# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/21 "2014-11-04T07:41:47Z")
There are at least four nationally known people who share my name, and several others who are probably regionally famous turn up in Google. I am known primarily to people I’ve met, and on a couple of message boards (including this one, where I’m not particularly prominent). Yeah, teeming is my lot. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/22 "2014-11-04T10:02:31Z")
I’m just some guy, about as unknown as you can get. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/23 "2014-11-04T11:49:58Z")
Under my username here on the Dope, I am much loved because I’m nice, dammit. In the rest of the world, zilch. My name most famously belongs to an author - first page of googling is all her. Apparently I’m also a hairdresser in Brisbane specializing in brides, an attorney, a real estate agent, and a rather crude entry in the urban dictionary! :eek: At least thru the first 5 pages googled, I don’t show up. Which is fine - I try to protect my true identity. 😃 My baby bro, on the other hand, shows up in a Forbes profile, and my baby sister dominates the first page of googling, but her name is unique, as is she. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/24 "2014-11-04T12:23:41Z")
I am a local character (you know, the guy in the panama hat and bowtie at the Oysterfest? Yeah, him). ---
**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:** [November 4, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/25 "2014-11-04T12:26:23Z")
I am known to a few thousand mathematicians as an (not the) editor of a well-known journal and author of about 100 papers. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/26 "2014-11-04T12:40:45Z")
I’m certain the FBI has a file on me, as I have attended counterculture festivals for the better part of two decades. But it’s not something I worry about, as I’m sure they have a file on most of us. No one else knows me, though. My largest pool of notoriety is here. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/27 "2014-11-04T12:48:06Z")
Well, I don’t really have an APB out on me, but that was the closest option. I was a juror on the first of three high-profile trials against a man accused of a rather notorious state-wide crime, and the judge, prosecuting attorneys, and a number of police know me from that. And when it leaks out to coworkers and such that I was on it, it’s usually a big shock. In addition, I was the star student at a couple of local universities, and professors and faculty still stop me on the street when they see me. Beyond that, I wrote a few FAQs for some obscure retro video game systems that circulate in and are considered definitive by the retro gaming community a good 15 years after they were written; I still get e-mails from collectors and researchers regarding the system and games every month or so. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/28 "2014-11-04T12:51:50Z")
I’m just some guy. A few months ago I was thinking about changing my username to Just Some Guy, but of course it was already taken. I’ve contributed a few blog posts to my field (computer forensics) and spoken at a couple of conferences. My blog gets cited here and there online. One of the more influential writers of forensics texts cited me briefly in the most recent edition of his book. That was cool. Not what I’d call fame, exactly. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/29 "2014-11-04T12:54:40Z")
A very, very slight step above one of the teeming millions – at least a few hundred people have read my first novel, but that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/30 "2014-11-04T13:03:11Z")
I’m Spartacus. Though truthfully a thankful nonentity, the thought of any sort of fame or exposure makes my skin crawl. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/31 "2014-11-04T13:11:06Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > The only place I’m famous is here. 😃 I’ve got some bad news for you… ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/32 "2014-11-04T13:11:18Z")
I have a brother who’s known globally within his field, another who’s famous locally within his field, another who’s famous in his own mind. I’m nobody. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/33 "2014-11-04T13:50:59Z")
I’m a Pretty Big Name… in a pretty small field. I’m cited, quoted or mentioned about ten times in WP. Working on wider fame in a totally unrelated field, may end up being more “notoriety”… ---
**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, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/34 "2014-11-04T14:02:54Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I’ve got some bad news for you… Hey, I never said good famous. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/35 "2014-11-04T14:19:03Z")
I’m well known in professional science fiction circles, and among northeast science fiction fandom. Maybe 100-150K people have seen my byline over the years. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/36 "2014-11-04T14:28:34Z")
I was once famous regionally, and when I return to that area, people still know who I am, if they’re old enough to remember that long ago, when I was recognized on sight. I was known to about a half a million people. ---
**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, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/37 "2014-11-04T15:13:39Z")
So far, no notorious types. How odd! I probably should have had an option for myself and others who are known mainly in academic circles. It’s a kind of fame, right? Right? _crickets_ ---
**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:** [November 4, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/38 "2014-11-04T15:15:49Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > 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. Are you saying your mother is round? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Vita\_Beata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@Vita\_Beata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vita_Beata)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/39 "2014-11-04T15:17:23Z")
Hoi polloi here. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568/40 "2014-11-04T15:27:15Z")
I’m not even famous in my own house. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-famous-are-you-or-think-you-are/703568.md?page=3)