Can anyone shed light on the surname of the splendidly-named scholar Sir
Hrothgar John Habakkuk, the economic historian, who died recently? According
to The Times he was born in Barry, Glamorgan, the son of E.G. Habakkuk, a
prominent local educational administrator. The Times obituarist says:

"Hrothgar John Habakkuk was born in Barry, South Glamorgan, the son of E. G.
Habakkuk, a prominent local educational administrator. To his unusual Welsh
surname his father added an exotic forename name derived from Beowulf, a
work he is said to have been reading at the time of his son’s birth. The
resulting combination was always a source of mild embarrassment to Habakkuk,
who after sundry experiences involving the incredulous reaction of policemen
and others, took advantage of his move to Jesus College [Oxford] in 1967 to
change from Hrothgar to John, a new identity which he had already
tentatively assumed on his visits to the US and which his subsequent
knighthood confirmed."

Welsh surname? Hmmm .......   Presumably it is the name of the Hebrew
prophet, so is this a case of a Welsh nonconformist adopting an Old
Testament name as a baptismal name, which later became a surname? Morgan and
Morgan (Welsh Surnames, pp. 22-3) comment on this, but give relatively
conventional examples such as Samuel, Moses, Jacob, Enoch, Elias and
Jeremiah. Does anyone know of any more examples of a name as unusual as
Habakkuk?

John Freeman

P.S. Apologies for the unintentional cross-posting to the English Place-Name
List.