List of unusual personal names

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The following list of unusual personal names is of people who have received media attention because of their name, or are otherwise widely recognized as having names that are unusual. This list includes both names given at birth, and people who have legally changed their name.

Contents

[edit] People named after something else

[edit] Specific

People named after a specific person, organization, fictional character or product.

[edit] General

People whose names are nouns or other words not commonly used as a given name.

[edit] Names containing a meaning

[edit] Intentional

Names which intentionally contain a phrase.

  • Amor De Cosmos, the second premier of British Columbia, Canada. His name in Portuguese (and Spanish) actually means "Love Of Cosmos".
  • Condoleezza Rice, former US Secretary of State. Name is based on a misspelling of the Italian musical term 'con dolcezza' which means '[to be played] with sweetness'.[36]
  • Espen Thoresen Hværsaagod-Takkskalduha. A Norwegian radio reporter. He first changed his name from Espen Thoresen to Espen Thoresen Hværsaagod (Espen Thoresen You're welcome). Later he added the name Takkskalduha (Thank you very much).[37]
  • Jello Biafra, born Eric Reed Boucher, changed his name to this because of the two conflicting symbols. Jello, a mass marketed food product with no nutritional value, against Biafra, a failed secessionist state from Nigeria that lead to mass starvation.
  • The name of Lindsay Ann Crouse, daughter of Russel Crouse, was an intentional reference to the playwrighting team of Lindsay and Crouse.
  • Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, American actor. His name is Hebrew for "To speed to the spoil, he hasteneth the prey". Ali's name is derived from the Biblical book of Isaiah 8:1-3, where the name is usually given as "Maher-shalal-hash-baz."
  • Mai Phat Sau Nghin Ruoi. Vietnamese which translates to "Fined Six Thousand Five Hundred" to represent the 6,500 dong, the local currency, that father Mai Xuan Can was forced to pay for ignoring Vietnam's two-child policy. The boy changed his name to Mai Hoang Long when he turned 18.[38]
  • Masiosare — Spanish for "But if [someone eventually] dared". It is not a common phrase in Spanish, but a line of the Mexican National Anthem, "Mas si osare un extraño enemigo" (But if an unknown stranger dared), is sometimes heard as "Masiosare, un extraño enemigo" (Masiosare, an unknown enemy). This misunderstanding has led to the frequent use of Masiosare as a proper name.[citation needed]
  • Midnight Chardonnay, registered name of a child in New Zealand[39]
  • Mister Thorne — So named because his mother believed that he'd become a high school geometry teacher when he grew up, "and then everyone will know him by that name."[40]
  • Nardwuar the Human Serviette. Canadian celebrity interviewer and musician from Vancouver, British Columbia.[41]
  • Notwithstanding Griswold a female child born 1759 in Durham, Connecticut[30]
  • Number 16 Bus Shelter, registered name of a child in New Zealand[39]
  • Robin Victory in Europe Strasser, American actress born on May 7, 1945, which was officially proclaimed V-E Day.
  • Savior God Scientist Allah is the name of a 16-month old Michigan boy who died after falling from a seventh story window on April 20, 2006[42]
  • Screaming Lord Sutch, born David Edward Sutch, former leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party.
  • Spontaniouse Grant, a model hopeful from Montgomery, Alabama, seen on Series Nine of the reality TV series America's Next Top Model. She was named as a result of being born before reaching the hospital, and her mother deeming her birth "spontaneous."[43]
  • Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii was the given name of a girl in New Zealand. In 2008, at the age of 9, she was made a ward of court in order that her name could be changed.[39]
  • Trout Fishing in America. In 1994, a Santa Barbara teenager named Peter Eastman Jr. legally changed his name to "Trout Fishing in America" after Richard Brautigan's novella of the same name.[44]
  • Will Power. Australian driver for Penske Championship Racing in the Indy Racing League.
  • World B. Free. Retired NBA basketball player. His given name was Lloyd B. Free, and later changed his name back to his given name.
  • Wu Suowei (Chinese: 吴所谓), son of Chinese TV host Yang Lan and her husband Wu Zheng, sounds identical to Chinese expression for doesn't matter or whatever.[45]

