It all started with the Pauls. Not long after I started work, we got a second Paul.

Next it was the Amys. There are two Amys at work. The other Amy works in the front office. Sometimes when all the front office staff are at lunch a package delivery person will ring the doorbell, needing someone to sign for a package. When I answer the door in these situations, I just sign “Amy” on the device. I thrive on ambiguity.

Things have just exploded since then. We have two Vanessas. Well, technically, we let one of the Vanessas go years ago (she’s the CEO’s wife, and she used to help out when the company was tiny). Two Richards. Two Marks. One of the Marks is Mark Richard.

We do seem to be cutting down on people who have a first name as a last name. Mark Richard might be the only one left in this situation. David Patrick’s last day was last week; Stephen Lester left us almost two years ago to work for a famous tech company elsewhere in California. One of the interns has a last name as a first name.

Soon we will have two Amandas. We have full-time Jason and intern-Jason. Full-time Jeffrey and intern-Jeffery (uncommon spelling for the intern). There are Phyllis and Philip. Joseph and Josette.

And then there are the Chrises. Kris starts on Monday, bringing us up to Chris, Chris, Kris, Christie, and Christine.

When I started, only 15 people worked on one office. We are now trying to hire 20 people across 12 locations. The other San Diego location has Ashley and Ashley. It’s hard for me to keep track of all the people who work far away.