Am I just paranoid and irrational?

[tabbycat31]

I've noticed in the professional world, most people's email addresses are [e-mail] (in my field it's mostly gmail). I've always been uncomfortable using my last name in an email address (I was reluctant to join FB for the longest time for the same reason).

My dilemma now is that I use my blackberry for everything, and have a @sprint.blackberry.net email address that I use. However, I am due for a new phone in April and will not be getting another Blackberry unless they drastically improve their phones (I'm in love with my dad's Android phone and looking at that) and add Angry Birds to it (little things, I know). So I know that I am on borrowed time with my Blackberry email.

Should I just bite the bullet and do a firstnamelastname@gmail email?

[ohiosmith]

1. You are irrationally paranoid.

:rofl:

[gratuitous]

2. You say that like it's a bad thing

If your name is unique (e.g., Farquahar Kadiddlehopper or mine), your paranoia could be justified. But if your name is fairly common, I'd say don't worry about it. If you're not sure, go here:

http://howmanyofme.com/search/

[nolabear]

3. Farquahar, old pal! Remember me? Have you heard the good news about Amway?

I wouldn't sweat it.

[gratuitous]

5. I said "Farquahar OR mine" doggoneit!

My name is far more ridiculous than "Farquahar Kadiddlehopper."

[surrealAmerican]

4. Interesting link.

Apparently I'm the only one with my combination of first and last names in this country. I'm not sure what I will need that knowledge for, yet somehow it's good to know.

[tabbycat31]

6. According to that website, there is one other with my name in the US

[gratuitous]

7. Your paranoia might be justified

If you've had a, shall we say, colorful life history and you're concerned that someone from your past might seek you out, it's probably wisest to adopt a pseudonym of some kind. As much as we like to complain about cell phone carriers, they can be quite helpful, and they may be able to assign you an e-mail account that isn't [e-mail] when you sign up with them.

[tabbycat31]

8. This would be for work so no pseudonyms

I work in politics so adopting a fake name would probably kill my career.

I have an email through my cell phone now but it's connected to a Blackberry and I'm most likely ditching the Blackberry in April.

[gratuitous]

15. Ah hah!

You're not fooling us anymore, Reince Prebus! I wonder who the other one is???

On the other hand, a work e-mail might be easier to manage, and you could ask that protections be set to guard against unwelcome contacts.

[Amaril]

13. Wow, there are 24 of me!

Who knew?

[PotatoChip]

14. More people in the US w/the first name of 'Potato' than the last name of 'Chip'

Who knew? :rofl:

Potato Chip

•There are fewer than 1,563 people in the U.S. with the first name Potato.
•There are 175 people in the U.S. with the last name Chip.
•Statistically the 108734th most popular last name.

Potato Chip

•There are 1 or fewer people in the U.S. named Potato Chip.

Fun link! Thanks gratuitous! :hi:

[Kali]

9. first name and initial

[MrsBrady]

10. I have a [e-mail] that I've had forever

I use my maiden name socially with my friends, and I use that one for personal business.

I also have another part of my life where I WANT people to know who I am, so
I have a [e-mail] -- that one I use for facebook.

my husband and I have an email together for the household crap/bills and stuff like that.

I have the upgraded accounts at yahoo so that they can't be "lost", since
I've paid to have the ads removed.

Yahoo let's you set up a dummy address too, so that you can ditch it later if you want (inside your real account)

[OriginalGeek]

11. My work account is first initial last name @...

and I have little choice as that's how we are set up but it's only for work related info anyway and people I would email from there would need my name.

I also have my first name @ my last name dot com because I was lucky enough to register my last name dot com before anyone else did.

I also have a couple gmail accounts and a yahoo mail account that I use for various things including, but not limited to: signing up for mailing lists, registering for things I might want to win online but know there will be spam so I use one of them and let the gmail spam filters take care of all the dumb shit, login accounts for online games, facebook, g+, etc...

Only friends and family have my real name accounts.

edit~ Oh yeah, I use gmail to check all my accounts except the yahoo and the work account. you can set up gmail to get all your mail and then just tag the different accounts with different labels so you can keep them differentiated.

[Inchworm]

12. Just because you are paranoid...

doesn't put extra mayo on your hoagie.

:hide: