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I sometimes receive emails sent to my Gmail address but the name that is shown with the address is not mine. I'm not talking about spam, they are real mails sent by real persons and they are as surprised as myself.

Is it possible, in any kind of circumstances, that many people have the same Gmail email address?

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No, a @gmail.com address belongs to a single Google account.

But it is certainly possible to receive emails that's not being directly addressed to you:

  • If the sender has entered your address in the Bcc: field
  • If the message is being sent to an email group/list, where your address is listed
  • If the sender's email client provides an auto-complete address book, and the sender has mistakenly connected your address with someone else's name

Using the classic Gmail interface (at https://mail.google.com, not the new Google Inbox) you should be able to inspect the message's headers.
Click the message to open it, then click the ▼ next to the Reply button, and then Show original. Going through that garble might give you a hint on why you are receiving the message. See this information from Google.

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    Bingo, thank you. I just did a quick test and it is this like you mentioned: 'If the sender's email client provides an auto-complete address book, and the sender has mistakenly connected your address with someone else's name'. So I created a new contact with a name I choose and the email of a friend. I sent him a test mail and it has the name I gave it. So this means that no one should use names like 'The worst boss ever' to name his boss in his contacts list!
    – KLiFF
    Commented Aug 30, 2016 at 13:22

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