List of unusual personal names

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The following is a list 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 1 People named for something else 1.1 Specific 1.2 General 2 Names containing a meaning 2.1 Intentional 2.2 Political 2.3 Double entendres 3 Unusually long names 3.1 Portuguese Braganza Monarchs 4 Names changed for business purposes 5 Zappa children and grandchild 6 Numbers 7 Miscellaneous 8 See also 9 References 9.1 General 9.2 Notes 10 External links

[edit] People named for something else

[edit] Specific

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

• Armand Hammer, famous industrialist. Named after the "Arm and Hammer" symbol of the Socialist Labor Party.^[1]
• Cajus Julius Caesar, member of the German Parliament Deutscher Bundestag ^[2]
• Charlie Oatway, whose full name is Anthony Philip David Terry Frank Donald Stanley Gerry Gordon Stephen James Oatway, named by his parents after the entire QPR 1973 first-team squad. ^[3]
• Christine Daaé, A Phantom of the Opera fan who had her name legally changed to that of the character. ^[4]
• Creedence Clearwater Couto, a Brazilian football player named after a well-known American music band.^[5].
• Eros-Adonis. Name of a Belgian boy.^[6]
• Espn (pronounced Espin). The name of two boys from Michigan and Texas, named for the popular cable sports channel ESPN.^[7] However, in Scandinavia, both Esben and Espen are somewhat common names.
• Harley Quinn Smith, daughter of filmmaker Kevin Smith, named for the Joker's sidekick Harley Quinn from Batman: The Animated Series.
• Jesus Christ. Born Jose Luis Espinal, he legally changed his name in December 2005.^[8]
• Jesus Christ Allin, later Kevin Michael Allin, most well known as GG Allin, named by his fanatically religious father ^[9]
• John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood, a fan of the same.
• Joker Arroyo, a Philippine Senator. His name derives from his father's fondness of playing cards. He has a brother named Jack, also for the playing card of the same name ^[10]
• Kal-El Coppola, son of actor Nicolas Cage, is named for the fictional character Superman. ^[11]
• Kenesaw Mountain Landis, American jurist and baseball commissioner, named after Kennesaw Mountain near Atlanta, Georgia.
• Metallica. Daughter of Michael and Karolina Tomaro, named after a band.^[12]
• Melscho or Мэлсчо. A combination of the names Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Choibalsan. It was the name of a few people during the communist period in Mongolia.^{[citation needed]}
• Minty Clinch. Film publicist and journalist on The Observer ^[13]
• Oleúde José Ribeiro, nicknamed "Capitain" was a Brazilian football player. His first name is a badly misspelled rendition of Hollywood^{[citation needed]}
• Optimus Prime. A member of the United States National Guard which legally changed his name to one of a Transformers character. ^[14]
• Tarquin Fin-tim-lin-bin-whin-bim-lim-bus-stop-F'tang-F'tang-Olé-Biscuitbarrel. British political candidate self-renamed after a Monty Python character. Born John Desmond Lewis.
• Seseer or Сэсээр. The Mongolian reading of the name СССР (Russian for USSR), which was given during the communist period in Mongolia.^{[citation needed]}
• Tomer.com, an Israeli programmer.^[15]
• Urhines Kendall Icy Eight Special K, a baby born in St. Francis Health Center in Kansas in 2003.^[16]
• Wrigley Fields, named for the baseball field Wrigley Field ^[17]
• Zeppelin Wai Wong, born in San Francisco and named after the Graf Zeppelin which his parents saw overhead when he was born. (According to Herb Caen, Wong says it could be worse: "Suppose it had been the Shenandoah?")
• Vista Avalon is the legal name given to Microsoft MVP Bil Simser's daughter born May 18th, 2007 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Vista is the name of Microsoft's operating system, released in 2007. Avalon is the codename given to Microsoft's Windows Presentation Foundation, part of the .NET 3.0 framework.^[18]

[edit] General

People whose name is a noun or other word not commonly used as a given name.

