# 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:** 13
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 10:44am 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/682572/241 "2014-03-12T10:44:36Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > 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. Not any place I’ve ever lived (east, west, and central US). It’s always pronounced “SAIR-uh,” whether spelled Sara or Sarah. (I can see why some might try to pronounce “Sara” like “Tara,” but AFAIK they’d be wrong – that’s not how the Sara in question herself pronounces it.) ---
**Author:** ![Tess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@Tess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tess)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 1:10am 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/682572/242 "2014-03-13T01:10:35Z")
Last week I was checking a mailing list at work and spotted someone with the first name Minus. Who does that to a baby? On a more amusing note, I’ve also seen a listing for Bruce Wayne {Lastname} Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 1:43pm 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/682572/243 "2014-03-13T13:43:45Z")
My mom is a teacher and she has a family with three kids Porsche (girl) Mercedes (girl) Beemer (boy) Interesting names yes, but I don’t think they’re the worst in the world. ---
**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 13, 2014, 1:47pm 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/682572/244 "2014-03-13T13:47:08Z")
I had thought the yuppie thing was over by now. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 6:03pm 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/682572/245 "2014-03-13T18:03:43Z")
Had a piece of misdirected mail in my box yesterday. The intended recipient has the first name Aashit. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 7:41pm 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/682572/246 "2014-03-13T19:41:03Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > Had a piece of misdirected mail in my box yesterday. The intended recipient has the first name Aashit. Perhaps an unintended pregnancy… ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 8:01pm 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/682572/247 "2014-03-13T20:01:36Z")
Mariwanda. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 8:26pm 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/682572/248 "2014-03-13T20:26:23Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > My mom is a teacher and she has a family with three kids > > Porsche (girl) > Mercedes (girl) > Beemer (boy) > > Interesting names yes, but I don’t think they’re the worst in the world. Well, if “Porsche” is pronounced “Portia,” that could be all right. And I believe Mercedes is actually a legit girls’ name. Dunno how I feel about Beemer though. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 9:08pm 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/682572/249 "2014-03-13T21:08:32Z")
Mercedes is named after Mercédès Jellinek, daughter of the designer. Legit name in many languages. Porsche after the founder, Ferdinand Porsche. Yes, pour-sh is right out. I don’t think Portia (pour-shuh) would be homophonous in German but it pretty much is in English. The last sound is a schwa (ə). Beemer/Beamer. Just no. Some would also insist on “Bimmer” for the car apparently, and say the former is wrong and only for motorcycles, apparently. The next kid should be named Bentley. I believe that it is a very unpopular name lately. :dubious: ---
**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 13, 2014, 9:17pm 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/682572/250 "2014-03-13T21:17:10Z")
Sir T-Cups: > [@](#): > > My mom is a teacher and she has a family with three kids > > Porsche (girl) > Mercedes (girl) > Beemer (boy) > > Interesting names yes, but I don’t think they’re the worst in the world. I guess she’s training them for a career at Raisins, in South Park, CO. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 2:16am 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/682572/251 "2014-03-14T02:16:11Z")
I’ve always associated Mercedes (as a first name) with the spoiled young woman of the same name who makes a brief appearance in \* Call of the Wild\*. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 2:17am 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/682572/252 "2014-03-14T02:17:16Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Mercedes is named after Mercédès Jellinek, daughter of the designer. Legit name in many languages. > > Porsche after the founder, Ferdinand Porsche. Yes, pour-sh is right out. I don’t think Portia (pour-shuh) would be homophonous in German but it pretty much is in English. The last sound is a schwa (ə). > > Beemer/Beamer. Just no. Some would also insist on “Bimmer” for the car apparently, and say the former is wrong and only for motorcycles, apparently. > > The next kid should be named Bentley. I believe that it is a very unpopular name lately. :dubious: This is all correct. Also putting Bentley in there is hilarious, I should ask her if the family ever had another kid… ETA: I’m watching the Xavier Marquette game right now and I’m reminded that one of Xavier’s stars is named Semaj (pronounced se-mah-jay) which to the keen eye is James backwards ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 3:34am 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/682572/253 "2014-03-14T03:34:18Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > ETA: I’m watching the Xavier Marquette game right now and I’m reminded that one of Xavier’s stars is named Semaj (pronounced se-mah-jay) which to the keen eye is James backwards This calls to mind a specific instance of the “Daddy really wanted a son but got a daughter” phenomenon. My wife worked with a woman named Jamesa (pronounced Ja-mee-sa). Absolutely lovely, beautiful person. And come to think of it, she went with another naming convention…all of her six children have names that start with “J.” IIRC, one daughter is named Janess, and her youngest (a boy) is named Journey. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 3:56am 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/682572/254 "2014-03-14T03:56:58Z")
