Why do people give such basic names that will be an administrative nightmare?

[ThatFraggle]

If you have a 'bog standard' surname, why would you give your child a bog standard first AND middle name?

I'm not saying you have to call them Fifi-Tinkerbelle, but why put the person in a position that there will be dozens of people with the same name and date of birth. E.g. A name from the most popular names, (Chloe, Liam, Jack, etc.) plus common surnames (Smith etc.)

At least go for a middle name like Esmeralda, or Phoenix or whatever you feel like. You can have two middle names if you really want granddad Henry to be honoured in the name.

I feel this way when people name their child the same name as them.
It’s nearly always men too. I know 2 people who both called their son Thomas when they are called Thomas. Also a Thomas who’s paternal grandad is called Thomas.

I have a very basic name - it has it's pros and cons!
I'm completely ungooglable which is helpful - however a court once put a deduction on my wages, for someone with the same name and date of birth as me, for an unpaid littering fine somewhere I've never even been! Was a nightmare to sort out and not a small amount they took either.

Also, should add I was an administrator for many years and it was never once a "nightmare".

Really?

What is annoying for me at work is reversible names such as Alexander Graham.

Double barrelled with no hyphen are also difficult.

I meant more choosing the 'popular' names of the year when you have a very common surname. Seeing the top 20 names for 2022 will give you an idea of what they will be in 2023.

I'm not saying you have to pick Brunhilde. But actual John Smith in 2023 feels like you couldn't even be bothered to think about the name at all. If you've had John Smith from 1700, and don't want to break the streak, then John Theodore Smith or something. Not John (top 20 name) Smith.

Where I was born it is very common for boys to be called Mohammad Siddiqui, everyone manages fine really.

We have multiple patients with the same name at work, but they don't all have the same DOB or address, so it's rarely a problem.

I have a pretty uncommon variation of a common first name (thanks mum 😏) and a very uncommon surname (never met another that hasn't turned out to be somehow related), I actually think it would be so much nicer to not be so easy to find on social media!

Like others, I order the anonymity. I had a really unusual surname before I got married. Now I'm something along the lines of Laura Smith and it's great. I've not had any administrative nightmares at all. In fact, the only time I've had an issue with my name was with a second middle name which got left off an application form and caused a bit of a nightmare.

Read the thread.

Disagree. Plus modgepodge example I'd just an incompetent receptionist.

My friend Dave common-name had his wages garnished by CMS a few years ago. A bit of a mystery given his partners are almost always men.

Yes and even worse for some Irish families such as mine who recycle the same name with every generation!

Ha you just be young. When I went to m school before mass immigration pretty much everyone was called Sarah/James/Henry etc usually at least one smith a year and 100% an Emma or Anna Johnson/smith/Adam's etc
Everyone worked it all out. Wouldn't be much different today. Tbh it was easier. You never looked at a page and had to wonder how to pronounce or spell any of them.

In some area, a name like Jack Smith is increasingly rare and my friends dc actually told her that until they went to work, they thought their fairly plain English names were actually odd as most people at the school were from outside the U.K. at their school and many dc shared common names from their culture.

Popular names now aren't used as much as they were used in the 80's or 90's so it really isn't going to be as much of an issue.

The older I get the more grateful I am to have a name that blends in . I’m not found on google etc. who wants to be unique now? Not me.

I know someone who never paid her student loans as there was someone with the same name, at the same uni, from the same town as her. Her record just disappeared.

I don’t think there are many school kids now who have the same names, especially with the same spellings.

My grandmother had the fashion names of the day and a very common surname as did another old lady in the hospital who was born on the same day as her, they each nearly got each other's medicine.

I worked on a project where a client and a contractor had the exact same name and got each other's emails which was not always desirable.

That kind of thing.

His privacy settings for his social media are fine. This is all information that is in the public domain. His work has a team page with all their staff. He pops up as being in this village due to some volunteer work he’s done which is on a public page. You can maintain your own privacy settings but other people can, and will, still post things about you. My work have posted stuff about me too but as I’m one of thousands you have to already know where I work to find those work articles. So to Google me, I need to have given you my CV. Anyone from my husband’s school can Google him and see where he works.

Not full names but it's definitely an issue since the advent of emails where you use intital surname. I live somewhere where a lot of people have the same surname or very similar and and at work emails are commonly sent to the wrong person as a result.

Why do you give a crap? Fwiw I know a John Smith who has no issue with his name being so common. Get a life.

Well, assuming they remember how to spell his name!

Yup, Mary and James through and through on our family tree 🤣

We get assigned a identification number/social security number the day we are born to avoid this confusion. My (British) bf thinks this feels slightly 1940's 😅but I have to say, I find it useful.

I have an unusual first name and an uncommon surname. I have NEVER met someone with both in combination in the whole world. It is rather nice being nominatively unique.