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I see our names as unique addresses for our identities and I feel lucky that I share my name with only one other person in the United States. I want people to f

I see our names as unique addresses for our identities and I feel lucky that I share my name with only one other person in the United States. I want people to find me when they google my name and not that other person. I enjoy googling my name and finding nothing but search results referring to myself. My brother, a choreographer and filmmaker, has the same first+last name as a lawyer in DC and they compete for search results. In recent years, my brother has begun branding himself as first+middle+last name to distinguish himself from that lawyer. If you are concerned about privacy, then having a common name may provide you some benefit, but if you are concerned about your own personal brand, then having a unique first+last name identifier is hugely beneficial.

le-mark 9y ago
I like this idea of name as a unique identifier, but it really breaks down given the limited number of names. For example if there are 1,000 possible names, then a naming system with first, middle, last would only account for 1 billion people. Certainly there may be more than 1,000 names, one could simply include the dictionary as possible names which would drastically increase the pool of addressable names. Or add a fourth name. Etc. I feel like there's a social network concept here.
- accountyaccount 9y ago
  I think your underestimation is vast. According to census data in the US alone we're looking at 5,000 unique first names (at least). So even if we throw out the fact that there are probably upwards of 100k unique last names... combining 5,000 first middle and last name variations puts us in the range of 125 billion unique combinations in English alone.
jcranmer 9y ago
> If you are concerned about privacy, then having a common name may provide you some benefit, but if you are concerned about your own personal brand, then having a unique first+last name identifier is hugely beneficial. Well, one problem with having a common name: the other person who shares your name might not be quite so reputable. I have the same name and birthdate as a repeat criminal, and I'm reasonably certain I'll find out the next time he goes to jail because I'll be stopped at the border again.
jschwartzi 9y ago
> If you are concerned about privacy, then having a common name may provide you some benefit, but if you are concerned about your own personal brand, then having a unique first+last name identifier is hugely beneficial. Indeed. My real name is completely ungoogle-able.

le-mark 9y ago

I like this idea of name as a unique identifier, but it really breaks down given the limited number of names. For example if there are 1,000 possible names, then a naming system with first, middle, last would only account for 1 billion people. Certainly there may be more than 1,000 names, one could simply include the dictionary as possible names which would drastically increase the pool of addressable names. Or add a fourth name. Etc. I feel like there's a social network concept here.

accountyaccount 9y ago
I think your underestimation is vast. According to census data in the US alone we're looking at 5,000 unique first names (at least). So even if we throw out the fact that there are probably upwards of 100k unique last names... combining 5,000 first middle and last name variations puts us in the range of 125 billion unique combinations in English alone.

jcranmer 9y ago

> If you are concerned about privacy, then having a common name may provide you some benefit, but if you are concerned about your own personal brand, then having a unique first+last name identifier is hugely beneficial. Well, one problem with having a common name: the other person who shares your name might not be quite so reputable. I have the same name and birthdate as a repeat criminal, and I'm reasonably certain I'll find out the next time he goes to jail because I'll be stopped at the border again.

jschwartzi 9y ago