THE Scot with the country’s silliest name has explained his mind-bending monicker – and plans to make it even longer.
In 2013 Michael Connor Clarke Whittet paid £33 to become Michael Connor Lightning Akimbo Wumbo Wigglesworth Pussyfoot Katzenjammer Clarke Whittet.
The 20-year-old student used the handle to vote in the Scottish Independence referendum and is now planning to add yet more names.
Michael, who is from Edinburgh and currently studying biochemistry at the University of Dundee, said: “I remember reading a list of funny names that people had chosen and decided to look into changing mine.
“It was only about £30 so I thought I would have a bit of fun with it – each word is pretty random.
“I thought Lightning Akimbo had a good ring to it, and the word Wumbo comes from an episode of Spongebob Squarepants.
“Wigglesworth is a character in a PG Wodehouse novel, and I thought Pussyfoot sounded funny.
“Katzenjammer was suggested to me by a friend – it’s a German word which roughly means splitting headache.”
Despite the drastic enhancement to his title, Michael says his family were “not that bothered” since he kept his first and last names the same.
He has even managed to get away with not having to change his driving license or passport – since they both allow for lengthy middle names to be omitted.
“I did have it has my name on my student card for a while,” Michael said.
“But I decided to change it back because they use that name on your graduation certificate, and I got cold feet about that.
“My parents weren’t that bothered about it, I think they were just happy I kept the names they gave to me and simply added to them.
“I’m starting to think that I might add some more words, though I haven’t decided what they will be yet.”
Michael also insists that he spent weeks debating the change before making the final commitment, and it was not the result of a drunken night out.
“I decided to go for length,” he said. “But at the time I thought if I went any longer than that I wouldn’t be able to remember my own name.
“I did use the name to register for the Independence Referendum. When I arrived to vote it was very easy for the assistants to find my name – it ran over four lines.”
Record numbers of Brits have recently been changing their titles to inspired by their favourite footballers, cartoon characters and even food.
One man, Simon Smith, from North London, changed his name to Bacon Double Cheeseburger last year to “spice things up a bit”.
Others have even changed their handles to Happy Birthday, George Thomas The Tank Engine and None Of The Above.
One person went as far as adding the names of twelve Olympic gold medallists to his own.
He is now known as Thomas Steve Redgrave Matthew Pinsent Linford Christie Ian Thorpe Daley Thompson Chris Hoy Seb Coe Carl Lewis Steve Ovett Jonathan Edwards Ben Ainslie Usain Bolt Manly.
Last year the UK Deed Poll Service – Britain’s largest name-changing company – handled more than 60,000 applications alone, and expects even more in 2016.
The process, which takes four working days to complete, costs £33 for an adult and £35 for a child.
