# Do you know your own phone number? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 21, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913 "2010-04-21T20:13:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/21 "2010-04-22T04:22:31Z")
I know my cell phone’s number (don’t have a landline) and my mom’s work number (same number since I was a tiny tot). Don’t have any other numbers memorized. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/22 "2010-04-22T04:22:42Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Interesting observations. > > 25 years ago, while I had a card in my wallet with about 50 phone numbers, I knew about 40 of them by heart. Just what you did. > > I still remember my grandmothers phone number from 1949 or so. 6089J. Reason I know it—when you’re 4-7 years old, parents drill into you a phone number in case you get lost. But, can I tell you what I had to eat two days ago–not on a bet!! We moved house when I was 6 years old and I was verily annoyed that we changed address and phone number as I had just memorised both. I still recall them, again they are more salient in my mind than more recent, topical information! ---
**Author:** ![Sonnenstrahl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Sonnenstrahl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonnenstrahl)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/23 "2010-04-22T04:29:26Z")
I have to give my phone number at the video store, at the grocery store when I don’t feel like finding my discount card, and whenever I make appointments so I need to have it on hand. My parents still have the same phone number as when I was small so I know that one. I don’t think I know any others, and thinking about it, I realize that I no longer remember my grandparents number which I dialed daily most of my life. I’m sure it would come back if I thought about it. I have a friend who not only can’t remember her own phone number, she also can’t remember her house number or any other numbers like that. The interesting thing is that she’s a scientist, and I had always assumed that scientists would of course be more comfortable with numbers than arts-types like myself. Obviously not the case! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/24 "2010-04-22T04:54:24Z")
I know mine because I’m always having to give it to people for professional reasons. I’m self-employed in a field which requires moving a lot: my cellphone is my home phone, mobile phone, work phone, office hours phone, main contact phone… all I need is to be able to make it a fax! Don’t ask me my mother’s or my brothers’, though. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/25 "2010-04-22T05:21:36Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > On your mobile/cell phone I mean. It took awhile but yes. > [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I notice that with mobiles many people just don’t know their own number nor those of their friends and family. This is of course because the phones store the numbers but I’ve been in situations a number of times where if I hadn’t memorised a lot of these numbers I would have been up the creek so to speak. I only know 1 other number and it’s because I had to dial it years ago. I’m cognizant of the fact that I don’t know any numbers so I have a list in my wallet of those I would need in an emergency. This list coincides with another thread about organization. I have a Excel file with many sheets and this is one of them. If it’s something I need to keep track of it becomes another sheet within this file. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/26 "2010-04-22T07:36:23Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Yes. (310) 867-5309 Some whore answered the phone. You sure this is yours? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/27 "2010-04-22T08:00:08Z")
I know mine, but I have to think for a couple of seconds: “Is that right? Yeah, it is.” Like others here, I can still rattle off my grandparents’ numbers, all of whom have been dead for at least twelve years. Or the number my family had when we lived in L.A., which we moved away from when I was eight years old. And even a family friend’s number from the same time and area. But do I know my parents’ or brother’s cell phone numbers today? Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/28 "2010-04-22T13:04:45Z")
It took a few years, but I now have my phone number and my wife’s phone number memorized. Not my best friends number though… ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/29 "2010-04-22T13:12:41Z")
I’m too lazy to program the speed dial, so I know all numbers I call regularly. Mine. Wife’s. Daughter’s. Mum’s. Sister’s. Work. I also know my driver’s license number, my bank card number, and my social insurance number. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/30 "2010-04-22T13:27:10Z")
I know my mobile number which I’ve had for more than ten years…but I still have to mentally pause to check that it’s correct before I pass it on. My Android phone backs up contact details online, but before I got it I’d have been in trouble if I’d lost my phone. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/31 "2010-04-22T13:32:05Z")
I know _my_ mobile-phone number, but I’m lost if you ask me for my landline number…I wouldn’t have a clue. Ditto for the mobile numbers of anyone except my SO. Thank OG for the memory cards in phones nowadays, 'cos MY memory is shot to the shithouse. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/32 "2010-04-22T13:45:51Z")
Now that we’re back in the States, I know both mine and my husband’s, and they’re easy to remember and only one digit off each other. But when we lived in Japan for four years, I never did manage to memorize either one–they were eleven digits long and it just seemed like too much bother. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/33 "2010-04-22T13:52:41Z")
I know mine and I know my ex-wife’s (which is one digit off from mine). I don’t know anybody else’s, even my girlfriend’s. I know my mom’s home number, which she has had since before I was born. I know my work number. I should probably go back up my phone. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/34 "2010-04-22T14:41:02Z")
I have three active, current mobile numbers (US, UAE and Czech). I know all of them. I also have mobile numbers for Tunisia, Uganda, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Georgia, but some are expired now and I don’t remember any of them. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/35 "2010-04-22T14:42:26Z")
I know my own, my SO’s (though I often have to think hard to recall it), my parents’ business, my boss’ cell, and the office. I don’t know my home landline number, since we only use it for alarm monitoring anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/36 "2010-04-22T14:53:45Z")
I pretty much have to know my own cell and landline, seeing as I׳m always filling them out in forms and credit card slips. Other than that, I remember my wife׳s (I think) and my best friend׳s phone number from 20 years ago. That’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/37 "2010-04-22T17:21:16Z")
I know my own cell number and my husbands. I know my own work number and the number for the main line. I don’t know my home number (my landline, used only for internet) Or my mom, my dad, stepmother, sisters, brother, grandparents, children’s school, nearest friends or any other ones. I’m utterly dependant on my phone remembering all this stuff for me. I’m ok with that. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/38 "2010-04-22T17:45:38Z")
No. But I’ve only had my current number for about a week. Give me some more time. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/39 "2010-04-22T17:47:09Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Yes. (310) 867-5309 Uh oh. Don’t you know that identity thieves are now going to take that number and use it to steal your identity and drain your bank accounts and run up your credit cards and smuggle illegal immigrants and force your mother to do bestiality porn? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913/40 "2010-04-22T17:51:40Z")
And I know: My home. My cell. My mom’s home (but not her cell). My brother’s home (although I’m pretty sure he had that shut off – I don’t remember his cell). My in-law’s home (but not their cells). My work number. And for some strange reason, the number of a girl I dated about fifteen years ago. She always called me – I very rarely called her. Hell, it’s not even in the same area code, but for some reason it’s burned into my memory. Weird. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-own-phone-number/536913.md?page=3)