http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi- obama_name_slider_bdnov30,0,2006815.story
Suddenly, their name is the one to have: Obama By Steve Hendrix | The Washington Post November 30, 2008 WASHINGTON Nicanor Obama began to realize he might be on to a good thing when he didn't get a speeding ticket not long ago. After stopping the 28-year-old for a little downtown Washington lead- footing, a District of Columbia police officer looked at his driver's license and put the citation book away. "He said, 'Well, I'm going to let you go because you have the Obama name,' " is how the Arlington, Va., resident recalled the encounter. Since Election Day, his moniker has sparked goodwill, from nightclub freebies to hearty handshakes from fellow students at the University of the District of Columbia, where he studies political science. "I'm not related to the president, but I think Obama is a good name to have right now." Their lives might not have changed as dramatically as a certain Chicago-based Obama family, but non-Barack Obamas have been basking in a little low-watt glory of their own. Suddenly, having the most famous last name in the world means cashing a check, flashing an ID or making a dinner reservation might never be the same. "I signed up for a Harris Teeter [grocery] card the other day, and the woman was, like, 'Obama?' " said Denise Maye Obama, 19, also of Alexandria. "She said: 'That's a first. Are you related to the president?' Everyone asks if I'm related to the president now. One of these times I'm going to say yes, just for the fun of it." Denise, a freshman at the University of Virginia, said she is asked daily whether she can leverage her name for good seats at the parade or a White House visit. But the only time she has seen the other Obama, at a campaign rally in Charlottesville, she had terrible seats. "My name didn't do me much good that time," she said. "I didn't even get to shake his hand." At the very least, according to Francisca Obama, a graduate student in human resources at Strayer University, no one forgets or botches her name any more. "Sometimes African names are kind of hard," said Francisca, 29. "Now I don't even have to spell my name. Everybody knows it already." If it's good to be an Obama, it's also exceedingly rare. According to databases, there might be fewer than 20 Obama families in the United States, compared with more than 11,000 Clintons and 60,000 Bushes. Nicanor Obama said he has been riding a small social wave that started Election Night, when he was waved under the rope line at a Washington nightclub with no cover charge. He was the toast of the delirious crowds that night, he said. Last week, when Nicanor and his family went to visit a cousin and her new baby at Virginia Hospital Center, they created a minor buzz in the lobby when they asked for Josephina Obama's room. "They said, 'Obama? Is she one of the Obamas? Are they here?'" said Nicanor, a native of Equatorial Guinea, where the Obama name is common. "They treated us like VIPs."
