A couple of summers ago, I met myself. Not in the self-aware, reconnecting with my childhood kind of way, but I actually met a person named Pamela DeLoatch. We were at a family reunion for my husband’s side of the family, and there she was, a distant relative.

It was a little disconcerting to find someone with the same name. Maybe if I’d had a more common name like Jennifer Thomas, I would have been more accustomed to seeing my name twin, but with a 1960s name like Pamela, and the unusual spelling of my last name, (with the slightly pretentious capital “L” and the thoroughly unnecessary “t”), I’d assumed I was the only one.

Curious now, I searched for myself on Google. Turns out, not only is there the Pamela DeLoatch who lives my life, but (if you’re not a stickler for the capital L) there’s a four-year-old Pamela Deloatch who is concerned about her sneeze. There’s another who went to high school in Norfolk, Virginia in the 1980s, and one who is a member of an African Ancestry Ministry in Raleigh.

The Web site SameNameFame.com breaks down how many people have the same first name, and same last name, and projects how many others have the same complete first and last name in the country. According to them, 11 other people share my name.

There’s a sense of connection to my name twins. I’m tempted to contact them just to say I understand what it is to go through life always spelling your last name. (D as in David, e, capital L, o,a,T--still don’t know why we need it but whatever-- c,h.)

As far as I know, however, I have it easy. Other people have more problems with their name twins. Consider the confusion Tony Bennett has with his name. Not the singer. Not even the Washington State University basketball coach, but the Superintendent of Public Instruction in Indiana. Imagine when someone asks Indiana’s Bennett to sing “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” or to comment on a rival team’s zone defense.

Or how about if you had the same name as a criminal? According to one newspaper, University of California-Berkeley math professor Mehmet Burak Erdogan was visiting Turkey, but initially wasn’t allowed to return to the United States because he shared the same name as a criminal.

Then there’s Lisa White of Ayers, Massachusetts. And Lisa White of Monson, MA. And Lisa White of Somerset, MA. All are trying to clear their names of debt that had been racked up in their name. Police believe someone with the name Lisa White stole the others’ identity, and perhaps using social security numbers, applied for credit cards, then went on shopping sprees.

Socrates, the Greek Philosopher (who, according to samenamefame.com, doesn’t share his name with anyone else in the U.S.), said: “Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of.”

A church we pass by has a sign out front that puts it bluntly: “Better to die with a good name than live with a bad one.”

So to all of the Pamela DeLoatches out there, let’s do each other proud.

Anyone else have a name twin out there? Share your story.

Pamela appears Tuesdays on TriangleMom2Mom.