Talk about a mouthful. A 25-year-old man who was born as Alexander Ek had his name legally changed to a moniker with 63 first names. That's right, 63. Because he could.
It hasn't been confirmed by Guinness World Records or any other authority on the subject, but it might just be the world's longest name. It's certainly the longest name in Sweden. His whole name is:
Kim-Jong Sexy Glorious Beast Divine Dick Father Lovely Iron Man Even Unique Poh Un Winn Charlie Ghora Khaos Mehan Hansa Kimmy Humbero Uno Master Over Dance Shake Bouti Bepop Rocksteady Shredder Kung Ulf Road House Gilgamesh Flap Guy Theo Arse Hole Im Yoda Funky Boy Slam Duck Chuck Jorma Jukka Pekka Ryan Super Air Ooy Rusell Salvador Alfons Molgan Akta Papa Long Nameh Ek.
So yeah, that's extreme.
"Papa Long Nameh," the abbreviated version he now goes by, has changed his name six times over the years, the first at the age of 18. His first change came as quite the surprise to his parents, who only found out about it when their son began receiving mail addressed to "Usama-Bin Ek." Another of his past names was "Alexander Gargamel Powhatan Genghis." He instigated another change to take part in a contest.
It's all in good fun, he believes, but all those changes don't come cheap. The Swedish Tax Agency handles oversight of legal name changes, and while it puts no character or word limit on how long a name can be, it does have regulations on how much it costs. Any Swede can change his or her name one time for free; after that, you have to pay 1,000 kronor, which is about $182 American. If you do the math, that means Ek has spent more than $1,000 on repeatedly changing his name.
Ek told Swedish news site Nyheter24 that "poor impulses" could be at the heart of his seeming addiction to changing his name. (Admitting you have a problem is the first step, dude.) He claims his most recent change came after he read a news story about a man who had the world's longest name. He decided to top that feat with an even longer name, though it took two tries for the Swedish Tax Agency to accept his new name. When his first attempt was denied, he made some minor changes and submitted again. It was approved.
"I don't always get my mail," he says, "and sometimes the electricity bill is late, but that's part of the charm."
Ek is a native of Haninge, a town near Sweden's capitol, Stockholm.
Photo: Tomasz Sienicki
