Odd Names

You have to wonder what goes through the minds of new parents when they decide on the name of their new offspring. Occasionally, some ridiculous names given out. Think about poor Humperdink Fangboner, who grew up to be a lumber dealer in Sandusky, Ohio. Of course, his wife Fanny Fangboner didn't have it much easier.

Then we find Mr. and Mrs. John Senior of New York City, who named their son after his father. The baby thereby became John Senior, Jr. Then there is Mrs. Belcher Wack Wack. She wasn't born with that name, however. It seems that Miss Belcher married Mr. Wack, thereby becoming Mrs. Wack. Following her husband's death, she married her husband's brother but kept her maiden name and her first married name as middle names, as many women do. Therefore, she became Mrs. Belcher Wack Wack.

The Odd Names page on F2.org has many more such listings. Some of them are so outlandish that you might question their authenticity. The site claims that these are all real names, but I have my doubts. Some of these names sound like they came out of a W. C. Fields movie (see footnote). There are no source citations listed, so I will leave the validity to your judgment.

To see some of the strangest names that you will ever see, look at http://f2.org/humour/language/oddnames.html.

Now, just who is in your family tree?

NOTE: If you have never read the credits at the end of a W. C. Fields movie from the 1930s, you have really missed half the humor of the movie. Larson E. Whipsnade, Egbert Souse (pronounced 'soo-ZAY'), Eustace McGargle, Charles Bogle, Otis Criblecoblis, Mahatma Kane Jeeves and other names often appear as actors, writers, and other assorted roles. All are pseudonyms for W. C. himself.

W. C. Fields' name at birth was William Claude Dukenfield.

Comments

[Paula Kelley Ward]

Miss Minnie Tramp (now deceased), lived in LaGrange, Texas, the location of the infamous Chicken Ranch, which became well-known due to the movie, "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."

Miss Minnie Tramp was a real person and an alumna of Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas. I was the systems manager (now retired) for the Alumni/Development Information System there for 23 years.

A new Alumni Director in 1983 thought I had made up the name when he saw an envelope addressed to her.

I wish I could find the list I kept of all of the unique names in that database. If I can, I'll certainly report them to you.

And by the way, my grandmother's name was Minnie Peters.

[Dan Lynch]

Given that Jay Leno's first guest is of no interest, I couldn't resist checking some of these out. Many of these surnames generate ZERO results in a general, all-records search on Ancestry. There were a couple, however, that did surprise me.

There is a divorce record from Lakeland, Florida (April 1957) for Verbal Funderburk and spouse Verlon B. Funderburk. Had to be really careful typing that one!!

There's a family originally from South Carolina that I've helped with their research, they were known as the Alphabet Family because the parents used the first and middle names of their 11 children to spell the alphabet. For those who are counting, the family legend also says that they had a dog and cat named WX and YZ, respectively. I'll post the details of this on www.CelebrityCensus.com since it is a fun story (and documented as truth).

DanL

[Boeufdaisy]

My favorite relative's name is "Coffin Thing", whose father was Benjamin Thing and whose mother was Parnell Coffin.

But "Preserved Fish" is a close second.

[Donna Ewins]

Preserved Fish has long been one of my favorites. He came from a very prominent (and religious) New York family. A close second for me is a distant cousin who was stuck with the given names of Leafy Sue and a student named Minnie Smouse at the school where I once taught.

[Richard Crockett]

Back in Ohio at my old school district there was a girl who had the name "Female," pronounced as a three syllable word: fe-MALL-e. The parent was once asked why that name and the reply was along the lines of, "I had no choice. The name was already on her birth certificate." What an amazing world we live in, LOL!

[donald mcedward]

There was a family named THING that my father used ol tell about they named their daughter Opelia and the son Harry. I thought he made it up until I read an obituary of the family. Then there was an editor with Wall Street Journal, Vermont Connecticut Royster, whose many siblings all had two names and all were named after States.

