# Google your own name with quotes. On what page does an entry about you actually appear? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891 "2010-04-30T19:13:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/21 "2010-04-30T20:14:29Z")
“First Middle Last”: 6 matches, none of them are me. “First Last”: 483,000 matches, no matches on the 20 pages I checked (my first and last names are pretty common). “blondebear”: 3rd match on page 2 (SDMB post). My other messageboard user name in quotes: 11/12 of the first matches are me (a couple going back to a 2004 Lost forum). The 12th match, someone apparently used of a photo of mine from a public album. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/22 "2010-04-30T20:27:36Z")
Wow - my full name (first, middle, last) generates exactly one result - kind of a semi-Googlewhack. It’s for a review of a play that I performed in many years back. If I google my first and last name in quotes, my Myspace page is the second result. Which is kinda funny, because my Facebook page is more frequently visited and updated. If I google my SDMB name, the first result is an SDMB thread that I started years ago that died a quick death. If I google the other name I use commonly on the internet, a thread I posted on AVSForum pops up as the fourth result. ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/23 "2010-04-30T20:28:13Z")
Googling my full name (with middle name), I get no results for the phrase in quotes. Full first name, middle initial, full last name: 6 results, and none of them me. Googling my first & last name, in quotes: The fifth result is a list of LinkedIn members with my name, one of which is me, but I’m not sure it counts for not being a direct result. The first result on page four is actually me, and then I don’t show up again for at least another six pages. Googling Daerlyn: Most of the first two pages are me. Googling another common nickname I use: The fourth result is my personal website. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/24 "2010-04-30T20:33:01Z")
First MI Last gives the best results, with 8 of the first 10 hits being me. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/25 "2010-04-30T20:34:05Z")
None of the half-dozen Google entries are me. I’m safe! Google doesn’t know me! ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/26 "2010-04-30T20:39:23Z")
Hit #91 is a blog post I made a couple years ago. Hit #97 is a new article about an event I was in about ten years ago. After that, it’s a long stretch to #179 for another blog post from 2007. The bulk of the first 90 posts are about an eye doctor who shares my name. Just for giggles, I should call them up to get an appointment and see if they ask me to spell the name. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/27 "2010-04-30T20:46:49Z")
First 4 entries, LinkedIn being the first. Of course, I have a very unique name (as far as I know, I’m the only one with it). Every time I do this, it pisses me off. I was misquoted by a rogue investment publication in 2007 and it still pops up. I almost got fired over that. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/28 "2010-04-30T20:47:48Z")
First hit, first page is my website. Guess I’d better do something with it… ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/29 "2010-04-30T20:49:34Z")
My first / last has 135K+ entries - page 6 has my LinkedIn profile My first / middle / last has one entry - it’s me! a family genealogy site My SDMB handle has 151K+ entries - my thread of the Middle Tennessee Dopefest is on page 5 First / MI / last and my yahoo handle have no entries. A couple of years ago, I began to get all kinds of FB friend requests from northern Europe. A bit odd, but oh, well. Earlier this year, I googled myself for S&G and OMG! - over 100K entries! The last time that I had done this, there were only two pages, about half of them me. It seems that there is now a European model that I share a name with. Little did her fans realize that they were attempting to friend a short, fat, middle aged woman from Tennessee. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/30 "2010-04-30T20:49:54Z")
Longer than I care to search on my married name, which I never use online. Both first and last names are pretty common. Married name with nickname-that-is-also-a-semi-common-given-name is five pages deep. Credits on a podcast I worked on. 11 pages in on my maiden, which I share with a somewhat well-known indie singer. A writing contest from high school. ---
**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/31 "2010-04-30T20:53:41Z")
Full name - First 2 are hits. The other 80 are someone else. First & Last - 24K entries. Gave up looking after 8 pages. Username - 69K entries. Found one of my first SDMB posts about 6 pages in. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/32 "2010-04-30T20:59:15Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > First page, first entry. I have a unique name. Page two, last entry. There’s only one other person with my first and last name, and she’s got hits before I do for social networking stuff. There are more hits for shoes that share our name than about either of us, though. ---
