# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785 "2024-07-25T15:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 55
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1081 "2024-12-17T14:35:29Z")
TIL (thanks to [Andrew Hickey’s podcast](https://500songs.com/podcast/song-177-never-learn-not-to-love-by-the-beach-boys-part-two-is-it-true-what-they-say-about-dixie/)) that the 1969 Beach Boys album _20/20_ has the distinction of employing the creative input of no less than _four_ convicted murders. Charles Manson is the uncredited cowriter of “Never Learn Not to Love” Phil Spector cowrote “I Can Hear Music” Huddie (Lead Belly) Ledbetter wrote “Cotton Fields” Jim Gordon was a (Wrecking Crew) session drummer. So, for once, Mike Love might not be the most evil person on a Beach Boys record…._might_ not. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1082 "2024-12-17T18:19:44Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > and germans were notorious for their last names denominating their profession (Müller, Mayer, Schmied, Huber, Schneider,…) And so is English - Miller, Baker/Baxter, Butcher, Smith, Wright, Taylor, Carpenter, Joyner. But I believe there was a time in either Germany or Austria or both when Jews were required to drop patronymics and adopt a family surname, many of which were were derived from their trade. ---
**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:** [December 17, 2024, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1083 "2024-12-17T19:01:33Z")
You make gold-leaf? But I already named someone Goldblatt. So what am I supposed to name you? (Looks out window, sees walnut tree). Guten tag, Herr Nusbaum! ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1084 "2024-12-17T22:44:47Z")
The guide in our recent trip to Vietnam had the family name Nguyen. She explained it was so common there for three reasons: - the last royal house to rule Vietnam was the Nguyen dynasty, and had lots of members - members of previous royal houses often changed their name to Nguyen to avoid being purged by the new house - when the French took over they discovered many people, in rural areas in particular, had no family name. For record-keeping purposes they just gave them Nguyen after that last dynasty ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1085 "2024-12-18T01:09:16Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > when the French took over they discovered many people, in rural areas in particular, had no family name. For record-keeping purposes they just gave them Nguyen after that last dynasty great thinking … to “rectify” people without last name, you all give them the SAME last name. How is that better? … mon dieux!!! ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1086 "2024-12-18T03:02:03Z")
> **[The Most Common Last Name in Every Country, Mapped](https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/most-common-last-name-in-every-country-map)** > > Did your last name make the list? This article shows six basic surname categories ---
**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:** [December 18, 2024, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1087 "2024-12-18T03:38:16Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Random fact: Jeff Dunham is cool (in one way). His autobiography, _All By My Selves_, is also pretty cool as celebrity bios go. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1088 "2024-12-18T03:56:33Z")
Today I learned about [coffin birth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin_birth?wprov=sfti1), which is where the corpse of a pregnant woman will expel the (dead) fetus as a result of the decomposition and accumulation of gasses. It tends to happen in cases where the mother dies and no one is aware of it, such as in the case of a woman who may have been killed and dumped somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1089 "2024-12-18T05:32:03Z")
Vatican City = Bachmann … well that’s a Turner for the books, seems like Overdrive to me. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1090 "2024-12-18T14:17:20Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Vatican City = Bachmann. Not surprisingly, that’s a common Swiss name. ---
**Author:** ![kwintenstraler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kwintenstraler/32/10698_2.png) [@kwintenstraler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kwintenstraler)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1091 "2024-12-18T14:23:02Z")
I thought it was Canadian ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1092 "2024-12-18T15:19:16Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Random fact… … I found the capital **F** in your avatar! (After years of wondering if it had any meaning.) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1093 "2024-12-18T17:49:20Z")
Looking at a [list of the 5000](https://namecensus.com/last-names/) most common names in the US, it seems a little ironic that the generic “Doe” is 4974th. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1094 "2024-12-18T18:34:29Z")
“Smith” is my last name. The family historian said our ancestor Ludvig Schmidt came from Germany in the 18th century and Americanized it to Lewis Smith. Of course, maybe the Smiths that were named after their trade reproduced like rabbits. If so, it seems like “Farmer” would be more common. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1095 "2024-12-18T18:54:59Z")
Farmers were usually not named after their profession since everyone did it. They’d be named after other things like where they lived, a physical feature, or some significant fact of their life. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2024, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1096 "2024-12-18T19:00:28Z")
E.g. Fenwick, for a dairy farmer in a marshy area ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1097 "2024-12-18T19:22:14Z")
Yeah, “Smith” is common as a last name because most every village had one and only one Smith. If there are multiples of a profession, then it’s no good as a last name, because you wouldn’t know which “John Farmer” you were referring to, and if it’s rarer, like barrel-making, then anyone in that profession would be even more likely to bear it as a last name, but there just weren’t as many of them. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1098 "2024-12-18T19:38:07Z")
Or if you were Robert who lived near the woods, you’d be called “Robert atte wood.” Your son would also be called atte wood if his first name was common and eventually, your family is known as the Atwoods. And of course there’s the whole phenomenon of patronymics. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1099 "2024-12-18T19:38:07Z")
And if there were more than one, they would likely be father and son ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1100 "2024-12-18T20:16:45Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Or if you were Robert who lived near the woods, you’d be called “Robert atte wood.” Your son would also be called atte wood if his first name was common and eventually, your family is known as the Atwoods. Yep. Always figured somewhere in the distant past an ancestor lived in an oak forest, was strong as an oak, was as dumb as an oak, had a squirrel runs up his pants leg and steal his nuts, something like that and it stuck. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=54) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=56)