Laurence won a High Court battle to have the world's longest name

If you want to address Laurence Watkins by his official government name, it might take you about 20 minutes.

That's because the Sydney man, originally from New Zealand, holds a unique world record.

After a lengthy High Court battle decades ago, the 60-year-old has the world's longest personal name.

If you want to address Laurence Watkins by his official government name, it might take you about 20 minutes.

Watkins' full name is 2253 words long and it was recognised again by the Guinness World Records after a small change to his 1992 title, revising it from the world's longest christian name to world's longest personal name.

"I always wanted to be a little bit famous," he told 9news.com.au.

"I read the 1989 Guinness World Records from cover-to-cover and that was really the only record I could have a chance of beating."

At the time in New Zealand, there was no law stopping Watkins from changing his legal name to something absurd.

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Laurence won a High Court battle to have the world’s longest name