I have a rarely used first name that doesn’t really ethnically fit with my very rare Dutch last name. When I lived in NY, I used to say I was the only one in the world with my name. Shortly after moving to WA I changed my fly fishing club membership to our new state. Six months later, my name appears as winning a casting contest at the state fly fishing convention. I figured someone had used my membership number to get free entry into the contest.
Fast forward about six years, my youngest ends up on a soccer team with a kid who had just moved from the other side of the state and his father knows the other guy in the world with my name. Google eventually caught up enough to find us both and put us on the first page of the search, him first (an architect), me second, no others.
I have a pretty big digital footprint and there aren’t many others with my first and last name. Didn’t find many others on the general web, but there are 4 doppelgangers on Facebook: one in Wyoming with corgis, one who might be in Utah, one in Iowa who works at an auto parts store and married into my last name 5 years ago (does name by marriage count?), and a retired nurse in Florida (also married into the last name).
Both my kids appear to be uniquely named.
When we moved to this town, there was another person with my husband’s name who had bounced numerous checks, so we were always having to prove he wasn’t that person. That was a hassle. There are 12 other people with his name on LinkedIn, including a guy who runs big film festivals.
First one who comes up is an attorney who is getting married (The knot, linked in). Then a poor woman who was murdered by her boyfriend 20 years ago.
With my maiden name—the first items are all related to a famous historical event where the main players each had one of my names as a last name (weird, because neither is very common). Then a HS football player who has my name but in reverse order. No one with my exact name though.
So after reading more, I googled my maiden name. Much rarer last name, but fits better with the Irish first name. Got one hit - high school student, track and soccer star, Natl Merit commended. Probably related to me somehow. I only show up on a list of my high school class. I prefer anonymity.
Using maiden name (very unusual last name), got just one hit besides me – my mom – and one genealogy site listing someone born in 1897.
Using my married name (fairly common), #1 is a therapist near London, #2 is the principal at a school in Dublin (I clicked the “Rate my Teachers” link for her and apparently she is not very well-liked!), and #3 is a VP at a NYC company.
I share a first and last name with relatively obscure actress from the 1960s. She’s all that comes up for several pages on Google unless you include my university or hometown.
My married name: Wife of a famous author.
My maiden name: My cousin’s wife, my brother’s wife. (Who have the same first name/very unusual last name.)
The real me only comes up in obits of relatives. I’m famous for nothing except being related to dead people. There is no one else with my first/maiden/married name combination.
My last name is unique so I know if I find it out there, we are distant cousins somehow. The only other one with my name is a county clerk - thankfully in a different state!
H’s name is not uncommon - after all, it’s a small city in Europe. But somehow the first name last name combo of all 3 of our daughters doesn’t bring up any other matches. And they’re really out there in numerous ways - one even posts her hikes to some board that is searchable. Young people today…
Dfb: Mozart? Stephen Foster? Glenn Miller? Bob Marley? Eric Clapton? Bob Dylan? Louis Armstrong? John Lennon? Michael Jackson? John Williams? Taylor Swift? John Elton??
Oh wow, that was interesting ! Technically, no one shares my name because my last name has an accent over the last vowel , but close enough. I found a photographer who specializes in pets. Also an obituary of a man who worked for AT&T ! My name is NOt a traditional male name at all
And one more, a president of a golf club in Australia…a few pages in, I found an embarrassing interview with the real me from ABC affiliate in Philadelphia. I am camera shy and particularly so when it comes to television
