# How famous are you (or think you are)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 4, 2014, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568 "2014-11-04T01:51:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/1 "2014-11-04T01:51:30Z")
Are there famous people on the SDMB? We know of a couple. How many more lurk, essentially enjoying the anonymity of the board in contrast to getting recognized all the time? Anonymous poll forthcoming. No need to out yourself in the thread unless you want to. As for me, I’m not famous, but I’m known a bit in some small, mostly regional musical and academic circles. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/2 "2014-11-04T02:01:12Z")
I’m bad. I’m nationwide. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/3 "2014-11-04T02:22:25Z")
I’m famous within my profession and almost certainly \> 1 million people have heard of me world-wide. Can’t say if I’m adored. It’s not the type of profession where the people who have heard of me would typically have communicated with me. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/4 "2014-11-04T02:30:07Z")
The only public notoriety I have is because of several minor articles that were published under my name, and none of them were particularly interesting to 99.99999+ percent of humanity. As a matter of fact, a Google search of my name doesn’t bring up anything that’s uniquely “me” until midway through page 4. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/5 "2014-11-04T02:36:01Z")
I’m well enough known in certain circles that I get asked for my autograph, and to have pictures taken with me; but it’s a fairly small circle. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/6 "2014-11-04T02:38:29Z")
I may or may not be DB Cooper. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/7 "2014-11-04T02:48:42Z")
I was once a (very) minor local notable, but not anymore. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/8 "2014-11-04T02:58:56Z")
I’m a legend in my own mind with delusions of adequacy. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/9 "2014-11-04T03:12:48Z")
Im one of the teeming millions. Thank goodness. I wouldn’t mind having money, but I don’t want fame. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/10 "2014-11-04T03:20:25Z")
I am everyday people. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/11 "2014-11-04T03:23:15Z")
In my college town, I was a face a lot of people knew but couldn’t put a name to, and the FBI did once have a file on me, because I lived for an extended period of time in the Soviet Union, even though I was a child at the time; it was routine during the cold war to keep files on anyone who had lived behind the iron curtain. That file probably doesn’t exist anymore, though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Holdsworth_Effect)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/12 "2014-11-04T05:34:16Z")
I voted for teeming. I’m quite well known locally, over a 2-3 county area. For most of their lives my daughters were convinced that we could go nowhere without running into someone who would greet me, usually accompanied by “I need to make an appointment.” This includes Waikiki near Kapiolani Park, the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, Canada, and the Amtrak Highline train in Havre, Montana. However, no one has ever asked for autographs or pictures ;), though a husband once told his wife in Costco to come along now, or I’d be billing for a co-pay. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/13 "2014-11-04T05:40:51Z")
Totally non-famous. The only kind of fame I ever fantasize about is being a recluse author, like Thomas Pynchon, who never gives interviews and is never photographed. And I’d write my best selling novels under a pseudonym. So, yeah. I’d only want to be famous if no one knew who I was, as oxymoronic as that sounds. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/14 "2014-11-04T05:46:27Z")
My brother is quite well known in his field, has a newspaper column, and appears on the TV News sometimes. So he fits in about the middle of the list: “famous regionally, but not really nationally or internationally.” But me? I’m not even famous on the SDMB. Been here 15 years and people still forget where I live. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/15 "2014-11-04T06:00:59Z")
The local police have no idea who I am, but the FBI does have some semblance of a file on me, and I am in their Rolodex. I got a call from the local field office a couple of years ago from an agent hoping I could offer some assistance with a money laundering concern since they know I work in a security capacity for a major financial institution. The last time I did a vanity search in Google, the first listing that was actually about me wasn’t until the 23rd page. ---
**Author:** ![IfItComesUp6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecccb3/32.png) [@IfItComesUp6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IfItComesUp6)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/16 "2014-11-04T07:01:42Z")
I am famous among those that know me and unknown by everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/17 "2014-11-04T07:11:35Z")
If I google my name then at least the first page of entries is about me, but that’s mainly because I have an unusual name. Which shows that Google isn’t really a great test of fame. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/18 "2014-11-04T07:17:04Z")
That’s an interesting alternative but inconclusive gauge for this: how soon you appear in a Google search for your name. I come up on page 1, but my name’s not really all that common. There’s a convicted murderer with the same name who is on the first page as much as me. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/19 "2014-11-04T07:28:55Z")
I plan to live to see the Tricentennial when I’m 112. So, I’ll be a little famous then. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/20 "2014-11-04T07:31:45Z")
The only place I’m famous is here. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568.md?page=2)