# Can we play another round of "What the hell were Mom and Dad thinking when they named the kid?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 1, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572 "2014-03-01T02:19:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/221 "2014-03-10T01:31:18Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > But not completely made up. Just a pronunciation from another culture(s). > . True, but the main criterion in the OP was “What they hell were mom and dad thinking…” not “WTF, made-up names or names from other cultures.” And as someone who has spent her entire life patiently spelling and re-spelling both my first and last name for people because I have unconventional spellings for both (and an uncommon first name with several “correct” ways to spell it), I assure you that there have been many a time when I wished for a name like Mary Smith. On the other hand, it’s OK that my name is MINE and if I google my full name. I’m the only person that comes up in search results; and I do. On the other, other hand…the above. 😉 Had I had children, I would have avoided unique, quirky, trendy, celebrity names like the plague. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/222 "2014-03-10T02:09:28Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > I saw a Shyann today. Presumably that’s supposed to be like Cheyanne (which oddly doesn’t bother me too much). This spelling makes me want to weep. Along with all our Michaela permutations at school, we have Cheyenne, Shyann, Shiann, and Shaian. > [@Buttercup\_Smith](#): > > I have two brothers one named James and the other Jimmy. My folks really liked that name. James is retired Navy and goes by Jim. Jimmy is Jimmy. I had an acquaintance in high school whose name was Joe. His older brother was also named Joe, and that’s what happens when parents have different godparents for each child and allow those godparents to choose the names. As far as I know, my classmate is still being called “Little Joe”. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/223 "2014-03-10T02:48:03Z")
> [@Buttercup\_Smith](#): > > I have two brothers one named James and the other Jimmy. My folks really liked that name. James is retired Navy and goes by Jim. Jimmy is Jimmy. My brother-in-law is James David. His brother is James David. Their father is James David. They go by Jim, Jimmy and JD. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/224 "2014-03-10T04:52:41Z")
I still think Angelina Joile and Brad Pitt either didn’t say their daughter’s name out loud or else never thought of it w/ his last name. B/c as soon as I heard, ‘Shiloh Pitt’ the 7 year old in me said, ‘Pile o’ shit’. I suspect other children have made the same connection. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/225 "2014-03-10T04:54:34Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > My sister named my niece Sara, but pronounced Sah-ra. Since (in my experience anyhow) the more common pronunciation is Say-ra, my niece is going to go through life correcting people’s pronunciation of her name. I have \*never \*heard the name Sara (or Sarah) pronounced Say-ra. I have only ever heard it as Sah-ra. Are you maybe from the deep south or something? ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/226 "2014-03-10T05:52:36Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I have \*never \*heard the name Sara (or Sarah) pronounced Say-ra. I have only ever heard it as Sah-ra. Are you maybe from the deep south or something? I think this is down to poor choices in phonetic approximation. I would write the common pronunciation as Sair-a. I think the OP is trying to say the alternate pronunciation is something like Saah-ra. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/227 "2014-03-10T12:25:08Z")
I’m a Sarah, and Sair-a is how it’s usually pronounced, though I do hear long-A Saah-ra occasionally. My nickname in my family is Sare, pronounced as it looks, like Dare. I’ve known people named: Meadow Hurricane England & her brother Paris Mystic, last name Powers My Dad’s name was Royal, but he was born in 1920 so not really a modern name. It was NOT shortened to Roy. Not if you didn’t want a second civil conversation with him, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/228 "2014-03-10T21:14:38Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Dick Sargent, who played the second Durwood, er Darwin, er Dumbo on “Bewitched” was born Richard Cox. Yeah, that’s right, Dick Cox. You just reminded me of THREE people I worked with whose last names were the subject of a lot of jokes. I worked with a man and woman whose last names were Cox and Peters. Our manager’s last name was Bliss. The running joke was that wherever you had Peters and Cox, Bliss was sure to follow! ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/229 "2014-03-10T21:54:32Z")
