I can’t play a prank on you for April Fools’ Day, but I can give you a list of personal names that seem like pranks.
Except, they’re not.
All of the below are legit first & last names that belonged to real people — often multiple people. (In parentheses I’ve added rough estimates of how many instances I’ve come across so far.)
- Alma Mater (several)
- April Showers (dozens)
- Bear Trapp (one)
- Candy Cane (several)
- Cliff Hanger (several)
- Constant Agony (two)
- Constant Craps (one)
- Crystal Ball (dozens)
- There’s also Krystal Ball, who ran for office in Virginia a few years back.
- Death Knox (one)
- Gettysburg Battle (one)
- Gold Mine (two)
- Green Bean (several)
- Hazel Nut/Nutt (dozens)
- Ima Hogg (one)
- Jed I Knight (one)
- London England (dozens)
- Mud Brown (three)
- Never Fail (two) — father and son
- The son’s headstone offers context for the name by referencing 1 Corinthians 13: “Love never fails.”
- Norman Conquest (two)
- North West (hundreds)
- Nude Mann (one)
- Orbit Moon (one)
- Orchestra Harp (one)
- Paris France (several)
- Preserved Fish (several)
- Pullman Carr (several)
- One had the middle name Palace, as in the Pullman Palace Car Company.
- Rainy Day (one)
- River Bottom (one)
- Rocky Mountain (dozens)
- Sandy Beach (dozens)
- Sea Shore (several)
- Seymour Butts (two) — not just a Bart Simpson prank call!
- Shanda Lear (one)
- Silence Bellows (one)
- Soda Popp (one)
- Strong Beer (one)
- Tell No Lyes (several)
- Ten Million (one)
- He had a daughter named Decillian Million.
- Timber Wood (one)
- He has a sister named Drift Wood.
- Truly Wright (several)
- Tu Morrow (one)
- Daughter of actors Rob Morrow and Debbon Ayer (read: debonaire)
Which one do you think is the best? Or should I say, the worst?
Sources:
- Find A Grave
- FamilySearch.org
- Lipton, Mike. “All Adding Up.” People 18 Apr. 2005.
Image: Falstaff (1921) by Eduard von Grützner
I actually wouldn’t mind being named Silence Bellows…its a bit poetic.