1. And these local
people have famous
namesakes too...
They live in our area but they share
their names with the stars BY CHERYL COLE
‘I’m not even a
Manchester United fan!’
Alex Ferguson, Cookstown
Whether you are a football fan or
not, it’s unlikely that you haven’t
heard of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Most famous for managing
Manchester United for 27 years,
Alex has been well known in the
world of football for decades and
after being knighted in 1999, his
popularity soared. So you can
imagine the attention that Alex
Ferguson, 21, from Cookstown,
gets everywhere he goes!
He explains: “I wasn’t named
after the man himself, my mum
just liked the name Alexander
and it’s always been shortened
to Alex, so it gets picked up on a lot when I meet people. The most
common question I get asked is whether my dad is a massive United
fan and whether that is who I was named after. When in reality he is a
Newcastle fan, and so am I, so it had absolutely nothing to do with that!”
Alex, a Jordanstown Law student, is used to getting comments about
his name here in Northern Ireland, but when he travelled to England, he
got even more attention than he’s already used to.
“I’m just back from England as I’ve been attending interviews for a
PGSE course. I actually had one interview in Manchester, so as you can
imagine I was quite the novelty once they found out my name!”
Although some people would be bothered by being associated with
someone with such an infamously ferocious temper, this doesn’t bother
our Alex at all as he sees no negatives in sharing his name with Sir Alex!
“I’ve never thought of having this name as a bad thing! Obviously
sometimes people think you are taking the mick and even want to see
your ID, but it’s a good ice breaker and at least everyone will always
remember your name.”
Whether you are a football fan or
to Alex, so it gets picked up on a lot when I meet people. The most
It’s every little girl’s dream to be
a Princess, but is it as much of
a dream to share a name with
one? Grace Kelly tells us what
it’s like having the same name as
one of the greatest Hollywood
Icons of all time:
“I have always got a lot of
comments about my name for
as long as I remember. Older
people notice it all the time and
think it’s amazing. Everyone from
that era seems to love Grace
and likes to talk to me about
her, even though I’m only 20 so
don’t know much about her at
all! They are always telling me
I’m going to be a Princess, just
like Grace. I wish that was how
it worked!”
Grace Kelly may be known
by the older generation as
a Princess and a Hollywood
actress, but in 2007, thanks to
Mika’s number one hit song
‘Grace Kelly’, the younger
generation all knew Grace’s
name. She remembers when it
first came out:
“When the Mika song first
came out it was all I heard all
day every day. Everyone my
own age was now commenting
on my name and they all sang
the song at me when they saw
me. That song came out seven
years ago and still now I get it
sung to me at least two to three
times a week!”
Although Grace Kelly is a very
memorable and iconic name,
our Grace wasn’t intentionally
named after her.
“It’s just a coincidence that I
was named after her and to be
honest, it doesn’t really bother
me having a famous name
anymore now that I’m used to it.
Although it’s annoying hearing
the same thing sung at you all
the time when you meet people,
not many people have a song
named after them! So I suppose
it’s pretty cool really!”
‘People
tell me I’m
a princess
like Grace’
Grace Kelly,
Draperstown