My moniker is the planet's lengthiest – featuring 2,253 distinct terms.

Laurence WatkinsMeet the man with the world's longest name... who had to win a lengthy legal battle to land his title Taken without permission fromhttps://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2025/10/meet-the-man-with-the-worlds-longest-name-who-had-to-win-a-legal-battle-to-keep-itPlease Legal — Laurence Watkins sports quite a few middle names (Picture: Guinness World Records)

Upon your first encounter with Laurence Watkins, you may not instantly realize there’s anything remarkable about him.

However, this changes when you happen to see his credentials and observe his collection of over 2,000 middle names.

Laurence conveyed that he was ‘always intrigued’ by the eccentric and marvelous Guinness World Records individuals around the world have achieved or attempted to surpass.

He mentioned: ‘I truly desired to be involved in that scene.

‘I perused the publication completely to ascertain if there was a record I could overcome, and the sole one I had a possibility of exceeding was incorporating more names than the existing record holder.’

After resolving to shatter the world record for the most extended name, Laurence accepted suggestions from companions, relatives, and colleagues regarding which novel names to append.

It required considerable time, and his middle names originate from a diverse array of cultures.

The catalogue also encompasses terms like ‘love’ and ‘math’, designations of fictional characters such as ‘Sherlock’, archaic deities such as ‘Dionysus’, and sustenance items like ‘tofu’.

World's longest name - meet the Kiwi who owns the record At first glance, Laurence Watkins appears to be your average Kiwi guy. He?s a softly spoken, former librarian, who married the love of his life. But don?t let that fool you, he is anything but average. Watkins broke a world record in 1992, one, that - according to the law now - can never be repeated, at least in New Zealand. He has the longest name in the world - he even had to fight to keep it in the High Court. He secured the Guinness World Record in 1992, a record that still stands today, some 33 years later. You might be thinking it?s something like New Zealand?s longest place name. Rather, Watkins has 2310 middle names. It?s so long it took his wedding celebrant more than 20 minutes to recite at his wedding. The names are a mix of everything from European, to M?ori and even Samoan. The latter two he has no cultural ties to. When asked how he record his name on official documents he has to fill out, Watkins takes a short cut, saving on time and ink. ?My usual signature is just my surname and for all official purposes where they want my name it?s just my first three names so Laurence Alon Aloys Watkins." Watkins told Stuff he had always wanted to be in the Guinness Book of World Records, but said it was difficult for an individual to get into it. ?I'm not the strongest man in the world, or the tallest or the fastest. So, I did really want to get into the Guinness, but it's very difficult,? he said. ?So I read the Guinness from cover to cover, and that was the only record. There were two records that were possible for just an average Joe to do. One was the names and the other record I saw was the greatest height difference in a married couple. ?I think back then it was a South African guy. He was about the same height as me, 6'2, and he married a three-foot woman. So, unless I could have found a 2-foot woman it wasn?t happening.? Watkins chose to break the world record for the longest name in 1990, at age 24. — This represents merely one of the six pages comprising Laurence’s entire name

Additionally, this transpired in 1990 when computers were considerably less prevalent, which implied that eventually he compensated someone a few hundred dollars to transcribe the comprehensive enumeration for him.

Laurence, hailing from New Zealand, secured the Guinness World Record for the most protracted personal name subsequent to amassing 2,253 distinct terms altogether.

His petition was sanctioned by the district court, although it was turned down by the registrar general.

Subsequently, resolute in his objective, Laurence appealed his case to New Zealand’s High Court.

The tribunal concurred with him, thereby enabling him to retain his extraordinarily lengthy name.

Nevertheless, it also amended two other regulations to forestall other individuals from replicating the endeavor – rendering it exceedingly challenging for any other New Zealanders to undertake an attempt to surpass his record.

Possessing an exceptionally extended name entails certain difficulties.

Laurence’s complete name cannot be accommodated on any form of identification, and his wedding officiant required over 20 minutes to articulate them all during his ceremony.

His preferred selection amongst all his middle names is AZ2000, due to its implication: ‘I possess names from A-Z and I have 2,000 names’.

Regardless of all the administrative complications, Laurence remains proud of being a world record proprietor.

Sourse: metro.co.uk