fun stuff

names - what were the parents thinking of?

An essential part of storytelling is to give your characters great names. But when it comes to real life...

Jed I Knight

Amanda Lynne
Wonder whether she ever met Captain Corelli?

Drew Peacock
The name given by Russell Peacock and Shetal Patel to their son in October 2004, according to The Sun.
In a charming email, his father tells me that the lad is now known as Tyler, and “I trust he will be very happy with this decision when he's older”. I think he will…

Anne Teak
School friend of my mother

Bina Mistry

Everard Dick
His exploits have featured in several local papers in Oxfordshire. And this was no momentary aberration: the parents named his sister Ophelia. (No, I'm not making this up. My informant is a barrister with a brass plate and everything)

Dr Alter
Cheating a bit, this one. His parents weren’t to know that he was to become a cosmetic surgeon

Ida Hoh
Workmate of my wife

Isaac Hunt
It was week 2 of a mortgage deed audit deep in a bank vault in Birmingham. It wouldn’t have taken much to make us laugh. Much less than this colourfully-named mortgagee. We thought the audit senior, a sort of Black Country Obelix, was going to die laughing

Isla Mann

Jean Pool

Nicholas Sex
The best kind...

Polly & Esther Cotton, the twins*

Rob Nick Steele
Didn’t stop him getting a job in a bank, though

Theresa Green
Attended St James RC High School, Burnt Oak, in the late 70s. Apparently

Wayne King
Former client of my wife

Every one of these is the name of a real person. I’m absolutely sure... except where indicated by a *.