3 Sister in laws, what are the odds?

[Slawit]

I have an ex-sister in law and two current sister in laws all called Karen. What are the odds of this?
This not to mention my boss and my best freind of 40 years both called Karen.

Quiet day at work?

I take it that you are in your 60s. Karen was such a popular name for girl babies around 1960. Deborah was also very popular at the same time. Do you know any of those?

There were 8 girls called Zoe in my sister's year at school. That's about 8% of the girls in the cohort. It was only the 30th most commonly given name that year.

Sisters-in-law not sister-in-laws. Like courts martial.

My brother is named michael
my husband’s brother is michael
my sister in law’s brother is michael

ps…I hate that name

If you're counting Karens and Deborahs, don't forget Jacqueline (and its variants)

Actually, the chances of name overlap are pretty high. There are indeed trends but also names are very specific culturally. Certain people arrive at the same name for a reason. I think people often find the same names on both sides of a family.
My mother, my MiL and my sister's MiL are all named Elizabeth. My sister's FIL was Richard Lawrence and our father is Lawrence Richard. Culturally, despite being from different western countries, we have very similar values and lifestyles (the list would bore you but it includes religion, educational level, holiday preferences and careers) which is why it has been easy for our families to combine. At my BiL's wedding the overlap name was Andrew. Both bride and groom had a brother called that and they also had a friend with the same name!
I know more than one family where the family member married a person with the sibling's name (e.g. brother and husband have same name or sister/wife/mother have same name). Often, the grandkids are all named for other relatives; so the overlap continues.

I have a father, ex, two BiLs and a boss. All called Peter.

They range in age from mid 90s to 40s.

It's just a coincidence...

My partner has more ex-girlfriends called Catherine than I've had ex-boyfriends full stop.

I karen’t believe it!

Grandfather called Daniel, called his son Daniel and his daughter (my mum)married a Daniel. My husband’s brother is called Daniel and so is his uncle. I barely ever meet any other Daniels

I’ve only ever met one person with my name and she was categorically one of the worst people i’ve ever met. I don’t think I want to meet anymore of us.

Ask everyone you know what their middle name is, your head will explode at all the Louise's 🤣

You should be able to work out the probability by looking up the number of babies registered as Karen in the years they were born and multiplying

I teach 5 boys called Alfie and 7 girls called Lily.
Two of the girls called Lily have a sister called Eva.
Fashions in names!

And Henry VIII's sister had 3 sisters in law called Katharine.

I used to share a house with three Annes. When I moved out another Anne moved in.

My dad and both my uncles-by-marriage (married to my mother's and father's sisters respectively) had the same name, and an uncle's sister has the feminine version (e.g. Joseph and Josephine). Very confusing.

Then my sister and I both married men with the same name. There's no hope for our family.

I’ve got a fairly uncommon name. My brother married someone with the same uncommon name! My DHs sister married someone with his name too (although it’s not such an uncommon name).

No! That's amazing! What age group are we talking about?

My sil had a dh, db and her boss all with the same name...

Most of my friends my age are called either Tracy, Michelle or Laura and most of my friends have a husband called Dave or Ste/Steve. I know multiples of each.

DD1 pointed this out. I pointed out that all of her friends are called Ruby, Olivia or a variant of a "Belle" name.

I was one of 5 Helen's in my class at school in the 1980's.

I have a friend who has a son (not real names) called Paul Brown and a daughter called Sophie Brown. Paul married a girl called Sophie and his sister Sophie married a man called Paul Brown.

It's not unlikely is it really? Given fashion and age groups

My mother, my dad's mother, my sister in law's mother, my best friend and my cousin's dog are all called Marigold Glover. I' changed my name at 16. So my hands are clean. I've never met anyone called Karen. I just assumed it was made up for misogynist memes?

In my secondary school form of 24 girls, we had:
2x Amys
2x Jessicas
2x Lauras
2x Samanthas
2x Rachels