Hawkeye Pierce, is that you??
Umm, hello?? Alexia is a perfectly legitimate feminine of Alexander. Sure, you can break it up to be a-lexia, but that’s not what the name actually means.
Amelia is, according to my name books, either a feminine form of Aemilius or derived from any number of Germanic names that begin with “Amal-” (like Amalberga). The Latin, according to those same sources, means either “industrious” or “eager,” and the Germanic “Amal” would be “labor.” Claiming that it means “without limbs” because of a false etymology is kind of like claiming the name “Ann” is an indefinite article, or the name Milo means “An early-growing, usually drought-resistant grain sorghum, especially Sorghum bicolor, resembling millet.”
Dashiell is a perfectly good name–it’s one of those surnames that gets used as a boy’s name, and I see someone has already mentioned Dashiell Hammet. Paidhi Boy was almost named Dashiell.
Well, duh. I know the names don’t mean that, Bren, but they do have homonyms that do. “Aurélie” doesn’t mean “by mouth,” either, but it’s still a bad idea.
“Cecil” does mean “blind,” however.
Well, “sounds like” isn’t the same as “means.” And I don’t personally think every single name should be vetted for possible obscure homonyms. Aurelie doesn’t really sound quite like “orally,” at least not the way we’d say it around here–the stress would be different. I can see wanting to avoid names like Dick or Fanny, or Mary Christmas or Penny Cash, but my first thought on hearing any of the names you mentioned wouldn’t be “ha ha, they can’t read!” or “no limbs, heh!” And if I met someone named Aurelie my first thought would be of the song that Elvis recorded as “Love Me Tender,” not “orally.”
Let’s not forget about initials. I know a B.A.M. and a D.A.M. Those aren’t too bad, and could be considered cool initials. But, if the “Carltons” name their son “Francis Ulysses”, then there might be problems. Or if the “Garrisons” name their son “Frederic Andrew”…
Does anybody have any interesting, amusing or unfortunate initials they’d like to share? (Mine are C.J.C. Nothing special there, although they sound cool. Those are also my father’s initials, and my sister’s are C.G.C. My mother sticks out from the bunch as E.M.C.)
Anyhoo…
My mom once treated a lady named something along the lines of Tara Cunningham, which was unfortunate because your medicare card number includes the first three letters of your last name followed by the first letter of your first name.
At my old job, I encountered names like Tenerashika, Ludwig, and Sapphire. Of course, there are also the two sisters I remember going to elementary school with named Fanetha and Rebesica.
I saw a news item once that claimed every year in the US, a few dozen parents give names to their children that include fractions, punctuation marks or mathematical symbols etc.
Slightly OT – there’s a residential street in Faison, North Carolina called “Cousin Fanny Road.” I didn’t think much of it until I learned the other meaning for that name.
Until I got married my initials were S.N.M. I was fourteen before I realized how awful that was.
The lat prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau is the target of some humour here in Quebec, as “pet” is French for “fart.”
Annyston
Chandler
(Wonder where they came from…)
My newest cousin (born in February) is named Mackenzie. To the best of my knowledge, there is no Scottish heritage on that side of the family, though I’m not 100% certain about my uncle’s girlfriend’s family background. Luckily my mother passed on the news of what she was called, so I didn’t have to be diplomatic. Of course, I didn’t have overly high hopes for the child’s name, since my uncle’s girlfriend combined the names of her two favourite uncles for their previous child (Terry + Ron = Teron).
Congodwarf - my grandmother was named Philomena. I had no idea what it meant, just was thankful I didn’t get named after her.
I know a girl named Tequilla. I guess maybe her parents subscribed to the notion that a baby name should be descriptive of what was going on at the time of conception.
Once, when I was substitute teaching, I ran across the name “Xsan” on the roll. I stood there like an idiot muttering, “Exxon? Exxan? Zan? Zoon?” until the kid finally stood up and said, “It’s Shawn!” It took all my willpower not to retort, “On what planet?”
Before I got married and changed my middle name to my maiden name, my initials were V.D.S. Nice, huh? Now it’s V.S.Q.
An advisor at my university named her son Camden because he was conceived in a box seat at Camdem Yards (stadium for the Baltimore Orioles). Not the worst name in the world, but kind of icky if you know the story.
(My initials are CCC - hence my user name!)
My SIL named he kid Noah.
Which isn’t so bad, except what do you say to a 2 year-old about a million times?
No
No No Noah!
ummmm yeah
My oldest nephew (5 yrs) is named James Lee Padraic MacLastname. That’d be OK if my sister and bil would decide on a name for him. In his short life he’s been:
James, Padraic, Baby James, JP, James Padraic, Jamie, Jamie Lee, Jamie Pat, PaddyMac, Bubba, Dublin and finally (this one seems to be sticking, it’s what he now calls himself): Paddy. 12 Nicknames in 5 years. That’s just too much. AND they settle on Paddy ??? He’s going to have some issues come junior high.
His kid brother is Ethan Osion (misspelled, pronounced “ocean”), but at least he gets to go by Ethan.
So, you have a problem with my initials do ya? 
I went to school with a Shandra Lear, and a Mike Hunt.
Wow. This is the first time I thread I started spawned another thread (that would be this one, in case you’d like a link)! Yay for me!
Anyhoo, the name my best friend gave to her daughter isn’t nearly as inherently bad, I just don’t like it! Keara Payton. No, she’s not named for the character in “Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride,” thankyouverymuch!
My six-year-old niece has some classmates with interesting names. The only ones I can think of right now are Braxton and Paris.
If you wanna talk initials, mine were LES before I got married. Now they’re LEZ. My highschool boyfriend’s last name also started with an S. My friends said I should’ve married him and hyphenated. I don’t think so. (We’d still be living in his mom’s attic.)