Business is booming at one Shropshire firm - thanks to people’s penchant for swopping their given names for crazy monikers.
The Legal Deed Service, of Shropshire Street, Market Drayton, has helped applicants to change their titles to bizarre tongue twisters like Animal Stephen Leonidas Floyd Mayweather McManus Edmunds and the odd homage to film characters, such as Dr McLovin.
See our table below for more crazy name changes.
Others have inserted words such as Broccoli and Cauliflower as middle names.
This year, the organisation, which also has an office in London, has helped 16,000 people change their names.
Bosses say the majority of people changing their names are men in their 20s.
Stephen Edmunds has legally become Animal Stephen Leonidas Floyd Mayweather McManus Edmunds.
The 26-year-old, from Surrey, said: “After biting a child at school when I was about 10, my friends gave me the nickname Animal and it stuck.”
“I set up a Facebook group called, ‘If 5,000 people join this group I’ll change my first name to Animal’.
“I’ve always hated the name Stephen and have been thinking about changing it permanently to Animal for years.”
Jamie Jackson, The Legal Deed Service chief executive, said: “Since February 2008, we have had 16,000 people change their names. This is just one of many crazy name changes that we’ve processed.”
Animal said: “I kept Stephen as that was my given name.
“I’m a big fan of history and I like the story of 300 and I just love the name Leonidas - it means lion-like. Floyd Mayweather is quite a big hero of mine and McManus is the last name of a friend of mine who helped me through a lot - an awesome friend, it was a mark of respect.”
Animal said he wants to be taken seriously and plans to change his passport and put the new name on other documents. The only drawback he sees could be future job applications.
“On official forms I would use Animal because that’s my legal name, but for CVs for jobs I would probably start with Stephen, Leonides or Floyd,” he said.
A 19-year-old man could be the bearer of the longest moniker in the world after changing his name with the help of the Legal Deed Service.
George Garatt changed his name to Captain Fantastic Faster than Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Wolverine, Hulk, and the Flash Combined.
Bosses say the music graduate, of Glastonbury, Somerset, now has a name which has more characters than the longest name in the Guinness Book of Records.
FANCY BEING CALLED BROCCOLI?
Dominic James McCarthy Kimberley - changed his name to Han Solo.The 29-year-old sales advisor, from Stourbridge, said: “My family are pretty indifferent about it. They think I’m a crazy person.”
Kurt Anthony Raybould - changed his name to Dr McLovin. The 22-year-old administrator, from Rowley Regis, said he raised £250 for charity by changing his name. He said: “I chose the name from the film Superbad, which is one of my favourite films and I just wanted McLovin but I had to chose two names so put Dr in front of it. I’m keeping it for a month then changing it back.”
Student Alexander James Canwell, 20, changed his name to Alexander James Cauliflower Canwell, while friend Mark Laurence Burridge, 19, changed his name to Mark Laurence Broccoli Burridge. They admitted to being a “little tipsy” at the time and chose each other’s name. Mr Canwell “chose Broccoli as I thought it went well with his last name”.
By Deborah Collins
2 Comments
We used these when we changed the kids names and they were really good. Tom and Jen, Telford.
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I changed my name from Stirling Moss Smith to Y Mab Darogan.
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