Friday, 24 August 2007

Funny names: Cornwall Record Office silly names list






The Cornwall Records Office's "Silly names list", compiled from names in their records dating back to the 16th century, was started in 2005 after archive assistant Renee Jackaman spotted a "Horatio Hornblower" in their records. It's been widely reported e.g. by the BBC.

The Cornwall Record office said on their original webpage: "The names illustrate how spelling, religion and family influence the population and what was a serious name now appears odd to the modern world". Any excuse for listing funny names, eh?

I love interesting names (e.g. my first post on nominative determinism, and other nominative determinism posts), so on checking again recently I was sad to find that the list is no longer on the Cornwall Record Office website. Fortunately, I gather this absence is only temporary, while their website is being revamped - they say it'll be back up soon.

In the meantime, I've found versions on the Internet Archive, so if you missed the list and can't wait for their site to be back up, here are the direct links:

Some other famous namesakes, apart from Horatio, include:
Jane Eyre, Levi Jeans, Isaak Newton and Thomas Tank.

My favourites from the "marriage" page are:
John Bath married Elizabeth Duckem
Nicholas Bone married Priscilla Skin
Richard Dinner married Mary Cook
John Mutton married Ann Veale
Charles Swine married Jane Ham.

As for George Edward Short Clampit (St. Breward - married 11/01/1868), well, ahem, all I can say is, I hope his marriage was fruitful nevertheless! At least he wasn't called Ann Inch.

I just like the following names. Some of them are awwww, some of them are "What were those parents thinking?", some are just plain "Huh?!":
Truth Bullock, Judah Bunny, Unite Bunny, Philadelphia Bunnyface, Flower Champion, Sophia Cheese, Charity Chilly, Elizabeth Disco, Foscurinus Turtluff Dyer, Ffaithfull Ffillips, Gentle Fudge, Flower Garland, Obedience Ginger, Silence Green, Offspring Gurney, Guy Guy, Cowbridge Jago, Marmaduke Jewel, Weymouth Lancaster, Freke Dorothy Fluck Lane, Dinah Laundry, Orange Libbye, Lovedy Locket, Longrocanger Long, Epiphany Lullaby, Mary Mutton, Pretty Pinkey, Mahershalalhashbaz Richards, Tobitha Safeguard, Gideon Savory, Orignalhouse Snell, Garthered Trebarfoot, Minnie Daffodil Treverrow, Epiphany Wills, Clobery Silly (who apparently then married a Woolcock).

And I sure hope that nominative determinism didn't prove true in the case of these names:
Patience Creep, Posthumos Dadson, Admonition Danger, Edward Evil, Talent Ferret, Honour Fraud, Blodwen Gripe, Weary Jackett, Kitty Jealous, Fanny Moody Manners, Sufferance Millet, Admonition Mould, Patience Muck, Maudlin Mundy, Faithful Nettle, Hapless Pellowe, Defiance Penfold, Prudence Rentfree, Discipline Richards, Friday Screetch, Fanny Scum, Gilbert Thick, Patience Upright, Freak Ustick, Ernest Evil West, Prissy Willmet.

Fans of the scatological or other bodily parts references may enjoy:
Lulilia Crap, Cornelius Kidney, Hephzibah Lillycrap, Phillipa Offal, Florinda Organ, Elizabeth Pee, Peter Piddle, Elizabeth Poo, Philidelphia Poope, Pee Rodda, Thomas Shewvalbottem, Thomas Tynckler (lucky his first name wasn't John!), Richard Wyndyeate.

The following names might be considered somewhat apt:
Noah Flood, Dyonysia Giddy, Lemon Hart, Cuttance Paine, Harry Vanderwoolf.

And finally, from the department of the faintly rude, at least if you have a naughty and terribly immature sense of humour as I do and think these could be porn star names, I give you:
Narcissus Backway, Absolom Beaglehole, Fanny Cobbledick, Faithful Cock, Fanny Forward, Fanny Honey, Fanny Job, Alice Pinckass, Jeedy Polestag, Lower Polpednick, Clement Rude, and Loveday Rutter.

Of course it isn't just Cornish names that could be silly. If you have come across any others, I'd love to hear them, please add a comment here!

And if you like funny names, you may be interested in my nominative determinism etc posts (warning some are rude!):




4 comments:

Anonymous said...

i went to school with a lady named, anita johnson.

hahahaha
i always thought it was funny!

Anonymous said...

Issac Newton isn't a silly name, it's from his last name that Newton's laws were named.

Anonymous said...

I know of a Rod Wanker...makes me laugh everytime I hear it.

Anonymous said...

I went to school with a girl called Cara Driver.