What's Special About Your Name?: Upcoming Episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz Answers That Question

 So many things define us, but no more so than our name. Did you know that they are almost 50,000 John Smiths in the U.S. In India, there are 4.2 million people with the surname of Patel? In Spain, 1 in every 35 people are named Garcia. The Chinese surnames of Wang and Li are each shared by over 100 million people. 

Even a GOAT like recently retired QB Tom Brady doesn't have exclusive rights to that name. There are at least 52 other Tom Brady's in this country. Although none of them can apparently hit a wide received in stride for a 60-yard touchdown, they all have their own unique set of skills.

 Have you ever wondered what's in a name? Because it's so much much more than a collection of sounds people call you by: a name is an entire human identity distilled into just a few syllables. In the award-winning Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast's forthcoming episode "Being Dallas Taylor" (out this Wednesday, Feb 2), host Dallas Taylor embarks on a deeply personal, joyful and bizarre journey to find out what six people who share the same name have in common. 

  

In speaking to five other Dallas Taylors – including former lead singer of heavy metal bands Underoath and Maylene & The Sons of Disaster – he finds out the answer is much more than you might expect.

The episode kicks off with name expert Laura Wattenberg, who discusses names as a general phenomena before diving into her perception of host Dallas Taylor's life based on his moniker alone. Dallas then launches into the conversations with his five counterparts, including former frontman of Underoath and Maylene & The Sons of Disaster. The singer shares how he also dealt with performance anxiety in his career, opening up about how recovering from a horrible ATV accident that gave him an unexpected outlook on life. 

The parallels between the six Dallas Taylors are striking. F​rom laughing over their least favorite nicknames and multiple siblings named Austin, to the realization they all live creative lives, the episode unveils countless serendipitous similitudes between the motley crew. Be it a name, a penchant for the arts, or a natural desire for human connection, the episode is an important and moving demonstration of what binds us all. 

 

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Twenty Thousand Hertz is a lovingly crafted podcast that reveals the stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds. With 20 million+ lifetime downloads, 125,000+ listeners per episode, and 3 Webby awards to its name, Twenty Thousand Hertz is the world's leading podcast about sound.