[edit] Political

Names changed (or given) for political purposes or as a form of protest

  • america Hoffman, son of revolutionist yippies Abbie and Anita Hoffman. Given the name "america", with a "small a", to indicate both patriotism and non-jingoistic intent.[46]
  • Austin Haddock was the name (temporarily) for Austin Mitchell, British MP for Great Grimsby, who changed his name by deed poll in support of his haddock fishermen constituents in October 2002. They were suffering from the effects of an EU fisheries ban enacted over concerns of dwindling North Sea fish stocks.
  • Byron (Low Tax) Looper. Former Tennessee politician Byron Looper changed his middle name to "(Low Tax)" as an election ploy; in 1998 he murdered his electoral opponent, state senator Tommy Burks.
  • CutoutDissection.com - The former Jennifer Thornburg changed her name to the Web address for a PETA-run anti-dissection website to protest the practice of animal dissection.[47]
  • Goveg.com (pronounced Go Vedge Dot Com). PETA activist Karin Robertson changed her name in 2003 to promote the organization's vegan website. In 2006 she reverted to her birth name, later saying "I never thought I would be Goveg.com forever. It was just a great way to pique people's interest."[48]
  • Kentucky Fried Cruelty.com. A PETA staff member who was known as Chris Garnett before he changed his name in 2006.
  • Legal Tender Coxey - Infant son of Jacob Coxey, leader of Coxey's Army.
  • Miss Alice. A New Zealand lawyer, formerly known as Rob Moodie, who legally changed his name to protest the Old Boys' Network that runs the judiciary.[49]
  • Nigel Freemarijuana was for many years the public face of the HEMP Party (Help End Marijuana Prohibition) in Brisbane standing as a candidate in various elections.
  • Seán Dublin Bay Rockall Loftus is an Irish politician who has changed his name several times in order to draw attention to his campaign issues.
  • States Rights Gist, Confederate General during the American Civil War[50]
  • Yorkshire Bank PLC Are Fascist Bastards. Born Michael Howard but changed his name legally after being charged £20 for a £10 overdraft. Having subsequently been forced to close his account, he asked that the remaining balance be paid by cheque made out to his new name.[51]

[edit] Double entendres

Names which, when read, can double as a word or phrase. These names’ double meanings are either unintentional, or composed of common given names.

[edit] Unusually long names

[edit] Portuguese Braganza Monarchs

Several 19th century Portuguese monarchs, of the House of Braganza of the 19th century (from 1826 onwards, House of Braganza-Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), had unusually long names:

[edit] Names changed for business purposes

  • Captain Beany, legally changed his name from Barry Kirk in 1991, named after his fondness of baked beans
  • DotComGuy. Legally changed his name from Mitch Maddox in 2000 as part of a publicity stunt of spending an entire year in his house, on the Internet. Using the Internet, he obtained a puppy, which he called DotComDog.
  • GoldenPalace.com (Pronounced Golden Palace Dot Com). In March 2005, the casino paid Terri Iligan $15,000 after winning an E-Bay Auction to legally change her name.[64]
  • Sunshine Megatron, owner of T-Shirt Hell. Originally named Aaron Landau Schwarz, he established the site http://www.givemeaname.com, inviting people to choose a new name for him and paying $25,000 to the winning submission.
  • Warrior. American professional wrestler, born Brian James "Jim" Hellwig. Legally changed his name to Warrior in 1993 in order to use the name outside of the WWF.
  • Zachary Zzzzzzzzzra, actually named Bill Holland, was a painting contractor who changed his name to Zachary Zzzzzzzzzra as a marketing gimmick so that people could find him "in the back of the phone book". A 1979 Time article said that he was able to achieve this goal in the San Francisco phone book in eight out of fifteen years, although he had to keep adding Zs to his last name because Zelda Zzzwramp and Vladimir Zzzzzzabakov had become the last listings in the phone book.[65]
  • Tarquin Fin-tim-lin-bin-whin-bim-lim-bus-stop-F'tang-F'tang-Olé-Biscuitbarrel, a 22-year-old student from Hayes in Greater London. Changed his name from John Desmond Lewis by deed poll to contest the Crosby by-election of 1981. The name comes from a character in a sketch from the popular BBC television comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus. In the sketch, "Election Night Special", the character by that name wins in Luton in a general election as the "Silly Party" candidate.[66][67]
  • Chyna. American professional wrestler, born Joanie Laurer. Legally changed her name to Chyna in 2007 in order to use her ring name outside of the WWE.
  • Kamakazi, born Jamie Hildebrandt, an Australian BMX racing racer who competed in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics
  • Chad Ocho Cinco. American football player for the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL, born Chad Johnson. Legally changed his surname to "Ocho Cinco" (his nickname) in 2008, in order to have "Ocho Cinco" listed on the back of his jersey instead of "C. Johnson".

