If my partner says a name in a sentence, I will name drop someone random and ask her if she meant that person, e.g.
Her: "(some story about work)... So I put the order through and James came to pick it up"
Me: "was that James Robertson?"
Her: "who's that?"
Me: "a bloke I did Taekwondo with as a kid"
I might try that, my wife loves a first name mention of a workmate that I have no idea who they are.