Last name, birthdays, clothes, bedrooms and even fingerprints — things most triplets are used to sharing.

But this is where the similarities end for the Buckannon brothers.

Seniors Ashton, Beck and Collin are fraternal triplets — a fact that is surprising to most, as they are all fiercely individual.

“We’re all really, really different. We’re all island kids — we all grew up surfing, fishing, skating to the marina and around the island,” Collin said.

“Yeah, we all like being outside all the time,” Beck interjected.

“But other than that,” Collin continued, “we’re all completely different. Ashton’s a surfer bum, I like to shoot stuff and Beck plays video games.”

They chuckle to themselves, nodding. “Yup,” Beck uttered in agreement.

But even if said in jest, it’s rings true. Ashton — the sun-kissed surfer —  leans back in flip flops, a Hawaiian shirt and a wide-brimmed hat, shoulders relaxed. Collin — the seasoned outdoorsman —  dawned in Costa sunglasses and a fishing t-shirt, arms outstretched across the bench. And Beck — the techie of the bunch — in a Vans shirt, khakis and sneakers, looking on thoughtfully at his brothers.

But being triplets does come with its own special set of circumstances.

“One different thing about being a triplet is that you always have a friend,” Ashton said. “Like, we’d always just go do something together when we were growing up. Of course there would be other kids around, but I could always just be like, ‘Hey Beck, hey Collin, let’s go do something.’” It’s also nice on family trips too, because you’re never stuck babysitting a little brother or sister — we can always go and do the same stuff.”

“But at the same time, we still always just make each other mad and pick at each other like siblings do,” Collin said.

And raising triplets holds just as many of its own quirks as being one.

“It’s a bit fast paced. Everything is kinda just thrown at you,” said the boys’ mother, Sonya Buckannon. “The difference between my three is that they’re just completely different. They’ve always had different interests, different friends, they’re always going down different avenues. One’s fishing, one’s surfing, one’s playing video games. But it’s easier, from my perspective, doing the whole ‘same-age’ thing. Because growing up they were all doing T-Ball, doing the same sport, moving into different things together — and because they were all the same age, I didn’t have to repeat it for different age brackets.

“From the day they were born to the first day of kindergarten, they always wore the same outfit,” she continued. “It was easier for me. I had to take them somewhere every other day and get them out of the house — otherwise I’d go crazy. And we’d only go to fenced-in parks, so I know every fenced-in park in the tri-county area, because I couldn’t keep them together anywhere else. And if they were all wearing the same thing, I could always figure out where they were.”

And three 18 year old boys, all with their own group of friends, means there’s always kids over at the Buckannon’s house, creating what is almost like a little community unto itself.

“I call them the ‘frequent flyers’ — there’s always a good 10 kids or so who are at our house regularly. Like, for multiple days in a row, overnight,” Buckannon laughed. “I feel like a run a boarding house.”

And with life after graduation approaching at rapid speed, the brothers will soon be faced with a reality unlike anything before: life in different households.

Ashton will continue working for the family business, Collin will be attending the Citadel and Beck will be at the University of South Carolina.

“It’s gonna be different. Our whole lives are gonna change…we’re all so different, but we always do the same things. We all did swimming, we all played sports, had the same friends, go to the beach together, and we’re always just around each other,” Ashton said. “We’ve never been apart. I remember that from the first to the third grade, my mom even dressed us up the same every single day. So going from that to seeing each other maybe, like, once a month…it’s gonna be weird.”