# 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:** 16
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 10:05pm 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/682572/301 "2014-04-20T22:05:53Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > A very patient and kind kindergarten teacher I know almost wept when she saw her class list one year: the AM class has a Brittany, a Britny, and Britni, and a Britney, as well as a Bretta and a Brianna; the PM class had another Britney, another Brianna (but pronounced differently from the AM Brianna), a Bretagne (pronounced “Brittany”), another variation I’m not sure of, maybe Bretini, and a Briyona. When I was in 4th grade, in my class of 16, there were 5 Johns and one Jon (me). That’s the year I started going by Jonathan. ---
**Author:** ![Tess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@Tess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tess)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 12:12am 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/682572/302 "2014-04-21T00:12:11Z")
Onchanta and Onchante both showed up on a list I was working on. After spending a while mentally pronouncing them ‘Onch-an-tuh,’ I realized they were both phonetic spellings of enchanté. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 6:17pm 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/682572/303 "2014-04-21T18:17:22Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > My cousin is called Jax, however it’s short for two regular names (Jonathan Max.) He’s been called Jax for 26 years, so I never thought anything odd about it. There’s nothing odd about a cute smushing of Jonathan and Max. But the only time I’ve seen Jax as a full name is as a character on General Hospital. ---
**Author:** ![delsina363](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@delsina363](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delsina363)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 6:41pm 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/682572/304 "2014-04-21T18:41:08Z")
Different Names of People I have known: Tuesday and Gidget (Sisters) Today Aloha Chance Lucky (I kid you not) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 7:06pm 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/682572/305 "2014-04-21T19:06:15Z")
This just in from the internets. The good folk there [named a kid](https://www.yahoo.com/tech/expectant-parents-asked-the-internet-to-name-their-83416450388.html) (bum-ba-bum): Amelia Savannah Joy McLaughlin Well, that’s anticlimactic. At least 3 of those are real names. No Melodee Khrystal Strippername. However, looks like it wasn’t really the top vote getter: that was Cthulhu All-Spark (McLaughlin, presumably). 😃 I do see the hint of a belly button tentacle. Maybe she’ll lose her “baby legs” a la the Simpsons’s Treehouse of Horror. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 7:24pm 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/682572/306 "2014-04-21T19:24:33Z")
> [@delsina363](#): > > Aloha My son knows one of those! Apparently it’s a big family and they all have weird names. The only other one I can remember right now is a girl named Ocala National Forest, because that’s where she was conceived. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 10:18pm 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/682572/307 "2014-04-21T22:18:15Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > My son knows one of those! Apparently it’s a big family and they all have weird names. The only other one I can remember right now is a girl named Ocala National Forest, because that’s where she was conceived. My younger brother went to school with a girl named Memphis Boston, though I don’t know why she was named that. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2014, 6:55pm 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/682572/308 "2014-04-26T18:55:53Z")
The winner of the [official name of the year competition](http://www.nameoftheyear.com/) is Shamus Beaglehole. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2014, 9:44pm 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/682572/309 "2014-04-26T21:44:08Z")
There is in this world a man who spells his name Andrue. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 11:05pm 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/682572/310 "2014-04-26T23:05:58Z")
There is a child at my kids’ daycare who is Jrue. You know … pronounced like “drew”. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 11:14pm 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/682572/311 "2014-04-26T23:14:48Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > My son knows one of those! Apparently it’s a big family and they all have weird names. The only other one I can remember right now is a girl named Ocala National Forest, because that’s where she was conceived. There’s a genre mystery series in which the first person narrator is named Brooklyn, and she has a brother, Austin, a sister, Savannah, and so on. Same reason. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 12:56am 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/682572/312 "2014-04-27T00:56:32Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > There’s a genre mystery series in which the first person narrator is named Brooklyn, and she has a brother, Austin, a sister, Savannah, and so on. Same reason. At some point, the parent would have to start planning intimacy around nice place names. I mean, imagine a kid named San Louis Obispo or Jersey City. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 10:13am 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/682572/313 "2014-04-27T10:13:04Z")
There is a game that I love to play called [“Rowowor.”](http://www.tonypa.pri.ee/rowowor.html) You are given seven letters one at a time, and you have to place them in such a way with respect to each other as to form as many words as you can. (They can overlap/share letters.) Anyway, in the course of playing this game, I ended up with interesting letter combinations often enough that I ended up making a running list of them for use as names in fiction I write or whatever. Here’s some of them: \*\*Xidonee \*\* (pronounced “Sydney”) **Henoari** (never thought about it til just now, but I suppose it could be pronounced “Henry”) **Annelux** **Ielando** **Wixcine** **Aofania** **Shiveil** ---
**Author:** ![Why\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b782af/32.png) [@Why\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_Child)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 8:23pm 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/682572/314 "2014-04-27T20:23:21Z")
Man’s name: “Ronwanda” - His father’s name was Ron, his mother was Wanda. Man’s name: Nickleus - His mother couldn’t spell Nicholas. Woman’s name: “Freelove” - Her mother asked her father to name her. I think it was his way of saying, “No, honey, we aren’t getting married.” ---
**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:** [April 27, 2014, 10:22pm 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/682572/315 "2014-04-27T22:22:02Z")
Freelove was a common name among the Puritans in the 17th century. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 11:12pm 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/682572/316 "2014-04-27T23:12:25Z")
Only someone from Philadelphia (like me) can appreciate the true horror of it, but my first cousin’s daughter named her first born Camden. The story is that she was watching a game at Camden yards when her husband-to-be proposed. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 2:02am 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/682572/317 "2014-04-28T02:02:45Z")
I have an acquaintance with a daughter named Luna and one on the way that will be named Io. Io is a moon of Jupiter I believe. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 2:38am 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/682572/318 "2014-04-28T02:38:23Z")
Or a chick who had sex with Zeus. She was changed into a cow to hid from his jealous wife, and guarded by a dude covered in eyes. Zeus put a hit on eyeboy and Hermes did the deed. He was literally bored to death. Then adultery and technical bestiality commenced/continued. Those two are unusual names but not really :rolleyes:. At least they’re not made out of whole cloth. The unread will have a hell of a time pronouncing her name though. ---
**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:** [April 28, 2014, 2:49am 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/682572/319 "2014-04-28T02:49:15Z")
> [@Buttercup\_Smith](#): > > I have an acquaintance with a daughter named Luna and one on the way that will be named Io. Io is a moon of Jupiter I believe. What’s so bad about Luna? That’s a perfectly acceptable girl name. Io is a little weird, but not even close to the weirdest name I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 4:58am 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/682572/320 "2014-04-28T04:58:09Z")
> [@Buttercup\_Smith](#): > > I have an acquaintance with a daughter named Luna and one on the way that will be named Io. Io is a moon of Jupiter I believe. Io was originally a woman from Greek mythology. The moon was named for her. [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=15) [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=17)