I have a reasonably unusual surname. In my home town everyone else with that surname was related to me, however distantly. Just recently the social networking site Facebook has revealed several people (around 60- 70 in total) who have the same surname.  These are resident in the UK, the USA and Holland. A few are also distantly related but, for the most part, not. The same surname in Holland may have a different origin. We even have a special Facebook Group. Much simpler to be Smith or Jones.