• American McGee, video game designer (Quake, American McGee's Alice) famous for having an unusual name.^[19]
• Apple Martin, daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin. The Hungarian word for apple, Alma, is a rare, but not unheard-of female name in Hungary.^[20]
• Baby Hospital, feral child^{[citation needed]}
• Bluebell Madonna Halliwell, daughter of Spice Girl Geri Halliwell ^[21]
• Boo Moore, minor league baseball player in the Boston Red Sox organization in 1980s/90s ^[22]
• Breece D'J Pancake, short-lived writer of short fiction. The unusual initial came from a misprint of his first story, which he decided to not correct.^[23]
• Reverend Canaan Banana, first President of Zimbabwe.
• Crown Shakur Thomas, a boy who died of malnutrition at the age of 6 weeks old, after being starved by his parents, who were sentenced to life imprisonment.^[24]
• Depressed Cupboard Cheesecake. Child of a couple in Kent, England^[25]
• Eagle-Eye Cherry - A famous musician
• Flipper Reddolphin - Guitarist from South Wales^{[citation needed]}
• God Shammgod. American basketball player, who played one season in the NBA after being picked by the Washington Wizards in the 2nd round (17th pick) of the 1997 NBA Draft. He was born on April 29, 1976 in New York City.^[26]
• Heaven Rain Charvet daughter of Brooke Burke and David Charvet. Known as Rain Charvet
• Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily Hutchence, daughter of Michael Hutchence and Paula Yates. Legally adopted by Bob Geldof in 2008. Known as Tiger Hutchence to family and friends.
• Island Shuler. Daughter of former NFL quarterback Heath Shuler. ^[27]
• Jellyfish McSaveloy^[28]
• Joybubbles, a phone phreak.
• Loser Lane - a New York Police Department sergeant, mentioned in the book Freakonomics ^[29]
• Maybe Barnes (or Maybee or Maibe) a male child born 1663 in New Haven, Connecticut^[30]
• Marmaduke Grylls Son of Bear Grylls
• Milton Bradley, an outfielder for the Texas Rangers
• Miroslav Šatan. NHL Hockey Player (pronounced Shah-tahn).
• Moxie CrimeFighter Jillette. Daughter of magician Penn Jillette. ^[31]
• Peerless Price, wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills.
• Picabo Street (her parents pronounced it "Peek-a-BOW", not "Peek-a-BOO"), American skier.
• Pilot Inspektor Riesgraf-Lee. Son of actor/skateboarder Jason Lee and actress Beth Riesgraf.
• Little Pixie Geldof, daughter of musician/activist Bob Geldof and Paula Yates. Known as Pixie Geldof.
• Poesy Emmeline Fibonacci Nautilus Taylor Doctorow, daughter of Cory Doctorow and Alice Taylor.^[32]
• Poet Siena Rose Goldberg, daughter of Soleil Moon Frye and Jason Goldberg.
• Poppy Montgomery, born Poppy Petal Emma Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue. An Australian-born actress starring in the television series Without a Trace. Her brother is named Jethro Tull, and her sisters are named Rosie Thorn, Daisy Yellow, Lily Belle and Marigold Sun.
• Ransom Love, former CEO of Caldera.
• Rocket, Racer, Rogue and Rebel Rodriguez, All children of film director Robert Rodriguez
• Scientific Mapp, played guard position for Florida A&M college basketball team
• Thursday October Christian. The son of Fletcher Christian (leader of the mutiny on the Bounty).
• They. Formerly Andrew Wilson, of Branson, Missouri.^[33]
• Urban Shocker, a Major League Baseball pitcher in the 1910s-20s.
• Urmas-Armas Ingel (engl. Urmas-Sweet Angel). An eccentric Estonian poet.
• Wonderful Terrific Monds III was a baseball player in the Atlanta Braves farm system in the early 1990s. WTM I, his grandfather, was given that name because his own parents were so pleased when their son was born. Baseball writer Peter Gammons called it "one of the greatest names" for a ballplayer he has heard.^[34]
• Yahoo Serious, Australian actor known for directing Young Einstein.
• Yahoo, Mexican boy born in 2007. Named because his parents met in a Yahoo! chat^[35].

