According to the 1990 U.S. Census, "Loren" ranks #376 among the most common first names for men, right ahead of "Delbert" (it is also the #1285 name for women). "Collins," on the other hand, is #50 among surnames. Statistics suggest there should be 60 men and 10 women in the U.S. with my name, Loren Collins, and an online public records search at Yahoo produced exactly 70 LCs of legal age living in 26 different states. That's a small enough number to be unique, but still large enough to make it interesting in finding others. It also means that there probably is not anyone else who has my full name, Loren Christopher Collins, and so I remain singular in that respect.

I have an interest in people who share my name. This interest goes back more than a decade, and has its origins in two accidents. The first was when my dad read a small article in "Popular Mechanics" about an elderly gentleman in Stockbridge, Michigan named Loren H. Collins. We wrote each other for several years, discovering all manner of similarities between our families, until he passed on several years ago.

The second instance was near the start of my seventh grade year, shortly after I started attending GACS. My dad received a call from a schoolteacher who told him about all the trouble I was causing at school. This certainly surprised him, but it was eventually realized that the teacher was not calling from my school, and that her Loren Collins was not me. For instance, he was two grades higher than me and was black. We later discovered that before I had enrolled at GACS, my elementary school had already transferred my name to the junior high database. It would have been deleted, but another Loren Collins transferred into said junior high at the year's start. Admin looked at the database, confused my entry for his, and a case of mistaken identity was born.

With the advent of the internet, my search for Loren Collins's was greatly eased. And there are others out there, each with stories of his (or her) own to tell. And since this is www.LorenCollins.net, it is only appropriate to give them a mention here as well. But first, there's the Loren Collins whose story IS a story...

Cuisine americaine (American Cuisine) - 1998 - Yep, Loren Collins is the protagonist of a movie. Loren (whose name being mistaken for a woman's is a plot point) is played by Jason Lee, and Irene Jacob falls in love with him. One day, I *will* own this.

Now back to real life...

Loren W. Collins: Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court - The 15th justice to sit on that court, he served from 1887 to 1904. More.

Loren William Collins: Oregon lawyer & politician - Another LC with a law background and a "L" family. Pity he's a Democrat. Still, it's nice to see "Vote for Loren Collins" in print. More.

Loren Collins: Texas A&M Tennis Player - So at least one of us is an athlete. More.

Loren M. Collins - General manager of Gundle/SLT Environmental Nonwoven Technology Co., and founder of three companies that produce non-woven textiles.

First Lieutenant Loren F. Collins - Of the WWI Company G of the 306th Infantry.

Reverend Loren Dale Collins - Arkansas minister, and father of one Michael Loren Collins.

Loren Collins - Texan and early computer engineer.

Loren Collins: Miniature Horse Breeder - Co-owner of the Arizona-based Oasis Miniature Collection. I believe this is a woman.

Loren Collins: Rhea-attacked Repairman - Remember: beware of giant birds.

Loren Collins: South Carolina Scoutmaster - Developed the first Conway Historial Trail with Troop 899.

Loren Collins: Pre-Pharmacy Student - Attending Ferris State in Big Rapids, Michigan.

Loren Leslie Collins - Presumably involved in medicine, and significant enough to merit a biography of some sort.

Loren Collins - Colorado murder victim.

Loren Dale Collins - Um, he is (was?) married and had kids.

Louis L. "Loren" Collins - Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, 1921-1925.

And finally, Loren Collins: WWII Bomber Pilot - Ordered to attack Hitler's headquarters. Such a cool story, but sadly he's not an actual LC.