I was at a bank to open an account. I showed the teller my ID and she typed in my name (to see if I am indeed who I claim I am, I guess). When the computer released a list of people who happen to have the same name as myself, I was not the only person who was surprised at the number of people who shared the same name.
Only a handful of people can claim to have a unique name (I don't count those who change their names after reaching adulthood). For the rest of us, there are likely hundreds of people who share the same name with ourselves — a Goggle serach on a person's name can yield thousands of hits, even if the name does not belong to someone famous. After all, there are 6 billion people on Earth, and the number of family names and given names is much smaller.
It is common for someone to find another person with the same name living in the same city, but it is much rarer to have two people with the same name study in the same faculty of the an university or working in the same department of the a company at the same time (unless, maybe, your name is John Smith). When I was studying in Waterloo, there was another Jason Lau studying in the Math Faculty. The two of us never met, but it was interesting to know that there was someone with the same name studying under the same roof. (However, if one looks at our Chinese names, our names are vastly different — his is much longer than mine).
Speaking of the length of a name, I am reminded of a story. It goes something like this: Two students were sentenced to write their names 50 times before they can go home. After a little while one of them finished the assignment and left and the other started crying. The teacher asked him why he was crying, and the student responded by saying "this is not fair, his name is Joe Long, and mine is Alexander Karalomengoes". Having a long name can be a huge inconvenience, especially when it comes to filling out forms or introducing oneself to others — it may take others several attempts before they are able to recall one's name. On the good side, the chance that someone else with the same name is much smaller, and thus less likely to be confused with someone else.
While some people prefer to have unique names, many others prefer shorter names that are easy to remember. The advantage is obvious — the punishment mentioned in the above story is much less severe and it takes much less time to complete a form. However, since the name is so easy to remember, the likelihood that somone else shares the same name is much larger. If someone named John Smith goes to see a doctor, there is a good chance that more than one person will come forward. The name John/Jane Smith (and the Chinese equivalent, Chan Tai Man) is so widely in use (sample forms at banks/government offices almost always contain these names) that sometimes I have to wonder why anyone would want to name their children with those names.
Many parents name their child after a particular individual (usually a great figure) because they want the child to emulate the namesake. For example, Jesus (in Spanish-speaking countries), Napoleon, or Charlemange (Confucius would have been on this list if had I heard of anyone else with this name). However, sometimes what the namesake did may prove to be a tough act to follow. Part of the parents' intention may be to give a great role model from whom their child can emulate. However, this may also give the child a great deal of pressure as he/she (almost) certainly will never live up to the name.
Of course, it is possible that I have made too much fuss over this. After all, as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet said "What's in a name?"