Successful entrepreneurs Sergey Brin (Google) and Anne Wojcicki (23andMe) were married from 2007 to 2015. During that time they had two children: a son in late 2008, and a daughter in late 2011.
They named the kids Benji and Chloe, but that’s not all — they also gave the kids a brand new surname: Wojin, a combination of Wojcicki (which is pronounced woh-JISS-kee) and Brin. According to a Gawker tipster, the surname had been created “for security reasons.”
Do you know of any other families with invented/blended surnames?
Update, Nov. 2019: A couple from Sydney, Australia, has been in the news lately because they combined their surnames (Cassar and Sheldon) to create the new surname “Casseldon” for their baby girl, Lyla.
Sources:
- Loudenback, Tanza. “Meet the kids of the world’s richest tech billionaires.” Business Insider 25 Nov. 2017.
- Thomas, Owen. “Google Founder Sacrifices Son, Last Shreds of Integrity to Science.” Gawker.com 12 Mar. 2009.
- Welch, Liz. “The Way I Work: Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe.” Inc.com 29 May 2012.
- Scanlan, Rebekah. “Couple give newborn ‘blended’ surname, sparking divide online.” News.com.au 18 Nov. 2019.
[Latest update: Jan. 2025]
If the surname was given for security reasons, it should have been at least 8 characters long and included at least one number and one special character.
Ha, you’re right! You’d think a Google founder would know that, but I guess not. :)