What's in a name?

One of our colleagues is working on her family history and, using the internet, has more than 3,000 people in her extended family tree. One of the many family names she has encountered is Bottle, including a father and son back in the 19th century with the first names Walter and Arthur. Who says Victorians didn't have a sense of the ridiculous?

Inspired by the Bottles I Googled 'silly names' and came up with the following in a long list of real people whose births were registered in Cornwall during the 19th and early 20th centuries:

Reginald Thistlewayte Cocks
Urania Emma Hodge Button
Orchard Betowing Champion
Adolphus Segro Palmiston Stinton
Wesley Mendelssohn Valatart Barrett the V

Imagine trying to convince the cops that any of the above is a real name...