the thing with the names
I sit down and watch the pilot from time to time, most times showing it to a friend because I am always actively recruiting 
And what I noticed this last time is that it’s right there, from the very first—Marge is one of the switchboard operators, and Peggy’s roommate is Marjory. Come to think of it, in Ladies Room we first hear about Margaret Sterling.
You’ve got Bobby, Don’s son, and Bobbie Barrett.
Pete’s wife Trudy, Bud’s wife Judy, Betty’s sister-in-law Judy (thanks, Deb).
Juanita Carson (Betty’s old roommate/current party girl), Sarah Beth Carson.
(On a separate note, AMC refers to Sara Beth Carson, but the credits on the show itself spell it with an h.)
And similarly but on a somewhat different note, there are the variations. The most played with is Betty/Betsy/Birdie/Elizabeth. But there is also Carla/Carly.
We’ve never asked Matt about it, but my feeling is that it is a deliberate touch of realism. Like having the set wardrobes for the characters, pieces or outfits that you see the characters wear more than once.
On most television shows, names are carefully assigned–no repeats. In fact there’s a whole formula to it. Many shows, particularly the soaps, choose character names that are just unique enough that they don’t remind you of anyone, but not so weird that they are implausible. (And often those names wind up setting name trends–Party of Five gave us a lot of Julias.)
The world is not so orderly. Names overlap. And that’s what I think Matt was up to with this. Distinguishing his show from the others by not distinguishing it from life.