Donald McEdard

[Kenneth Lary]

My family name is Lary (pronounced like the first name Larry.) I have a cousin named Larry Lary. He has a brother named Terrence (Terry Lary.) Terry married a woman named Mary (Mary Lary.) They had two sons, Terrence Jr. (Terry Lary, Jr.) and Jeremiah (Jerry Lary.) I also had a female cousin named Terrie (Terrie Lary), but she has married now. One of my other male cousins also married a woman named Mary, so there is a second Mary Lary.

[Louise]

A woman named Rose (first name) married a man whose last name was Rose, and thus became Rose Rose. Her sister-in-law is a friend of mine.

[Jason Presley]

There was a minor league baseball player around 1909-1911 named Ten Million.

[Judy Anthony]

And there was the very real and much beloved Houston philanthropist (and daughter of a Texas Governor), Ima Hogg. It is an urban myth in Texas that she had a sister named Ura. What were her parents thinking?

In my own family tree, my favorite family names occur in the family of Comfort Starr. Two of his children were named "Truth Shall Prevail" (later known as Truthful Starr) and "No Strength" (who probably died soon after birth).

[Lauren Maehrlein]

The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society had a member who was a frequent contributor to the Record back in the late 1800's whose name was Royal Paine.

[Sarah]

My husband knew a man named Harry Butt.

[wingnuttwo]

In a town 15 miles from us, we have a Doctor Sickley.
Then up in Alaska there is an Otis "Fa nort ner" I am using the phonetic spelling as I am not sure of the real spelling. I hear this from WGN radio station in Chicago with Spike O'Dell who has called him by phone several times. They claim there in not another "Fa nort ner" around, Otis being the only one.
Regards, :o) Nancy

[David G. Ball]

Years ago is was trolling through a VT census at a Family History Center and piped up that I had just found a "Royal Orange". The lady down the way topped me right away with a young lady on her census page named "Sacred Pickle".

[Robert Ackley]

I remember working at the St. Regis mill in Bucksport, many years ago, with a man named: Harry Pye. Try telling that one at a party, with a straight face!

[Bob Inman]

I worked in the same building with an older lady by the name of Eula Mudd. A guy by the name of Ed Ball came into her life. She became Eula Mudd Ball. It's the truth.

[Bobbi King]

In the old days, there were plenty of outhouses in Wyoming (perhaps there still are!) but I have documented Outhouses in my family.

[Sandi Lee Craig]

my husband grew up in Colorado and some of his best friends were "Outhouses" - only they pronounced the name "ooutt-husee"

[Bill Wolfe]

Then there was the friend of my dentist father, Dr. Farty. As kids my sister and I had great laughs when dad spoke about what a fine dentist Dr. Farty was.

Bill Wolfe
Boulder, Colorado

[Maureen]

I have two examples ... a business contact years ago was Arnold Arnold. Long since died.
I knew a girl named April with the last name Furst. Parents had a twisted sense of humor, I guess.

[DaveD]

The index to the British Births, Marriages and Deaths (online at www.freebmd.org.uk) has four girls between 1837 and 1910 whose parents gave them the name of Emma. Unfortunately the family name is Roydes. ;-)

[Shirley Stwalley]

Some names seem to be appropriate for that person. There used to be two physicians at Seattle Children's Hospital who exemplified that. One was named Dr. Doctor and the other (an anesthesiologist) was Dr. Ether. Sometimes names are destiny.

[Gloria]

I was visiting my mother in a hospital and a new grandmother, Mrs. Baum, was outside stamping her feet in frustration: her son and daughter-in-law had just decided to name their first child Adam.

[Ron Johnson]

Back in the fifties in Portland, Oregon, there was a dentist whose name was Dr. Painless.

[Lois Jamieson]

The town of Westport, Connecticut had not one, but two people named Doctor Doctor. They were married. I think they were dentists.

I used to work for a magazine that did a brisk mail-order business and a book club, and we made lists of the funniest names we found. I don't have the list but two that I remember were Ginny Martini and Biff Wigglesworth.