Editing Ford Prefect (character) (section)

===First birth name===
A footnote in the novel explains that Ford's birth name is "only pronounceable in an obscure Betelgeusian dialect" which was almost wiped out by the "Great Collapsing Hrung Disaster of Gal./Sid./Year 03758," a mysterious catastrophe which took place on the planet of Betelgeuse Seven and which Ford's father was the only man to survive. Ford never learned to pronounce his birth name, which was a matter that caused his father to die of shame (which is still a terminal disease in some parts of the Universe). At school, he was nicknamed "Ix," which translates as "boy who is not able to satisfactorily explain what a Hrung is, nor why it should choose to collapse on Betelgeuse Seven".

Despite all this, his cousin (in the film, TV series, and radio show they are said to share three of the same mothers) [[Zaphod Beeblebrox]] calls him "Ford" the first time they are reunited in all versions of the story except for the film, where Zaphod addresses him as "Praxibetel Ix," then introduces him by saying "This is my semi-half brother, Ix... I'm sorry, sorry, Ford." While not explained in the book, a footnote of the original radio scripts explains that "just before arriving (on Earth) he registered his new name officially at the Galactic Nomenclaturoid Office, where they had the technology to unpick his old name from the fabric of space/time and thread the new one in its place, so that for all intents and purposes his name had always been and would always be Ford Prefect."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zootle.net/afda/faq/e.shtml#2-4 |title=The alt.fan.douglas-adams FAQ |publisher=Zootle.net |access-date=2013-08-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130907010208/http://www.zootle.net/afda/faq/e.shtml#2-4 |archive-date=2013-09-07 }}</ref>