/ I’m going to learn to love Mycock
My name is Andy Mycock. Go on: now’s your time to laugh.
I’m an academic (yes, I’m Dr Mycock) and much of my adult life has been shaped by my surname - covering up name tags, mumbling my name and trying to beat people to the inevitable joke. But I’ve had enough, and it’s time for a change. I’m beginning a journey 58 years in the making.
I’m going to learn to love Mycock.
For the first 18 years of my life, I had no idea my surname was funny. I grew up in Buxton, a market town in Derbyshire, where Mycock is a popular name. There are more than 2,000 in the UK, give or take.
[…] On a daily basis, when phoning my bank or mobile phone provider, or going to a shop to pick up a parcel, I know someone is either going to laugh openly in my face or pull that wonderful face where they’re trying not to laugh. You can never quite relax, because you’re always just waiting for the raise of the eyebrow, the suppressed guffaw, the uninvited joke, whatever.
In the digital world, I have difficulties too: filling out online forms or setting up an email address can see my name rejected and the emails I send often go into spam folders. Searching for my surname is banned on some social media platforms.
BBC: “What life is like when you have an unfortunate surname.”