NEED TO KNOW
Laurence Gregory Watkins of New Zealand changed his legal name in 1990 by adding more than 2,000 middle names
Guinness World Records gave him the title of world’s longest name, with his full name being 2,253 unique words
Watkins, who worked at a library at the time, picked many of his unique middle names out of library books
One man made a big name for himself 35 years ago.
In 1990, Laurence Gregory Watkins of Auckland, New Zealand, changed his legal name by adding more than 2,000 middle names.
Two years later, Guinness World Records (GWR) gave him the title of world’s longest name, with his record — a full name of 2,253 unique words — first appearing in the annual records book starting in 1992.
Watkins, who was 24 when he changed his name via a legal document calle