My name is Charlotte Church – I can’t sing and I disappoint a lot of delivery drivers

When I got engaged to my now-husband, four years after we met, I knew I was going to take his surname. 

I also knew that when I did, I would end up sharing a moniker with the nation’s sweetheart, Charlotte Church. 

While I joked with my partner that he could take my name – Jones – instead, I wasn’t too fussed about what this surname change would have in store for me.

Fortunately, I was right not to be worried. Unlike other people who have famous namesakes – like the David Cameron whose business suffered or the Harry Styles who receives lots of misdirected fan mail, life as a Charlotte Church is quite easy. 

Of course, I still get a few classic responses whenever strangers see or hear my full name. 

There’s a lot of, ‘Are you serious?’. 

And I’ve had to open the door to many disappointed delivery drivers (I run a cake business from home so am always waiting on a parcel) – some of whom have let me know that they were expecting the songstress. 

While I feel a little bit bad that they don’t get to meet the ‘real’ Charlotte Church, she’s very well known for being Welsh and living in Wales. I don’t know why they thought she would be living in Lancashire! 

Something I also get a fair bit of is people asking me if I can sing them a song. 

I respond by guaranteeing them that my voice is not something they want to hear. I certainly don’t have a voice of an angel. 

The only thing that we have in common is that we have brown hair and that people occasionally call me a ‘crazy chick’, referencing her pop hit. 

To be honest, the most frustrating part of sharing a name with Charlotte Church is that I’ve had to perfect my fake laugh. 

Every time someone tries to make a joke, I have to pretend that I haven’t heard it a thousand times before. 

I suppose I should be quite glad that she’s not on the scene so much any more; I don’t think many young people today would have a clue who she is. 

But I don’t want to think about what it would be like if she was still dominating the charts. 

I don’t even really know what she’s up to nowadays. I had a look on Instagram the other week ago and it looks like she’s a mum and is renovating Laura Ashley’s former house in a TV series. 

I’m happy she’s doing well, but I don’t really have a vested interest in my namesake’s life, like some other people who share a name with a celeb do. 

For example, I wouldn’t really be bothered about meeting her. Perhaps if she was really famous – but at the minute I think of her as a stranger who also happens to be called Charlotte Church.

I’m lucky that she has a good reputation though; she doesn’t cause me any problems and I imagine there are a lot worse people to have a name in common with. 

Also, even though I have to deal with the comments from strangers every now and then, none of my friends or family make jokes at my expense. I don’t think many of them would have put two and two together anyway, as I tend to go by ‘Cake Mamma’, which is the name of my business and general nickname. 

For that reason, I’d never change my name. 

I knew what I was getting into when I chose it.

You can find out more about Charlotte and Cake Mamma here.

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