Question about same surname

[JonMom2009]

I did not find this question on here so I really hope it is not a repeat. I have a third generation girl who met a lady with the same last name and she is not related at all. How does this happen? Has this happened to anyone else?

[Seabody]

Well, it could be a coincidence.

[CSquared2]

I know in Sims 2 the game would choose names from a pool to use for townies.  I haven't seen evidence that it works differently in Sims 3.  If you chose a last name for your family which was also in the pool, the longer you play, the more likely it is that your game will generate a townie with the same name.  I also suspect the game might be capable of incorporating names you use for its own use.  There have been a few instances where I'd never seen a particular name in my game until I used it, then it popped up.  That's just a suspicion, though.

[Pam]

Is it an unusual surname or something fairly common?  If it's common, it's probably just coincidence.

[imaGleek]

Like everyone else said it could be a coincidence, but it wouldn't hurt to check your family tree to see if there were any mystery babys.

[JonMom2009]

Like everyone else said it could be a coincidence, but it wouldn't hurt to check your family tree to see if there were any mystery babys.

I did check the family tree and no one was listed but what I have played.

Is it an unusual surname or something fairly common?  If it's common, it's probably just coincidence.

No my family name that I am using is Bernardsson.

Thank you all for the quick replies. I think it will make for a unique part of my story so I am going to roll with it.

[Noodles]

I also suspect the game might be capable of incorporating names you use for its own use.  There have been a few instances where I'd never seen a particular name in my game until I used it, then it popped up.  That's just a suspicion, though.

I suspect this too. It has happened to me only once, but I was playing a family with a very unusual lastname and then one day, met a woman with a same name at the park. I was so curious I changed active household to see her family tree and it was empty, no parents or anything. It must've been a new random spawn sim in my town who for some reason picked my name. (the name was Miau by the way, I highly doubt that name was one of the names the game uses itself)

What's more fun was the fact that this sim was added into my 2nd generation spare's (who had moved out) household by storyprogression. It was as if some distant aunt moved into the city, kinda funny.