Weird surnames

Not as bad as Kundt’s tube, which we covered in high school physics. (The d is silent, of course.)

There was also the Finnish president Pehr Evind Svinhufvud - “Swine’s head”. Or maybe “Boar’s head” - at least that sounds more macho.

I typed up a few census records for Familysearch.com and came across some very strange names:

Schubmuck
Mandelstrom
Finchlorvich
ffrostbay
Dlugolenski
Eg
Winterfrost
Sujehiry
Ikanbar
Eickemeyer
Ruebottom
Rah
Wilos
Jiembo
Morten
Wacheke
Adomarte
Zaccagnino
Accursu
Marnquin
Engelbretsen
Theeuf
hosegood
Smy

I used to work with Grant Dumbell. Poor guy.

I’ve known two people named Blewett. One was in my freshman dorm in college. His first name was Richard, so of course we all called him Dick.

The 2005 NY Yankees featured a Wang, a Johnson, and A-Rod. While only the first could be considered a weird name, in combination they were pretty funny.

My grandmother’s maiden name was Blower.

I knew a girl with the surname Goodhead.
Billy Twelvetrees is an English rugby player.

I once had an appointment with a Dr. Barfi.

About Ng, a guy with this name worked for me for several years. He pronounced it “ing.”

“Baum” is German for “tree.” (it’s cognate with English “beam” as in the kind you see in a ceiling) The “gardner” part you can probably figure out.

I know some Kinkers, and some Klomps.

There is or was a professor at UW named Glasscock. Etymology is fascinating. Americanization can be hilarious. I’m really fond of the Scandinavian combos:)

Gaylord.

Band name!

Doctor at my dermatologist: Dr. Payne

There was a chiropractor around when I was a kid whose shingle read, “Dr. Wrench.” I went to high school with a Kuntz as well. There was a fencing instructor at a local university named Posthumous.

I met a guy named Early Livestock once.

Lazeroff.

Woodfin Holezapple.

Doesn’t really compare with most of the ones here, but there’s an artist whose last name is WalkingStick - with the unusual capital S with no hyphen and everything.

Schweinsteiger doesn’t mean “pig mounter.” It means “person from the village of Schweinsteig.” Source (in German)

I had a friend by that name in Hong Kong. She tested me by asking me to pronounce it. My home city of Sydney being fairly Asian, I just said “Ng”. Happy to report she was impressed. She said, "Most Westerners say “Ink.”

Have had similar conversations with Chinese (Ng) and Vietnamese (Nguyen) over the subsequent years.

“We don’t have that sound in English”

“Yes, you do. You might not have it at the beginning of words, but you have it. Try “swimmiNG” then take off the “swimmi…” part, and you’ve got it.”

So, essentially, try to avoid the urge to stick a vowel in there, as it doesn’t have one. Once you get that, it’s not too hard.

And, as they say, Hong Kong is the only country name you can say without moving your lips or tongue. :smiley: Ng is like that.