I had Beau, Bam and Tia as starters when I first launched my NL game.
I liked Bam but after like 10 minutes of playing I reset and made my current town because I hated the map in my first one.
I had no idea those 3 were popular, I had not joined any AC community website yet.
I had Diana, Beau, and Stitches all exist in my town at one point.
For me, it's more common with tier 2: I've had Tia, Skye, Wolfgang, Francine, Bob, Maple, Coco, Muffy, Cookie, and Static.
I just got Ankha as my 9th villager. I won't be keeping her so I hope I can trade her for one of my dreamies. I got Marshal and Maple from the campsite, and the rest from villager resetting and adoptions.
I wanted to restart in May and I got Rosie and Stitches as my starter villagers. Also I have never gotten a random tier 1 villager move in because I know the reset trick and can't resist doing it.