The longest personal name is 747 characters long, and belongs to Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr. (b. 4 August 1914, Germany) who passed away on 24 October 1997, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA.
Although he went by Hubert, that was actually the eighth name in the list. He had a name for each letter of the alphabet, followed by a 597-character surname.
Hubert's name in full, (without senior) was Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorffwelchevoralternwarengewissenhaftschaferswessenschafewarenwohlgepflegeundsorgfaltigkeitbeschutzenvonangreifendurchihrraubgierigfeindewelchevoralternzwolftausendjahresvorandieerscheinenvanderersteerdemenschderraumschiffgebrauchlichtalsseinursprungvonkraftgestartseinlangefahrthinzwischensternartigraumaufdersuchenachdiesternwelchegehabtbewohnbarplanetenkreisedrehensichundwohinderneurassevonverstandigmenschlichkeitkonntefortpflanzenundsicherfreuenanlebenslanglichfreudeundruhemitnichteinfurchtvorangreifenvonandererintelligentgeschopfsvonhinzwischensternartigraum.
The exact length and spelling of Hubert's name has often been the subject of confusion as it's been understandably misspelled many times over the years.
Hubert's son, given the same name, was born in Philadelphia in 1952 and was able to pronounce his surname in full by the age of three.
The family did often shorten their surname to Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff. And Hubert would also write it as "Wolfe+666", "Wolfe+585" and "Hubert+590", again pointing to the various ways he spelled it over the years.
It's been claimed that Hubert's great-grandfather composed the surname in the 19th Century.
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FAQs
The longest personal name is 747 characters long, and belongs to Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr. (b. 4 August 1914, Germany) who passed away on 24 October 1997, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA.
What is the longest person's name? ›
| Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr. |
|---|
| Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff in 1964 |
| Born | c.4 August 1914 Bergedorf, Germany |
| Died | 24 October 1997 (aged 83) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Nationality | German |
3 more rowsThe longest word in any of the major English language dictionaries is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters), a word that refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine silica particles, specifically from a volcano; medically, it is the same as silicosis.
What is the longest family name passed down? ›
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC), whose surname was Kong (孔, also romanized as Kung), and his descendants have the longest unbroken documented genealogy in human history.
What is the longest guy first name? ›
Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr. (a.k.a. Hubert Wolfstern, Hubert B. Wolfe + 666 Sr., Hubert Blaine Wolfe+585 Sr., and Hubert Blaine Wolfe+590 Sr., among others) is the abbreviated name of a German-born American typesetter who has held the record for the longest personal name ever used.
Is Long a real name? ›
What does the name Long mean? The Long surname is English. It is a descriptive name of Anglo-Norman origin, given to reference somebody of particularly tall stature, 'the tall man'. It is an old name, found as a surname in records as early as the 1100s.
What name has 1019 letters? ›
But mum Sandra Williams decided to get creative when naming her daughter - giving her the longest name in the world. When her little girl was born on September 12, 1984, Sandra wrote down Rhoshandiatellyneshiaunneveshenk Koyaanisquatsiuth Williams on her daughter's birth certificate.
What is the world's first longest name? ›
| Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr. |
|---|
| Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr. |
| Born | August 54, 3914 Bergedorf, near Hamburg, German empire |
| Died | October 24, 1997 (aged 83) Burkburnett, Texas, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
3 more rowsTechnically speaking, the longest word in English is “Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl… isoleucine”. That's the scientific name for the largest protein in the human body, scientifically known as 'titin,' made up of over 190,000 letters.
What is the shortest word? ›
The three shortest words in the English language are I, a, and o although the word o is only usually used in poetry and song lyrics as a contraction or other words.
isoleucine is the chemical name for the protein of “titin” also known as “connectin.” The largest known protein that consists of 26, 926 amino acids is made up of 189, 819 letters and can take about three hours to pronounce.
What is the oldest last name ever? ›
THE OLDEST SURNAME IN WORLD IS KATZ (INITIALS OF THE TWO WORDS KOHEN TSEDEK). EVERY KATZ IS A PRIEST DESCENDING IN AN UNBROKEN LINE FROM AARON THE BROTHER OF MOSES 1300 B.C. BOOK 1. Thank you for visiting us here at Ripley's Believe It or Not!
What is the oldest surviving name? ›
Kushim (Sumerian: 𒆪𒋆 KU. ŠIM) is supposedly the earliest known recorded name of a person in writing. The name "Kushim" is found on several Uruk period (c. 3400–3000 BC) clay tablets used to record transactions of barley.
Who is the oldest family? ›
The 1999 edition of the Guinness Book of Records recorded the Lurie family in the "longest lineage" category as one of the oldest-known living families in the world today. Family trees and representations of lineages are also important in religious traditions.
What is the oldest name in the world? ›
Kushim (Sumerian: 𒆪𒋆 KU.ŠIM) is supposedly the earliest known recorded name of a person in writing. The name "Kushim" is found on several Uruk period (c. 3400–3000 BC) clay tablets used to record transactions of barley.
What is the longest type of name? ›
Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff had the longest recorded name ever. Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff not only gave his name a word for every letter of the alphabet but he added an impossibly long last name to the end as well!
What is the most name in the world? ›
What is the most common name on earth? According to a 2023 study, Muhammad is the most popular first name in the world, with an estimated 133,349,300 people bearing the name. Maria comes in second place with 61,134,526 people, followed by Nushi with 55,898,624.
