And The Weirdest Name Award Goes to…Taco Monster!

Fact: There is a Dutch medical professional named Taco Monster.   

Most Americans have heard the urban legend about twins named Lemonjello and Orangejello, which further internet research suggests might actually be the names of at least one set of twins in the US’s Deep South. One guy’s parents, however, appear to have taken the whole baby name search thing to a completely different level.

Mr Taco B.M. Monster, officially the winner of the Name of the Year Award for 2011 (after narrowly missing out on the title in 2010), is a pharmacoepdimeiologist - don't ask - from the Netherlands and the author of ‘Oral Contraceptive Use and Hormone Replacement Therapy are Associated with Microalbuminuria”. Clearly he doesn't lead the most normal of lives.

And he is not alone. In recent years new baby names have begun to be introduced from a multitude of seemingly unlikely sources. I was once helped by a Walmart cashier named Aquanetta in Durham, NC, maybe 15 years ago. Let us not forget Moon Unit, Diva, and Dweezil Zappa, all progeny of legendary jazz-rock composer and band leader, Frank Zappa. Celebrities in general, seem to be all out of ordinary names for their babies – we have Apple, the daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, and of course Maddox, the adopted son of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. But they can almost be forgiven when you think of Sage Moonblood Stallone. And then we can take a look at the Jackson family, who gave us Blanket (or Prince Michael II) from the King of Pop himself, as Jermaine Jackson blessed the world with Jermasjesty.

Some of the more outrageous names for ordinary folk one can find during a brief bit of web research are:

- Strummer, Marvelous, and Brilliant from America, who are all male; Tomorrow, Future, and Sundae also from America, but female

- Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 (pronounced "Albin") who is a Swedish, male and was the centre of a very famous 1991 legal case against his parents by the Swedish government

- Nicholas Unless-Jesus-Christ-Had-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barbon, an English male who lived from 1640 - 1698

- Batman Bin Suparman from Singapore, a male; and lastly, the 2011 Name of the Year Runner-Up, Courvoisier Winetavius Richardson.

Needless to say, Taco Monster takes the cake.

What’s the strangest name you’ve ever heard? Learn more about strange Dutch habits, including tulips and tea facts, with our Dutch themed True or False game!