Changing names
Did anyone hear the story last week of a chap in New Zealand who said that if 100,000 people join his Facebook group, he will call his new born child Spiderpig? It turns out it was all a big scam, causing disappointment to thousands all over the world, and no doubt relief to his family, oh and of course a lifetime of humiliation has been prevented for the baby-to-be.
I wonder if he (or she) had been named Spiderpig, if he would have changed his name? I think it’s quite original, certainly better than Hipposlug or Chickenbear….. or Hagfish. Talking of name changes, many celebrities change their name. I suppose to sound a bit more wacky. For example…
Woody Allen was actually Allan Stewart Konigsberg, not so catchy now eh? Likewise, Jennifer Aniston was originally Jennifer Anastassakis. And Tom Cruise is really a shortened version of Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, a bit more grand. Marilyn Monroe, known as the most beautiful woman ever, was really a Norma (Norma Jean Mortenson). (goodbye Norma Jean… candle in the wind la la la)
Elton John was previously Reginald Kenneth Dwight. And the list goes on and on.
Writers often go under a pen name. George Orwell was really called Eric Arthur Blair. There is also the great authorship mystery surrounding William Shakespeare: was it actually just the work of another well known author at the time?
And on a similar note, many towns have gone through name changes. No doubt you heard of Nottingham, but did you know in Anglo-Saxon times it was actually called Snotingham? It was under the rule of a Saxon chieftain named Snot, and so it was known as ‘the homestead of Snot’s people’. The only reason Snotingham is now called Nottingham is because the French were unable to pronounce the “sn”! Now there’s a story for good pub banter.
So let’s here it. What would you change your name to to spice things up a bit?
Have a lovely week chums,
Biggy Boris Raindrop V (aka Samuel William Smith)