Naming Conventions

On my last three software teams I have had a teammate named "Bob". What are the odds of a Bob having a teammate named Bob? I can understand a Horatio or a Cuthbert, but not another software guy named Bob.

Bob is a rare name. Ask any SETI scientist. Okay so maybe the software world has a notorious Uncle Bob, but I suspect Uncle Bob is a actually a closet Robert (see Robert Cecil Martin).

Before my software gig, I probably encountered two or three Bobs in my lifetime, one of whom was my father. It's pure dumb luck that I'm not a Bob Jr. Being branded Bob Jr. would be worse than having a Microsoft operating system named after you.

But there's a solution to this madness. The next time I encounter another Bob, I'll diffuse any confusion by pulling a Steve Jobs, who when he encountered a designer named Steve on the iPhone team, declared,

"Guess what, you’re Margaret from now on”. ⁽¹⁾
― Steve Jobs