Namesakes

Sometimes a person's name helps define his or her identity. But what if you shared the same name with another person -- would you share the same identity?

You probably would not. However, correspondent Melinda Murphy wanted to observe for herself. She went on a mission to find some people with names that link them to The Early Show's co-anchors, but who live very different lives.

Just a few minutes outside the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas, Nev., Murphy found a soft spoken and gentle man. His name? Harry Smith, of course.

No, not The Early Show's co-anchor Harry Smith. Murphy says this Harry Smith seems different from co-anchor Smith. The retired manufacturer likes golf. The Early Show's Smith doesn't. But they do have something in common.

Just like the co-anchor Smith, who works with women co-anchors, the Las Vegas Smith spends a lot of time surrounded by many women. He lives with his wife, five daughters and his mother.

"A lot of feminine garments hang around the house," says Smith from Las Vegas. "[It's] a difficult time trying to get to the bathroom."

But for all the gender specific hassles, there is a lot of love in the Smith family.

Murphy says it was great for her that Harry Smith had an easy name. It was a little harder finding the other co-anchors' namesakes. Murphy did find a René Syler, or at least Luanne Rene Syler.

"The only person that ever, like, used to jokingly call me Rene was the person that I was named after," says Luanne Rene Syler.

But if her name is uncommon, her situation isn't. Luanne Rene Syler is a married working mom in Newport Beach, Calif.

"My philosophy is just trying to spend the most quality time with my son that I have," says Luanne Rene Syler.

Murphy says she was really excited when she found another Julie Chen. This Julie Chen won an academic award 10 years ago. These days, she appears in front of piles of papers thinking about things most don't understand.

"The thermal stamping of woven composites, that's something we have looked at," said Chen as she worked.

In other words, this woman is really smart.

"I have a bachelors in mechanical engineering, a masters in mechanical engineering, and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering — all from MIT," says Chen.

Chen is a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Massachusetts. She is taking a break to do a two-year fellowship at the National Science Foundation near Washington, D.C.

It's a short commute from her new home that she shares with her partner, Susu, and her cats, Shinobe and Wasabi.

Next, Murphy sought out Hannah Storm. She found a "Storm" a little older than the The Early Show's co-anchor. She was born in 1911, and was raised in New York City when there were horses in the streets and Alexander's "Glad Time Rag" was at the top of the charts.

Since then, she has experienced a lot. She and her husband had children and their children had children. Storm has lived almost a century.

What are the worst changes she has seen over the last 90 years?

"Too much murder on the streets. Too much guns around. And the school system is terrible," says Storm.

"The television is the most wonderful thing that ever happened," says Storm.

Of course, that doesn't make her an easy critic.

"Some of it is a lot of — excuse the expression — crap. Some of it is good. And some of it doesn't even pay to put your television on for."

Hopefully the elder Storm will like her part on The Early Show.