I Built a “How Many People Share Your Name” Tool and Would Like Your Feedback

Magen — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 05:40:55 +0000

Recently, I created a small project called howmanyofmes. It estimates how many people in the United States share your first and last name by using publicly available data sources such as census surname frequencies and social security name records.

The tool is functional and fairly accurate for common names, but it still needs improvement, especially for rare or less represented names. I would appreciate feedback and suggestions from other developers and data enthusiasts.

What the Tool Currently Does

Uses U.S. Census surname data and SSA first name statistics

Estimates how many people share your full name using probability

Works entirely in the browser without storing user data

Provides quick, approximate results based on public datasets

You can test it here: https://howmanyofmes.com

Why I’m Sharing It

I want to improve the accuracy and depth of this tool with ideas from people who understand data, modeling, or user experience. The DEV community has always been good at constructive feedback and creative problem solving, so I’d like your thoughts on where it could go next.

I’m especially interested in hearing about:

Ways to improve accuracy for uncommon or non-English names

Additional data sources that could increase precision

The idea of expanding to other countries beyond the U.S.

Whether visualization or trend tracking would make the results more useful

How It Works (Simplified Overview)

The application uses a simple probability model that multiplies the frequency of a first name by the frequency of a surname within the total population. The result is scaled to an estimated number of people. It is not exact, but it provides a reasonable approximation based on publicly available data.

Technically, the site uses:

JavaScript and JSON datasets for fast lookups

Pre-cached data files for offline use

Basic statistical estimation without server calls

I plan to refine the estimation method, possibly using additional datasets or weighted probabilities to handle demographic variation.

What I’d Like to Know

If you try it, I’d like to hear:

How close are the results for your name

What feels missing or could be more insightful

Suggestions for improving the data model or UI

Even small insights about user flow or logic would be helpful.

Try It Yourself

Please type your name and last name, review the results, and share what you think could make it more accurate or interesting.

DEV Community: Magen

I Built a “How Many People Share Your Name” Tool and Would Like Your Feedback