Morecock, Fartwell, & Hoare: A Collection of Unfortunate but True Names

By Russell Ash

Book Overview

There's a baby born every minute and each one has to be named. In this book, you'll find an insanity of nomenclature that beggars belief. Russell Ash has trawled birth, marriage, and death certificates, phone books, and censuses going back centuries to compile a compendium of breathtakingly unlikely-but-true names.Why on earth would Mr. and Mrs. O'Shea name their son Rick? What were the Fants thinking when they named their child Elle? Or Mr. and Mrs. Royd, for that matter, when naming their daughter Emma? Or how about Everard Cock, Page Turner, or Sally Forth? In this painstakingly researched, utterly true, riotously entertaining collection, readers will discover real-life examples of some of the most unusual, crude, and shocking names ever, presenting a laugh-out-loud overview of eccentricity through the ages.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312545355
• ISBN13: 9780312545352
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.4" x 1.0" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Morecock, Fartwell, & Hoare: A Collection of Unfortunate but True Names

In this gleefully written volume are some of the silliest English names in history. I know of some silly-but-true names already, so when I see a volume like this I imagine it's filled with names not too far off from those I've already encountered. That said, author Russell Ash has done a fine job crafting this book, and it's organized so as to explain much prior to diving into the lists of various genres of ill-considered names. I didn't expect to get as many laughs out of this book as I ultimately did get, and confess to having laughed myself to tears once or twice. Despite the fact I didn't find anyone named Hammond Egger in there, and clearly some of the names wouldn't be funny if not for the advent of something over time to make it so (e.g. the name Minnie Cooper wouldn't be funny prior to about 1970) there was no shortage of really incredibly silly names in this book. Some names were painfully embarrassing. This book could be a very dangerous thing in the hands of a pubescent boy a la Bart Simpson so I'd recommend keeping it away from the `tweens in the house. Short of that, especially over cocktails or coffee, this is a great little book to have strategically placed for a little conversation-making. Reviewed by John Cloutman