# How many people in the UK share your name?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [February 7, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034 "2004-02-07T21:41:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/61 "2004-02-08T21:47:58Z")
> [@everton](#):
>
> **Lucretia:**
> His first book, [Are You Dave Gorman?](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0091884713/qid=1076263222/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_11_2/202-0363505-4408638) told the story of what happened when a bet with his room mate got wildly out of hand. The bet was whether he could locate another real life Dave Gorman somewhere in the world for each card in a deck, plus the jokers, i.e. 54 Dave Gormans.
>
> [Dave Gorman’s Googlewhack Adventure](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0091891965/qid=1076263222/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_11_1/202-0363505-4408638) is his follow up to that. If you type two words into a search engine and run the search, typically you’ll get lots of hits or none. But if you get only _one_ hit (a “googlewhack”) there’s only one site that mentions those two words. For most people it’s just a game to play with a search engine, for Gorman it was a springboard for an adventure to find the sources of several sites in person.
>
> Gorman’s a funny guy with a tendency to go on weird quests and find humour in the results. If you find only one reference to your name on the [www.yournotme.com](http://www.yournotme.com) site, you’ve combined both his adventures in one without leaving your screen (but without having as much fun).
Well, it was mildly amusing, but you’re right, probably not as much fun as Dave had. It sounds like a fun book, I might have to pick that up.
---
### Author:  [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/62 "2004-02-08T21:54:36Z")
> [@dutchboy208](#):
>
> There’s a Gemma in every class in every school in every county in Britain… you _must_ have an unusual surname 😉
Yep! Which no one can spell or pronounce. 🙂
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### Author:  [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/63 "2004-02-09T00:25:50Z")
1. One of which is me.
[Though the polling station officials did get into a terrible tangle the last time I voted, since I had a card but wasn’t listed in their copy of the register. Took a couple of phone calls for them to sort it out.]
---
### Author:  [@hybrid\_dogfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hybrid_dogfish)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/64 "2004-02-09T00:47:23Z")
::Holds signed copy of Dave Gorman’s Googlewhack in his hands::
Well, it’s my sister’s really, but I do own Are You Dave Gorman, and so am still concerned as to whether it is a good idea to track down the other me, it would only cost £5.98 to find his name and address, the problem is explaining it to him.
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### Author:  [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2004, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/65 "2004-02-09T11:44:04Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Yep! Which no one can spell or pronounce.
Sounds familiar. Except with me, its the first name. Really, how hard is it to pronounce a 3-syllable name huh? Which is why I tend to introduce myself now with generally just the first syllable of my first name - much easier.
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### Author:  [@Sir\_Doris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Doris)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2004, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/66 "2004-02-09T11:58:20Z")
52 people with my name. I happen to know that two of them live in the same town, and one of then works at the same place. Which confuses the people running the contacts database, and my students, no end.
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### Author:  [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2004, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/67 "2004-02-09T12:23:25Z")
I expected there to be more than 8000-odd people with my surname in the UK. Huh.
There are exactly the same number of people with my SO’s name as there are with mine. Weird. Eerie.
There are 8 people whose first name really is Tansu. Big up the Turkish massive.
I did some “silly” searches.
There are 108 Arwens in the UK who were of voting age in 2001. And 3 Aragorns. There are 3 Luthiens and 21 Berens. There are 7 Eowyns, but no Faramirs.
There are 16 Aslans, but no Jadises.
There are 95 Leias, and 2 people with the surname Skywalker. And yes, one of those is a Luke Skywalker. Aren’t deed polls great?
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### Author:  [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/68 "2004-02-09T13:24:52Z")
only 11 people with my full name in the UK. didnt check on my surname, but its not that common. having said that, theres 12 with my name, i’m not on the electoral register. Bam!
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2004, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/69 "2004-02-09T13:30:16Z")
> [@Tansu](#):
>
> 2 people with the surname Skywalker. And yes, one of those is a Luke Skywalker. Aren’t deed polls great?
Given that this info is from the 2001 census, those must be joke entries by people who believed the email-myth that they could get Jedi recognised as an official religion :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/70 "2004-02-09T13:41:02Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#):
>
> Given that this info is from the 2001 census, those must be joke entries by people who believed the email-myth that they could get Jedi recognised as an official religion :rolleyes:
ERRRRRNNKK! they did get Jedi recognized as an official religion. to wit:
[government stats](http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/rank/jedi.asp)
(waves hand)
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### Author:  [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/71 "2004-02-09T13:44:02Z")
955 people with the same name as me.
I am officialy as common as a Burberry baseball cap.
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### Author:  [@Thirty-Nine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thirty-Nine)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/72 "2004-02-09T15:39:17Z")
Suspiciously there are:
2 Donald Ducks
1 Minnie Mouse (alas, no Micky)
1 England and 1 Britain,
but 19 Americas
4 Squirrels (first name - !?)
1 Hitler and Himmler (!)
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### Author:  [@Thirty-Nine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thirty-Nine)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/73 "2004-02-09T15:41:59Z")
I also managed to find an ‘Amazing Grace (amazing first, grace last)’ and Satan.
Good to see how many thoughtful parents there are around…
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### Author:  [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2004, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/74 "2004-02-09T17:07:10Z")
Name changes and jokes are more likely explanations.
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### Author:  [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/75 "2004-02-10T23:28:48Z")
Firstname and surname combination: **unique**
Firstname: 139,109
Surname: 11
(me, my mum, my dad, my grandma, my sister, three long-lost relatives, dunno about the others but possibly duplicate university addresses for me, my sister and AN Other)
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### Author:  [@Angel\_Heart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_Heart)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/76 "2004-02-11T00:12:27Z")
There are 8 people with my forename name in the UK, and 196 people with my surname. Since both come from English, I’m a little surprised.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/77 "2004-02-11T00:19:41Z")
> [@paulberserker](#):
>
> ERRRRRNNKK! they did get Jedi recognized as an official religion. to wit:
> [government stats](http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/rank/jedi.asp)
>
> (waves hand)
Nope. All that is is a report of the raw figures, which is precisely what a census does. It never stood any chance of being ‘recognised’, because there’s _no such thing_ as an “official” religion in Britain.
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### Author:  [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/78 "2004-02-11T00:46:01Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#):
>
> Nope. All that is is a report of the raw figures, which is precisely what a census does. It never stood any chance of being ‘recognised’, because there’s _no such thing_ as an “official” religion in Britain.
What, they disestablished the Church of England? When did that happen?
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/79 "2004-02-11T00:52:14Z")
Sure, the CofE has a uunnique status, but it’s not ‘official’ - that’d wind the Scots up too much 😉
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2004, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-in-the-uk-share-your-name/228034/80 "2004-02-11T02:18:58Z")
How many people in the UK have my full name? 0. Which is the same number of UK people with my surname too.
There are only 1,600 people in the entire world with my surname, and I know that none of them share my first name (There are, however 2 Vincent and at least 2 Edward \'s in the world, so my brother and Dad are a little less unique.) It’s kind of cool that every web seach result for my first+surname _is_ something about me. [sub] if you were wondering about the scarcity of my surname, it’s because it’s an “americanization” of a French surname- changed at Ellis Island, I believe [/sub]
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