Picture this: It’s the mid-2000s, and your parents are looking for names for their soon-to-be-born child. Some parents will go all out; they’ve been researching the most beautiful, unique names and have finally found a perfect match for you. Unfortunately, this isn’t the reality for NAHS families. Instead, as many Dubs know, most parents will stick to the classics and we’re left with many of us sharing the same typical names. 

Sure, it’s always comforting to know that at any tourist attraction they will have something with your name on it. And it can be pretty funny to see that many Dubs’ parents clearly looked at the same baby name selection articles back in the ‘00s. Yet, for our conventional Kevins and Kates, the experience can be uncomfortable, annoying, and downright confusing. 

Sometimes, it’s hard for common-name kids to establish a unique identity with teachers. Our brains can often group people together based on common qualities, like names. Sophomore Emma Maclean was stuck in this predicament for almost all of her freshman year. “It was definitely hard for my teachers to remember me,” she said. “I’m pretty sure my English teacher still wouldn’t know my name if I ran into her.”

When finding a group of friends it can be really important to make sure everyone has things in common. But for sophomore Katherine Hoover, having the same name is taking it a little too far. “We’ve got two Katherines in the group and it’s really confusing,” she said. “Half of the time, neither of us knows who everyone is talking to!”

Eventually, the annoyance of mix-ups can be too much for some. Sophomore Mary Woodward finds herself reflecting on what life would be like if her name were more unique. “I’ve always liked the name April,” she said. “I have yet to meet someone here with that name, so that would have been cool.” 

Although having the same name at school can be hard, life with a common name isn’t all bad. There are no pronunciation mistakes, and we will always be able to find personalized things for ourselves. At the end of the day, we can all laugh together as we remember what funny thing our friend Kate said earlier. Oh, sorry, not that one. I meant Kate #2!