[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, current US Secretary of State. Name is based on a mis-spelling of the Italian musical term 'con dolcezza' which means '[to be played] with sweetness'.^[36]
• Constant-Désiré Despradelle, French-born dean of architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Espen Thoresen Hværsaagod-Takkskalduha. A Norwegian radio reporter. He first changed his name from Espen Thoresen to Espen Thoresen Hværsaagod (Espen Thoresen You'rewelcome). Later he added the name Takkskalduha (Thankyouverymuch).^[37]
• Mahershalalhashbaz Ali. American actor.
• 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]}
• Mister Thorne — So named because his mother figured (literally) that he'd become a high school geometry teacher when he grew up, "and then everyone will know him by that name." ^[39]
• Nardwuar the Human Serviette. Canadian celebrity interviewer and musician from Vancouver, British Columbia.^[40]
• Notwithstanding Griswold a female child born 1759 in Durham, Connecticut^[41]
• 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 infant 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 the ninth cycle 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]
• 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 Champ Car driver.
• 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.
• Free Rob Cannabis - Marijuana activist from Glastonbury, UK
• 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."^[47]
• 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.^[48]
• 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^[49]
• 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.^[50]

[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.

• Argelico Fucks, Brazilian footballer.
• Be-Curteous Cole a male child born 1570 in Pevensey, Sussex, England^[51]
• Jaime Lachica Sin a Philippine clergyman, was known as Cardinal Sin because of his status within the Catholic church. Sin was said to play a joke on his title, welcoming visitors to his archbishop's residence with the greeting "Welcome to the House of Sin". (He is not to be confused with the term "cardinal sin").
• Dick Assman (properly pronounced "assmun"). Canadian service station owner whose name propelled him to international celebrity status in 1995.
• Dick Passwater, won a race in NASCAR's formative years.
• Dick Pole, baseball player^[52]
• Dick Seaman, early British Grand Prix racing star.
• Dick Trickle.^[53] With a combined total of up to 1,200 wins in all racing forms to his credit, he has been called "America's Winningest Driver."
• Harry Baals, mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana from 1931-1947 and 1951-1954.
• I. M. Hipp, former running back for the Nebraska Cornhuskers college football team^[54].
• Ima Hogg. Daughter of Governor of Texas James Stephen Hogg. Urban legend contends that she had a sister named Ura Hogg (and occasionally one named Sheysa as well), but this is false.
• Jack Ass. Born Robert Craft, he legally changed his name to Jack Ass then brought a plagiarism lawsuit against MTV for their comedy sketch series Jackass. He committed suicide on July 21, 2003.^[55][56]
• Líber Arce - His name sounds like liberarse (Spanish for "to break free"). He was the first person to be killed by the police during the clashes of the late 1960s in Uruguay. (see the Spanish-language article)
• Lucious Pusey - Linebacker for Eastern Illinois University, legally changed his name to Lucious Seymour.^[57].
• Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne, British baronet.
• Ray Zin, Owner of Micrel.^{[citation needed]}
• Rusty Kuntz, baseball player.
• Tu Morrow, daughter of Rob Morrow and his wife Debbon Ayer.^[58]
• Seymour Cocks, British politician.
• Shanda Lear, daughter of Bill Lear, founder of Lear Jet Corporation.
• Young Talkmore Nyongani, Zimbabwean 400 metre sprinter.
• Johnny Dickshot, baseball player.

