# Poll: Do you have a unique real life name? (Anonymous, obviously) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 13, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202 "2014-10-13T14:26:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/1 "2014-10-13T14:26:20Z")
[This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737182) got me wondering: what proportion of us do have unique names? I am the only one of me in the entire world, thanks to a medium-uncommon surname and a creatively spelled given name. Change a letter or two, though, and it’s shared with a bunch of random Europeans. Edit: I enabled multiple options in case my polling abilities are subpar. If your response is “other,” please post in thread. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/2 "2014-10-13T14:33:31Z")
I share my name with a celebrity. My name isn’t super common, but the dodecajillion Google his aren’t me 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/3 "2014-10-13T14:42:24Z")
I put two options. My unique name combination is unique, nobody else has the Firstname + last names combo that I have. My first name, though, is shared with a few people. I know at least 2 more (and one is a FB friend) who have it as their real name. I see on FB that others have it, but I’m not sure if that’s their real name or a nickname. It tends to be a youngish name, in the mid30s to less age group. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/4 "2014-10-13T14:55:48Z")
My firstname-lastname is relatively common. Dozens of hits in name searches. My firstname-middlename-lastname is less common, but still not unique. And obviously firstname-middle initial-lastname is somewhere in between. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/5 "2014-10-13T14:57:39Z")
Even though I have been active on the internet since Mosaic and a search on my name turns up dozens of results that actually are me (LinkedIn, Facebook and a few others) there are so many others worldwide, good luck sifting through the haystack. If however you combine my name with my employer or the town I live in, you’d get a couple of good results right away. There are a couple of semi famous people with my name. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/6 "2014-10-13T15:02:11Z")
My second lastname is ridiculously common among Hispanic ones; the exact stats vary, but I think it’s the most common non-patronymic. The first one is rare enough that if someone asks if I’m related to someone else by that lastname, I can answer “yes” without knowing more details. If they want to know the exact degree, then I do need details. My mother wanted to call me Lucía, but alas! There was already a (very distant) cousin with that firstname! We would have had the same firstname and first lastname (different second)! So, I ended up with a different firstname, specifically to ensure that I would be unique to my parents’ best knowledge. Turns out there is another cousin with my same firstname, but hey, my first lastname is her second so it’s highly unlikely we’ll get mistaken for each other. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/7 "2014-10-13T15:04:54Z")
I’m the only person in the US with my Firstname Lastname. My lastname seems to be limited only to direct relatives, having come into existence in the early 1900’s. ---
**Author:** ![MrsTime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@MrsTime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrsTime)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/8 "2014-10-13T15:07:29Z")
I’ve run across a very few with my first name and I do feel sorry for them. I seriously doubt that there is any one else in the world who shares my full name (first, middle, maiden name and or married name) ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/9 "2014-10-13T15:11:10Z")
My married name is shared with an author of fantasy novels, and probably a buttload of others, but I picked the third option, thinking of my birth name. Our last name is pretty rare in the US, altho it’s fairly common in Poland. In fact several generations back in Poland, there was a couple who shared the name before marrying, and they weren’t related. But in Maryland, there are only 3 with that name - my mom, my brother, and one sister. Just now, I googled the name and my brother came up in a Forbes profile - la-de-dah!! Mr. Big Shot Executive! 😃 Is there a site where I can find out how many of us there might be nationwide? ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/10 "2014-10-13T15:31:32Z")
My first name is very common. My last name is far from Smith/Jones/Miller common, but not really weird either. In combination, I’d say it’s less common than many, but from idle Facebook/web searches, I’ve found a decent number of us. Amusingly, I’m a guitarist, and there’s a guy with my exact name who makes very high-end custom acoustic guitars, and brands them with our last name. I’ve been tempted to drop him a line to ask “How about giving your namesake a good-sized price break?” ---
**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:** [October 13, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/11 "2014-10-13T15:34:27Z")
The last name I was born with is very uncommon in this country. The last name I have now, which was my stepfather’s, is also uncommon, but not nearly as much so. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/12 "2014-10-13T15:35:13Z")
There are two of us in the US, my cousin and me. We have different middle names, so our full names are unique (probably worldwide). There may be a few other people in the world who share our first and last names but they don’t show up in web searches. Our first name is very common but our last name is uncommon. Our name is also shared by a fictional character on a popular TV show which ran for several seasons. This isn’t a coincidence - the character was named after my cousin because of a connection with a writer on the show. He changed the spelling of our last name back to the original spelling (which differs only in the final letter) so that it the lawyers didn’t complain. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/13 "2014-10-13T15:44:21Z")
I am the only one with my full first name / last name. There are a few women with a more common version of my first name under both the original German and later Americanized version of my last name. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/14 "2014-10-13T15:52:01Z")
First name / last name is legion. I have a biblical first name and an Irish last name, common. My middle name is German/English but comes from my Italian grandfather’s anglicized first name. Googling the 3 together nets 0 hits, not even me, since I very rarely use all three full names. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/15 "2014-10-13T15:54:40Z")
I’m fairly sure that my first name and maiden name were unique. I was, and still am, the only one who shows up on Google, anyhow… and if there was another, that person would likely live in a highly technological society. She would show up. Since I married a man with a short, English noun for a surname though, there are crap-tons of others mes out there. And I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/16 "2014-10-13T15:56:05Z")
There’s at least one other me I’m aware of, maybe two. No more that a dozen I’d wager. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/17 "2014-10-13T16:11:24Z")
My name used to be unique, now there’s some 8-10 year old kid running around with my name. Bastard. Some day he’ll track me down, kill me and take my place. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/18 "2014-10-13T16:23:03Z")
My first name (which I never use) is very common. My family name is uncommon and very far from unique. My middle name is rare; it’s actually a matrilineal surname used as a personal name. The three-name sequence is unique as I or Google know. My spouse’s name is ubiquitous. A Facebook search lists many hundreds of users with that name. This is typical of Koreans. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/19 "2014-10-13T16:27:40Z")
Holy shit, there are so many of me that I don’t even show up on the first page of Linkedin searches. I had no idea; I don’t Google myself often, I guess. ETA: I’m also a heavy metal guitarist, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202/20 "2014-10-13T16:36:54Z")
It’s about to get even more unique. I can’t recall having ever met anyone with the same first name as me, only heard of some (e.g., “Oh my friend named her daughter that!”). My last name isn’t common, but it’s also not unheard of. But when I get married (on Friday!) and change my last name, the new last name is incredibly unique. It was one of those cases of being spelled wrong on the birth certificate, but the ancestor chose to keep it that way and pass it down, making every person with the last name related to one another. So I chose the top option in the poll. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-have-a-unique-real-life-name-anonymous-obviously/701202.md?page=2)