Imagine introducing yourself to someone—and needing 20 minutes just to finish saying your name.

That’s essentially what happened to Laurence Watkins, a New Zealand-born man who holds the Guinness World Records title for the longest personal name.

In March 1990, when he was just 24, Watkins legally changed his name to include 2,253 unique words. He was working at a city library at the time and came up with the idea after becoming fascinated by unusual Guinness records. He searched the record book for something he might realistically be able to beat—and decided that having an enormous number of names was his opportunity.

Watkins didn’t simply add random names. He selected them from books and suggestions from his coworkers, eventually creating a legal name containing thousands of words.

The decision even became a legal battle. His initial application encountered opposition from New Zealand authorities, so Watkins took the matter to the High Court, which ultimately ruled in his favor. The unusual case later contributed to changes in New Zealand’s rules governing names.

And there’s an even stranger detail.

When Guinness World Records asked Watkins to read his complete name, he needed a printed copy because he couldn’t remember all of it. Reading the entire thing aloud took more than an hour in Guinness’ recent recording. Watkins even admitted beforehand that he might not pronounce every name correctly.

His record was originally recorded differently, but Guinness now officially lists 2,253 unique words.