What’s in a name? The question has made many wonder the same for centuries. Now, figure skater Alysa Liu is giving it a definition of its own. The freshly minted Olympian has seen success on many fronts of her life now, whether on the ice or on social media. But while it is helping her grow as an athlete, it is becoming troublesome for her namesakes, as revealed by a San Francisco native.

“I logged into my account and just for some reason, it said that I had been suspended from Instagram,” said Alysa Liu, a tech worker based in San Francisco, who also spells her name like the Olympian, as per ABC7news. “And that I had 180 days to appeal this decision, or else I would be banned permanently.

“I was not contacting anyone or trying to pretend that I was her. My account is private. I have very clearly in my bio that I’m from New Jersey, I went to Berkeley.”

Before the 2026 Winter Olympics, Alysa Liu had a little over 200,000 followers on Instagram. Then she won two gold medals, and by the time she returned to the States, that number had skyrocketed to 7.7 million. However, the move reportedly came at a cost for the other Alysa Liu, who has had her account for 15 years. 

This reportedly escalated a day after the Olympian Liu posted a story on her own Instagram. That’s when the two-time Olympic gold medalist warned scammers of creating fake accounts in her name and made things clear for the fans.

“This is my only instagram account,” Olympian Liu clarified on her Instagram stories. “Heard there were some accounts pretending to be me, hope yall aren’t falling for em lol don’t get scammed & the only other social media account I got is my one tiktok acc.”

Liu, the tech worker from San Francisco, had heard about a figure skater who shares her name. But now that the skater has hit peak stardom at the Olympics, fans have started messaging her, thinking she was the Olympian.

“So definitely, I think her popularity and fame has just exploded, very suddenly. I love her, but yeah, I think it definitely was the impetus for me getting banned from Instagram,” the tech worker said.

The athlete is yet to comment on the civilian’s ordeal, but the latter is not the only one who faced this difficulty.

Reports suggest that multiple female users named Alysa and Alyssa Liu had seen their numbers rise post the Winter Olympics because fans were unsure which Liu to follow.

This confusion is probably because the actual Alysa Liu, the one with millions of followers now, reportedly doesn’t have her face as her Instagram profile photo.

One of the namesakes got annoyed to the extent where she changed her Instagram bio, “I’m not the figure skater. Please stop requesting me.”

And now, the tech worker Liu faces a similar ordeal, given the confusion.

Some fans even found the tech worker’s number online and started calling and messaging her there.

“When she did win the gold medal, they’d say, ‘Oh, congrats on the gold.’ I’d say, ‘I can’t take credit for that but I’m really happy for her,'” the tech worker said.

However, she has, as per ABC 7 news, started the process to get her account back with the media house’s help. But all of this does show that fame does come with its fair share of problems, something that even the Olympian Alysa Liu had to deal with in her own way.

Alysa Liu’s growing fame led to another problematic moment

Things may have started innocuously for Liu, but they soon escalated into a bigger issue. The first major incident came as soon as she touched the United States.

Liu revealed that when she landed, an unexpected crowd met her with signs, cameras, and paraphernalia for her to sign. However, things became worse when she was chased by a fan to her car.

“All up in my personal space,” Liu wrote on her Instagram story, “Someone chased me to my car bruh. Please do not do that to me.”

While Liu hasn’t reported any similar incidents since then, she has, however, had a catalogue of fake social media accounts impersonating her. The accounts, as per Liu, have reportedly been scamming people, and the athlete took to social media once again to warn her fans.

That reportedly led to tech worker Alysa Liu losing access to her account. However, only time will tell if things eventually calm down for the Olympian Alysa Liu and all the other Alysa Liu(s).