**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 30, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/33 "2010-04-30T21:15:16Z")
Full name: 21 results, nothing about me. “FirstName MiddleInitial LastName”: stopped looking after five pages. These don’t surprise me. My first name is very common, but I only use it formally; I go by its common nickname, unless I’m required to give my Full Name. My last name is common, but not as common as Smith or Jones. I didn’t even bother with “FirstName LastName”. “Nickname LastName”: stopped looking after ten pages. “Nickname LastName” “San Jose”, where I lived most of my life: the second result is my Facebook profile, the third result is a post I wrote on a Facebook group, and the fifth is my [classmates.com](http://classmates.com) profile. Kind of surprising, as there are many people in the Bay Area with the same name. GESancMan: the first three pages are all me! At this board! Whoohoo! ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/34 "2010-04-30T21:22:52Z")
My name is boring and common. I did this some months back, and found the first hit on something around page 40 of the results … I just tried again, but got bored scanning through the pages and pages of more interesting people with my name. I was doing this originally in response to my wife’s demonstration of why she was leery of setting up on any social networking sites, or putting her name on the internet in any way. Googling her name (“firstname lastname”, as putting in any middle names or middle initials results in 0 hits) returns seven total entries, all of which are about her. (Including a newsletter from her junior college mentioning a choral concert she performed in from about 25 freaking years ago.) Most unique name ever, I guess … I’d love an explanation of Google’s counting abilities, by the way. The header on the results page from that: > [@Google](#): > > Results 1 - 7 of about 2 for “Firstname Lastname” with Safesearch on. Results 1 - 7 of … about 2? 😕 (I’m not going to search on my wife’s name with Safesearch off, so don’t ask.) ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/35 "2010-04-30T21:24:33Z")
Of relevant entries, they are all about me. As far as I can determine, I’m the only person with my name (even without my middle name), or even my nickname and last name. “firstname middlename lastname” = no results “firstname lastname” = 3 results, all related to me “nickname lastname” = A lot more, mostly from Facebook, all me Similar results without quotes but just some trash entries in there (lists of names where my first name and last name appear, etc). I have a very rare last name (a hundred or two in the world?), and a quite uncommon first name (you’ve heard it, but not often), so this helps. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/36 "2010-04-30T21:36:44Z")
The first four pages are all me. I have a unique name. The eighth entry on the first page of a search on my screen name is me. I’m very easy to find on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/37 "2010-04-30T21:48:48Z")
If I google “Firstname Lastname”, I am the very first entry. A little surprising since a person with my name (but he had a middle initial, which I lack) was on the front page of the business section (he was some US government agent) last week. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/38 "2010-04-30T21:50:38Z")
Actually, it seems I’ve moved up in the Google world. “First Last” gives me a hit at #190, to a [blog comment entry](http://www.saynotocrack.com/index.php/2006/11/24/more-nerd-humor-funny-physics-at-the-subatomic-level/)I made with some physics jokes. What a thing to be famous for … “First M. Last” gives me a hit at #78, to a player ranking page on a Diplomacy server I don’t remember playing on. The entry is definitely me–it has an e-mail address attached that’s definitely mine. “First Middle Last” gives five hits, of which the last three are me: a profile page on another message board, and two Usenet posts in sci.math to which I evidently signed my full name … Three of the first ten hits on “SCSimmons” point to me, including one linking to posts at [boards.straightdope.com](http://boards.straightdope.com). This is one of my more common message board and blog comment handles … “SCSimmons9” is even more common for me, and as far as I can see, every hit on that search links to a message board or Usenet post, or blog comment, of mine. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/39 "2010-04-30T22:02:33Z")
My full name produces only two entries. One is about some guy getting arrested for assault in Pennsylvania; another is the list of people in 2006 graduating from some school called Centreville High. If I use my last and shortened first name like I usually do, I get 55,600 results; no idea where I actually am in there. If I use my full first and last names, no middle name I get 126,000 results. Then again, my last name is fairly common, and my first very common. If I use my SDMB username on the other hand, my entry is third; a Pit thread about me actually. Along with 5 other SDMB links to discussions I’m in. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891/40 "2010-04-30T22:09:48Z")
If I Google “Firstname Lastname” I’m the first hit that comes up. I have a pretty obscure last name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-your-own-name-with-quotes-on-what-page-does-an-entry-about-you-actually-appear/537891.md?page=3)