Crook Klutz (1913-1979) and 24 Other “Unique” American Names
Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan)
A useful tool for genealogists, the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) contains over 92 million death records for individuals with United States Social Security numbers. There are many portals to give you access to the list. On some web portals for the SSDI you can enter just the first name, which can yield interesting results.
Either their parents thought they were being funny or in some cases they were just cruel. Maybe the person had their name legally changed. Who knows.
Besides Crook Klutz, the ones that stood out in no particular order:
24. Dummy Boy 1896-1969 (Not a name you’d want to call out in public.)
23. Hitler Johnson 1933-1986 (Nice. Definitely a way to distinguish yourself from the other Johnson’s in your town.)
22. Uncle Caves 1911-1977
21. Strange Amos 1884-1966 (How did the parents know?)
20. Fatty Claw 1884-1973
19. Lurch Williams 1906-1979 (The only person ever named Lurch.)
18. Danger Dangervil 1943-2005
17. Weird Adkins 1917-1964
16. Shitley J. Metcalf 1949-2012 (No way.)
15. Poison Repp 1913-1964
14. Phony Brooks 1903-1966 (Did Phony have a hard time making friends?)
13. Murder Williams 1926-1983
12. Fester King 1896-1971 [also another Fester King 1915-1974, Senior and Junior perhaps?] (Everyone should have an Uncle Fester.)
11. Flipper Butts 1919-1975 (Perfect name for the adult entertainment industry.)
10. Moron Bobo 1896-1974 (The last name alone would probably lead to a difficult life, adding the first insures it.)
9. Jack Ass 1958-2003 (Could have had a franchise on that name.)
8. Hernia Dalton 1906-1976 (Ow.)
7. Very Bland 1979-1999
6. Big Wife 1888-1982
5. Funny Smith 1919-1986 (Was he? Or is “Funny” a she?)
4. Zoo Parks 1897-1981
3. Will Moron Read 1927-1989 (I don’t know. How did he do in school?)
2. Pimp Freeman 1893-1983 (That is kind of cool in a weird way.)
1. Jesus Christ 1941-2007. (Guess you missed him. He was here. I’ve always wondered if Jesus were to return would anyone recognize him? Apparently not.)
To be fair, coders who program and test software like the SSDI database query system often have to devise parameters which are beyond conceivability in order to test the software. When it comes to people databases, that often involves making up obviously fake names. This often will naturally lead to humorous avenues and when testing is over sometimes names dont get removed before the system is put into production. So I wouldn’t put too much credence in the veracity of these names being actual real people. Some of them are genuine, I am sure, but some of them are obviously fictitious.
That’s an interesting possibility that never occurred to me. So you may be right and they forgot to remove test names. But then again, we all know that the United States government and its agencies, such as Social Security, are infallible.