The Name Remains The Same

March 5, 2003 10:48 AM

Get Your Own Name, Buster! It's doesn't get any sillier than finding out how many people in the U.K. are at this very moment walking about pretending to be you; the limey bastards. But it's humbling, to say the least - and a bit of fun too. [Via Linkmachinego and Plep.]
posted by MiguelCardoso (39 comments total)

Awesome! That does it, I need a zippy pen name.
posted by kevspace at 10:53 AM on March 5, 2003

humbling?

I'm going to find the other 5 of me and get them.

The swines
posted by devon at 10:56 AM on March 5, 2003

hmm. 559 with my first name, and zero with my last.

suppose i'm the champ, really.

oh, and here comes the requisite: "but how many people, really, are named fishfucker?". har har.
posted by fishfucker at 10:58 AM on March 5, 2003

There are 22. You are rarer than a wombats wing nut.

Well, I'm just too flattered.

Also, there's no one in the UK named "Qwerty Pumpkin".
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 10:58 AM on March 5, 2003

There is

1

Person with the name Luke Skywalker.
This name is unique like a yeti or some form of Magic Chimp.
posted by Stan Chin at 10:58 AM on March 5, 2003

Does all it tell you is the nuber of people with your name? Or am I missing something.
posted by lampshade at 10:59 AM on March 5, 2003

There's just one moniker doppelganger for me! Which makes me unique like a yeti or some form of Magic Chimp. Fancy that.
posted by scody at 10:59 AM on March 5, 2003

you're not me

sheesh.
posted by jozxyqk at 11:02 AM on March 5, 2003

There are zero people in the UK with my name. How about that - I don't exist!
posted by tabbycat at 11:05 AM on March 5, 2003

That name doesn't exist. Are you secret service?
Don't hurt me I've seen Enemy of the State
posted by anathema at 11:06 AM on March 5, 2003

heheh
posted by clavdivs at 11:10 AM on March 5, 2003

jozxyqk: Because it's Grammatically Incorrect

don't you read the small print?
posted by nylon at 11:27 AM on March 5, 2003

I typed in the name of a friend who lives in England and was told there was no one there by that name.

Methinks this is a faux search.
posted by orange swan at 11:27 AM on March 5, 2003

There are zero people in the UK with my name. How about that - I don't exist!

Ditto.
posted by armoured-ant at 11:28 AM on March 5, 2003

There are 1327 of me. Wow. We could form a political party or something...
posted by beth at 11:29 AM on March 5, 2003

tee hee.

There are

2

People with the name Hugh Janus.
posted by nylon at 11:37 AM on March 5, 2003

Theres also a swedish one Statistiska centralbyråns namnregister - totally searchable and has the exact count of who's named what in Sweden. Only one person has my (first) name - me! 36 have the same sirname tho.
posted by dabitch at 11:43 AM on March 5, 2003

There are

9400

People with the name Rae.
My mate Drew once ate this many walnut Whips in one night.
He's insane now. Drives a Volvo.
posted by orange swan at 11:44 AM on March 5, 2003

there are 1209 men named Miguel in sweden, and 15 people with the last name Cardoso. (this is fun)
posted by dabitch at 11:54 AM on March 5, 2003

There is

1

Person with the name Vanilla Ice.
This name is unique like a yeti or some form of Magic Chimp.
posted by murmur at 12:02 PM on March 5, 2003

Zero
with or without my first name included.

I'm special.

:-)
posted by EmoChild at 12:12 PM on March 5, 2003

I'm a special snowflake.
posted by taz at 12:16 PM on March 5, 2003

only 11 of me...I am rare as well.
posted by SweetIceT at 12:28 PM on March 5, 2003

There are 0 People with the name Sven-Göran Eriksson.

Oh no!
posted by soundofsuburbia at 12:40 PM on March 5, 2003

My name is rare like a Yeti or a Magic Chimp too.

Unless I use my nickname and then there are 171 of me, and "more people probably die poking spoons into the back of their PC's every year than there are of you." That's an interesting little hypothetical factoid.
posted by madamjujujive at 12:42 PM on March 5, 2003

There is this guy in the UK who decided he was not only going to look up his name but then go and meet everyone. The resulting book, "Are You Dave Gorman?", can be found at Blackwell's.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 1:13 PM on March 5, 2003

8300 - guess my names not so uncommon
posted by mss at 1:49 PM on March 5, 2003

0 for me.
My last name is unusual since it's a variation on the original from the old country.
It seems awful fast for search of all names in the UK, though.
posted by 2sheets at 2:24 PM on March 5, 2003

There is

1

Person with the name Kerin Cosford.
This name is unique like a yeti or some form of Magic Chimp.

That would be me then.

This bothers me. What is my name doing in their database?
posted by influx at 2:33 PM on March 5, 2003

orange swan - your friend might not wish to be on the electoral roll (like myself)
posted by Joeforking at 2:51 PM on March 5, 2003

Anyone who believes that this is any kind of real search of people in the UK needs to get out more. This is nothing but a cynical attempt at getting traffic for on-line advertisements. How can they really believe that anyone would fall for it? Oh, right ....
posted by dg at 4:02 PM on March 5, 2003

Dg - they say it's based on the 2000 electoral roll, which is easy to get and standardly used by marketing companies. Being so useful, of course. This is an insurance company so I guess they like to know how many people over the age of 18 are still alive. ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 4:35 PM on March 5, 2003

That name doesn't exist. Are you secret service?
Don't hurt me I've seen Enemy of the State

Ditto here. Apparently, MeFi is populated by spooks...

Well, really, I should have known that. ;)
posted by dejah420 at 4:37 PM on March 5, 2003

Sorry Miguel - I opened the page in Mozilla and none of the links worked, so I assumed it was just a front (the prominent gambling ads helped there). Now that I open it in IE, I can see that it is just a regular time-waster rather than a scam :-)
posted by dg at 8:35 PM on March 5, 2003

0 of me! No wonder I end up using a fake name to hold restaurant reservations. Easier than the 5 minute explanation to the hostess about pronounciation.

My mom is from the UK, I popped her maiden name in and came up with extras of her. She takes my dad's name and poof - down to zero.
posted by Salmonberry at 10:20 PM on March 5, 2003

How hard can it be to pronounce Salmonberry?
posted by dg at 10:55 PM on March 5, 2003

I've been on the electoral register for 15 years, and there is still nobody in the database with my name. If it is electoral information, then it must only cover a section of the UK. I'm guessing that by England, it means what most Americans mean when they say England. i.e. London and a small part of Scotland.
posted by seanyboy at 1:29 AM on March 6, 2003

For Beatles fans, there are 221 John Lennons, 85 Paul McCartneys, 620 George Harrisons, and 0 Ringo Starrs. Seems about right.

Try typing in your first name in both boxes - there are apparently four "Gordon Gordon"s in England. "Yes, my parents are bloody uncreative... how did you know?"
posted by GhostintheMachine at 8:50 AM on March 6, 2003

There are 1570 people with the name Michael Jackson.
You are like a rare bird, Lost and pecking at nuts.

There are 6 people with the name Richard Dick.
You are rarer than a wombats wing nut.

There is 1 Person with the name Fook Yu.
This name is unique like a yeti or some form of Magic Chimp.

Oh, if only that person I knew that worked in immigration was here. He'd have some winners.
posted by shepd at 12:01 AM on March 7, 2003