<p>My name is fairly common, don’t show up until page 23. If I include my middle initial, moves me up to page 4. Lost in the crowd (which is fine with me).</p>
<p>Son in college, with a less common first name, shows up on page 1. If I’d known about privacy and the Internet 20 years ago, would have gone with a more common first name.</p>
<p>At someone’s suggestion, I did a google alert for my name (and my books). I discovered that in addition to the very well-known mathematican whose middle and last names are identical to my first and last names, and the artist, I share a name with a professional tag team wrestler. Gotta go see him on WWF or WWE or whatever it is now called.</p>
<p>My first name is in the top 3 in the english speaking world. My middle name is in the top 5. My last name is in the top 3. Googling me is a truly useless exercise.</p>
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<p>So, I’m correct in thinking that your screen name is not a condensation of your IRL name… I’ve always read it as L. DeRochi. Guess you don’t own any Italian restaurants, either…</p>
<p>No, no. But I do happen to have the great good fortune to have married into a wonderful Italian family.</p>
<p>I gave up on internet privacy long ago. Dh and I both speak and write and it’s hopeless. You can google either of us and find out exactly what we think about most anything. Kind of gives me the willies… especially when I meet folks in public and they know <em>all</em> about our family and while I’m wracking my mind trying to figure out how I know them, they say, “Oh you don’t know me… I heard you speak at _______ and I read you in _______.” I know, if you don’t like it, shut up and stop speaking and writing, but it’s still weird, weird, weird.</p>
<p>By what I do for a living, my real self and pix gets several thousand hits. Same with my hubby. </p>
<p>My name is common enough so I can ‘hide’ somewhat in 27000. My hubby, with an unusual name, in contrast, is fully exposed. I don’t like it. Any one hit is innocuous but if one bothered to connect the dots, you are quite vulnerable.</p>
<p>In general, information is a two-edged sword. In this case, what sometimes invades privacy can also be good marketing.</p>
<p>Funny, someone just sent me this link yesterday: if you want an estimate of how many people in the US have your name, go to: [How</a> Many of Me](<a href=“http://howmanyofme.com%5DHow”>http://howmanyofme.com)</p>
<p>I have googled myself and all of my family members. Most of what is found is from my husband, but I am there with a few quotes in some newspaper articles regarding our business.
Also , some real estate sales transactions which I found to be embarrassing
( I prefer a little privacy, even though I know it is a matter of public record )
There is also a seemingly popular photographer in the mid-west who shares my name, as well as a college professor.</p>
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<p>Oh dear lord. Over 32,000 of us. Not John Smith (50,000+), but definitely getting close</p>
<p>Wow - only 195 of me married name and I’m the only one of my maiden name!</p>
<p>“How Many of Me” says I’m the one and only, but Google says otherwise … In any case, I have a very uncommon last name, so I’m pretty sure there aren’t a lot out there.</p>
<p>fireandrain, thanks for that link. HowManyOfMe confirms that I’m the only one with my married name! But there are about 5 with my maiden name.</p>
<p>Only 25 of me. I would have been just one other if I’d taken my husband’s name! The funny thing is that my last name isn’t hugely unusual. His is a variant spelling of quite a common name.</p>
<p>Someone with my name just got in touch with me via Facebook. It’s my maiden name (which I’ve kept) and her married name. Curiously, she was born the same year I was, and her actual birthday is the same as one of my kids.</p>
<p>Down in the teens on my married name. I don’t believe it. Not that unusual a name and a google search turns up many pages of “not me’s”. There may be some overlap, but still…
Fun thought!</p>
<p>only 1 of me with my married name and 2 with my maiden name.
5 each on two of my kids and 80 on the one with the more common name</p>
<p>Try Zabasearching yourself (or anyone else).</p>
<p>[Free</a> People Search by ZabaSearch!](<a href=“http://www.zabasearch.com%5DFree”>http://www.zabasearch.com)</p>
<p>It’s interesting because birth years will often show up. There is a new feature called “Zabasphere.” If you sign up for it (free), it will alert you when someone is Zabasearching your name. It includes the location and IP # of the searcher.</p>
<p>Heh…How Many of Me thinks I’m the only person in the U.S. with my name. I know for a fact that they’re wrong, though, because I’ve found at least two others while Googling myself.</p>