# Is "Death" ever a surname? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 23, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658 "2006-07-23T01:23:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/1 "2006-07-23T01:23:32Z")
Just went to see “Pirates of the Carribean 2” (fun). Sat through the credits and I could swear I saw somebody in the credits whose last name was “Death” WTF? Is there really anybody with that as a last name? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/2 "2006-07-23T01:28:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Death: One who played the part in plays or pageants. > > D’Eath: Camouflaged form of the name Death. Surname Meanings ([nameseekers.co.uk](http://www.nameseekers.co.uk/surname.htm)) ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/3 "2006-07-23T01:36:09Z")
I just looked at the cast and crew on IMDb and don’t see Death as a surname, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/4 "2006-07-23T01:43:43Z")
There were a number of [De’Aths](http://www.imdb.com/find?s=nm&q=death) in the crews of _other_ movies, though, along with a couple of "Death"s. (Though, from the context, it looked to me like they were probably pseudonyms) ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/5 "2006-07-23T01:48:43Z")
My Fiancee served a woman at her job the other day and noticed the surname name on her credit card was De’Ath. The customer was a fairly normal older woman, so it seems to be a legitimate surname, albeit one not many people would want- much like, say Hitler- so I imagine a few of them change it by deed poll. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/6 "2006-07-23T01:55:43Z")
“Mortimer” means “dead sea” “Morton” is Gaelic for “big hill,” no Latin mort/death root One of the Bazooka Joe comic characters is named Mort. Instead of a black hood, his apparition is a turtleneck over his lower face. (Bazooka Joe himself is the Cyclops and pesty, true to his name, is the trickster god.) ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/7 "2006-07-23T02:12:41Z")
The InfoSpace white pages turns up a few dozen folks with the last name of **Death**. I think my favorite is _Debbie Death_ of Statenville, GA. I mean, how could you not love a name like that? 🙂 The Social Security Death Index (how appropriate :)) lists 50 people with the last name of **Death**. ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/8 "2006-07-23T02:18:06Z")
Generally, it’s pronounced Deeth. [Jason Death](http://www.nrlonfox.com/cgi-bin/viewteam.pl?team=Souths) plays for my beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs. There was also a fellow called [Steven Death](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Death) who kept goal for Reading in the 1970’s. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/9 "2006-07-23T02:18:38Z")
The Social Security Death Index has 51 people with the surname “Death”: Albert Death (1908-1981), Anne Death (1906-1971), Athaline J. Death (1920-2000), Betty Death (1920-2004), Betty Death (1895-1993), Calvin Death (1899-1994), etc. And a Harley D’Eath (1911-1982). The 1930 U.S. Census has 173 people with the surname “Death”. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/10 "2006-07-23T02:18:50Z")
How about Colonel Richard Geoffrey Pine-Coffin, DSO, MC and Bar, known to his airborne troops as “Wooden Box”? > **[Richard Pine-Coffin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Geoffrey_Pine-Coffin)** > > Colonel Richard Geoffrey Pine-Coffin, DSO & Bar, MC (2 December 1908 – 28 February 1974) was an officer of the British Army who saw service during the Second World War. He commanded the 3rd Parachute Battalion in North Africa and the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion in Normandy, Belgium and Germany. His troops, amused by the unusual applicability of his family name (soldiers were usually buried in simple pine wood coffins), referred to him as "Wooden Box". > Born to John Edward Pine-Coff... ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/11 "2006-07-23T02:48:52Z")
They refer to the Grim Reaper as “Mr. Death” in Monty Python’s “Meaning of Life”. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/12 "2006-07-23T02:56:50Z")
Had a student with the last name of Death. I remember at first pronouncing it as /_deeth_/ only for her to tell me, no, it’s pronounced like “death”. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/13 "2006-07-23T03:38:38Z")
There are 28 Deaths listed in the telephone directory for metropolitan Sydney. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/14 "2006-07-23T04:08:40Z")
There’s always Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey. Of course he suffers from the handicap of being fictional. ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/15 "2006-07-23T04:12:42Z")
I knew a Dr Death, pronounced deeth. No not Jack Kervorkian or Jayant Patel. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/16 "2006-07-23T05:54:26Z")
[QUOTE=antechinus] I knew a Dr Death, pronounced deeth. No not Jack Kervorkian or Jayant Patel. [/QUOTE] And there’s me. No, my name isn’t really “Deth”, but “Deth” is a real last name. “De’Eath” is from Terry Pratchett. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/17 "2006-07-23T10:27:31Z")
In 1987, I spent a night with a very nice family in St Helens in Tasmania (who had picked me up hitchhiking) whose surname was Death. They, too, insisted that it was both spelt and pronounced “death” - none of this “De’Ath” nonsense. I believe they were originally from Cornwall. ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/18 "2006-07-23T10:46:05Z")
Seems we Aussies have lots of Deaths. I also taught a student by that surname, but he insisted it was pronounced Deeth. Very upper class Melbourne family. ---
**Author:** ![gabriela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@gabriela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gabriela)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/19 "2006-07-23T10:50:48Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] There’s always Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey. Of course he suffers from the handicap of being fictional. [/QUOTE] Damn, I was going to be the one to say that. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658/20 "2006-07-23T10:52:49Z")
[QUOTE=antechinus] I knew a Dr Death, pronounced deeth. No not Jack Kervorkian or Jayant Patel. [/QUOTE] There was a Dr. Death (Deeth) at the local hospital here as well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-death-ever-a-surname/365658.md?page=2)