Good Names, Good People
A running, dated feed of short, positive profiles of real people — historic and present-day — who share popular names. New posts appear here on a regular schedule; every name's own detail page always shows the full set of profiles researched for it.
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July 7, 2026
Bruno Mars — Bruno
I do karaoke completely unashamed of myself, which means Bruno Mars gets more than his fair share of airtime in my house, especially anything from 24K Magic. What impresses me about a song like Uptown Funk is how much…
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July 7, 2026
Giordano Bruno — Bruno
Giordano Bruno is the kind of historical figure that makes me think hard about faith and knowledge sitting side by side, which is exactly where I live most days as a Catholic nurse who has also trusted modern medicine…
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July 6, 2026
Salvador Dalí — Salvador
Modern art's never been my thing — give me an old Western over a melting clock any day — but even I recognize Salvador Dalí's name, and The Persistence of Memory is one of those images that gets stuck in your head…
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July 6, 2026
Salvador Perez — Salvador
Catching's the hardest, most thankless job on a baseball diamond if you ask me — you're squatting behind the plate all game calling pitches and taking foul tips off your own body while some outfielder gets the…
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July 6, 2026
Salvador Sobral — Salvador
Salvador Sobral won Eurovision with a genuinely quiet, intimate ballad in a competition usually associated with pyrotechnics, key changes, and at least one costume nobody can quite explain, which is such a delightful…
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July 5, 2026
Enrique Bunbury — Enrique
Never heard of Enrique Bunbury before this list, which happens plenty out here — you can drive across half the country and still not catch every corner of the world's music, and I've had enough hours behind the wheel…
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July 5, 2026
Enrique Granados — Enrique
Music that lasts is a funny thing to me — I love old hymns and Patsy Cline myself, nothing fancy, but I understand Enrique Granados's piano suite Goyescas is still considered one of his finest achievements more than a…
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July 5, 2026
Enrique Iglesias — Enrique
My kids grew up hearing Enrique Iglesias on every radio station we had in the car between jobs, so becoming one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time isn't a surprise to me the way it might be to somebody…
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July 4, 2026
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar — Rodrigo
El Cid is one of those names that gets thrown around as legend more than actual history, and I'll admit I don't know where the line falls between the two with Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, but being remembered nearly a…
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July 4, 2026
Rodrigo Sánchez — Rodrigo
Instrumental guitar music is oddly visual to me — without lyrics to lean on, you start hearing color and texture instead, and Rodrigo Sánchez's half of Rodrigo y Gabriela has that quality, two guitars in close,…
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July 4, 2026
Rodrigo Santoro — Rodrigo
My mother and I watch her Filipino teleseryes together most evenings on a little tablet, and every so often a name like Rodrigo Santoro reminds me how wide the world of screen acting really is beyond what we usually…
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July 3, 2026
Marcello Mastroianni — Marcelo
I've never seen La Dolce Vita myself — foreign films with subtitles aren't exactly the Piney Grove Saturday matinee crowd — but I understand Marcello Mastroianni is considered one of the great leading men of…