When most people stumble while introducing themselves, it usually lasts just a few seconds. But for Laurence Watkins, that moment stretches past an hour.
The Australian record-holder, whose legal name stretches across 2,253 words, holds the Guinness World Record for the longest personal name ever recorded. It’s a title he’s lived with for decades, and one that quite literally takes his breath away.
“I’ll give it my best shot,” Laurence said with a grin before attempting to read his entire name aloud for a Guinness World Records video. Even after all these years, he still needs a printed list to get through the marathon of syllables.
Some of his names are ancient and majestic drawn from Old English, Latin, and biblical roots, while others simply caught his eye in the pages of books. Working in a city library in the 1990s, Laurence found inspiration in every corner of the shelves. “My favourite name is AZ2000 meaning I have names from A-Z and I have 2000 names,” he explained proudly.
But this record wasn’t achieved overnight. Back in March 1990, Laurence legally changed his name, submitting an application stacked with 2,251 middle names. He even had to hire someone to type it all out, a task costing him a few hundred dollars at the time.
The bureaucratic journey that followed was almost as long as his name itself. Though the District Court accepted his application, the Register General initially rejected it. Laurence refused to back down, and after taking his case to the High Court of New Zealand, he finally won the right to rename himself as he pleased.
Soon after, however, the government changed the law to prevent others from attempting similar stunts, a testament to how remarkable his record was.
At his wedding years later, the officiant spent a jaw-dropping 20 minutes just reading his full name. But when Laurence decided to read it himself for Guinness, the moment became almost surreal. Over an hour passed before he reached the final word.
“I was always fascinated by the quirky unusual records that some people went for,” he told GWR. “I read the Guinness World Records book from cover to cover to see if there was a record I could beat and the only one I had a chance at beating was adding more names than the current holder.”
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