What’s in a name? Well for Bayonne residents it can be a little bit of recognition and a whole lot of fun.
For Bill Murray, a fan of the former Saturday Night Live comedian and actor, it’s been cool to have the same name of an entertainer he truly likes.
Though he thinks he looks more like former N.Y. Yankee pitcher Catfish Hunter, Murray says the fun always begins when he meets someone new.
“Right away, they say, ‘Like the actor?,’” he said. “’Oh, yeah,’ I say. And then I start laughing, of course.”
Though his friends kid him about his name, Murray said he doesn’t mind because he’s been following comedian Murray since his rise in the 1970s on SNL and then his transition into acting. He has seen virtually all of the “real” Murray’s movies, including his favorites, “Caddyshack,” “Groundhog Day,” and “Meatballs.”
Murray said he notices the change in people’s interactions when they are talking on the phone with him for the first time and then find out his name.
“They’re a little nicer,” he said.
Although actor Murray’s career has continued to be successful over the last several years, Bayonne’s Murray said he received the most notoriety for his name during the comedian’s heyday in the 1970s, ‘80s, and early ‘90s.
In addition to the common name, there’s one more similarity between the two; their age: both are 64.
BCB Community Bank Chief Executive Officer and President Thomas Coughlin has had a similar ride of notoriety. Known as Tommy to friends and associates, he immediately gets associated with the head coach of the N.Y. Giants, one of the National Football League’s storied franchises, who play in MetLife Stadium, only about 15 miles from Bayonne.
What makes it all the better for Bayonne Coughlin is that he’s been a Giants fan from since he was in fourth grade.
As with Bill Murray, Coughlin expects the jokes.
“They’ll ask me, ‘Hey, what’s up with Eli Manning? What are you doing to do with him?’” he said. “Or they’ll say that about another player.”
Though virtually all know he’s not the Tom Coughlin, many who meet the Bayonne one sometimes ask if he’s related; if he’s a cousin or nephew.
The name is always helpful to him as a conversation icebreaker and in networking.
Bayonne’s Coughlin said he sees another similarity: being strong in management and leadership. “I make reference to his book at my management meetings,” Coughlin said. “He’s a well-prepared guy and anticipates all the angles, in case something goes wrong in the game. So I model myself after him.”
Coughlin was lucky enough to meet the NFL icon recently.
“I went to a charity event last year,” he said. “I went up to him and said, ‘Hey coach, my name is Tom Coughlin too. Happy to meet you.’ He chuckled when he saw my name.”
Bayonne’s Mohamed Ali hasn’t met his namesake, but has followed the boxing champion from the 1960s when he burst onto the world’s consciousness with a knockout of Sonny Liston.
For decades, when Ali was at the height of his boxing prowess, Bayonne’s Ali was the beneficiary of his fame.
Upon hearing his name, “People always start joking,” he said. “They’re always saying ‘Are you serious?’ They make that remark. But I get used to it.”
Ali said he likes the connection, giving him a kinship with the one-time most recognizable athlete in the world.
On the phone, he gets a different, curious reaction.
“They pause, and I can feel it,” he said. “They get a little suspicious. They tend to be cautious.”
When boxer Ali retired, Bayonne Ali said he didn’t mind losing the notoriety as much seeing those around the globe deprived of a great talent.
“After he was done I think the boxing world was much different than with him in it,” he said. “Ali was a legend, definitely.”
He feels another important kinship. Both are Muslims, and strong believers of their faith.
Patty Smith
There’s also Patty Smith, the wife of former Bayonne mayor Mark Smith, who has the same-sounding moniker of rock and roll star Patti Smith, an associate of Bruce Springsteen made the hit “Because the Night,” the song she co-wrote with The Boss.
Other celebs
Other Bayonne residents or former residents with names of celebrities include Jack Kennedy, Edward Norton, Doris Day, and character Leroy Brown, from a 1970s Jim Croce song.
E-mail joepass@hudsonreporter.com.