Imagine you were in a family where they thought naming their children was a game of pin the tail on the donkey… To illustrate, these were two brothers in a family in the early 20th century in Britain.

Leone Sextus Denys Oswolf Fraudatifilius Tollemache-Tollemache de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache and Lyulph Ydwallo Odin Nestor Egbert Lyonel Toedmag Hugh Erchenwyne Saxon Esa Cromwell Orma Nevill Dysart Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache. I mean, come on! The second one’s first 15 initials (oh yes, 15 of the buggers) spell out LYONEL THE SECOND for Pete’s sake.

The reason behind all this was a mad sod of a father: he was a clergyman, who married his cousin (mmhmm) and then went on to double up his surname from Tollemache to Tollemache-Tollemache, probably because he liked the sound of it. Ah well – it wasn’t only these two kids who got the brunt of it, the rest of his brothers and sisters got it too: Lyonel, Lyonesse, Lyona, Leo, Lyonella and Lyonetta – yup, 8 of them in total.

So next time you complain about your family, just be glad, eh?

Related Posts