Not unique, universal
Reading some of Kim Schmidt alias Kim Dotcom's writing. Always entertaining even if I'm not quite sure which side he's on. Started "thinking" about his alias. Seems odd to pick part of a URL as your official name. Wonder if anyone tried the equivalent in earlier times, using their business or address.......

JESUS CHRIST! DUMBEST QUESTION EVER!

ALL SURNAMES developed from jobs and addresses!!!

So in fact Kim Dotcom has resurrected the OLDEST and MOST COMMON way of developing a name, but he's just about the only person since 1750 who has used the technique to build a NEW name.

The technique was unused for a couple centuries because street addresses and phone numbers are mostly numerical, and modern job titles are clumsy. "James 555-2368" or "Roberta 6517 SW 154th Place Apartment 41" or "Herman Assistant Supervisor Of Custodial Services" are impractical. When the web switched back to short alphabetic addressing, the technique became usable again, but nobody used it until Schmidt.

= = = = =

Random sidenote, since I'm in dumb wondering mode: I wondered if 666 is a rare address, along the lines of the 13th floor. Tried googlemaps. Entered 666 in the blank, and googlemaps obligingly found local items first. The first Spokane address listed is an apartment building at 666 South Helena Street. Helena is pronounced the Montana way, so the address is a nice three-piece pun. Accidental or intentional? Dunno.

Overall 666 is not especially rare, which is not especially surprising. The religious significance of 666 was obscure and scholarly until televangelists made it famous around 1970. Most three-digit addresses were formed much earlier, when 666 was just an interesting number like 999.
  ¶ 2:41 AM