It’s not easy being Mark Zuckerberg … especially when you’re not the Mark Zuckerberg. That’s what bankruptcy attorney Mark Zuckerberg of Indianapolis discovered as he tried to get a Facebook page. What Zuckerberg did not realize is that having the same name as the Facebook founder is enough of a reason not to get a page.
The Indiana Zuckerberg is a little upset, and has even made a website, IAmMarkZuckerberg.com, to stake his claim to the name he has had for almost five decades. On it he says, “If you had Googled Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, you would have found me. No one else. Mark S. Zuckerberg, bankruptcy attorney. If you had repeated the search two years later, you wouldn’t have found me at all.”
He goes on to say that, “The website HowManyofMe.com claims that only 1 Mark Zuckerberg exists in the entire United States. Which one do you think they’re counting?” So, are there two Mark Zuckerbergs?
Actually, there are more. According to the White Pages person finder, there are 13 people listed as Mark Zuckerberg in the U.S. Admittedly, some of those listings may be for the same person, but the fact is that there are Zuckerbergs in Indiana and New York, as well as California. Ironically, one of those listed (along with an address and phone number) is in Dobbs Ferry, New York, the same town where the Mark Zuckerberg grew up. Of course, the Mark Zuckerberg has been in California for years. Could he have simply forgotten to get it unlisted?
While Indiana Zuck is not too happy that he can’t get a Facebook page of his own, in a recent interview he said that there are certain advantages to having the same name as the other Mark. For one thing, he finds it easier to get a table at a restaurant. On the other hand, he also finds old friends he can’t remember popping out of the woodwork, asking him for a handout.
Fame, indeed, comes at a price.
