What’s in a name? In the case of the 3rd Hour of TODAY co-anchors and a few special guests this week, the answer is a whole lot of the same letters, in the exact same order.
It’s a celebration of name twins and each day one of the familiar faces in Studio 1A will meet someone who shares their moniker — and maybe even more than that.
That was the case Monday morning, when our Sheinelle Jones met viewer Shenelle Jones, a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University who has a degree in journalism and a dream to be a TV talk show host.
"Really?! What is happening? Are you serious?" That's how a surprised Sheinelle responded when she greeted the guest with a big hug.
The same-name situation was particularly unexpected by the 44-year-old TODAY host, since her parents created her name themselves.
“My mom is Sheila and my dad’s Darnell, so they smooshed it together,” she explained.Shenelle (without the "i") shared a similar story behind her own name.
“My dad’s name is Shelton and my mom’s name is Sherry, and they continued the ‘S-h-e’ trend," she noted.
And Shenelle said that her job ambitions are much the same, too.
"It’s exactly where I want to be," she said of broadcast journalism.
For now Shenelle is living out a version of that dream by hosting her own YouTube channel, "Shenny From the Vlog," in which she shares fitness, travel and lifestyle videos with her followers.
Stay tuned to the 3rd Hour of TODAY all this week to meet more guests with memorable names, like Al Roker, Craig Melvin and Dylan Dreyer.