I suppose one problem with having a (relatively) common first name and surname, is that I’m not the only person called Neil Turner. If you do a Google search for ‘neil turner’, this blog is currently not the first result, although it has been in the past.
When I first joined Facebook, almost two decades ago, I was invited to two separate groups for people called ‘Neil Turner’. And I have even met someone in person called Neil Turner, albeit with a different middle name. And I get plenty of email to my Gmail address, which is derived from my name, meant for other people whose surname is Turner and who has a first name beginning with ‘N’.
So who are these other Neil Turners? Here’s a quick overview of the ones that I have found.
Neil Turner, the British author
The number one result on Google at present is a British author called Neil Turner, who writes financial thriller books after a career working at hedge funds in London and Frankfurt. Three of his books have been published so far.
Neil Turner, the Canadian author
I came across the Canadian author called Neil Turner because several people emailed me, expecting me to be him, to invite me to attend various book club meetings. Indeed, a few months ago I added a note to my contact page advising people that I am not the same person.
This Neil Turner is also an author of thrillers, focussing on the lawyer Tony Valenti. So far, there are 10 books in the Tony Valenti series.
Neil Turner, the retired Labour politician
If you go to the Neil Turner page on Wikipedia, nowadays you will see a disambiguation page which links to five other pages. However, in the past, it would have taken you straight to the former MP Neil Turner, who represented Wigan for the Labour party from 1999 to 2010. He was briefly a junior minister in Tony Blair’s latter days as Prime Minister, but announced in 2009 that he would not stand for the next election.
The Wigan constituency remains a Labour seat, with Lisa Nandy having retained it since the 2010 General Election.
Neil Turner, the photographer
Previously, Neil Turner the photographer was also a number one result on Google for ‘neil turner’. This person is based in Bournemouth and is a professional photographer who also has a blog. I suppose that makes him the opposite of me in a way, as I’m more of a blogger than a photographer, although I do neither professionally.
Neil Turner, the former rugby league player
Back to Wikipedia, and there is a former Rugby League player called Neil Turner. He played for Hull FC and Doncaster, as well as spending time as a police detective (if an unsourced statement on Wikipedia is true).
Neil Turner, the Australian politician
It seems that more than one person with my name has gone into politics as there was a politician called Neil Turner in Queensland, Australia. He served time as the Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly in the mid-1990s, but he died in 2011.
Neil Turner, the Australian scientist
Another Australian namesake on Wikipedia is Dr Neil Clifford Turner, although he was born in the UK. He is an agricultural scientist who looks at how crops can adapt to dryer landscapes as a result of climate change.
Neil Turner, the retired British researcher
At the nearby University of Leeds, there’s Dr Neil A Turner, who researches cardiology and is based at the university’s medical school. He’s now retired but contributed to some published papers as recently as 2024.
Neil Turner, the British co-author
There’s a book called Toby and Sox, about an autistic boy and his therapy dog, which was authored by Vikky Turner and co-authored by her husband, Neil.
Neil Turner, the architect
There’s a Neil Turner who works for a Durham-based architecture practice called Howarth Litchfield. The company is currently involved in renovating Redcar station on the north-east coast.
Neil Turner, the footballer
There was a footballer called Neil Turner who died before I was born. He was born in Scotland, which figures as ‘Neil’ is originally a Scots-Gaelic name, and played for a number of teams in Scotland, England and later the USA.
Neil Turner, the British professor
Yet another member of academic staff with my namesake. Professor Neil Turner researches project management and supply chains at Cranfield University, and teaches on their research MSc programme in project management.
Neil Turner, the psychotherapist
If I lived in London and needed counselling, then I could make things really confusing by visiting a psychotherapist with my namesake.
There are many more people out there with the same name as me – these are just the people that came up on the first few pages of searching. What is notable is that almost all of these people are older than me; I think by the time I was born in the 1980s, the name ‘Neil’ was starting to go out of fashion. Indeed, it’s no longer in the top 100 baby names and so I can’t even track its popularity.
None of these people are especially famous. When I decided to write this, I was aware of three of them (the British politician, the British photographer and the Canadian writer) but mainly because these are people that I have been confused with in the past. I was unaware of the others until I researched this.
Also, should I ever decide to write a fiction book, I might need to write it under a pseudonym, or use my middle name. Having three published authors with the same name would get unnecessarily messy.