# Have you googled your name? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 23, 2002, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521 "2002-05-23T18:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pablito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@Pablito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablito)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/1 "2002-05-23T18:19:22Z")
Let’s have a contest: Google your first and last names. So, how many hits did you get? (your own webpage doesn’t count!) How many are actually about YOU? ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/2 "2002-05-23T19:15:22Z")
Yes…my first name only, I get a couple of non-related sites: One is from a Norwegian (hope it’s the right spelling) guy, who I’ve had some email contact. The other important one is from [kabalarians.com](http://kabalarians.com), which has my name because **I** submitted it. Other than that, I’m afraid it’s mostly when I talk about me and mention my first name. Oh, and there’s a company with my same name, too. There’s a reason I don’t want to write my name much, it reveals easily and my family likes to keep track of me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/3 "2002-05-23T19:23:33Z")
I got piles and piles, because there is apparently a very prolific brain researcher in England with the same name as me. There were a few about me, though (my M.A. thesis defense: YAY!) ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/4 "2002-05-23T19:55:05Z")
Yep. I got old articles that I wrote when I was a software reviewer for a couple of 'zines. It also turns out I am some kind of Dr in the US. Ain’t that swell! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/5 "2002-05-23T20:33:55Z")
about 46,500. From the first 5 pages not one was about me. I got bored after that. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/6 "2002-05-23T20:37:25Z")
If I put the “”'s around my name I get a lot less than I do with out them. without them I get almost 600,000, with them I get 600. The problem is that my last name is Main and it picks up every one there is. Even with the quotes it still picks up Main where it should not. As for the ones that are about me there are one or two, the rest are Main Street or Main page. It even throw’s the occasional 's in there. Well that’s intersting I’m a post office too! ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/7 "2002-05-23T20:39:00Z")
I am apparently a professional football player. A defensive tackle, no less, which, if you could see me, is actually a funny proposition. - Frank ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/8 "2002-05-23T21:11:22Z")
I got two hits, both of them in Italian, and not on my actual “first name/last name,” but on “blah blah LAST NAME” …halfway down the page, “blah blah FIRST NAME” So I guess my name really is as unusual as I’ve always thought it was. 😃 I do know that there’s an astronomy professor at UVA whose last name is the same as my first name, and I think that’s kinda cool. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/9 "2002-05-23T21:27:43Z")
1. I searched “phil plait -badastronomy” (the last part to exclude links to my site). I guess that’s not too bad. I get 5090 if I just search on my name, which is lower than I expected. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/10 "2002-05-23T21:30:45Z")
I got seven hits and six are me. My fame is spreading! Two are announcing that I won $10 from Lexis/Nexis (oh boy), one is a organization’s newsletter from three years thanking me for my volunteer work, one is from my school listing me as a participant in a clinical course, one is from my high school reunion saying they didn’t know how to reach me (funny, my parents still live in the same house, and the website went up after the reunion), and one is from a classmate’s website showing a picture of me drunk at a party. I’m not sure I like the idea of my picture being on the internet, even if all my clothes are on. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/11 "2002-05-23T21:45:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hamadryad \* > \*\*I do know that there’s an astronomy professor at UVA whose last name is the same as my first name, and I think that’s kinda cool. \*\* Hey, I know astroprofs at UVa. Who? Or email me, I guess, if you don’t want folks to know. I won’t tell. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/12 "2002-05-23T21:53:58Z")
Zev = 121000 hits (many about Lexx) Steinhardt = 38100 Zev Steinhardt = 88 “Zev Steinhardt” = 1 Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/13 "2002-05-23T22:05:47Z")
I got 67 hits with my first and last name in quotes. Among the more notable entries: -The script of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. -A piece of homosexual (m/m) erotic fiction, which includes the line “you just found my prostate”. -A review I wrote for a book on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) appearing on the [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) German site, despite the fact that my name is not revealed on the American site where I initially posted the review 😕 -A professor with expertise in the field of procrastination. -A web site that has a list of funny, but real, names found on the internet, mine included. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/14 "2002-05-23T22:07:17Z")
Many hits, only one of which is me. All the rest belong to my alter ego, the The Foreign Minister of Gabon. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/15 "2002-05-23T22:49:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Bad Astronomer \* > \*\* > > Hey, I know astroprofs at UVa. Who? Or email me, I guess, if you don’t want folks to know. I won’t tell. \*\* D’oh! A bit of snooping and I figured it out. I used to work with him, back in my grad school days. It’s a small web after all. Cool first name, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![dragongirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/16 "2002-05-23T22:54:02Z")
I have, no results at all. I tried my maiden name and married name, so I guess I just don’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![kitarak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kitarak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitarak)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/17 "2002-05-23T23:03:00Z")
Hmmm. I have 217 results. (With searching for the exact phrase no less). I don’t see any that are me, but I think there must be a couple. Possibly not though - I don’t usually go by my real name online. ---
**Author:** ![Regina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d78d45/32.png) [@Regina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regina)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/18 "2002-05-23T23:53:45Z")
16 hits with my “real life” name. I am apparently a softball playing, ballroom dancing, 5K running Professor Licenciado em Historia. This has really been fascinating, but I must go water my plants. I spent far too much time on this craziness! ---
**Author:** ![Sengkelat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Sengkelat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sengkelat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/19 "2002-05-24T00:17:02Z")
I got 650 entries with my real life name in quotes. I also tried “Sengkelat”, and one of the entries was a link to an old SDMB thread of Science Fiction Cliches, saying my quote was “One of the most insightful thoughts to ever grace a cranium in this or the last century” Go me! ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521/20 "2002-05-24T00:24:14Z")
103 hits. None about me (there used to be a hit for a letter I wrote to a web site, but it didn’t show up this time.) Apparently there is a pole vaulter and an author with my name. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-googled-your-name/110521.md?page=2)