THE LONGEST NAMES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 63, 12 September 1938, Page 7

THE LONGEST NAMES

i SOME BRITISH EXAMPLE^ * «*

The Diwan of Kochin's claim that'he ~ has the'longest surname in the world— 4 nineteen letters ■ long—depends on the «* question whether hyphens are admitted *' or not; if they are, a nineteen-letter surname compares ill with quite a num- . ber in our country, let alone Germany, - says the "Manchester Guardian." These hyphenated names originate in differ- - ent ways. •' Two ancient families may - come together and it may be desired to keep the names.of both in existence. *! Often it has happened that lands have ;.* been left on condition that the legatee should add the name or names, of. the *^ original holder to his own; sometimes ~ they have been adopted by a cadet branch and have lapsed again for lack _- of male heirs. ;-■ In the records of the dukedom of ■-, Ormonde there is one ' cadet branch which had a name of thirty-four letters, Z* and there was a Vernon cadet who had.-^ twenty-seven. But there are plenty of ' long ones left. There is a baronetcy which supports the burden of Mil-borne-Swinnerton-Pilkington and an-other-which is Goldsmid-Stern-Salo-mons; One of the igreatest of oiir titles, the Ancaster earldom, which was once a dukedom, has for surname keathcote-Drummond-Wiloughby. We have an Admiral Plunke'tt-Ernle-Erle-Drax. The Earl of Buckinghamshire has the majestic surname :of Hobart-Hampden-Mercer-Henderson. Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis is another generous name. There is a Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-Msckenzie in the Red Books. The Duke of Sutherland has Sutherland-Leveson-Gower for a surname, and Twistletori-Wykeham-Fiennes might reasonably be called * tongue-twister.