. It is only a small fragment of who you identify yourself to be. Next time you meet someone you like who has the same name as you, don't completely rule them out. You never know ir that person could possibly flip your world upside down.
