The process of name identification is usually a brief formality that takes just seconds. However, for Lawrence Watkins, this simple task becomes a remarkable feat that requires extraordinary endurance. Pronouncing his full name, which consists of 2,253 words, takes a complete 20 minutes.
This was particularly evident during his first wedding in 1991 when the officiant had to prepare and read a lengthy list of names beforehand.
As guests mingled and enjoyed champagne, the reading continued until the moment Watkins finally stated, “I do.”
Watkins, now 60 years old and a retired armed security guard from Auckland, New Zealand, holds the world record for the longest personal name, a title recently confirmed by the Guinness World Records after they reclassified his original record from 1992, which was for the longest Christian name.
Born Lawrence Gregory Watkins in 1965, the young Kiwi was captivated by the television show “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” which featured unusual facts about extraordinary people, places, and events around the globe.
This fascination soon expanded to the Guinness World Records book, which he read cover to cover, igniting his desire to appear within its pages.
Watkins shared, “I was amazed by those record holders – the fastest man in the world, the tallest, the strongest. People with the longest hair, the longest nails, and so on.”
Eventually, he realized that as a “regular person without any specific talent,” his best chance to achieve recognition lay in creating the longest name in the world. “The only other option was to have the largest height difference between spouses,” he noted.
At that time, the record holder was a man from South Africa of the same height as Watkins, who stands 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm), with a wife who was merely 3 feet (91 cm) tall. So unless he married someone shorter, it wouldn’t be possible.
Legal Challenges
Watkins, now an Australian resident living in Sydney, spent the following month crafting his new name, paying a writer $400 NZD (approximately $230 USD) to document it.
He drew inspiration from Latin, Old English, famous figures, and name books at the Auckland library where he worked, as well as a Maori language dictionary.
Despite having no cultural ties to the Maori, Watkins expressed admiration for the people who speak the indigenous Polynesian language of New Zealand.
His name choices included ones like Love, Florence, and Basil Brush (inspired by a British television fox puppet), as well as several Samoan names suggested by friends, three Japanese names, and two Chinese names, including “Xiao,” which is spelled as “Shal.” He also included the name Gailord in honor of American Olympic gymnast Mitch Gaylord.
“He was a very handsome man, so I borrowed his last name,” Watkins joked, adding that his favorite name is AZ2000, signifying he has over 2,000 names from A to Z.
His complete name spanned six pages, marked with occasional typos that were extremely difficult to correct with a typewriter. He submitted a legal request to change his name in 1990.
The Auckland District Court approved his request, but it was ultimately rejected at the last minute by the registrar general. Watkins recalled, “The registrar said the only way I would get my new name was if I took it to the High Court.”
He added, “The government had no legal grounds to refuse my name change at that time, so I won.”
Watkins was granted his new name and received his Guinness World Record certificate for the longest Christian name with 2,310 words in March 1992. Last month, this record was recalculated and reclassified as the “longest personal name in the world,” reflecting a corrected total of 2,253 individual names for greater accuracy.
Watkins explained, “Not all of my names are Christian; they consolidated the records, likely for clarity. Otherwise, there would be a contradiction between someone with the longest single name and someone like me, who has over 2,000 names in total.”
For everyday use, Watkins now shortens his name to Lawrence Alon Alwi Watkins and signs it simply as Watkins V, indicating the fifth generation.
However, his full name occupies seven pages on his birth certificate, and his original passport required six extra pages to accommodate it.
“My new passport shows only my shorter name and states that I have 2,249 additional names in the notes section,” he said, adding, “But if I travel, I still have to carry a copy of my birth certificate with me in case anyone asks to see it.”
Watkins acknowledged that he followed a “quirky approach” to changing his name, but not everyone shares his enthusiasm. “It’s nice to have something unique,” he remarked. “But others don’t see the humor, or they can’t comprehend that I actually have that many names.”
In one of his four campaigns for mayor of Auckland, he ran under the name “Lord Earl Duke King Saint Watkins,” among other titles he has adopted, including Baron, Pope, and Count.
Following Watkins’ victory in the High Court, New Zealand revised its laws to close the door behind him. Today, citizens are prohibited from adopting names that include titles or official ranks, offensive terms, numbers, symbols, or any name longer than 70 characters, including spaces.
Watkins expressed no regrets about the titles he chose, stating, “If I were crazy enough to change my name again, I would have to drop 98% of them under the new law, and I would lose my Guinness World Record, which was the whole point.”
With the new regulations in place, his legacy is secure—at least in New Zealand.
New Zealand is not the only country with strict rules governing official names. In Iceland, individuals are limited to three specified names, all subject to a naming committee that ensures compatibility with Iceland’s alphabet, grammatical rules, and suitability standards.
Japan witnessed its own notable naming case in 1994, when a family’s attempt to name their child Akuma (meaning “devil”) led to government intervention and a debate about state involvement in naming conventions.
After a lengthy legal battle, the family dropped the name. In Portugal, new parents are required to choose from a pre-approved list of names that comply with traditional Portuguese spelling. For instance, the name Tom is only allowed in its Portuguese form, Thomas.
Names may include a maximum of two first names and four surnames, and Denmark also enforces a pre-approved list of names, with special permission required for alternatives.