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I want a new surname (suggestions)

232 replies

HoHoHoliday · 17/10/2023 21:47

A bit random perhaps to some people, but I really want to change my surname!
What are the nicest surnames that you know? Any suggestions?

Background -
My surname from birth, I've always thought it was plain and boring, and it's very common.
I always imagined I would change it when I married, but I never got married, and I'm now late 40s and don't plan to marry even if I eventually meet "the one".
I don't have children, my dad is gone now, my mother has the same surname only through marriage to my dad, my siblings have different surnames through marriage, and I don't feel any particular attachment to extended family so I've no need to "honour" their name.
So I thought I'd treat myself to a new name! I want a name that when I introduce myself, people might think "that's a nice name". Something not overly common, but not so unusual that I have to spell it out repeatedly either. I am English, but I spent five years total living in different parts of Scandinavia so perhaps would be nice to choose a link to that part of my life, but doesn't need to be.

OP posts:
BaronessBomburst · 19/10/2023 14:19

@ElizaWinter naughty! Grin

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 19/10/2023 15:55

I'm trying very hard indeed to think how, in this or any other world, somebody would have the rare opportunity to choose a brand new surname that could be absolutely anything... and then, of all the endless possibilities, they would settle on 'Lardarse' Grin

Hotchocolatemousse · 19/10/2023 16:05

You could have fun naming yourself after a national trust property such as Seaton Delavel or Emmets Garden.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

AFieldGuideToTrees · 19/10/2023 16:08

Oh I want to be called Seaton Delavel!

What a cracking name.

The NT describes it thus: A place of great theatricality, drama and mischief.

Perfect😆

Hugosauras · 19/10/2023 16:16

I think that it very much depends upon your first name.

My husband works with a chap called Paul Mycock. Now that is a disaster!

I rather like
Fitzgerald
Fitzwilliam
Alexander
Darling
Valentine

Hugosauras · 19/10/2023 16:18

Holiday is another nice surname.

Hugosauras · 19/10/2023 16:31

Looking at the soon to be extinct surnames, I think that it has to be either Spinster or PussMaid!! I'm leaning heavily towards the latter. In fact I'm now considering changing my surname.

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 19/10/2023 16:31

You could have fun naming yourself after a national trust property such as Seaton Delavel or Emmets Garden.

That's a cracking idea. I think there's a certain elegance to Polesden Lacey or Darrow Wood.

Not so much Horsey Windpump...

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 19/10/2023 16:34

PussMaid would be a fantastic name for a mad old cat lady Grin

LeefsPrings · 19/10/2023 16:44

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 19/10/2023 16:31

You could have fun naming yourself after a national trust property such as Seaton Delavel or Emmets Garden.

That's a cracking idea. I think there's a certain elegance to Polesden Lacey or Darrow Wood.

Not so much Horsey Windpump...

😂

Hugosauras · 19/10/2023 19:32

@FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper

I know. That's why I'm seriously considering it for myself now! It's just such a fantastic name!

Hugosauras · 19/10/2023 19:36

@FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper

OP should probably also avoid 'Windy Gap', 'Booby Bay' and 'Sandy Balls' despite the allure of a double barrelled surname.

BaronessBomburst · 19/10/2023 19:46

I came across a Murgatroyd today.

Hotchocolatemousse · 19/10/2023 22:20

Unusual or not well known like Jones/ Smith surnames I've come across:
Mullvihill
Garston
Leppard
Geary
Pouget (silent t)
Gutkind
Kaiser
Marriage
Wilberforce
Waithe
Costello

sashh · 20/10/2023 00:31

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 18/10/2023 11:47

Pick something from the beginning of the alphabet so you will always be toward the top of any list.

I was going to say similar. I like A names!

Aardvark?! I could well imagine a global Hollywood star called Linda Aardvark!

Aaron A Aardvark?

@BaronessBomburst Murgatroyd isn't unusual where I grew up.

MaryMaryx3 · 20/10/2023 06:06

L_ Lavender

thelengthspeoplegoto · 20/10/2023 08:26

@HoHoHoliday it is such a liberating idea. The world is your oyster so to say.

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 20/10/2023 10:59

Gutkind

Sorry, did you say that was the surname of a human or of a Yakult?! Grin

Aaron A Aardvark?

No offence to anybody called Aaron, or with a DS of that name, but seeing the name Aaron always reminds me of Michael McIntyre's joke about lazy expectant parents who buy a baby name book with 50,000 names in it to consider; then they just open it at the top of page 1 and say "Yep, that'll do" Grin

Hotchocolatemousse · 20/10/2023 20:12

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 20/10/2023 10:59

Gutkind

Sorry, did you say that was the surname of a human or of a Yakult?! Grin

Aaron A Aardvark?

No offence to anybody called Aaron, or with a DS of that name, but seeing the name Aaron always reminds me of Michael McIntyre's joke about lazy expectant parents who buy a baby name book with 50,000 names in it to consider; then they just open it at the top of page 1 and say "Yep, that'll do" Grin

@FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper yes it's the name of a human but also could be the name of a probiotic!!

Gutkind is the German version of the English surname, Goodchild.

Loopyloooooo · 20/10/2023 20:14

Valentine

NahNahKissHimGoodbye · 21/10/2023 00:19

You want something elegant and exotic that could hint at something interesting like Huguenot ancestors or something.

Or how about a Cornish surname like Warleggan or Enys or Polkerris?

What about a surname which is spelled differently from how it's pronounced ? Featherstone/Fanshawe, Beauchamp/Beecham, Cholmondley/Chumleigh?

I remember a series of children's books with a minor character in it called Major Cholley-Sawcutt. Now that is a name!

sashh · 22/10/2023 05:46

No other Judge Dredd fans then?

WHat about Featherstonhaugh? Pronounced Fanshaw of course.

BaronessBomburst · 22/10/2023 13:54

Yes, but it was a long time ago so that one escaped me. I had to Google it. @sashh

Charliebrow · 22/10/2023 14:26

Summerbee
lovegreen