The Name Game
Encyclopedia
"The Name Game", or "The Banana Song", is a children's singalong rhyming game that creates variations on a person's name. It was written by U.S. singer Shirley Ellis
with Lincoln Chase
, and Ellis's recording, produced by Charles Calello, was released in late 1964 as "The Name Game." That record went to number 3 on the Billboard
Hot 100, and number 4 on the magazine's R&B charts in 1965. The record was re-released in 1966 and again in 1973. While Ellis' stock in trade was novelty hits
, she was not a one-hit wonder
. A serious R&B singer for 10 years before that hit, Ellis also charted with "The Clapping Song (Clap Pat Clap Slap)" (#8 pop and #16 R&B), and "The Nitty Gritty" (#8 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the Cash Box R&B chart). Ellis performed "The Name Game" on major television programs of the day, including Hullabaloo
, American Bandstand
and The Merv Griffin Show
.
"The Name Game" has been recorded by dozens of recording artists in the years since, notably Laura Branigan
, whose version produced by Jeff Lorber
, appearing on her 1987 album Touch, features a classroom of third-grade schoolchildren singing along to the tongue-twisting game. The Brazilian singer Xuxa
recorded a song using the same play and same sample in the song "Jogo da Rima". Often covered by relative unknowns on collections of songs for children, other cover versions have been recorded by artists as diverse (and campy) as Dean Ford and the Gaylords (1965), Divine (1980), and Soupy Sales
(2002). In 1982, Stacy Lattisaw
took her "rap" recording of "Attack of the Name Game" to #79 on the Hot 100. In 1993, this song was used on television as an advertisement for Little Caesar's Pizza.
Ellis told Melody Maker
magazine that the song was based on a game she played as a child.
Using the name Katie as an example, the song follows this pattern:
A verse can be created for any name, with X as the name and Y as the name without the first consonant sound (if it begins with a consonant), as follows:
, (X), bo-b (Y)
If the name starts with a vowel or vowel sound, the "b" "f" or "m" is inserted in front of the name.
And if the name starts with a b, f, or m, that sound simply is not repeated. (For example: Billy becomes "Billy Billy bo-illy"; Fred becomes "banana fana fo-red"; Marsha becomes "fee fi mo-arsha".)
Playing the game with names such as Alice, Dallas, Tucker, Chuck, Buck, Huck, Bart, Art, Marty, Mitch, Rich, Richie, Maggie, Ruby, or, in British English, Danny or Annie, results in profanity
or rude language.
's character is rehabilitating after getting a severe speech impairment following a stroke. The song is sung the 1991 movie My Girl
by Vada (Anna Chlumsky
) and Thomas J. (Macaulay Culkin
), as well as in the 1999 drama A Walk on the Moon
and the film "Bewitched" (2005). The 1991 film Hudson Hawk
, starring Bruce Willis
, contains the line "Anna banana fo-fanna" after Sister Anna Baragli (Andie MacDowell
) is captured.
In the movie Radio Flyer
, Mike (Elijah Wood
) and Bobby (Joseph Mazzello
) sing "The Name Game" using the name Buck, and Bobby inadvertently cursing. An episode of Tiny Toon Adventures
devoted to spoofing music video
s features a tribute to the opening scene of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
wherein Darth Vader
captures most of the cast, but they proceed to teach him "The Name Game". That episode's end credits note that Plucky Duck
was intentionally excluded from that particular scene, because the name would have resulted in an obscenity. In episode 1F08 of The Simpsons
, entitled "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)
", Krusty the Clown sings the song, using herpes in place of a name, as part of an adults-only comedy set at Mr. Burns' casino.
In the Good Wilt Hunting episode of the series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
, a scene on a bus fades in with everyone except Frankie and Mac singing "The Name Game" with the name Coco and then Shut Up (begun by Frankie yelling, "Let's try SHUT UP!"). In the episode "Room 7" of The Golden Girls
, Rose
attempts to lighten up a car trip by singing the song, starting with the name "Dorothy
", who immediately slams on the brakes and orders her out of the car.
