Benedict Cumberbatch used to hate his surname

Los Angeles: Actor Benedict Cumberbatch says he used to hate his surname and started using his middle name Carlton as his last name.

Speaking at a promotional event for his new movie 'The Imitation Game' here, the 38-year-old said he thought his family surname 'Cumberbatch' sounded like a "f**t in a bath", reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Cumberbatch didn't think his surname could ever catch on if he became famous, so he used Carlton - which is also his grandfather's moniker - until his agent convinced him otherwise.

"I started off as Benedict Carlton, which is my middle name, my grandfather's name," The Sun newspaper quoted him as saying.

"Cumberbatch sounds like a fart in a bath ... It is even funnier in an English accent. But an agent who was wiser than me told me it was a good name.

"People have had fun with it and they continue to," he added.