Sophie Kihm, esteemed editor-in-chief of the renowned baby-naming site, Nameberry, gained popularity on TikTok for her analysis. She drew attention to the striking resemblance between Tom’s last name, Wambsgans, and Bill Wambsganss, a legendary baseball player from the early 1900s, known for executing the only unassisted triple play in World Series history.
In her viral video, Kihm highlighted the parallel, stating, “Tom sharing a surname with Bill Wambsganss makes you wonder if he will orchestrate an unassisted triple play, removing all three Roy siblings from power and ascending as the leader of Waystar Royco in the ‘Succession’ finale.”
Despite the compelling nature of the theory, Frank Rich, an executive producer on “Succession,” clarified in an interview with Slate that Tom’s connection to the baseball player was unintentional. He revealed that Tom’s family name had been selected prior to the first season, long before the intricate plot twists leading up to the finale had been developed. Rich also emphasized that the show’s creators, including the British-born writer Jesse Armstrong, and many other writers on the team, were ardent followers of British football rather than American baseball.
Rich further disclosed that the name Wambsgans was chosen due to a team member’s familial association with the surname. “If memory serves, we were searching for a name that was slightly offbeat and awkward to pronounce, which suited a character entering the Roy family’s world as an outsider,” he explained.