In The Money Pit
, Tom Hanks
' character is waiting for a building inspector to arrive when he accidentally gets trapped as the carpet he's standing on sinks through a hole in the floor. Unable to answer the bell, Hanks realizes he will be trapped until his wife (Shelley Long
) returns that evening, and passes the time singing "The Name Game" using the names Anna, Brad, and Walter. In the 1995 Stephen King
novel Rose Madder
, Norman sometimes repeats the song, using the names of various other characters in the book, as his sanity deteriorates.
In an episode of the 1990s sitcom Dinosaurs
, the character Charlene tries to play the game with the baby, who has unfortunately received the name Ugh-Ugh-I'm-Dying-You-Idiot Sinclair. The song is sung in the "Road Trip" episode of My Wife and Kids
. In an episode of Boy Meets World
Cory and Shawn are in a terrible band and end up singing "Name Game" to the crowd; later they play one of Mr. Feeny's tapes, a recording of "Name Game" using the name Feeny. In the 1993 computer game Sam & Max Hit the Road
, while at the Dinosaur Tar Pit at Mount Rushmore
, the character Sam can be made to sing the song with the names of the presidents depicted on the mountain.
During the Booze Cruise episode of the US-version of the The Office
, the character Michael Scott
irritates one of his employees, Stanley Hudson
, by taunting him with a version of the Name Game based on the name Stanley.
also known in the United States
as "States", in Croatia
as "Kalodont", in Russia
as "Goroda", and in Japan
as "Shiritori
", in which the players in turn name words in a given category beginning with the final letter of the previous word. For example, a game in which the category was "states of the United States of America" might proceed: Arkansas, South Dakota, Alaska... A game in which the category was "modern musical genres" might proceed: Reggaeton, new age, electronica, alt-rock...
"The Name Game" can also refer to an ongoing game in which one person calls out the name of their victim and then turns away. The victim loses if they look to see who it is. The initiator usually calls out the name in a demanding way, such as "Excuse me, Joe!". Some play that the initiator loses if they are quickly discovered. In a variant, the initiator follows with "sucks!" when the victim looks.
Shirley Ellis
Shirley Ellis is an American soul music singer and songwriter of West Indian origin. She is best known for her novelty hits "The Nitty Gritty" , "The Name Game" and "The Clapping Song"...
with Lincoln Chase
Lincoln Chase
Lincoln R. Chase was an African-American songwriter and occasional recording artist. As a writer, his most notable songs were "Such a Night", "Jim Dandy", and several of Shirley Ellis' hits in the early 1960s including "The Name Game" and "The Clapping Song".-Career:He studied at the American...
, and Ellis's recording, produced by Charles Calello, was released in late 1964 as "The Name Game." That record went to number 3 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100, and number 4 on the magazine's R&B charts in 1965. The record was re-released in 1966 and again in 1973. While Ellis' stock in trade was novelty hits
Novelty song
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...
, she was not a one-hit wonder
One-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...
. A serious R&B singer for 10 years before that hit, Ellis also charted with "The Clapping Song (Clap Pat Clap Slap)" (#8 pop and #16 R&B), and "The Nitty Gritty" (#8 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the Cash Box R&B chart). Ellis performed "The Name Game" on major television programs of the day, including Hullabaloo
Hullabaloo
Hullabaloo may refer to:*Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck!, the beginning phrase of the Aggie War Hymn*Hullabaloo , a 1940 film*Hullabaloo , a 1960s NBC musical variety series...
, American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
and The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, September 20, 1965 to September 26, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 at 11:30 PM ET weeknights on CBS and again in...
.
"The Name Game" has been recorded by dozens of recording artists in the years since, notably Laura Branigan
Laura Branigan
Laura Ann Branigan was an American singer-songwriter and actress of Italian and Irish ancestry. She is best known in the United States for her 1982 Platinum-certified hit "Gloria" and in Europe for the number-one single "Self Control"...
