# 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:** 18
**Author:** ![delsina363](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@delsina363](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delsina363)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 7:58pm 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/682572/341 "2014-04-28T19:58:06Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I hear Io is from Greek myth :rolleyes: > Luna isn’t bad, but makes me think “crazy,” barking at the moon. > I have to ask you very specifically: is the kid named Berkeley (and your typo) or Berkley (sic)? Because if it’s the latter, then that is delicious. It would be like “why did you name 5 of your kids after colleges, and the other after a town of 344 in Somerset?” Sorry, I spelled it wrong. I guess you can tell I did not go to college :o Her name is Berklee, and she has a sister Madison. My daughter forgets the rest of the names. She did tell me that she has a classmate named Konede, and last year she was in a class with a boy whos first name was Dangardy. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 8:10pm 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/682572/342 "2014-04-28T20:10:58Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Newark. Intercourse, PA? ---
**Author:** ![delsina363](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@delsina363](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delsina363)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 8:21pm 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/682572/343 "2014-04-28T20:21:16Z")
My husband has a niece named Nevaeh - Heaven spelled backwards. Is that just not the cutest name eva :rolleyes: ---
**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 28, 2014, 8:40pm 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/682572/344 "2014-04-28T20:40:16Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > (Maybe that is common now, but I always though the standard pronunciation was the Spanish one, where the **X** sounds like an **H** ). I’ve always seen the Spanish spelling as Javier. Of course, J, H, and X are the most confusing sounds _en español_ for me. ---
**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, 9:21pm 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/682572/345 "2014-04-28T21:21:39Z")
> [@delsina363](#): > > Sorry, I spelled it wrong. I guess you can tell I did not go to college :o Her name is Berklee, and she has a sister Madison. My daughter forgets the rest of the names. > > She did tell me that she has a classmate named Konede, and last year she was in a class with a boy whos first name was Dangardy. > > 😕 No it’s okay, not many people not the spelling. But if you are going to give it to your offspring, better make sure the name doesn’t mean something bad or stupid. Note: Berklee (sic) could also be the [music college](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berklee_College_of_Music). At _least_ they don’t all start with the same name or rhyme. The Duggars took that stupid plan and now are stuck. Looking it up, their 19 kids don’t have _completely_ awful names so I’m surprised. Next kid should be named “CSU Bakersfield.” D’en garde? y? > [@SpazCat](#): > > I’ve always seen the Spanish spelling as Javier. Of course, J, H, and X are the most confusing sounds _en español_ for me. Francis Xavier, although Javier is the more modern spelling. If you want to get even more confused, the sound that “J” usually makes in Spanish is “x” in the International Phonetic Alphabet. And “j” in IPA is the normal English “Y” sound. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 9:21pm 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/682572/346 "2014-04-28T21:21:48Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > And I have just remembered that my daughter also had a friend in high school called Xavier (at least, I assume he spelled it like that) but who pronounced the **X** as _ex_: _Exavier_. (Maybe that is common now, but I always though the standard pronunciation was the Spanish one, where the **X** sounds like an **H** ). How old is Xavier? Because in the X-Men comics/movies, “Professor X” aka “Charles Xavier” pronounces “Xavier” as “Exavier”. Maybe that’s who the kid is named after? > [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > Thank you for that! My full first name is “Jon,” and I was always annoyed when I had to share my name with someone whose name was really “Jonathan.” > Having “Jon A” and Jon B" was annoying when it could have just been Jon and bloody Jonathan. If y’all like the name Jon so much, put it down on the birth certificate instead of Jonathan! 😛 > > [/End threadjack rant] I went to school with a Jon who was not a Jonathan. And it wasn’t pronounced “John”. It was pronounced “Yon”, Scandinavian-style. > [@delsina363](#): > > My daughter has a friend at school, her name is Berkley and she has around 5 siblings, all named after colleges. I forget their names, but I can ask my daughter tonight. I remember when she was telling me the names, they were not to bad, but taken as a whole, is quite unusual to me. Apropos of nothing, my town has a series of streets named after prestigious universities: Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Vassar, Amherst, Dartmouth, Cornell. The next two streets in sequence are “Elliot” and “Berg”. But if those are colleges, I’ve never heard of them. ---
**Author:** ![delsina363](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@delsina363](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delsina363)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 9:31pm 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/682572/347 "2014-04-28T21:31:23Z")
[quote=“thelurkinghorror, post:345, topic:682572”] No it’s okay, not many people not the spelling. But if you are going to give it to your offspring, better make sure the name doesn’t mean something bad or stupid. Note: Berklee (sic) could also be the [music college](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berklee_College_of_Music). At _least_ they don’t all start with the same name or rhyme. The Duggars took that stupid plan and now are stuck. Looking it up, their 19 kids don’t have _completely_ awful names so I’m surprised. Next kid should be named “CSU Bakersfield.” D’en garde? y? Actually, we live in Boston, so I just assume she was named after the music college. For Dangardy, she assured me it is pronounced just like it is spelled. At first I thought she was telling me she new someone named Daniel Gardy. Nope, Dangardy is his first name. I love the Duggars. They are so cute. I like to watch it with my two girls, and show them that not everyone fights with their siblings, nor dresses up like Miley Cyrus. They just roll their eyes at Jebidiah, Josi, Johanna, and on and on. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 9:58pm 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/682572/348 "2014-04-28T21:58:01Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Maybe she can get together with the Renesmee I saw in the local paper, start a support group or something. If anything can making you feel better about being called Katniss, it’s going to be meeting a Renesmee. Also, Arya. Though that one’s not so bad, considering. It’s just that there are going to be a LOT of them soon. I know 2 Aryas right now - one is a newborn, one is right about a year. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 10:19pm 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/682572/349 "2014-04-28T22:19:31Z")
