Harry Potter is not a wizard and never attended Hogwarts. He's just a 20-year-old guy from Portsmouth, England, who has the great misfortune of sharing a name with one of the world's most famous fictional characters -- and he's pretty sick of all the jokes.
Potter told the Daily Mail that, at first, he thought it was cool to have the same name as the whimsical wizard, but now it's just really annoying. As he told the paper, "After 12 years of it I couldn't count the amount of times I've heard 'You're a wizard, Harry.' It does wear a bit thin after a while. And I've heard all the puns about my wand."
The jokes and remarks have gotten so bad for Potter that he's the only person at his job who doesn't have to use his full name when talking on the telephone. When he first met his girlfriend, he had to show her his passport to prove that his name was real.
To make matters worse, real-life Harry Potter has a scar on his forehead, just like his fictional counterpart. It's not, however, a lightning bolt.
Potter says that the reaction to his name has ranged from the curious to the downright aggressive, and that he wishes that J.K. Rowling had never used his name. Rowling came up with it by combining his favorite boy's name, Harry, with the last name of her childhood neighbors.
This got us thinking: what other fictional characters would it totally suck to share a name with?
Bella Swan from "Twilight" Would you want to spend your high school years mistaken for a klutzy damsel in distress who obsesses over a moody, emotionally manipulative vampire? Come to think of it, we'd feel bad about anyone named Edward Cullen as well.
Ramona Quimby Teachers will make your life miserable when you're named after Beverly Cleary's famous troublemaker. Of course, it could be worse -- you could be named Beezus.
Alexander If you ever have a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, everyone is just going to think it's adorable. No one will take you seriously.
Fudge from "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and "Superfudge" Your parents named you Fudge. Your life is hard enough.
Tell us: Do you know anyone who has the same name as someone famous? Is it as awful as it is for our friend Harry Potter?
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