Tikki Tikki Tembo is set in ancient China and invents a fictitious ancient Chinese custom whereby parents honor their first-born sons with long, elaborate names that everyone is obliged to say completely – no nicknames, no shortening of any kind – while second-born sons are typically given short, unimportant names.

A boy named Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo ("The Most Wonderful Thing in the Whole Wide World") and his little brother Chang ("Little or Nothing") are playing very close to a well at their house that their mother has warned them to avoid.

The Kirkus Review found the illustrations to be "a skillful counterpoint of diminutive detail and spacious landscape and a fine setting for a sprightly folktale.

[9] The 2009 audio book version of the story received a Parents' Choice Foundation rating of "Approved".

A little Jap tragedy" by Jerome Davis Greene appeared on The Century Magazine.

[18] Japanese Novelist Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto introduced a tale called "The long-life name" in a 1918 issue of the children's magazine Everyland.

[19] In 1924, the National Association of Junior Chautauquas published a book that contained a story by an anonymous author entitled "Tiki-Tiki-Tembo"; the story concerned a boy "in old Japan" named: and his neglected sibling "Choi".

[21] An early instance of Chinese setting[23] is a 1941[Note 1] audio recording titled "Long-Name-No-Can-Say", adapted and narrated by Paul Wing.

The Brothers Four's song "Sama Kama Wacky Brown" (lyrics by Ed Warren),[28] from their eponymous first album in 1960,[29] sings about who "fell into the deep, dark well" and drowned.

[34] The 1960 reissue of Paul Wing's "Long-Name-No-Can-Say" narration[37] is an omnibus with another fairytale that also has 7 supportive characters: Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

[44] "Pacho Nacho" published in 2020 is a rewrite of Mosel's version with settings changed to Hispanic America.

[46] The author of "Pacho Nacho" states that the protagonist's name is composed from popular Spanish boys' nicknames.

[49] Koji Inada (folklorist) [ja] considers it partially similar to AT 1562A[50] Barn is Burning.

A manuscript written around 1490 has a fable about a nun who made up a "long" dharma name: "Ashakumyōkan", for herself.

[53] An early full-formed version of The Child with a Long Name is the story published in 1703, "Yoku kara shizumu fuchi" ('Sunk down the waters for greed'), in a printed book of jokes created by rakugo comedian Yonezawa Hikohachi.

[67] The punchline is a black humor relating Buddhist chants to Japanese funerals.

[71] A summary compilation published in 1958 lists 66 samples of The Child with a Long Name-type folktales in Japan.

[47] Examples of the short-named child's name are Chiyori (1914, folklore)[72] and Chon (1921, children's literature).

[75] Weston Woods Studios produced a filmstrip and cassette tape version in 1970, which was later distributed on VHS and DVD.

[85] It was covered by other musicians too,[83]: 23  such as The Persian Market (spelled "The Gamma Goochie"),[86] and Joe Walsh (1991).

敵々仁 敵須畄 御坊 蒼臨坊 惣高入道 播广之別當 茶碗茶臼之 挽木之 飛与小助 てきてきに てきする おんぼう そうりんほう そうたかにうとう はりまのべつとう ちやわんちやうすの ひききの ひよこすけ