Meet the Man With the World’s Longest Name… And Yes, We Got Him On The Show

If you thought your middle name was a bit of a mouthful, get ready to feel very normal.

This morning on The Breakfast Show, we chatted with Laurence Watkins. He holds the Guinness World Record for the longest name in the world. And honestly, his story is unbelievable.

Back in 1990, right here in New Zealand, Laurence legally changed his name by adding more than 2,000 middle names. His full name is one continuous sequence of 2,253 words. It is so long it fills seven full pages on his birth certificate.

Seven full pages for one name.

And if you ever tried to read the whole thing out loud, it would take about 20 minutes from start to finish. That is not a joke.

Laurence told us how it all started, what the process was like, and what his day to day life is like now. Stuff like passports, online forms, ID checks and travel. Most systems simply cannot handle a name that long, which makes every admin task a bit of an adventure.

It is one of those Kiwi stories that is so random and so brilliant that you cannot help but love it. A guy decides to create the longest name in the world and then actually goes ahead and does it. Only in Aotearoa.

If you missed the chat, hit play above. It is a fun and fascinating interview with a man whose name is longer than most university assignments.

Big stories, big characters, and big mornings on Radio Wanaka.