[ballenf]

I'd recommend people having kids give them very common names and consider giving them modifications of the last name if it's rare. It's depressing advice and a bit like paying a lifetime of insurance premiums that's likely never to be needed.

Unless the concept of a search changes in the next couple decades, getting lost in a sea of similar names is the only defense against unfounded accusations. (Changing one's name after the fact doesn't work as you're required to give prior names for many jobs.)

[ThrustVectoring]

When I registered for a library card as a kid, there were five other people with my exact first + last name. The doctor's office my parents used when I was an infant had to modify their policies to ask for my middle initial because there was another infant with the same first + last + birth month.

Definitely recommend it. The first ten pages of Google results for my first + last show like at least 50 other people that aren't me.

Only issue is that it can be difficult to use your name as an email handle - fortunately my parents were tech savvy enough to grab concat(firstName, middleInitial, lastName) as a gmail address and domain name for me.

[CM30]

Not just names, usernames too. People will find it much harder to dig up information on someone going by a generic sounding name like 'cat' or 'computer' compared to someone with a more unique handle.

Combine that with a generic name like John Smith, and you've got someone who's basically impossible to dox.

[prepend]

It’s pretty awesome to have a common name. There are five people in my company with my name. There are at least two in my very small city.