A story was that once in tsarist Russia a man requested [it had to be done through the very top - he had to petition the emperor] a change of his surname, which surname could be loosely translated as "seven derrieres". After proper interval he was granted another surname: "eight derrieres".
I heard a story about a 19th century German Jew who, like all of his people, was forced to get a last name . (Prior to that in Germany , they used (eg) Isaac son of Abraham, then Isaac's son would be Jacob son of Isaac, and so on, just like in ancient Israel.) This was inconvenient for the German bureaucracies, so last names were mandated. Apparently, the Jews weren't allowed to choose the names, that was the province of the bureaucrats. That's where names like Rosenfeld (Rosefield) Goldstein (Goldstone) etc, came from. Petty bureaucrats used the opportunity to inflict ugly or even obscene names on their victims, out of a sick sense of humor or hatred of Jews. This was also a great opportunity for bribery, as the victims would pay large sums to get nicer names.
Anyhow, one Jewish man wound up with the name Shweissehund, which means Bloodhound. Somebody asked him why on earth he didn't pay up and get a decent name. And the man replied,"Are you kidding!?! It took all my savings to buy that W!!!!" (Shiess Hund, meaning roughly , uh, dung or feces dog.)