A genealogist who has spent years examining birth, marriage and death records has revealed some of the strangest names they have ever encountered – including one combination from the 1980s that still stands out.
Neil Fraser runs Fraser and Fraser, the UK's leading probate genealogy firm, where experts spend their working lives tracing relatives through documents including wills, birth certificates and marriage records. That means they have come across thousands of names dating back generations, offering a unique insight into how naming fashions have changed over the years.
And while some of the most unusual examples might be expected to come from the Victorian era, one of Neil's most memorable discoveries was considerably more recent. He said: “When you spend as much time looking through historical records as we do, you quickly learn that unusual names are certainly not a modern invention.”
Victorian-era oddities
Among the historic records examined by Neil and his colleagues was the birth of a girl in 1875 who was named Zebra. They also found an 1842 birth registered under the name Mineral Girl, while another child born in 1907 was given the first name Enough. In another case, a child was recorded simply as Baby Girl.
The unusual discoveries did not stop there. Neil said the team had found a girl who apparently had 26 names, running through the alphabet. They also came across an extraordinary marriage record from 1885 involving a man called Frankenstein Pitt and a woman who was already a Frankenstein herself.
A 1980s record that stands out
But despite the bizarre Victorian-era examples, it was a much more modern record that became one of Neil's favourites. He said: “One of our favourites is much more recent, where we came across a birth record containing the forenames Buzz, Fly, Pineapple, Pedigree, Abbot, Whoopsie and Bun. Even after seeing thousands of records, that one takes some beating.”
Neil said the sheer combination of names was difficult to forget. “It’s very difficult to beat a name like Buzz Fly Pineapple,” he said. The record dates from the 1980s, meaning the person given the unusual collection of forenames could still be alive today.
Neil said that was part of what made the discovery particularly striking. He said: “What makes it particularly memorable is that it isn’t some eccentric Victorian curiosity. The record is from the 1980s. This person is likely still alive.” He added: “You expect the nineteenth century to occasionally throw something unusual at you, but seeing that combination on a comparatively modern birth record certainly makes you stop and read it twice.”
Office favourites and naming rules
The names Whoopsie and Pineapple have subsequently become firm favourites among those working at the firm. “We’ve seen thousands of names over the years, but Whoopsie and Pineapple have definitely become office favourites,” he added. The discoveries highlight just how far naming choices can vary – and how unusual names are not necessarily a new phenomenon.
In some countries, however, parents have faced serious consequences when authorities have decided that a chosen name is unacceptable. One notable case unfolded in Norway after a mother attempted to give her son the name Gesher, the Hebrew word for bridge.
According to Erin McCarthy, speaking on the YouTube channel Mental Floss: "Norway is yet another country that regulates what parents can name their child. One Norwegian mother was fined about $210 for using the unapproved name 'Gesher,' and sent to jail when she didn't pay. She protested, saying that she had been instructed to name her son Gesher, the Hebrew word for bridge, in a dream she had." The mother, Kirsti Larsen, had 14 children and said she had experienced the dream shortly before giving birth to her 13th child in April 1995. She said a voice had told her in English to call the baby "Bridge", which led her to select the Hebrew equivalent, Gesher.
Norwegian authorities refused to accept the name, with officials arguing that it was too foreign, was not sufficiently recognisable as a boy's name and was too similar to the surname Geser. Norway's naming rules, which date back to the 19th century, allow authorities to reject names considered inappropriate or likely to cause problems for a child.
