Olympic Athlete Name Trivia
Olympic athletes are celebrated for their incredible talent, dedication, and hard work. We are here not to celebrate that talent, but to find amusement and interest in their names.
funny Olympic stones - Longest Surnames:
- Hyphenated Surnames: If we include hyphenated names through marriage, the longest is Martina Jašicová-Schwarzbacherová-Halinárová with 36 characters.
- Non-Hyphenated Surnames: Patricia Galvin de la Tour d’Auvergne (28 characters), an American equestrienne in 1960 and 1964, and Jacques De Wykerslooth De Rooyesteyn (28 characters), a Belgian modern pentathlete in 1924
- Non-Compound Surnames: Tojohanitra Andriamanjatoarimanana (22 characters), a swimmer from Madagascar and Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon (21 characters), a Thai weightlifter in Beijing 2008.
- Longest Champion's Full Name: Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon (31 letters in total) has the record for the longest name of any Olympic champion. She won gold in the women's featherweight class in Beijing 2008. Her name was so long that it did not fit onto the scoreboard, which listed her as "J".
- Shortest Surname: An analysis by olympstats of the Olympian name database found many athletes with a single letter surname. There were 36 athletes with the surname 'O', also some with the surname 'A', 'E', 'I' and 'U'.
- Shortest Full Name: O Il, a North Korean table tennis player who competed in the men's singles event in 2004. His full name comprises only three letters. There are also a coupe of four-letter names, such as E Jie, a 1992 Chinese female fencer, and Li Na the female Chinese tennis player.
- Most Common Surname: 'Kim' is the most common surname of Olympians, with 597 athletes so-named according to an analysis by olympstats in 2014. The second most common was 'Lee' with 423 athletes, followed by 'Li' (277), 'Smith' (260) and 'Wang' (151).
- Apt Names: The parents of the Austrailan rower 'Olympia' Aldersey made an inspired name choice, their daughter being a three-time Olympian in rowing. See more Apt Olympian Names such as Bolt, Rush, Swift and Fast.
- Funny Names: 'Man Afraid of the Soap' was a member of the Mohawk Indian lacrosse team that won bronze in 1904. Other members of the team included: Almighty Voice, Flat Iron, Half Moon, Rain in Face, Snake Eater and Spotted Tail. See more funny Olympian names.
Related Pages
- Apt Names of Olympians
- Funny Olympian names
- Other sporting funny names
- Large list of apt names of sports people (not just Olympians)
- All About Olympic Games Competitors
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
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