London: The saying “Keeping up with the Joneses” could not have been more apt on Friday as Joneses from around the globe headed to Cardiff to set a new world record.
Joneses from as far afield as the United States and Australia flocked to the Welsh capital to beat the world record for a gathering of people with the same family name.
The Welsh bid hopes to attract up to 2,000 Joneses to a show in Cardiff where they will be entertained by singers and dancers, all called Jones, including former Bond actress, supermodel and pop icon Grace Jones, who headlines the show.
The current Guinness World Record for a gathering of people with the same name is 583 Norbergs in Sweden.
“We are hoping to consign the Norbergs to the dustbin of world record history,” said Dylan Hughes, the organiser of the Jones extravaganza in the city's Millennium Centre stadium.
“I think Grace Jones is around somewhere but we haven't seen her yet, because she is quite an elusive Jones to pin down ... she will be headlining tonight,” Hughes told BBC television.
All Joneses need photo ID or a birth certificate to validate the bid. Guinness officials will attend the event.
Joneses from around the world flew to Cardiff after international media picked up the event. Jones as a family name is common in Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The name is generally considered to be derived from the term "Son of John". It can also be attributed to variants of the name John, such as Jonah, Johannes, Ioannes, Yohanan, Johan, Jehan, Jan and Jen.
The Welsh form was Ieuan, (which produced Evan), but Ioan was adopted for the Welsh Authorised Version of the Bible, hence the frequency of Jones as a Welsh family name.
It is the most common last name in Wales, accounting for 13.5 per cent of the population, and in previous generations was so ubiquitous in small valley communities that locals had to be distinguished by their trade or profession such as "Jones the baker" or "Jones the butcher".
Jones is the second-most common last name in Britain and the fourth-most common last name in the United States according to UK and US Census figures.
The name has become so prevalent in the English-speaking world that the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses" - which refers to someone trying to maintain the same social status as their neighbours or contemporaries - is widely understood.
It was used in the American comic strip created by Arthur R Momand. The "Joneses" were neighbours of the strip's main characters.
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