Celebrity Name Game is a word game popularly used during long car rides or periods of inactivity. It can be played with anywhere from two people to a large group.
The first player names a well-known celebrity, such as Brad Pitt. The next player must use the last letter of the celebrity's last name, in this case 'T', as the first letter of a celebrity's first name, such as Tom Arnold. The next player must use 'D' as the first letter, and so on. Players are knocked out if they cannot think of a name in a reasonable amount of time.
When only two players remain, the winner is determined when one player cannot come up with a response, and the other player can. Hence, in the above example, if one person cannot come up with a 'D' name and the other says Diana Ross, they are declared the winner.
If a questionable celebrity is named, there are two ways to determine permissibility. The first is to require at least one other person present to verify the name. The other is to use the honor system, whereby the active player promises it is in fact a real person and a celebrity.
'N' is often found to be the most repeated last letter of last names, and is therefore one of the more difficult letters in the latter stages of a game. However, 'Y' often determines the outcome, as it is a popular last letter of last names but uncommon to start first names.
The game is often played with other categories such as geographical locations.