, whose version produced by Jeff Lorber
Jeff Lorber
Jeff Lorber is an American Grammy Award-nominated keyboardist, composer, and record producer.After leading his own group, The Jeff Lorber Fusion, he went on to pioneer the smooth jazz genre....
, appearing on her 1987 album Touch, features a classroom of third-grade schoolchildren singing along to the tongue-twisting game. The Brazilian singer Xuxa
Xuxa
Xuxa , Maria da Graça "Xuxa" Meneghel, born March 27, 1963 in Santa Rosa, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) is a Brazilian television actress, singer and children's television show host...
recorded a song using the same play and same sample in the song "Jogo da Rima". Often covered by relative unknowns on collections of songs for children, other cover versions have been recorded by artists as diverse (and campy) as Dean Ford and the Gaylords (1965), Divine (1980), and Soupy Sales
Soupy Sales
Soupy Sales was an American comedian, actor, radio-TV personality and host, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television show, Lunch with Soupy Sales; a series of comedy sketches frequently ending with Sales receiving a pie in the face, which became his...
(2002). In 1982, Stacy Lattisaw
Stacy Lattisaw
Stacy Lattisaw is an American R&B, dance, and gospel singer. Since the 1990s, she has exclusively sung gospel music, as a callback to her Christian roots.-Career:...
took her "rap" recording of "Attack of the Name Game" to #79 on the Hot 100. In 1993, this song was used on television as an advertisement for Little Caesar's Pizza.
Ellis told Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
magazine that the song was based on a game she played as a child.
Using the name Katie as an example, the song follows this pattern:
- Katie, Katie, bo-batie,
- Banana-fana fo-fatie
- Fee-fi-mo-matie
- Katie!
A verse can be created for any name, with X as the name and Y as the name without the first consonant sound (if it begins with a consonant), as follows:
, (X), bo-b (Y)
- Banana-fana fo-f (Y)
- Fee-fi-mo-m (Y)
- X!
If the name starts with a vowel or vowel sound, the "b" "f" or "m" is inserted in front of the name.
And if the name starts with a b, f, or m, that sound simply is not repeated. (For example: Billy becomes "Billy Billy bo-illy"; Fred becomes "banana fana fo-red"; Marsha becomes "fee fi mo-arsha".)
Playing the game with names such as Alice, Dallas, Tucker, Chuck, Buck, Huck, Bart, Art, Marty, Mitch, Rich, Richie, Maggie, Ruby, or, in British English, Danny or Annie, results in profanity
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
or rude language.
Name Game in popular culture
In Flawless the song is used when Robert De NiroRobert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
's character is rehabilitating after getting a severe speech impairment following a stroke. The song is sung the 1991 movie My Girl
My Girl (film)
My Girl is a 1991 drama film directed by Howard Zieff and written by Laurice Elehwany. The film depicts the coming-of-age of a young girl who faces many different emotional highs and lows and stars Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis in their first film together since 1983's Trading Places. The film...
by Vada (Anna Chlumsky
Anna Chlumsky
Anna Chlumsky is an American actress best known for playing Vada Sultenfuss in the 1991 movie My Girl and the 1994 sequel My Girl 2. Her father, Frank Chlumsky, is an instructor in the culinary program at Kendall College in Chicago...
) and Thomas J. (Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Carson Culkin is an American actor. He became widely known for his portrayal of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He is also known for his roles in Richie Rich, Uncle Buck, My Girl, The Pagemaster, and Party Monster...
), as well as in the 1999 drama A Walk on the Moon
A Walk on the Moon
A Walk On The Moon is a 1999 drama film starring Diane Lane, Viggo Mortensen, Liev Schreiber and Anna Paquin. The movie, which was set against the backdrop of the Woodstock festival of 1969 and the moon landing of that year, was distributed by Miramax Films.- Plot summary :Pearl Kantrowitz and her...
and the film "Bewitched" (2005). The 1991 film Hudson Hawk
Hudson Hawk
Hudson Hawk is a 1991 American action comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann. Bruce Willis stars in the title role and also co-wrote the story. Danny Aiello, Andie MacDowell, James Coburn, David Caruso, Lorraine Toussaint, Frank Stallone, Sandra Bernhard, and Richard E...
