This might work with some, but mostly everybody at some time would be able to figure this one out.

few people would be impressed by name dropping. more often annoyed by the blowhard who feels they have to show off by the "famous" people they have met,etc.

Makes you sound like a jerk if you ask me, plus I only have one or two names I can even drop...

This kind of thing makes me cringe regardless of whose name or level of significance it carries. I even try hard not to appear to do it on the office politics level and would actually omit names than take part. I used to hear people (at work) make remarks about getting "face time" as if hanging around the higher ups would somehow give them more points and one day even a better position. Strangely, some of those people were later canned or left quickly when old regimes fell. Hmmm, could it be that sucking up might have a better chance of backfiring than giving you a better rep?  Name dropping has pretty much the same chance of success as far as I'm concerned.

Actually I find it more dumb than I do "smart". It serves as only a cry for attention in hopes of gaining popularity amongst people who may actually fall for this behavior.

Oh boy, do people do this, and boy do they think it works. Actually, in their own circles it does. Totally lame...totally.

I can't namedrop. It would be pointless. Nobody would know who the heck I was talking about.

It does not work in most circles and certainly will not work in the world of RIA.

Ugh. Might be impressive for the easily impressed, but for anyone with at least half a brain cell, name-dropping just makes it seem like you're saying "I have made no accomplishments on my own to speak of".

It can be pulled off. . .but you'd better be very, very good at this. . .if not, you look real bad. . .and everyone here in DC thinks they're good at name-dropping. . .

I am reminded of the episode of the Flintstones in which Fred got hid on the head, had amnesia, and then started acting like a snob. Apparently, the same thing has happened to Ridgewalker, or is it Montague DeQuincy Ridgewalkerton the Third now?

And not just people, but books you supposedly read, schools you say you attended, "high" art you state you're into, "sophisticated" cinema you claim you like, etc. Further, if you do all this with a phoney British accent, even better..in fact, I'm real impressed by you already...