Man with World’s Longest Name Has More Than 2,000 Middle Names — Here’s the Clever Method He Used to Pick Those Names

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 called a deed poll, worked at a library at the time in the ’90s.

The library worker told GWR that he picked his many unique middle names out of books or through recommendations from colleagues.

“I was always fascinated by the quirky unusual records that some people went for and I really wanted to be part of that scene,” Watkins told GWR.

He continued, “I read the Guinness World Records book from cover to cover to see if there was a record I could beat and the only one I had a chance at beating was adding more names than the current holder.”

Watkins also revealed to GWR that his application to legally change his name was initially accepted by a district court; however, the application “got knocked back by the Registrar General.”

A high court eventually granted the name change.

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PEOPLE reached out to Guinness World Records to provide the full name — all 2,253 words — but did not receive an immediate response.

“Oh, and if you’re wondering why we haven’t included his full name here, it’s because we’d still be typing now,” GWR said in a post about the record.