There's a porn star on the internet with my name, what should I do?

You're Unique ... Like Everyone Else

One would think that having a unique name would insulate you from this kind of situation. What's difficult for more people to grasp is that with over six billion people on the planet, it'd be more surprising if there weren't someone else who shared your first and last name.

Leo Notenboom seems pretty unique, right? Not so much: I know of at least one other - and that's just looking online where I pretty much dominate the search results. Who knows how many others there may be. (Though, admittedly, to the best of my knowledge none are in the porn industry.)

My concern is that unless you choose a completely bizarre new name you're just as likely to have the same name as someone else. Someone, perhaps, with an even worse reputation.

Like, perhaps, a politician.

And you'll have spent a lot of time and expense to do so.

Maintaining Your Identity

The best thing you can do, in my opinion, is rather than running away from who you aren't, make a statement of who you are. Use some kind of online presence to claim your name and who you are - even if it's just to say "I'm not a porn star".

In fact, I need to do the same, so let me give you this example:

That situation is real and my position is clear.

No need to change my name. Rather, I claim my name.

Perhaps someday there will be a porn star with the same name - I'm not sure how I'll react, but I doubt I'll get particularly upset if that's all it is.

I'm fairly certain there won't be much confusion, though.