10 Bizarre Legal Name Changes

The law allows people to change their names, maybe to give such people a sense of self-fulfillment or to make life better. We may never know the real reason behind this privilege; however, what we do know is that some people have abused it and seized the opportunity to make extremely bizarre legal name changes. These are ten legal name changes that went over the top.

Related: 10 Of The Most Unflattering Nicknames Given To Royals

10 Londoner Changed Name to Favorite Food

A man named Simon (Sam) Smith changed his name to reflect his love for food after a night in the pub. Smith legally changed his name to “Bacon Double Cheeseburger.” One thing that we find funny about this particular name change is that Sam was drinking with friends when he made the application. By procedure, Smith needed to sign a paper confirming that he indeed applied for the name change before he could begin answering to his new name.

Coincidentally, Smith was again drinking with friends when the confirmation paperwork came. His friends were unanimous in their support for his new identity. Smith also received support from his co-workers, but his fiancée did not find his new identity funny.^[1]

9 Man Named Himself after an Iconic Movie Spy

The name “James Bond” is familiar all over the world, thanks to the highly talented writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. When Ian Fleming died, other authors also continued from where he stopped with due authorization. The James Bond character has been adapted for television, radio, film, and video games with huge success.

Although the exploits of James Bond in movies do amaze us, what we find most amazing is the exploitation of a James Bond fan in the real world. A man named David Fearn changed his first and last name to all the James Bond movies ever produced, 21 titles in all. All we can say is, “Hello, James Dr No From Russia with Love Goldfinger Thunderball You Only Live Twice On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Diamonds Are Forever Live and Let Die The Man with the Golden Gun The Spy Who Loved Me Moonraker For Your Eyes Only Octopussy A View to a Kill The Living Daylights Licence to Kill Golden Eye Tomorrow Never Dies The World Is Not Enough Die Another Day Casino Royale Bond.”^[2]

8 A Dentist Changed His Name to Calm Patients

Removing your tooth in the 1900s was not something you would look forward to. In that age, the pain of having your tooth extracted was severe. It begins from the moment it is removed and lasts for several days. Unfortunately, the technology at that time did not allow for effective pain relief. In those days, doctors went the extra mile to ensure that their patients did not focus on the pain.

Edgar Randolph Parker was a poor student who only graduated because he begged the Dean to pass him after so many failed attempts. He struggled to get patients, so he decided to be innovative and looked for a way to bring his dental practice to life. He would inject patients with watered-down cocaine before pulling their teeth. He went as far as legally changing his middle name to “Painless” in order to earn the trust of his patients. He ended up losing his dental license in several states.^[3]

7 A Man Once Defamed Yorkshire Bank by Changing His Name

There is no shortage of stories of people getting angry at banks and trying their best to embarrass them. While cases of angry customers do not surprise us, we are surprised at how a customer became innovative in dealing with the situation.

Michael Howard was a customer of Yorkshire Bank when he received notice that the bank had charged him £20 for being £10 overdrawn. Howard had a row with the bank manager, which was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak.

This led Howard to legally change his name to “Yorkshire Bank are Fascist Bastards.” The bank could not hide its embarrassment and demanded that Michael Howard change his name, close his account, and move to another bank. Such a customer was undoubtedly too expensive for Yorkshire Bank.^[4]

6 Home Alone Star Multiplied His Name by Two

You might have watched the movie Home Alone during this past holiday season. The movie stars Macaulay Culkin, who defends his suburban Chicago home from a home invasion by a pair of robbers when his family accidentally leaves him behind on a vacation to Paris. The movie has many fans worldwide, and the same goes for the lead actor Macaulay Culkin.

