We all find things about our names that we especially like. Mine for instance: in elementary school, we lined up alphabetically–to make it easier on the teacher to keep track of us. And with my last name of Hackett, I was always the first of the H’s–that is, until Gladys Haas moved to town, and wrecked my alphabetical standing.
Also, when I was growing up there were not many girls named “jill” –and in a small town of 4000, I was the only Jill. Kind of like Cher, but before her time. This reign lasted until Junior High when Jill Jacoby moved to town.
I also like how the capital H and the double t’s balance in Hackett, making a visual palindrome, But I think you know what I’m getting at. We all have attachments to peculiar aspects of our names.
So it was with great surprise that I found my nomenclature doppelgangers in cyber space.
I logged onto www.switchboard.com and entered my name. There were 4 Jill Hackett’s listed in the white pages of the phone books across the United States. Jill Hackett is currently living in Viola Kansas, Harrison Arizona, Wales Maine, and Oakland California. (If you find too many in the US, try entering your name in a specific state, or city).
Next I ventured to www.google.com, and taking care to put my name in quotes (so the search engine searches for the string of words, both in that order), I found
My name sake is the co-founder of the Santa Clarita Master Chorale, a high-quality choral group in Santa Clarita, California, and she occasionally solo’s for them. In Kansas, I am the assistant superintendent of the Goddard Public Schools in charge of Human Resourses, and have earned my Ph.D. In Buckinghamshire England, I have graduated from the Bayly School of Reflexology. I am a second grade teacher in Glenwood NY with a pretty nifty website of children’s work. I own a champion Italian greyhound by the name of VULCAN’S DAYSTAR HERSHEY KISS. Here is one close to home: I am director of Communications at Central Michigan University. When I played this game several years ago, I found I was a 60-something marathoner in Alaska, but her press releases have been archived. Turns out Jill Hackett also herds sheep–there is a podcast on iTunes where she describes the process.
Give it a try–search for yourself on Facebook, Twitter, iTunes, and find out what’s in a cyber name. You may enjoy the results!