# Would You Start a Wikipedia Entry for Yourself if You Had a Very Unique Name? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 30, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-start-a-wikipedia-entry-for-yourself-if-you-had-a-very-unique-name/406112 "2007-05-30T20:10:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-start-a-wikipedia-entry-for-yourself-if-you-had-a-very-unique-name/406112/1 "2007-05-30T20:10:20Z")
My name isn’t bizarre but it does seem to be unique. It is actually two English words but I am fairly sure I am the only one in the U.S. if not the world that has it. If that turned out to be true, I could tack on my other name and I am sure it would be. The thought occured that I could start my own Wikipedia entry without conflict. I am not one that is big on attention but I live 2000 miles from where I grew up and it would make it very easy for people to find me. It would be for novelty value as well. Would you do it if you were in a similar situation? ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-start-a-wikipedia-entry-for-yourself-if-you-had-a-very-unique-name/406112/2 "2007-05-30T20:47:09Z")
I do have a unique name (my mom made up my first name out of two standard names, but in an unusual way, and my last name is uncommon). I never thought of the Wikipedia angle, though. I probably wouldn’t, just because I don’t think there is much about me that’s interesting enough to put it on the record in that way. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-start-a-wikipedia-entry-for-yourself-if-you-had-a-very-unique-name/406112/3 "2007-05-30T20:48:07Z")
Are you notable? An individual has to satisfy at least one of the following [requirements](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Notability_%28people%29) to merit a Wikipedia page: > [@](#): > > The person has been the subject of published secondary sources that are reliable, intellectually independent, and independent of the subject. > > If the depth of coverage is not substantial, then multiple independent sources may need to be cited to establish notability. > > Trivial coverage of a subject by secondary sources may not be sufficient to establish notability. > > Once notability is established, primary sources may be used to add content. > > The person has been the subject of a credible independent biography. > > The person has received significant recognized awards or honors. > > The person has demonstrable wide name recognition. > > The person has made a widely recognized contribution that is part of the enduring historical record in their specific field. > > Commercial endorsements of demonstrably notable products. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-start-a-wikipedia-entry-for-yourself-if-you-had-a-very-unique-name/406112/4 "2007-05-30T22:04:22Z")
I think it’s against the rules to write your own entry. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-start-a-wikipedia-entry-for-yourself-if-you-had-a-very-unique-name/406112/5 "2007-05-30T22:15:36Z")
I know a number of people who are somewhat notable, depending on whom you ask (we’re all in the same organization). Many have had wikipedia pages made for them, and most of those have been deleted. The people in question report that it’s quite surreal to read on the “talk” page the discussions of whether they themselves are significant enough to be worthy of an entry … It is quite subjective, and appears to vary from entry to entry. I know at least two people who quite clearly meet at least one of those requirements, but their pages just doesn’t manage to stay up there, for some reason. So if even those people can’t stay up there, someone with no more notoriety than a unique name won’t stay either. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-start-a-wikipedia-entry-for-yourself-if-you-had-a-very-unique-name/406112/6 "2007-05-30T23:28:01Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] My name isn’t bizarre but it does seem to be unique. It is actually two English words but I am fairly sure I am the only one in the U.S. if not the world that has it. [/QUOTE] My forename+surname is unique within the U.K., while being not bizarre at all, and TTBOMK my full name is globally unique. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-start-a-wikipedia-entry-for-yourself-if-you-had-a-very-unique-name/406112/7 "2007-05-31T03:03:36Z")
I do have a unique name, and so far I’ve seen no reason why that qualifies me to be an entry in anything other than a list of people with unique names. ---
**Author:** ![sugar\_and\_spice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@sugar\_and\_spice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugar_and_spice)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-start-a-wikipedia-entry-for-yourself-if-you-had-a-very-unique-name/406112/8 "2007-05-31T03:57:54Z")
Wouldn’t a myspace page serve the same purpose? I have a one of a kind name, due to unconventional spellings on both ends. I think uniqueness makes a Wikipedia page less necessary, since anyone with an Internet connection could find me in about five seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-start-a-wikipedia-entry-for-yourself-if-you-had-a-very-unique-name/406112/9 "2007-05-31T10:31:28Z")
Anyone who can use the phrase “very unique” without irony should not start any Wikipedia entries at all. /grammar nazi ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-start-a-wikipedia-entry-for-yourself-if-you-had-a-very-unique-name/406112/10 "2007-05-31T14:45:50Z")
My name is certainly not unique: there’s another person with the same name as me who has a Wikipedia entry. When you Google our name, he has the first two hits and I have the third, both on a website search and on an image search – so I guess that means I’m not as famous as he is. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-start-a-wikipedia-entry-for-yourself-if-you-had-a-very-unique-name/406112/11 "2007-05-31T15:15:17Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Anyone who can use the phrase “very unique” without irony should not start any Wikipedia entries at all. /grammar nazi [/QUOTE] Maybe in your dialect unique only means ‘the only one of its kind.’ However, you should know that it is also widely used to mean ‘unusual’ or ‘rare.’ Thus, ‘very unique’ is perfectly cromulent. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-start-a-wikipedia-entry-for-yourself-if-you-had-a-very-unique-name/406112/12 "2007-05-31T15:45:05Z")
[QUOTE=Jamaika a jamaikaiaké] Maybe in your dialect unique only means ‘the only one of its kind.’ However, you should know that it is also widely used to mean ‘unusual’ or ‘rare.’ Thus, ‘very unique’ is perfectly cromulent. [/QUOTE] Only to descriptivists. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-start-a-wikipedia-entry-for-yourself-if-you-had-a-very-unique-name/406112/13 "2007-05-31T16:56:23Z")
My name is so unique I have been unable to find what it means. But never thought of building any sort of web pages about it.