I met a person today whose first name is Virus.

[CanvasShoes]

Originally Posted by Maggie the Ocelot

2) I know a very charming young girl, now about 15, named Eris. Her mother wanted to make sure her life was interesting.

That's actually sort of a cool name. But then, (like most people) I'm a fan of mythology.

[Nocturne]

I know a crazy lady who has twin girls she named Kagome and Katana. She's completely otaku, so I suppose that explains it. She recently had another child with a different man, and wanted to name her Kurayami. He wouldn't allow it; so they named her (the much more normal) Kenna.

I also know a man whose name is Alfonzo Pacino (last name). His mother is a huge fan of Al Pacino's. Perhaps not surprisingly, Alfonzo Pacino has spent some time in prison.

[Feyrat]

When I was in my early 20s I worked as a file clerk for a large insurance company. I processed claims for a pair of sisters (I assume they were sisters, anyway) working at the same retail store, named Rapunzel and Cinderella. Their last name was Hare. So... yeah.

I also went to college with a guy named Halloween Smith. Guess when his birthday was! I assumed his name was "Henry" for the first 2 years I knew him, because he only went by Hal. It wasn't until one October when we were all kinda trashed that he expounded on why he loathed All Saint's Day with such passion.

There was also a Moroccan exchange student in my high school for a semester whose name was pronounced "Ah-noose." It was really sort of pretty. Unfortunately, it was spelled "Anus." Her semester was not a happy one.

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by Nocturne

Perhaps not surprisingly, Alfonzo Pacino has spent some time in prison.

And just when he thought he was out- well, you know.

[Chimera]

*sigh* Ok, I'm getting old. Because all this thread makes me think is that my World Domination era law of smacking people in the head with large sticks for Acts of Stupidity is perfectly reasonable.

[SpyOne]

Saw one at work recently. Now, some people carry credit cards that say things like "Valued Customer" or the name of a company for Corporate Cards, so what your card says might not be your name. Likewise nametags: you might have an alias there to keep your actual name private. I've done that.

But if your nametag matches your credit card, then that's your name.
So her name was Altavista Robinson.
Named for a search engine, apparently.

[davidm]

Altavista is also a town in Virginia.
http://altavistava.gov

[Clothahump]

When the Texas Department of Public Safety converted the driver license records from paper to computer back in the late 60s/early 70s, they found several individuals whose legal first name was T9C.

I worked there as a part-time clerk before the conversion. The most unusual first/middle name I came across was Precious Blue-Eyes.

[SpyOne]

Well, if you count birth records, one of my grandfathers was named Baby Boy, as the doctor couldn't remember what they had decided to name him.

[needscoffee]

An article in the Chicago Tribune today on the sentencing of William Balfour, convicted of murdering Jennifer Hudson's family members, described Balfour's sister Sensuous who was present in the courtroom.

[chizzuk]

There was a boy in one of my classes in high school named Stevephen. Pronounced "Steven," but most of us accidentally called him "Steve-uh-ven" at least once.

"Should we spell it with a V or a PH?"
"I don't know, let's just go with both."

[Irishman]

Originally Posted by Bam Boo Gut

The second pronunciation didn't occur to me. I'm English.

Goes to show me. Around here (USA, specifially Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas), Vie'-ruhl is how we pronounce the word when associated with viruses, like viral pneumonia. So Vih-rahl' is unusual. YMMV, handle with care.

[Grestarian]

Originally Posted by Acsenray

The family name "Dikshit" (also spelled "Dixit" or "Dikkhit") is also one I'm familiar with.

When I was in the high school choir we performed a rendition of Dixit from Mozart's Vesperes Solemnes De Confessores. Since some of my peers weren't 'getting it', the choir master pulled out a Bible and gave us a translation of what we were singing. If I recall correctly (but note that it was the only six months I learned or spoke any Latin at all) it was...

Dixit!
Domineus.
Domino meio
Sede, Sede
A Dextris Meis
....(etcetera etcetera).

...and the translation we were given was...

Dixit! (A name)
This is God.
You (will be) a King of mine.
Sit, sit.
Here on my right hand side.

[In other words, "Hey, Dixit, God makes you his right-hand man."]

So, with that interpretation, I can easily imagine someone with a slight exposure (like mine) to classical music and either Handel's or Mozart's Vespere Solemnes De Confessores and the Dixit passage.

--------------------------
I learned that stuff in the early 1980's, well before The Internet was full of all sorts of easily accessible translations of all sorts of stuff. From a bit more research into the matter, I see that there are more accurate interpretations (though I'm still ignorant of the overall context). A page dealing with Handel's version of Dixit suggests...

It was said*
By God
To my lord
"Sit, sit, here on my right side."
.....etcetera, etcetera...

[In other words, someone (a wife? a serf?) is saying "I overheard when God said to my lord (husband? Man of the manor?) come and be His right-hand man, etcetera, etcetera.]

*Which makes more sense if dixit is the past-participle of the Latin speak or say -- di being included in the modern spanish "diga" = say or speak and the modern English "dictate" = to speak to an audience (like someone who is taking notes or obeying orders).

--G!

Uchitali Russki yzik
Estudié Español
Nihongo o' benkyoshimashta
NOW IT'S ALL CONFUSING