Product Description

Russell Ash has trawled parish registers and censuses going back 900 years to compile the first ever complete book of breathtakingly unlikely-but-true British names. It features an incredible and diverse range of totally genuine names, evoking everything from body parts (Dick Brain), sex (Matilda Suckcock), illness (Barbaray Headache) and toilet functions (Peter Piddle) to food (Hazel Nutt), animals (Minty Badger) and places (Phila Delphia). Every single one has been checked for authenticity and its source is given, as well as extra notes where further fascinating illumination is possible. The book provides a rigorously researched yet laugh-out-loud overview of Britain's eccentricity through the ages.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #71880 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Allison Pearson, Daily Mail, October 3 2007
'Hilarious... all of [the names] make you happy to belong to a people who believe it is their patriotic duty not to take themselves too seriously'

About the Author

Russell Ash is best known for his annual THE TOP TEN OF EVERYTHING and other popular reference works, but he is also the author of numerous humour titles. His extensive research work encompasses biographical studies and genealogy. www.RussellAsh.com

Customer Reviews

Childish, hilarious, smut!
I challenge anybody not to laugh out loud at SOMETHING in this book. It's a bunch of lists of people's genuine names, divided into themes. Some of them are eye-wateringly rude, others just weird or make unintentional phrases. It's a book to read in small doses, to avoid overkill, and it the quality isn't maintained up to the end, which is why I "only" rate it 4*. Makes a great present for anyone who will laugh at things because they sound funny, with no further analysis needed. And it makes a fab toilet book!

One of the best
Not since David Sedaris's ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY and McCrae's KATZENJAMMER have I laughed so much at names and situations. This is a great book, but the most amazin part is that it's true!

The research that went into this is incredible and one can only imagine the author knocking on doors, asking for information. WHY parents would name some of their kids these things is beyond the imagination, but it happens. "Rosetta Pennis?" Come on! Were you TRYING to put you kid in a mentai institution? Would also recommend the book DO ANTS HAVE ARSHOLES? which is equally funny, but on a different level.

Endless Fun and Thought!

This and PETER CAVE'S CAN A ROBOT BE HUMAN have been my best 2 book buys for a long time. Ash makes you laugh and wonder and Cave makes you laugh and think. They are an excellent combination to buy together!