One day, Culkin was feeling playful—he made a post on the internet suggesting that people should decide a middle name for him. Guess what? The voting results came back, and the middle name suggested was Macaulay Culkin. Since his first and last names are already, the actor was stuck with the name “Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin.”^[5]

5 The Ultimate Warrior Legally Changed His Name

There is a chance you might know the wrestler named “The Ultimate Warrior.” He was born James Brian Hellwig. and was a very popular wrestler during the era of Hulk Hogan. He eventually legally changed his name to “Warrior,” which should not have been surprising at all as he was already associated with the name. But what makes this name change so bizarre?

In case you didn’t know, Warrior’s belligerence did not end at the level of American Professional Wrestling. He was quite belligerent in real life, too. To put it in simple terms, he was a “warrior” in the real world. No one who knew him in the real world would ever miss the fact that he was an irritable person.

He once wished manager Bobby Heenan would die of cancer, insulted the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and celebrated the death of Heath Ledger. When a man who was supposed to be a warrior on stage becomes one in the real world and changes his name to reflect it, the whole thing becomes totally bizarre.^[6]

4 Captain Fantastic Is Faster Than All Other Comic Heroes

In 2008, a 19-year-old from Glastonbury, UK, traded his birth name—George Garratt—for a very unique name you cannot miss. The name is “Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spiderman Batman Wolverine Hulk and The Flash Combined”. This made Captain Fantastic automatically become a member of an elite club of people with unusually long names.

While Captain Fantastic is happy with his new name, it didn’t come without some social costs. We do know that his grandmother stopped speaking to him as soon as she heard about the stunt. The change of name immediately gave him the longest personal name in the world (for a time). George publicly stated that what influenced the name change was that he wanted a unique name for himself and went for a superhero theme.^[7]

3 Man Changed Name to Ask a Question

A man named Justin Brady from Las Cruces, New Mexico, went to court for an unusual change of name because the relationship between him and his adoptive parents had broken down irretrievably. His adoptive parents are named Brady, and naturally, he was named after them. However, when things turned sour, he went for a name his friends gave him—”Bubba.”

The first name idea that came to his mind was “Why Not Bubba?” But he decided that this was rather too long. He settled for “YNOT,” a shorter form of “Why Not.” Justin filled out the necessary applications and legally changed his name to “Ynot Bubba.”^[8]

2 Madonna Vogue on the Cover of a Magazine

Madonna is an iconic American singer, songwriter, and actress who is popularly known as the “Queen of Pop.” She attained popularity in the 1990s and has continued to be in the limelight to this day. The decades of Madonna’s popularity have turned her into a super icon of sorts, with many fans willing to do some outrageous things to celebrate her.

In 2009, a set of twins and their friend from the UK decided to change their names legally to honor the music legend. While Lianna Dawson changed her name to “Lianna Madonna Vogue On The Cover Of A Magazine McHale Dawson,” Emma Dawson changed her name to “Emma Confessions Of A Dance Floor McHale Dawson.” Gemma Mitchell, a friend of Lianna and Emma, changed her name to “Gemma True Blue Strike A Pose Carroll McHale Dawson Me Me Mitchell.”

The trio are eternal fans of the pop star. They go to her shows as much as they can and have purchased every single album and DVD she has ever made. The three ladies have not had the opportunity to meet Madonna in person since they changed their names.^[9]

1 None of the Above

Luther Devine Knox was a Winnsboro farmer who also had political inclinations. He contested in multiple gubernatorial elections; notable among them was the 1979 Louisiana gubernatorial election. One of Knox’s objectives was to ensure that a voter has the choice to pick “none of the above” as an option during an election if none of the candidates appeal to such a voter. He aimed to make sure that voters do not elect people who are incompetent in the name of having no choice.

Knox believed that if “none of the above” was selected by the majority, then the election would be redone until the right candidate stepped up. The more Knox argued his position, the more resistance he met from government officials at all levels. In fact, many believe that this weird position of his was why he became a perennial candidate who never got close to winning the Louisiana gubernatorial election.

When Knox saw that all the conventional ways of achieving his objective had been used up without result, he decided to do something bizarre. He changed his middle name to “none of the above.”^[10]