[edit] Unusually long names

• Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig El Abderahman El Mohammed Ahmed El Abdel Karim El Mahdi, actor from TV series Star Trek: Deep Space 9
• Crystal Ocean Supri Heavenly Blue Sky Hellman, actress. Known as Ocean Hellman ^[59]
• Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff, the man with the longest name ever recorded. He actually had 26 given names (each one starting with a different letter of the alphabet), and his full last name ran to 590 letters.
• Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlotte Angel Vanessa Geldof, daughter of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates.
• Anna Bertha Cecilia Diana Emily Fanny Gertrude Hypatia Inez Jane Kate Louise Maud Nora Ophelia Prudence Quince Rebecca Sarah Teresa Ulysis Venus Winifred Xenophon Yetty Zeno Pepper, a British woman who was named with a first name in the order of the alphabet. Her name brought interest to Robert Ripley, who published a profile of Pepper in an issue of Ripley's Believe It Or Not! in 1929. Due to the length of her name, she was nicknamed "Alphabet" for short.
• Autumn Sullivan Corbett Fitzsimmons Jeffries Hart Burns Johnson Willard Dempsey Tunney Schmeling Sharkey Carnera Baer Braddock Louis Charles Walcott Marciano Patterson Johansson Liston Clay Frazier Foreman Brown, an American child born in 2007.^[60]
• Lleieusszuieusszesszes Willihiminizisteizzi Hurrizzissteizzi, a resident of Los Angeles; appears in Robert Ripley's second Believe It or Not! Book (1948).
• Lord Daniyaal as-Saadiq al-Amin Salaam u'Allah (Lord D.A.A.S. u'Allah). Formerly Daniel Green; convicted of the murder of James R. Jordan, Sr. (father of Michael Jordan)^[61]
• Rhoshandiatellyneshiaunneveshenk Koyaanisquatsiuth Williams was a girl born in Beaumont, Texas on September 12, 1984. Her name appears to be a conglomeration of various words from Hopi and perhaps other languages; Koyaanisqatsi means "life out of balance" in Hopi. On October 5, 1984, her father, James Williams, filed an amendment, expanding her her first name to 1,019 letters and her middle name to 36 (but this new name was never published).^[62] She herself would later appear in the Nickelodeon program Figure It Out under the name "Jamie," but using this fact as her identity.
• Louis George Maurice Adolphe Roche Albert Abel Antonio Alexandre Noë Jean Lucien Daniel Eugène Joseph-le-brun Joseph-Barême Thomas Thomas Thomas-Thomas Pierre Arbon Pierre-Maurel Barthélemi Artus Alphonse Bertrand Dieudonné Emanuel Josué Vincent Luc Michel Jules-de-la-plane Jules-Bazin Julio César Jullien, (April 23, 1812 - March 14, 1860) was a French conductor.
• Nicholas Unless-Jesus-Christ-Had-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barbon.^[63] Although "phrase names" were not unheard of with Puritans this is remembered as an unusually long example. He was son to Praise-God Barebone. The story that Praise-God's brothers were named Christ-came-into-the-world-to-save Barebone and If-Christ-had-not-died-thou-hadst-been-damned Barebone (supposedly shortened to Damned Barebone) is disputed.^[64]
• Aldaberontophoscophornia Bowen Fearing^[65].
• Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Locku Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (pronounced "'eɪ.kɑn") is the real name of Akon, a Senegalese-American R&B singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer.
• James Dr No From Russia with Love Goldfinger Thunderball You Only Live Twice On Her Majesty's Secret Service Diamonds Are Forever Live and Let Die The Man with the Golden Gun The Spy Who Loved Me Moonraker For Your Eyes Only Octopussy A View to a Kill The Living Daylights Licence to Kill Golden Eye Tomorrow Never Dies The World Is Not Enough Die Another Day Casino Royale Bond. David Fearn, 23, from Walsall, changed his name to the names of every James Bond movie at the time in order to celebrate the release of the latest Bond film^[66].
• Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish (Cal "Buster" McLish) Pitcher for several major-league baseball teams about 1948-1964. Source: The Baseball Trivia Book by Bert Randolph Sugar.
• Allan Mitchell Edward George Patrick Henry Gallagher ("Dirty Al" Gallagher), played for the San Francisco Giants; parents had saved up names for a boy and gave them all to him when he was born. Source: The Baseball Trivia Book by Bert Randolph Sugar.
• Rodolpho Pierre Filibert Alphanzo Rafael Gugliemli di Valentina d'Antoguella, full name of Rudolph Valentino, movie star
• Anthony Philip David Terry Frank Donald Stanley Gerry Gordon Stephen James Oatway is an English footballer who was named after all 11 players of a Queens Park Rangers F.C. side.
• Zenzile Makeba Qgwashu Nguvama Yiketheli Nxgowa Bantana Balomzi Xa Ufun Ubajabulisa Ubaphekeli Mbiza Yotshwala Sithi Xa Saku Qgiba Ukutja Sithathe Izitsha Sizi Khabe Singama Lawu Singama Qgwashu Singama Nqamla Nqgithi is a South African singer. In keeping with tradition, her full name contains the first names of her male ancestors followed by a one- or two-word description of their character.^[67]
• Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno is an English electronic musician, music theorist and record producer. As a solo artist, he is best known as the father of modern ambient music.