, starring Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
, contains the line "Anna banana fo-fanna" after Sister Anna Baragli (Andie MacDowell
Andie MacDowell
Rosalie Anderson "Andie" MacDowell is an American model and actress. She has received the Golden Camera and an Honorary César.-Early life:...
) is captured.
In the movie Radio Flyer
Radio Flyer (film)
Radio Flyer is a 1992 drama-fantasy film from Columbia Pictures. It is a Stonebridge Entertainment Production in association with Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions ....
, Mike (Elijah Wood
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II , then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's...
) and Bobby (Joseph Mazzello
Joseph Mazzello
Joseph Francis Mazzello III is an American actor who is best known for his roles as Tim Murphy in Jurassic Park, Eugene Sledge in the HBO miniseries The Pacific, and Dustin Moskovitz in The Social Network....
) sing "The Name Game" using the name Buck, and Bobby inadvertently cursing. An episode of Tiny Toon Adventures
Tiny Toon Adventures
Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures, usually referred to as Tiny Toon Adventures or simply Tiny Toons, is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. It began production as a result of Warner Bros....
devoted to spoofing music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s features a tribute to the opening scene of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
wherein Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
captures most of the cast, but they proceed to teach him "The Name Game". That episode's end credits note that Plucky Duck
Plucky Duck
Plucky Allen Duck is a cartoon character from the Warner Bros. animated television series Tiny Toon Adventures. He is also the titular character in Gary A. Lewis's Plucky Duck in the Summer Job. He is arguably the third main character on the show after Buster and Babs. Plucky is voiced by Joe...
was intentionally excluded from that particular scene, because the name would have resulted in an obscenity. In episode 1F08 of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, entitled "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)
$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)
"$pringfield ", also known as "$pringfield", is the tenth episode of The Simpsons fifth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 16, 1993. In the episode, Springfield decides to legalize gambling to revitalize its economy. A casino owned by Mr...
", Krusty the Clown sings the song, using herpes in place of a name, as part of an adults-only comedy set at Mr. Burns' casino.
In the Good Wilt Hunting episode of the series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is an American animated television series created and produced at Cartoon Network Studios by animator Craig McCracken, creator of The Powerpuff Girls. It first premiered on Cartoon Network on August 13, 2004, as a 90-minute television movie, which led to a series...
, a scene on a bus fades in with everyone except Frankie and Mac singing "The Name Game" with the name Coco and then Shut Up (begun by Frankie yelling, "Let's try SHUT UP!"). In the episode "Room 7" of The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
, Rose
Rose Nylund
Rose Nylund was born May 1930 in St. Olaf, Minnesota. She is a fictional character featured on the popular 1980s situation comedy The Golden Girls, and its spin-off The Golden Palace. She was portrayed by Betty White for 8 years and 208 episodes.Rose was comically portrayed as naïve and simple,...
attempts to lighten up a car trip by singing the song, starting with the name "Dorothy
Dorothy Zbornak
Dorothy Hollingsworth , is a fictional character from the TV series The Golden Girls, portrayed by Bea Arthur for 7 years and 183 episodes. Dorothy was the strong, sarcastic, sometimes intimidating, and arguably most grounded of the four women in the house...
", who immediately slams on the brakes and orders her out of the car.
In The Money Pit
The Money Pit
The Money Pit is a 1986 comedy film and remake of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. Directed by Richard Benjamin and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, the film stars Tom Hanks and Shelley Long as a couple who attempt to renovate a recently purchased house. The Money Pit was filmed in New...
, Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
' character is waiting for a building inspector to arrive when he accidentally gets trapped as the carpet he's standing on sinks through a hole in the floor. Unable to answer the bell, Hanks realizes he will be trapped until his wife (Shelley Long
Shelley Long
Shelley Lee Long is an American actress best known for her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers, for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress...
) returns that evening, and passes the time singing "The Name Game" using the names Anna, Brad, and Walter. In the 1995 Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
novel Rose Madder
Rose Madder (novel)
Rose Madder is a 1995 novel by Stephen King. It deals with the effects of domestic violence and, unusually for a King novel, relies for its fantastic element on Greek mythology...
, Norman sometimes repeats the song, using the names of various other characters in the book, as his sanity deteriorates.
In an episode of the 1990s sitcom Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs (TV series)
Dinosaurs is an American family sitcom that was originally broadcast on ABC from April 26, 1991 to July 20, 1994. The show, about a family of anthropomorphic dinosaurs, was produced by Michael Jacobs Productions and Jim Henson Television in association with Walt Disney Television and Buena Vista...
, the character Charlene tries to play the game with the baby, who has unfortunately received the name Ugh-Ugh-I'm-Dying-You-Idiot Sinclair. The song is sung in the "Road Trip" episode of My Wife and Kids
My Wife and Kids
My Wife and Kids is an American television family sitcom that ran on ABC from March 28, 2001 until May 17, 2005. Produced by Touchstone Television , it starred Damon Wayans and Tisha Campbell-Martin, and centers on the character of Michael Kyle, a loving husband and modern-day patriarch who rules...
. In an episode of Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
Cory and Shawn are in a terrible band and end up singing "Name Game" to the crowd; later they play one of Mr. Feeny's tapes, a recording of "Name Game" using the name Feeny. In the 1993 computer game Sam & Max Hit the Road
Sam & Max Hit the Road
Sam & Max Hit the Road is a graphic adventure computer game released by LucasArts during the company's adventure games era. The game was originally released for DOS in 1993 and for Mac OS in 1995. A 2002 re-release included compatibility with Windows and Amiga...
, while at the Dinosaur Tar Pit at Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States...
, the character Sam can be made to sing the song with the names of the presidents depicted on the mountain.
During the Booze Cruise episode of the US-version of the The Office
The Office
The Office is a popular mockumentary/situation comedy TV show that was first made in the UK and has now been re-made in many other countries, with overall viewership in the hundreds of millions worldwide. The original version of The Office was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. It...
, the character Michael Scott
Michael Scott
Michael Scott, Michael Scot, or Mike Scott may refer to:* Michael Scott , former regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton in the U.S. TV series The Office-Academics:...
irritates one of his employees, Stanley Hudson
Stanley Hudson
Stanley James Hudson is a fictional character from the US television series The Office. He is played by Leslie David Baker. Stanley's counterpart in the UK series is Malcolm.-Overview:...
, by taunting him with a version of the Name Game based on the name Stanley.
Other uses
"The Name Game" can also refer to any of several variations on a word gameWord game
Word games and puzzles are spoken or board games often designed to test ability with language or to explore its properties.Word games are generally engaged as a source of entertainment, but have been found to serve an educational purpose as well...
also known in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as "States", in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
as "Kalodont", in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
as "Goroda", and in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as "Shiritori
Shiritori
Shiritori is a Japanese word game in which the players are required to say a word which begins with the final kana of the previous word. No distinction is made between hiragana, katakana and kanji...
", in which the players in turn name words in a given category beginning with the final letter of the previous word. For example, a game in which the category was "states of the United States of America" might proceed: Arkansas, South Dakota, Alaska... A game in which the category was "modern musical genres" might proceed: Reggaeton, new age, electronica, alt-rock...
"The Name Game" can also refer to an ongoing game in which one person calls out the name of their victim and then turns away. The victim loses if they look to see who it is. The initiator usually calls out the name in a demanding way, such as "Excuse me, Joe!". Some play that the initiator loses if they are quickly discovered. In a variant, the initiator follows with "sucks!" when the victim looks.