Horatio Hornblower, meet Gentle Fudge

September 12, 2005 1:50 PM

Horatio Hornblower, meet Gentle Fudge Staff and researchers at the Cornwall Record Office compiled a list of more than 1,000 unusual names found in censuses as well as in births, deaths and marriage records going back as far as the 16th century. "My all-time favorites are Abraham Thunderwolff and Freke Dorothy Fluck Lane," said Rene Jackaman, archive assistant at Cornwall County Record Office.
posted by diastematic (15 comments total)

What I wouldn't give for my birth name to've been Edward Evil.
posted by item at 1:56 PM on September 12, 2005

... I will now count my blessings that it wasn't Faithful Cock.
posted by item at 1:56 PM on September 12, 2005

I like Philadelphia Bunnyface.
posted by ktoad at 1:57 PM on September 12, 2005

Admit it. You love stupid names.

Yes. Yes I do, Mr. Bunnyface.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 1:58 PM on September 12, 2005

Hubert Horatio Hornblower

I saw that live as a kid and was like, wah?
posted by StickyCarpet at 2:00 PM on September 12, 2005

Ferris Wheeler?
posted by alumshubby at 2:03 PM on September 12, 2005

Seriously, what kind of bastard parent names their kid Offspring? Especially if their surname is Gurney - haven't they done enough already??
posted by Jon Mitchell at 2:11 PM on September 12, 2005

"William Lear also reportedly had a good sense of humour. He named his daughter Chanda."
posted by alumshubby at 2:39 PM on September 12, 2005

Silly name threads were banned on alt.folklore.urban sometime around 1992. They tended to become circular.
posted by dhartung at 3:58 PM on September 12, 2005

I have a friend whose surname is Horniblow - he married a woman whose surname is Tsanis (pronounced sinus) - their children have hyphenated surnames.

He also has a brother called Richard.

I once overheard a conversation he was having with a vacuum cleaner service repair center - all went well until they asked his name. He was never able to get his vacuum cleaner repaired.
posted by strawberryviagra at 4:35 PM on September 12, 2005

Work in a school district sometime. After you've seen girls named Cotton Percale and Shar'Dannay, you understand how cruel parents can be.
posted by SPrintF at 8:50 PM on September 12, 2005

There was a bloke on the staff where I used to work called William Pine-Coffin.
posted by biffa at 2:49 AM on September 13, 2005

There was also a woman working at the Sydney Morning Herald classifieds called Kirsty Bunt.

I don't know why, but I just found that name really fucking funny.
posted by strawberryviagra at 5:14 AM on September 13, 2005

I was reading an article in The Nation yesterday and a fellow who worked for FEMA was quoted. His name was "Pleasant Mann." I find this charming but I suspect it would get annoying after a while.
posted by dlugoczaj at 6:01 AM on September 13, 2005

Yeah, Philadelphia Bunnyface is the best of the lot. I wish they listed them all.
posted by OmieWise at 9:55 AM on September 13, 2005