Meet the Man with 2,253 Middle Names, Who Set a Guinness World Record for the Longest Personal Name

Viral News: Imagine having a name so long that no form of ID in the world could fit it. Sounds impossible? Not for Laurence Watkins.

You’ve probably heard of Billie Eilish (Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell) or Pablo Picasso (Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula). Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso), whose full names are a mouthful. But compared to Laurence, those are practically nicknames.

Back in March 1990, Laurence, born in New Zealand, legally added over 2,000 middle names to his own, totalling 2,253 words. That stunt earned him a Guinness World Record for the longest personal name ever.

Why did he do it? Laurence told Guinness he had always been fascinated by quirky records and wanted to be part of that unusual world. He read the record book cover to cover and realised the only record he could beat was adding more names than anyone else.

The process wasn’t easy. Computers were rare, so he even paid a few hundred dollars for someone to type all the names. His application was accepted by the District Court, then rejected by the Registrar General—but Laurence didn’t back down. He appealed to New Zealand’s High Court, which eventually ruled in his favor. The country even changed two laws afterward to prevent anyone else from attempting the same feat.

Initially, Guinness awarded the record for 2,310 names, later revised to 2,253. Laurence, who worked at a city library at the time, picked names from books and suggestions from coworkers. His favourite? AZ2000, representing names from A to Z with 2,000 words.

People often struggle to imagine the sheer length of his name. The biggest challenge for Laurence? Government paperwork—no ID can hold it all.

Will anyone ever beat this record? Maybe, maybe not. But for now, Laurence Watkins holds a distinction no one else on the planet can claim. And trying to type out his full name here? We’d still be at it.

ALSO READ: Why Is Google Doodle Celebrating Idli Today? Know The Story Behind This Popular South Indian Breakfast