> [@Lsura](#): > > Also, Arya. Though that one’s not so bad, considering. It’s just that there are going to be a LOT of them soon. I know 2 Aryas right now - one is a newborn, one is right about a year. Naming your kid after a fictional character whose storyline is still being written has “potential disaster” written _all over_ it. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 10:23pm 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/682572/350 "2014-04-28T22:23:53Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > And I have just remembered that my daughter also had a friend in high school called Xavier (at least, I assume he spelled it like that) but who pronounced the **X** as _ex_: _Exavier_. (Maybe that is common now, but I always though the standard pronunciation was the Spanish one, where the **X** sounds like an **H** ). the standard English pronunciation is like “Zavier.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 10:24pm 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/682572/351 "2014-04-28T22:24:56Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > Naming your kid after a fictional character whose storyline is still being written has “potential disaster” written _all over_ it. :smack: “Arya” is a standard Hindu name. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 10:41pm 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/682572/352 "2014-04-28T22:41:59Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > “Arya” is a standard Hindu name. Sure. I knew a few people of Indian descent in high school with the surname Arya. Nonetheless, the rash of little white girls named Arya that’s going to flood kindergartens 3-4 years from now will have little to do with that. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 11:29pm 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/682572/353 "2014-04-28T23:29:32Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > Sure. I knew a few people of Indian descent in high school with the surname Arya. Nonetheless, the rash of little white girls named Arya that’s going to flood kindergartens 3-4 years from now will have little to do with that. This - the fact that it wasn’t wholly made up for the books is why, in my opinion, it’s not as bad as it could be (because I think Renesmee IS a bad name). But if you ask the parents of the two I know, both would say they named their daughter after Arya Stark. FWIW, I do think it’s a pretty name. ---
**Author:** ![Kona\_Kathie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@Kona\_Kathie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kona_Kathie)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 12:00am 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/682572/354 "2014-04-29T00:00:24Z")
My daughter had a kid in her class named Precious Transfiguration. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 12:50am 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/682572/355 "2014-04-29T00:50:09Z")
> [@Lsura](#): > > Also, Arya. Though that one’s not so bad, considering. It’s just that there are going to be a LOT of them soon. I know 2 Aryas right now - one is a newborn, one is right about a year. I can support the name Arya. > [@OneCentStamp](#): > > Naming your kid after a fictional character whose storyline is still being written has “potential disaster” written _all over_ it. :smack: I know GoT has the “anyone can die, any time” thing going, but I honestly can’t see Arya getting killed off. I think Arya is gonna somehow or other hook up with Daenarys and end up one of the most powerful people in Westeros 😃 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 1:14am 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/682572/356 "2014-04-29T01:14:00Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I can support the name Arya. It’s a fine name, but so did the parents of 6 other girls in her class. What’s worse is “Khaleesi” is trending. That’s not even her fucking name! If you’re trying to go for “princess,” keep in mind that her wedding will involve murder and indiscriminate fucking. Better get started on her archery as well. But I think a lot of them literally think that is her given name. I do realize “Daenerys” is pretty much impossible to spell. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 1:53am 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/682572/357 "2014-04-29T01:53:35Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I do realize “Daenerys” is pretty much impossible to spell. Witness my spelling in my previous post 😃 I wonder how many young parents are naming their daughters Sansa? I don’t see it happening. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 3:59am 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/682572/358 "2014-04-29T03:59:16Z")
> [@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. That’s how we named our daughter, little Chrysler LeBaron. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 5:41am 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/682572/359 "2014-04-29T05:41:10Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > That’s how we named our daughter, little Chrysler LeBaron. Two Family Guy references: one with Native American “Chief Grand Cherokee.” Also, Brian and Frank Sinatra Jr. tried to mack on “Dakota” and “New Bedford.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 6:36am 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/682572/360 "2014-04-29T06:36:33Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > And I have just remembered that my daughter also had a friend in high school called Xavier (at least, I assume he spelled it like that) but who pronounced the **X** as _ex_: _Exavier_. (Maybe that is common now, but I always though the standard pronunciation was the Spanish one, where the **X** sounds like an **H** ). Shrug, every time I’ve heard someone who wasn’t speaking Spanish say Xavier it’s been along the lines of exavier, zavier or shavier, where the v may be a b and with the stresses moving all around the place; I once was told I am very, very bad after I asked three English-speaking guys who each pronounced it differently to make up their collective mind (c’mon, it kept them busy the whole afternoon!). The word has been around long enough and traveled far enough to acquire its own pronunciation in a lot of languages. Sansa would be problematic in Spanish: it sounds like a word meaning dumb and also like Sancha, which along with its masculine form fell out of favor due to some bestseller or another, after being extremely popular throughout the Middle Ages. Arya not so much: people will tend to spell it with an i “like song”, which has been around for a while. [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=17) [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=19)