Thousands of Brits have ditched their birth names for wacky alternatives in 2010 – including a man who gave himself 26 names for every letter of the alphabet.
Barnaby Usansky, 36, is fascinated by words and traditional names and chose 27 new names from an initial ‘shortlist’ of 200.
He now has one middle name for every letter of the alphabet – plus Marmaduke, which he added because he loves it so much.
His full name is now Barnaby Marmaduke Aloysius Benjy Cobweb Dartagnan Egbert  Felix Gaspar Humbert Ignatius Jayden Kasper Leroy Maximilian Neddy Obiajulu Pepin Quilliam Rosencrantz Sexton Teddy Upwood Vivatma Wayland Xylon Yardley Zachary Usansky.
Other wacky names people have adopted in the last year include Blazing Inferno, Monkey Skunky, Mike Moonshine, Jerzasaurus Maximus Armstrong, a Bear Love and a Missy Pixie Bubble.
The legally-binding but bizarre monikers are among the 54,000 people who changed their name with the UK Deed Poll Service this year, a 10 per cent increase on 2009.
Mike Barratt, chief executive of the UK Deed Poll Service, said: ”The recession has done little to dampen the appetite and enthusiasm of Brits who want to change their name.
”The ninth successive annual increase in deed poll applications has produced another wonderful crop of bizarre and amusing name changes, which brings welcome cheer
to the daily reports of our country in crisis.”
Barnaby Usansky, who is unemployed, spent hours researching names, some of which have been on his wish list for more than 20 years.
He said: ”I had wanted to do it for seven or eight years, so finally decided to go through with it in February this year.
”I did it because I love words and old traditional names. I’ve always wanted to be called Marmaduke as well, because it is such a splendid name.
“My friends and family think it is ridiculous and daft.”
Other weird and wonderful new names include student Philip Anthony Mackintosh, 18, of Middlesbrough, who is now known as Bagheera Anthony Dairy Lea Dunkable Mackintosh.
Alex Joel Crew, a 25-year-old clothing company boss from Bexleyheath, Kent, became Jerzasaurus Maximus Armstrong.
David Christopher Varney became Jonny Horatio Jorge Dinosaurhead.
The 26-year-old mechanical engineer’s four-year-old son apparently loves the name so much that he is desperate to change his to match dad’s.
Jonny, from Harlow, Essex says the name change has brought him luck, landing him a new girlfriend and an upturn in his work fortunes.
Leeds United fan and semi-retired plumber Martin Casson Bland, 50, became We Beat The Scum One-Nil in honour of ‘The Whites’ famous FA Cup victory at Old Trafford last season.
Shane Micheal Foulkes, 30, from Doncaster, Yorkshire, is now Monkey Skunky.
The plasterer and tattooist has used the name while playing computer games for years and so decided to make it official.
Recruitment consultant Michael George Sherry, 22, from St. Albans, Hertfordshire, is now Mike Moonshine.
Mike lost a bet and was forced to choose between the surnames Moonshine or Mango.
Tracie Anne Koziura is know known as to Rebel Wolf. The 52-year-old artist from Leicester has always had the nickname Wolf and claims she was a rebel when she was younger.
Kirsty Louise Jenkins has become Missy Pixie Bubble.  Missy, 21, from Burgess Hill, Sussex has been known as Bubble to her friends for years and also decided to add the names Missy and Pixie.
Colin John Goring, 47, changed his name to Bear Love.  Bear runs workshops for aboriginal arts and lives in Stratford, London.
Laurie Carl Atkinson is now named Blazing Inferno.  He is a 24-year-old contract cleaner from Herne Bay, Kent.
He and his friends got drunk one night and tried to think of a funny name. When he woke the next morning he decided to apply for his name to be changed.
Mike Barratt added: ”People’s attitude to their name is definitely changing. Each year we see more and more people ditching the name they were given at birth and changing to a name they prefer.
”While many made small spelling changes to their name, such as Rebecca to Rebekah and Katherine to Katie, others changed to an entirely different name to suit their persona.
”We saw a further increase in applications from ‘silver surfers’ as the older generations become increasingly more comfortable with the internet.
”A few years ago, it was rare to see an application from someone over 60 but now it is common to see applications from people in their 70s and 80s.  We even issued a deed poll this year to a centenarian.
”We also saw a large increase in women, who upon marriage, made their  maiden name a middle name.
”Although the majority of women still take their husband’s surname upon marriage, many decided to maintain a link to their family name in their married name and not totally abandon it.”
Research conducted by global market research company www.onepoll.com