CARDIFF, Wales-
Keeping up with Joneses now has a whole new meaning. More than 1,200 people with the surname Jones broke the world record Friday for the biggest get-together of people with the same last name, Guinness World Record officials said.
The gathering more than doubled the size of the previous record-holder–a meeting of 583 people named Norberg in Sweden in 2004.
“I didn’t realize how many cool Joneses there were out there,” said Aled Jones, 30, a British Broadcasting Corp. radio DJ who hosted the event at the Millennium Centre conference and concert venue in Cardiff, the Welsh capital.
Jones is the most common surname in Wales and is Britain’s second-most common, after Smith.
Friday’s event was, appropriately, called “Jones, Jones, Jones,” and famous Joneses–including former Bond girl Grace Jones and opera singer Dame Gwyneth Jones–performed for their fellow Joneses.
Organizers turned away a few would-be participants who didn’t bring the required photo identification. In order to be part of the record, Jones had to be the participant’s legal name: no hyphenated names and no stage names were allowed.
The made-for-television event started out as a 30-minute documentary on the name, which is believed to be a derivative of John and has been traced back to 916, said Gwyn Williams, a member of the production team.
Organizers persuaded Joneses to travel to the event from as far away as New Zealand, Australia, the United States and Canada.
“I’m very spontaneous, but people thought I was crazy,” said Doug Jones, 59, of New Windsor, Md., who decided to travel to Wales after learning about the event from a newspaper ad two and a half weeks ago. “It’s part of being a Jones, being wild and crazy.”
