Unusual Surnames

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Vivian Cook

Mostly people accept that surnames may vary in spelling in ways they wouldn't tolerate in other words. Here are some surnames with unusual spellings. The numbers show how many people with that name were found in the UK Electoral Registers for 2001, out of a total of 43.5 million, with a ceiling of 2000.

Baden-Powell, said as 'pole' 19

Batchelor, not 'bachelor' 2000+

Beauchamp 'beechum' 1405

Belvoir 'beaver' 9

Blenkinsopp 2000

Bohun 'boon' 30

Bottomley 'bumley' (Guardian Diary joke form)

B'stard, TV character

Bucket 'bouquet', TV character

Cholmondeley 'chumley' 105

Colquhoun 'carhoon' 2000+

Dalziel 'die-ell' (Edinburgh) 36

Death 'dee-ath' 228 De-Ath 1085 d'Eath 99 Deeth 94

Farquahar 'farker' 3

Featherstonehaugh 'fanshaw' 17

Ffoulkes 'folks' 154

Ffrangcon 'franken' 0

Frome 'froom' 44

Jekyll 'jee-kill' 21

Keighley 'Keithley' 1234

Keogh 'key-owe' 2000+

Keynes 'kaynes' 159

Knollys 'nowles' 31

Mainwaring 'mannering' 2000+

Marjoribanks 'marchbanks' 133

Menzies 'mingis' 2000+

Psmith ('the p is silent'), P.G. Wodehouse character

Sandys 'sands' 330

St John 'singe-ern' 953

Teatime ('pronounced Teh-ah-tim-eh'), Terry Pratchett character

Thorogood 'thoroughgood' 2000+

Urquhart 'erkert' 2000+