We all have that one celebrity that everyone swears we look just like. “Have you seen [insert film]? You should dress up as [insert character] for Halloween!” And while this can be annoying, we have to admit that it’s a bit amusing to find someone who looks extremely similar to ourselves. We share a bond with these random strangers just by knowing that the world perceives us in the same way.

According to the BBC, there’s only a one in 135 chance that you have an exact doppelganger, but when it comes to someone who shares a striking resemblance to you, there’s a much better chance they’re out there. Especially if you’re someone who has an “average face,” meaning you have features that are common, you shouldn’t have a hard time finding your twin stranger. 

For example, the BBC reports that one in ten people have round faces, and 55% of the world’s population has brown eyes. If you’re a man and you have a beard, that increases your chances of encountering a doppelganger as well, especially if you live in the UK, where most men have some form of facial hair. If you’re a guy with short hair, you also fall into the majority, making it easier to find a doppelganger. 

But why are we so interested in finding our twin strangers anyway? Well, according to Francois Brunelle, who has photographed over 200 pairs of doppelgangers, “If you meet someone that looks like you, you have an instant bond because you share something.” It can be hard enough to strike up a conversation with a stranger nowadays, but looking alike is an excellent ice breaker!

But just because you look similar to a random person you encounter at a theme park or come across online doesn’t mean that you actually share any common DNA. “It is entirely possible for two people with similar facial features to have DNA that is no more similar than that of two random people,” Lavinia Paternoster, a geneticist at the University of Bristol, told the BBC. That shouldn’t deter you from seeking out your doppelganger if you want to though! Just don’t try to frame them as the suspect of a crime you committed if you left DNA at the scene.   

If you are interested in finding your very own twin stranger or strangers, we’re living in the perfect age to do so. With social media and the internet at our fingertips, we have access to billions of people we could have never met in previous generations. And lucky for us, Make Use Of has even shared some online tools that can help you find your doppelganger even faster than usual. One site you can try is actually called Twin Strangers, and it allows users to chat and plan meet-ups with their doppelgangers.  

According to the site’s FAQs, users can upload a passport style image of themselves which will be compared to up to 2 million other users of the site. Your closest 100+ matches will then be dropped into your AI search folder for you to scroll through. If you and one of your potential doppelgangers both choose to connect, you’ll have access to one another’s emails and have the opportunity to video chat or even meet in real life.  

Another tool Make Use Of recommends for finding your doppelganger is to use Google’s reverse image search option with a photo of yourself. Results might yield photos of other people who look strikingly similar, and you might have an image of your very own doppelganger in seconds. Of course, they might not be interested in connecting, especially if they’re not registered on any sites that are specifically for finding twin strangers. But at least you’ll know that you’re not the only “you” out there!

Not everyone believes that finding a doppelganger is a good thing, though. While some might be overjoyed to find a twin and others might believe that the existence of them proves we’re living in a simulation, others actually consider them to be frightening. According to Bustle, doppelgangers have long been seen as a bad omen, as they have been seen as an evil twin rather than an innocuous one.  

Doppelgangers have also been seen as an omen of death in some cultures. German folklore says that seeing your twin, especially more than once, means that your time is running out. And apparently, Abraham Lincoln saw two faces in the mirror on the night of his first election, which his wife Mary believed meant that he would fall ill or die during his second term. Sure enough, she was right. 

Are you feeling inspired to go in search of your own doppelganger, pandas? I guarantee they’re out there, but finding them in real life might be a bit unsettling. Keep scrolling through these pics that show that we’re not so unique after all, and let us know in the comments if you’ve ever found someone who shares an uncanny resemblance to yourself. Then, if you’re interested in going even deeper down the doppelganger rabbit hole, we recommend checking out this Bored Panda article next!