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23rd August 2025
10:05am BST
A bride-to-be is about to have a hilarious last name - but insists she is "excited" and "not embarrassed".
Brooke Marshall, 29, is set to marry her fiancé, Jake Hornibrook, 29, a fuel operations worker, in April 2026 - six years after they met during their last month of college.
With the bride set to change her name to Brooke Hornibrook, she thought a recent TikTok trend sharing soon-to-be funny names was "an opportunity" to share with the world the hilarious moniker.
The couple have joked about the name from early on in their relationship and have been met with "strong opinions" about it online - with commenters dubbing it "like Bond, James Bond, but in the worst way".
Brooke, a neonatal NICU nurse, from Dallas, Texas in the US, said: "We met in the last month of college and lived in different states.
"I didn't initially think this [relationship] was going to be something serious so we just joked over it.
"I knew early on he was very traditional and it was very important that his wife take his last name.
"I knew that going into it and I come from a traditional family too.
"My friends all say if anyone can rock that name it's me, I'm quite the jokester.
"It is funny, there's no denying it.
"I'm not embarrassed.
"I'm excited - I think if anything it will bring a smile to people's face and be a funny ice breaker or conversation starter."
Brooke and Jake met six years ago during their last month of college in Arkansas and did long distance for four years while Jake was in the military.
She said: "Last year his contract was finished and he was able to move to Texas to be with me.
"After dragging his feet a lot longer than expected he proposed in December.
"He really put a lot of thought into it and had my friends and family fly out.
"We had a surprise after party which I kind of suspected as he can only be so discreet.
"It was really sweet."
Despite being "sad" to let her current surname go, Brooke plans to change her middle name to Marshall.
She said: "I was not expecting people to have such strong opinions about my new surname.
"When I saw this trend it was after the 'Milly Willy' girl posted and I thought 'oh my god, if ever there was an opportunity for me to take part in a trend, it's this one'.
"I haven't responded, I'm not going to get into the drama in the comments.
"A lot of people were joking and saying 'congrats to Mr and Mrs Marshall' as if he should take my last name.
"A lot of people were opinionated and said I’m 'not his property' and 'it's not his choice'.
"Obviously I know this is such a fun trend.
"It made me realise I'm not the only one having a rather unfortunate or funny name to talk about forever.
"Everyone said 'it's like Bond, James Bond, but in the worst way'.
"I got that comment a lot and it made me laugh."
Fiance Jake said: “I’m not on TikTok, so I don’t always catch the trends - but the moment I heard about this one, I just knew Brooke would jump on it.
"It was only a matter of time!
"For me, it’s just as much of an honor that Brooke is taking the Hornibrook name as it is an honor for me to be marrying her.
"And hey, it could have been worse… imagine if her last name ended up as “Brookehorni!”
"At the end of the day, it’s a fun, lighthearted story that we’ll laugh about and share with everyone we meet for years to come.”
The happy couple are set to become Mr and Mrs Hornibrook next April in Seaside, Florida.
