Just a coincidence?

building_with_lego

charlie792 wrote: »

Well for a bit of fun enter your name here http://www.yournotme.com/ tells you how many people in the UK apparently have the same name as you.....
I really don't know how accurate it is though but there is apparently 13 of me (I have an unusual surname)

Love it! There are 12 of me.
DS has an unusual name (We got it from an atlas- it's a town name- and it crops up from time to time as a surname in North America). At a recent parents' evening for the new intake at school I sat next to a woman I didn't know. We were having the usual get- to- know- you chat and asked about our children's names. Turned out her cousin's son has the same name as DS, and she'd never met another. According to that site there are three in the country, but I was blown away by there being another so close by.

RedBern

there's 151 of me - but my friend's unique!

RAS

Hi

There have been two recent cases of similar things happening in the media

One turned up in Saints and Sinners; an expat's children put her name in Google and came up with an article about someone who worked for a Trust in London. Since this lady had previously known of an instance when her medical notes and another person's were "confused" she knew someone existed. The expat's name is however made up and a conflation of two other names, so she contacted the NHS Fraud Unit. http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/3132.aspx

In the other case recently a woman had to go for an interview to confirm her identity when she appplied for a passport, because one had already been issued to her, in her maiden name. Once she proved that she was the genuine article, they knew someone has false documentation. The fraudster was stopped coming back from holiday and is in prison but refuse to divulge where she came from or her real name. http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2011/06/21/identity-thief-sent-to-jail-for-nine-months/

You can check out www.pipl.com It is not perfect but gives a clue, in particular to whether or not there are two people of your name around.

By the way, I once dealt with a situation round someone reported to have serious convictions. We were able to find out that two people with very similar first names, the same second and family names were born on the same day, several hundred miles apart.

narabanekeater

3 of me and one off older DD but it cannot be that accurate as my younger daughters name isnt showing as having anyone at all

Kimberley82

i put my daughters name in and its says there are none of her

RAS

A huge chunk of this is going to be based on the public electoral roll, so children may not show up.

Molly41

Hi,
I can understand how worried you are. I also have an unusual surname but my first name is reasonably common. Imagine my surprise when I found out there were two of us sharing the same name at my GP practice, spelt exactly the same and with the same middle name. Imagine my horror when I realised that we also had the same birth date too and lived only a few houses away from each other. Scarily her eldest son has the same name as my eldest too.

Now in the beginning there was a lot of confusion with our GP and there were cases of bloods being mixed up and the wrong records pulled up. We even applied for loans at the same time (pre MSE days) and I was told I was turned down which surprised me and when I queried it further it was the other lady with the same name who was in fact rejected. My eldest son got into trouble at school when really it was the other lad and so it continues....Interestingly I have just looked at that link and there are only 8 people with my name in the uk so coincidence can and does happen x

honeypop

It says there's none of me boo hoo

GobbledyGook

MrsAtobe wrote: »

Apparently there are three of me in the UK, shame it doesn't allow middle names! So two of us live in the same area, wonder where the third one is?

Have you always lived in that area? My brother got his name when my Mother read it in the birth announcements when she was pregnant. The couple had the same surname and she loved the combination. Brother and the other boy ended up at the same school and it was us commenting on how quirky it was that made her admit where the name had come from :rotfl:

balletshoes

charlie792 wrote: »

Well for a bit of fun enter your name here http://www.yournotme.com/ tells you how many people in the UK apparently have the same name as you.....
I really don't know how accurate it is though but there is apparently 13 of me (I have an unusual surname)

lol that site is funny - only one of me (which I expected) but my husband and daughter don't exist apparently :rotfl::rotfl:. I think that site must use electoral roll only, as the pipl one still doesn't list my daughter, but OH is there.