Last names - the lighter side

Last names have always interested me as have car name plates. But let me stick to one topic to make it easy on the readers. The responses I hear when I say my name or hand my credit card/license to the person behind the counter are quite standard and must be quite intuitive to you as well. "oh! That's a long last name, how do you pronounce it" and about my first name "you have such a pretty name, what does it mean?" Its so cliche, I don't know whether the comments are for real. No, not the one about last name.

How many times have I asked someone what their last name meant? Brown, Coltrane, Farmer, Baker, Whitehead, Thatcher, Bush and the list goes on. Many of the last names seem to actually be professions, some identify colors it seems, and others god knows what their origin might be.

Some names certainly fancy my imagination. By itself these names may not evoke peeling laughter, but when used in the right context, they can evoke some levity - I let my imagination wander. The funniest (to me) by far, is the last name Roach."Mom, I am visiting the Roaches" or "Honey, I have invited the Roaches to dinner".

Or the last name Rice - "its a Rice-based diet", "the Price-y family got a new cadillac", "the new Bushes look terrible" and so on.

Disclaimer: I mean no offense to anybody with specific last names, this is just me being light-headed (as usual) and silly.