[edit] Numbers

[edit] Miscellaneous

  • Born God Supreme Thompson.[70]
  • @ was the name given to a child by a Chinese couple. In Chinese, the symbol @ is pronounced "ai ta" which in Chinese means "love him". Li Yuming, the deputy chief of the State Language Commission, did not say if officials accepted the name.[71]
  • 4real was the name New Zealand parents attempted to give their child. They were told that numerals were not allowed. The parents are debating this law and, if no name has been registered by July 9, the boy will be legally named "Superman"; friends and family will call him "4real".[72]
  • A B Kovacs, first name is the single letter "A".[73]
  • Adolf Lu Hitler Marak is an Indian politician.[74]
  • Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 (pronounced Albin) was a name given to a child by the parents of a Swedish family in May 1996. The name was rejected by a Swedish court. The child’s name was later changed to A (also pronounced Albin), however this too was rejected.[75]
  • Exree Hipp. Former basketball player at University of Maryland.[76]
  • The musician Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993 as the result of a contractual dispute. He reverted this change in 2000.
  • Revilo Oliver, American philologist and Neo-Nazi with a palindromic name.[77]
  • Robert Trebor, American actor with a palindromic name, (Born Robert Schenkman).[78]
  • Sydney Harbour-Bridge, born Ian Howgate; changed his name as a charity stunt.[79] Other names considered were Sydney Opera-House and Phil Harmonic-Orchestra.
  • Teller, born Raymond Joseph Teller, is a magician in the duo Penn & Teller and is one of the few people to possess a United States Passport issued in a single name.
  • Musician Frank Zappa gave his children unusual names, including Moon Unit Zappa, Dweezil Zappa, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan Zappa, Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen Zappa.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Armand Hammer Biograp
  2. ^ Deutscher Bundestag: Caesar, Cajus
  3. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3369609/Teenager-changes-name-to-Captain-Fantastic.html
  4. ^ "The most unusual footballer names ever". Guardian Unlimited. 2007-04-11. http://football.guardian.co.uk/theknowledge/story/0,,2053813,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-08-04. 
  5. ^ Articles - History of the Phantom Appreciation Society - Phantom of the Opera .com
  6. ^ The most unusual footballer names ever Special Reports | Guardian Unlimited Football
  7. ^ Nieuwsflits n°34 : Wiske (v.) zoekt Suske (m.)
  8. ^ BBC NEWS World | Americas | US babies get global brand names
  9. ^ CBS News Judge Lets Man Change Name to Jesus Christ
  10. ^ allmusic ((( G.G. Allin > Biography )))
  11. ^ BBC NEWS Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | The Philippine name game
  12. ^ BBC NEWS Entertainment | Film | Baby boy for actor Cage and wife
  13. ^ Вестник Стандарт, 21. Юни 2002
  14. ^ [1]|Манчестър от Свищов води десето дело за смяна на името]
  15. ^ Couple Fights To Name Baby "Metallica", Swedish Couple Locked In Court Battle With Authorities - CBS News
  16. ^ Minty Clinch
  17. ^ National guardsman changed his name to a toy wkyc.com
  18. ^ BBC News MIDDLE EAST | Israel's Mr .com
  19. ^ Urhines Kendall Icy Eight Special K
  20. ^ Birth Of A Fan - Wrigley Fields Is Born - News Story - WMAQ Chicago
  21. ^ Gamasutra.com - Unnatural Disasters: Designer American McGee On Creative Outsourcing
  22. ^ Lifebeat Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal
  23. ^ Geri Halliwell names baby Bluebell Madonna - USATODAY.com
  24. ^ http://athena.english.vt.edu/~appalach/writersM/pancake.html
  25. ^ Vegan Parents Get Prison In Infant's Death - Boston News Story - WCVB Boston
  26. ^ God Shammgod Statistics - Basketball-Reference.com
  27. ^ http://www.nfl.com/news/story/8667686
  28. ^ CBBC Newsround Chat | Your Comments | Would you change your name?
