What are the chances that of all two people who could move into the apartment three doors down, the two who happen to do so share your and your roommate’s last names? Maybe one in a million.
“Are you moving?” the mailwoman asked me last week.
“Not that I’m aware of,” I responded.
She frowned. “Either I was on vacation for two long or I’m going crazy, but I could have sworn I just delivered your mail to that apartment,” she said as she pointed to the corner of the building.
Partially-related side note: our mailwoman jogs to every mailbox in the neighborhood. “Jogging” is perhaps the wrong word, because jogging implies slowness. She runs. Tirelessly. She’s known in the area as the “running mailwoman”—talk about fast postal service.
“Maybe the person just had the wrong address?” I suggested.
Before I could blink, the Running Mailwoman sprinted off to the corner mailbox, retrieved two letters and whirled back to my stoop. “See? Isn’t that strange?” she said.
Indeed. Because these two envelopes were not mine. One, and hand-addressed letter, belonged to a woman with my boyfriend’s fairly common last name (Hunt) and the other, a gas bill, was intended for a man with an extremely Italian first name and my rather rare—at least outside of Italy or New Jersey—surname (Parisi).
“Whoa, weird!” I said, and handed the letters back to the Running Mailwoman, explaining that they weren’t mine and we exchanged a few words about how bizarre the coincidence was, and then, like a blur, she ran down the block.
Fast forward to Saturday, when I met my new neighbor—the one who recently moved into the corner apartment. The conversation went something like this:
“Hi, my name is [insert extremely Italian male first name here].”
“Wait a minute!” I said. “Is your last name Parisi?”
“Yes?”
“So is mine!”
“No way!” he responded.
“And is your roommate’s last name Hunt?”
“Yeah.”
“My roommate’s last name is Hunt, too!”
“You’ve got to be kidding! That’s ridiculous! What are the chances of that happening?!”
Well, what are the chances? Thanks the US Census Bureau’s name search, I was actually able to calculate a rough estimate. Since the surname “Hunt” ranks 148th in frequency in the United States (meaning 6 in every 100 people are named Hunt) and “Parisi” ranks 5,526th (2 in every 1,000 people have my last name), the chances that the two people moving in three doors down from us would have the same exact last names are 1.26 in 1,000,000.
Obviously, this doesn’t take into account the fact that names are not distributed evenly (it would be more likely to live next door to a Parisi in New Jersey or Brooklyn than it would be in Oregon), nor does it factor in population density. However, it is the best approximation I’ve got, and so the next time I tell this story and someone asks, “What are the odds?!” I can safely answer, “One in a million.”
22 responses so far ↓
1 squiddichino // May 1, 2006 at 9:50 am
Time to buy a lottery ticket!
Actually, in doing some geneology, my parents found out that people with the same last names as them have been married before. My mom’s name is pretty common - like Hunt - but my dad’s name? Only 8 in the whole US right now - what are the chances? I love the flabergasted, “I can’t believe this is real feeling.” I need more coincidence in my life.
2 sunshineboy78 // May 1, 2006 at 10:20 am
you need a job.
3 perfectsymmetry // May 1, 2006 at 11:07 am
There’s something strangely delighting about coincidences. Nice research
Your writing is always credible because of it and fun to read regardless! :p
4 TimsHead // May 1, 2006 at 12:10 pm
^ D’oh! Laura T. took my lottery line! Of course, all four of you would have to buy it together. In any event, hard to beat that in terms of coincidence.It’s occurred to me that we’re a mere nines day out and still no accommodations. Procrastination must be catching! At one point, Amanda said she would do some checking, but I’ve heard nothing. How many park benches do you think we’ll need?
5 JeffPescador // May 1, 2006 at 1:26 pm
^ RTim’sC: When I read your first comment, I thought you were just being eloquent. “We’re a mere nines day out.” It coulda’ been Shakespearian.
6 AnewNotebook // May 1, 2006 at 1:27 pm
Excellent! I love it when chance and math collide!
7 zanyajc // May 1, 2006 at 2:34 pm
I’m impressed with the math skills alone, but to have that happen? Definitely unique.
8 Gabeisms // May 1, 2006 at 2:56 pm
Someone is definitely a smarty pants here.Oh wait, Tim commented. Sometwo is definitely a smarty pants here. Heh…Positive Vibes
9 thinlizzy17 // May 1, 2006 at 3:52 pm
Awesome coincidence. I love stuff like this.
10 Boowasborn // May 1, 2006 at 3:55 pm
I can see a jogging mail carrier jogging in place for several minutes while she tries to figure out exactly which Parisi and Hunt get which letters. Heaven forbid she be in a serious rush or, you know, go postal. Then you might get switched up and get each other’s mail. It would be easy to open it by mistake and find out mysterious information about the others. Okay, there’s a book idea for you. Or a sitcom episode.
11 Ed_Kaz // May 1, 2006 at 3:58 pm
rycThat’s a good one.You’re a regular Henrietta Youngman, you are.:)
12 Ed_Kaz // May 1, 2006 at 3:59 pm
I’m going to conduct an experiment tomorrow on the streets of NYC. I will walk up to a thousand people and try to find a couple of Parisi’s.
13 strizheus // May 1, 2006 at 4:27 pm
that’s incredibly fascinating!
14 fern_forest // May 1, 2006 at 5:23 pm
woah. that’s nutty. very cool story. you guys should talk lottery numbers together or something. i love my cousin vinny. glad to see you are sticking with the movies you know you love
15 MaximaBella // May 1, 2006 at 6:36 pm
wow…amazing
16 the_Vis // May 1, 2006 at 7:09 pm
You should probably destroy them before they destroy you. Not really though.
I had to add Annie’s and Tonalli’s to the open donut map on Platial, try to spread the infectious donut cravings.
17 geekgoddiss // May 1, 2006 at 8:50 pm
That’s awesome. I bet I don’t find anybody named “Callis” outside of Tennessee
18 jaki_o // May 2, 2006 at 3:22 am
That is so interesting. For real. I looked up my last name, ranked 116th, and my boyfriend’s name, ranked 93rd, so our chances are better than yours. Not that that makes me better or anything. I knew both our names (Gibson and Foster) were pretty common.
19 perfectsymmetry // May 2, 2006 at 5:03 am
I’m having fun imagining a running mailwoman
My mailman drives a mini-van, parks under the shade of the tree in front of our neighbor’s house, and strolls around the neighborhood with a straw sunhat on. We like to wave at each other. *Thus end my brilliant musings regarding post office personnel*
20 jasmine624 // May 2, 2006 at 5:30 pm
I agree that you should buy a lottery ticket!
21 tektoo2 // May 4, 2006 at 5:35 am
Nice, that really cool! One in a million, huh? I guess so…lol
22 Jay_Galk26 // Jun 13, 2006 at 5:06 pm
Go find me another Galkus imo.
Jay {Brad Pitt…in a robe} “Rawr”