[edit] Portuguese Braganza Monarchs

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

• Carlos Fernando Luís Maria Victor Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Xavier Francisco de Assis José Simão de Bragança, King of Portugal
• Luís Filipe Maria Carlos Amélio Francisco Vítor Manuel António Lourenço Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Xavier Francisco de Assis Bento de Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha e Bragança, Prince Royal of Portugal
• Luís Filipe Maria Fernando Pedro de Alcântara António Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Xavier Francisco de Assis João Augusto Júlio Valfando de Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha e Bragança, King of Portugal
• Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha e Bragança, King of Portugal
• Maria da Glória Joana Carlota Leopoldina da Cruz Francisca Xavier de Paula Isidora Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga da Áustria e Bragança, Queen of Portugal
• Miguel Maria do Patrocínio João Carlos Francisco de Assis Xavier de Paula Pedro de Alcântara António Rafael Gabriel Joaquim José Gonzaga Evaristo de Bragança, King of Portugal
• Pedro de Alcântara Francisco Antônio João Carlos Xavier de Paula Miguel Rafael Joaquim José Gonzaga Pascoal Cipriano Serafim de Bragança e Bourbon, King of Portugal and Emperor of Brazil
• Pedro de Alcântara Maria Fernando Miguel Rafael Gonzaga Xavier João António Leopoldo Vítor Francisco de Assis Júlio Amélio de Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha e Bragança, King of Portugal

[edit] Names changed for business purposes

• 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.
• 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.^[68]
• 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, best known for appearances as the Ultimate Warrior in the WWF. 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 15 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.^[69]
• 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.^[70][71]

[edit] Zappa children and grandchild

Musician Frank Zappa had a penchant for giving his children unusual names. In a segment on The Tonight Show, Jay Leno asked him why he had given his children these names. His answer: "Because I wanted to." In "The Real Frank Zappa Book" he remarked, "People make a lot of fuss about my kids having such supposedly 'strange names'. But the fact is that no matter what first names I might have given them, it is the last name that is going to get them in trouble."

• Moon Unit Zappa, his oldest child, did the valspeak on Zappa's 1982 song Valley Girl. She goes by Moon, insisting that Unit is her middle name.
  • Daughter of Moon Unit: Mathilda Plum Doucette. [1]
• Dweezil Zappa was born Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa because the hospital refused to register the Zappas' chosen name. He has since legally changed his name to Dweezil.
• Ahmet Emuukha Rodan Zappa. His third given name comes from the flying Japanese movie monster of the same name
• Diva Magika (nee Muffin) Zappa. So named because, according to her father, she was screaming louder than all the other babies in the nursery.

[edit] Numbers

• Dix-Sept Rosado, whose first name means "seventeen" in French, was one of several brothers with French numerals for names born to a Brazilian family from Mossoró. He later became a politician and there is a town named after him.^[72] His brother, Vingt-Un ("twenty-one") was a writer and journalist.
• Jennifer 8. Lee She adopted her unusual middle name in her teens, because Chinese custom sees the number 8 as a symbol of prosperity.
• Jon Blake Cusack 2.0^[73]
• Ottavio Cinquanta, president of the International Skating Union
• Perri 6, Director of Policy and Research at Demos and Professor of Social Policy at Nottingham Trent University.
• Ten Million. Baseball player from the 1910s.

[edit] Miscellaneous

• Born God Supreme Thompson^[74]
• @ 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. ^[75]
• 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".^[76]
• Adolf Lu Hitler Marak is an Indian politician.^[77]
• 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.^[78]
• Exree Hipp. Former basketball player at University of Maryland. ^[79]
• The musician Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993 for contractual reasons. He reverted this change in 2000.
• Revilo Oliver, American philologist and Neo-Nazi with a palindromic name.^[80]
• Robert Trebor, American actor with a palindromic name, (Born Robert Schenkman).^[81]
• Sydney Harbour-Bridge, born Ian Howgate; changed his name as a charity stunt.^[82] Other names considered were Sydney Opera-House and Phil Harmonic-Orchestra.

[edit] See also

• Unisex name

[edit] References

[edit] General

• Artigos da Categoria ‘nomes diferentes’, a Portuguese-language website maintained by the Brazilian association of registrars, is a large list of unusual names from Brazil. All Brazilian names mentioned in this article are found there.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• G. Barry Klein—"He named his son Hath Christ Not Died for Thee Thou Wouldst Be Damned Barebone. The son later changed his name to Nicholas Barbon."
• What's in a Name?—Profile of body modification enthusiasts who have changed their names
• "The Philippine name game" at BBC News, 14 January 2006