  29. ^ Family's winner becomes a loser and loser a winner - smh.com.au
  30. ^ a b FamilySearch.org - Family History and Genealogy Records
  31. ^ Jillette Names Daughter Moxie CrimeFighter - MSN Movies News
  32. ^ Birth announcement for Poesy on BoingBoing.net
  33. ^ Man Legally Changes Name To 'They'
  34. ^ Peter Gammons
  35. ^ http://www.hoytecnologia.com/noticias/nino-llamado-Yahoo/23112 A boy named Yahoo (Spanish)
  36. ^ 'I like lighthearted people. Besides, she's really smart!' Special reports | Guardian Unlimited
  37. ^ Skifter navn
  38. ^ http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_189010959.html
  39. ^ a b c "NZ judge orders 'odd' name change". BBC News. 24 July 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7522952.stm. Retrieved on 2008-07-24. 
  40. ^ Nights to Remember
  41. ^ CBC.ca - Arts - Alternative Canadian Walk of Fame - Inductee: Nardwuar the Human Serviette
  42. ^ WXYZ-TV, Detroit[broken citation]
  43. ^ And the winner for Best Named Reality Contestant in the History of Ever is... PopWatch Blog | EW.com
  44. ^ Saker, Anne. The Oregonian, 11 October 2007. "Searching upstream". Accessed 18 December 2007.
  45. ^ 儿子名叫“吴所谓” 杨澜谈儿女感悟家庭和亲情-中华网-娱乐频道
  46. ^ "Children of the revolution". The Guardian. January 17, 2001. http://www.guardian.co.uk/parents/story/0,3605,423191,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-07-11. 
  47. ^ [2]
  48. ^ Two of three PETA activists drop their Web site monikers HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
  49. ^ TV3 > News > Story > Alice in the High Court
  50. ^ States Rights Gist - History Celebrities
  51. ^ BBC - Radio 4 - Comedy - History of the News Quiz
  52. ^ The Smoking Gun: Archive
  53. ^ Missoulian: Hot Springs man who changed name to Jack Ass dies
  54. ^ Rob Morrow - Biography
  55. ^ Banana Fana Fo Fudcat - The Hardball Times
  56. ^ ESPN - Lucious Pusey Stats, News, Photos - Eastern Illinois Panthers - NCAA College Football
  57. ^ Ocean Hellman
  58. ^ Autumn’s a real knockout! : Express & Star:
  59. ^ Guinness Book of Records, 1995.
  60. ^ Letwin, William. The Origins of Scientific Economics. London: Routledge, 2003. p. 48.
  61. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=ZCwJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA153&ie=ISO-8859-1
  62. ^ Famous Cousins
  63. ^ New Statesman - Where were you?
  64. ^ n:Woman sells name on eBay
  65. ^ "Time Magazine". Zany Zach. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916974,00.html. Retrieved on January 16, 2007. 
  66. ^ Byelections in the 1979-83 Parliament
  67. ^ Chapman et al, Monty Python's Flying Circus: Just the Words  Volume 1, London: Mandarin Paperbacks, 1990 (ISBN 0-7493-0226-7).
  68. ^ City Brazil - RN - Cidade de Governador Dix-Sept Rosado
  69. ^ CNN.com - Engineering geek names son version 2.0 - Feb. 1, 2004
  70. ^ Police ID 2 killed in Greensboro, News & Record, December 3, 2007
  71. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/oukoe_uk_china_language
  72. ^ http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/06/21/name.child.ap/index.html
  73. ^ Phil Plait. "The JREF Welcomes A B Kovacs as New Director of Operations". JREF News. http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/jref-news/353-the-jref-welcomes-a-b-kovacs-as-new-director-of-operations.html. Retrieved on December 22, 2008. 
  74. ^ BBC NEWS South Asia | Voting for Frankenstein
  75. ^ Baby named Metallica rocks Sweden - BBC News
  76. ^ Terrapinstats.com Exree Hipp Profile
  77. ^ Oliver, Revilo P. (2002). "Introduction". The Jewish Strategy. Palladian Books. http://www.heretical.com/oliver/index.html. "My first name, an obvious palindrome, has been the burden of the eldest or only son for six generations." 
  78. ^ An Interview With Robert Trebor
  79. ^ The Crocodile Club - The Alumni Association of Imperial College Radio

[edit] External links

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