British Names Less Cocksure Than Before
By Wyatt Earp | March 26, 2009
The future residence of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
LONDON – The number of people in Britain with surnames like Cockshott, Balls, Death and Shufflebottom — likely the source of schoolroom laughter — has declined by up to 75 percent in the last century.
Heh, heh, “Cockshott.” Oh come on, you’re giggling, too!
A study found the number of people with the name Cock shrank to 785 last year from 3,211 in 1881, those called Balls fell to 1,299 from 2,904 and the number of Deaths were reduced to 605 from 1,133.
Okay, the first paragraph was funny, but does anyone else think that the author purposely wrote the words “Cock shrank” and “Balls fell” next to each other? I usually use the first phrase when talking about Rosie O’Donnell.
People named Smellie decreased by 70 percent, Dafts by 51 percent, Gotobeds by 42 percent, Shufflebottoms by 40 percent, and Cockshotts by 34 percent, said Richard Webber, visiting professor of geography at King’s College, London.
“If you find the (absolute) number goes down, it’s either because they changed their names or they emigrated,” Webber, author of the study, told Reuters on Wednesday. (H/T – Reuters)
You know, after reading this story, I am starting to wonder what the real surnames of Alan B and The British Bird are . . .
Topics: Snarkasm | 7 Comments »
Funniest name I ever came across was Shithead.
Pronounced shy-theed.
When my mother was asked her name, she used to quote the Bible:
“Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon”
I am following family precendent and keeping shtum.
(Actually, you would find it completely uninteresting)
Related and quickly changing the subject, my wife’s Nana was called Violet Fern and a sister was Olive Branch (late Victorian, early Edwardian times there was a fad for plant-based names)
I think Viagra’s home office should be in Cockshott.
Kaveman – I think I met a few of those people.
Alan B – Did their parents keep them well-watered?
Doghouse – Fabulous!!!
Are they suggesting cocks migrate? heh (two funnies in one)
Today they ban the “dirty” street names, tomorrow the “dirty” dialect names.
DL474 – Ba-zing!!!
Morgan – Next the Dutch will ban the word “dike.”