“Wormy! Wormy! Come here, Wormy!” I’m seven years old, arms wrapped across my legs like a protective shield, while a group of older kids tease me in the playground with the unflattering nickname that would plague my childhood.

A moniker derived from my surname, Worman (pronounced “War-mon,” not “Worm-man,” although such nuances eluded my classmates in the 90s), the simple act of rescuing a worm from being unceremoniously cut in half would earn me the unfortunate title for nearly a decade. How clever they must have felt when they put two and two together, and how infuriating it was for me. From then on, I hated my rare surname and the joking that came with it.

According to the Internet Surname Database, Worman originates from the old English term for a skilled worker or artisan. One genealogy website goes as far as to link its origins to the kings of Mercia. While there don’t seem to be any famous or........

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