I also have lastname@gmail.com and get a fair amount of email intended for firstinitial.lastname@gmail.com addresses. Quite amusing sometimes, though sometimes

I also have lastname@gmail.com and get a fair amount of email intended for firstinitial.lastname@gmail.com addresses. Quite amusing sometimes, though sometimes annoying if it's a reply-all thread whose participants can't figure out how to remove me from. Having a very rare/globally unique name makes for a very different experience of online exposure than most people. If your name is shared by even a few dozen people, your identity online is at the very least muddled in a bit with information about other people. In my case, if you google my name I'm the only non-historical person you'll find. This has been a pain point in the past with 'real name' policies in online communities. For people named, say, Alex Smith, having their real name attached to a post online allows them to remain pseudo-anonymous, whereas my real name easily reveals much more about me. Mostly I've just embraced it and just make sure that I control the first page of profiles you find if you google my name, but it can be annoying.