@joy.wenyu4: Imagine being 17 years old, suing your parents for $250,000 because they named you Gaylord. That was the claim in a viral story that has circulated online for years. The supposed teenager, Gaylord Williams of Kirksville, Missouri, allegedly claimed his parents intentionally gave him the name to ruin his life, that they repeatedly told him he was an accident, and that the name led to years of bullying and even physical violence. The story even claimed his father admitted while drunk that the name was chosen as payback. Sounds unbelievable, right? Because it is. The story was originally published by World News Daily Report, a known fake-news and satire site. Fact-checkers found no evidence that the lawsuit or the people involved were real. The photos accompanying the story were also found to have been taken from unrelated cases. So no, there was no $250,000 lawsuit over the name Gaylord. Just another reminder that if a story sounds way too ridiculous to be true… it’s probably worth checking before sharing.

jb

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Thursday 22 October 2026 00:39:59 GMT