Random Thoughts

As we noted last week, a Pennsylvania man a few years ago had 26 “first” names to go along with his last name (or surname). He usually identified himself by using just two of his given names: Hubert Blaine.

His last name was Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff. One of his sons was also named Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff, so – as if their names weren’t long enough already – they got to append “Sr.” and “Jr.” to their monikers to distinguish one from the other!

Hubert Blaine Sr. and his wife had another son, Timothy Wayne Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff. Thankfully, they decided that two children were enough.

Those offspring had the opportunity to pass their last name to future generations so we do not have to worry that this particular (and unique!) surname might die out any time soon!

Hubert Sr. was born in Germany in 1914. When he emigrated to the United States he settled in Philadelphia, becoming a typesetter for a newspaper. He enjoyed correcting people who misspelled his name.

Several interesting stories came out of this unique situation. His electric bill used three lines to print his name so that it would fit into the plastic window on the envelope.

When he sued a cab company once, the company decided to settle the claim because they couldn’t pronounce his name. The computer at his insurance company couldn’t process his policy so company employees did it by hand.

And, of course, Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr. made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. He was also featured in numerous magazine and newspaper articles, and he appeared several times on television. He enjoyed the publicity!

He also liked to tell the story of how he came to have such a long name. His great-grandfather created the name in the 19th century when the German government allowed Jews to create last names for themselves.

The original name actually had several hundred letters, and Hubert Blaine used only the first 35 of them! The name translates into “wolf slayer who lives in a stone house in a mountain village.”