> [@saje](#): > > Meadow My mom suggested this for my cat and I liked it but ended up going with Freya. > [@](#): > > England & her brother Paris I’ve known a male Paris and a female Paris. Speaking of places in Europe, my daughter has a friend named Fenchurch. At first I thought nothing of it because I assumed it was probably Ethiopian or something, but no, Fenchurch is apparently a street in London or something. But Fenchurch the person is an American middle school girl. > [@](#): > > Mystic, last name Powers Oh dear. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/230 "2014-03-10T22:00:21Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > Speaking of places in Europe, my daughter has a friend named Fenchurch. At first I thought nothing of it because I assumed it was probably Ethiopian or something, but no, Fenchurch is apparently a street in London or something. But Fenchurch the person is an American middle school girl. Maybe her parents are Douglas Adams fans. Isn’t that the name of Arthur Dent’s girlfriend in “Hitchhiker’s Guide”? ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/231 "2014-03-10T22:10:20Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Maybe her parents are Douglas Adams fans. Isn’t that the name of Arthur Dent’s girlfriend in “Hitchhiker’s Guide”? Oh, maybe so, I’ve never read that or heard of the name before. It didn’t sound like a name to me, at least in this language, so I was surprised to learn that Fenchurch and her parents were American. My daughter has lots of friends with names that sound weird to me, but most of them or their parents are foreign. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/232 "2014-03-10T23:30:54Z")
I have a business associate whose first and last names are both archangels. I’ve always wondered about the middle name. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/233 "2014-03-11T03:46:28Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Maybe her parents are Douglas Adams fans. Isn’t that the name of Arthur Dent’s girlfriend in “Hitchhiker’s Guide”? Yes, in “So Long and Thanks For All the Fish”. She was named for a station, I think train (presumably on the aforementioned street). As for why, let’s just say it is apparently possible to get rather conceivably bored waiting in the ticket queue at that station. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/234 "2014-03-11T10:22:01Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Yes, in “So Long and Thanks For All the Fish”. She was named for a station, I think train (presumably on the aforementioned street). As for why, let’s just say it is apparently possible to get **rather conceivably bored** waiting in the ticket queue at that station. 😉 Well played. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/235 "2014-03-11T11:18:30Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > This stuff isn’t new- I know a dear lady, 89, whose parents combined Mary and Wanda way back in '25. She has suffered all her life because of it. Sorry, you’ll have to spell it out for me. All I’m coming up with is Mandy (perfectly normal), Maranda (could just be an odd spelling of Miranda), Manda (short for Amanda, fine - unless your surname is Huggenkiss), Wary (OK, that would be strange but not horrible) - what am I missing? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/236 "2014-03-11T12:17:02Z")
Mariwanda? ---
**Author:** ![Trick\_Rider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Trick\_Rider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trick_Rider)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/237 "2014-03-12T00:34:47Z")
Wanmandary? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/238 "2014-03-12T06:57:26Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > Sorry, you’ll have to spell it out for me. All I’m coming up with is Mandy (perfectly normal), Maranda (could just be an odd spelling of Miranda), Manda (short for Amanda, fine - unless your surname is Huggenkiss), Wary (OK, that would be strange but not horrible) - what am I missing? Something that when said, sounds like marijuana. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/239 "2014-03-12T10:22:57Z")
Wandary? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/240 "2014-03-12T10:31:14Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > My sister named my niece Sara, but pronounced Sah-ra. Since (in my experience anyhow) the more common pronunciation is Say-ra, my niece is going to go through life correcting people’s pronunciation of her name. Strange - that’s exactly how I would expect it to be pronounced. f I see the spelling “Sara”, I assume it is SAH-ra (to rhyme with Tara). Sometimes that spelling is pronounced the same as Sarah (SAIR-a), but I wouldn’t ever think of Say-ra. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572.md?page=13)