> [@Avarie537](#): > > I was on a parenting board and someone linked to a cute blog … their OB knits hats for the babies he delivers. An amazing idea with adorable results, but the names - oh the names of some of these kids! Here’s a sampling of some of the most WTF ones in my opinion. Anybody else see any good ones lately? > > Chyann > Hannavia > Joci > Daicey > Adonis > Cannon > Callaghan > Harding > Landry > Brylee > Zadrian > Jakobe > Kelton > Hagen > Mazzy > Kolten > Dallin > Bredan > Tennley > Azriel > Crixus IMO, you really need to consider the last name together with the first name. I just don’t think you can consider the first name in a vacuum. For example, Mazzy Jones doesn’t sound at all silly. But consider any of the following: Mazzy Molasses, Mazzy Conazzy, Mazzy Spitazzy, etc. These all sound quite ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:48am 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/682572/255 "2014-03-14T05:48:59Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > My wife is a teacher, and I have seen her class lists. Of course, her situation is not quite fair because she teaches in a diverse area of the S.F. Bay Area. So many of her pupils are the kids of Asian immigrants, largely Chinese, Vietnamese, and Indian. Many of them have strange names by our English-speaking standards, especially the Indian kids. By their own standards they may be perfectly ordinary. grape mine. which is what bothers me. i should mention that i too, scoffed at odd names which i assumed was unintentionally misspelt, or be easily amused by weird names that were punny. more and more however, as the grammar nazi in me grew, i felt that creative names were perfectly reasonable. especially with the advent of the internet, where you quickly learn that you cannot sign up for a service without fighting hordes of others for your given name. what makes a name okay? that it has been around for a long time and widely accepted by other people? why should that be a prerequisite for something as personal as naming your child? the prejudices that is a cause for concern for teasing in school is also the very same ones when we reject odd or creative names. there is justification in resisting change in language, we need to adhere to a certain standard for clear communications. the same is not true for names. the onus to getting a name correct comes together with getting to know someone new. putting an assumption or even judgement on how someone’s name should be spelt is just that. i was first introduced to racism on the internet. i am fortunate to not experience that in real life. i was ridiculed, verbally abused, attacked, shunned; not for the colour of my skin, not for the language i spoke, not for any actions i did. (i actually verified it by running with a common, western name.) it was all simply because i used a Chinese name. that is it. it couldn’t get any more superficial than that. i was shocked at first, and i considered simply using the alt instead, but i chose to stick with it as a sieve out of stubbornness. if you cannot look past a name, you do not need to look at all. **shijinn** ---
**Author:** ![Athabasca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Athabasca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athabasca)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 12:43am 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/682572/256 "2014-03-15T00:43:26Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Reminds me of two sets of twins I knew of some time ago. My uncle and his wife decided to name their twins Trevor and Travis. Too similar to be practical, IMO, plus a bit on the cutesy side. > > Then I met a guy (delivered for Frito-Lay to the 7-11 I worked in at the time) who had seen fit to name his twins Trevin and Kevin. Trevin and Kevin, eh. My older sisters, who are twins, were named Maureen and Laureen. They were born in 1956. They have never been hassled for the rhyming aspect of their names but perhaps that was more common in the 50s, who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Athabasca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Athabasca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athabasca)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 1:00am 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/682572/257 "2014-03-15T01:00:04Z")
I live in Canada so the naming conventions of African Americans, particularly in the last 20 or so years, has me a bit puzzled. There are some truly weird names, such as Treshaun, which I don’t see being anything other than someone taking random syllable and putting them together because they sound nice. The aforementioned Treshaun is also manifest as Trashawn, which means that spelling can be pretty awful as well. Poor kid being named Trash. The also random use of apostrophes, such as T’Keylah --why? Is it because it looks prestigious? Special? Last, the placing of emphasis on a syllable other than where it should go. The name Devon, at least where I live, has the stress on the first syllable. Elsewhere it is pronounced DeVON. As with the apostrophe above, does DeVON confer some status higher than DEvon? Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 11:31am 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/682572/258 "2014-04-17T11:31:31Z")
It’s DeVON Ave. in Chicago, FWIW. But then Goethe St. is pronounced GO-thee. Go figure 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 1:33pm 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/682572/259 "2014-04-17T13:33:16Z")
Here’s another fun crop! These are from a parenting forum online. All self-reported. Stevie-Leigh, Alexis-Jorja, Brogan-Storm Shawnnamay Lynn Koal Azura, Cazmeira Ja’Havah, Ja’Marcus Makaylynn Monroe Khodionna Chevelle Nizhoney Kale Talon Daybreon Jedzeia Kaylib Kaine Graycin, Matana, Hatcher J’niya Gage Eryx and Ace Halyn Jakayla DaNae Brexton Kye, Kelby Jo Nayeli Jezaiyah, Anjanae Kyan Josiah, Jorryn Dane, Karlis, Judah Del Shaina Ann, Shane Jr, Shanice Eva Mae, Shanea Illiana Hope Sa’nora, A’layah, Ma’lique Ozell Lee,Sshantazia Leigh JyKerah Travis-Tyleque, Tayler -Tiara Kingsaiah Nasir Legacy Nehemiah Jaxxon Raydain Milan Nehemiah, My’Kenzie Sol Malik Senial Mystquic, Anghelicila, Raiven Milani Naydalese ---
**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:** [April 17, 2014, 1:35pm 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/682572/260 "2014-04-17T13:35:15Z")
Are parents getting kid names out of alphabet soup these days? [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=12) [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=14)