There was a girl that I went to elementary school with who was named Royale George. If I remember correctly, she was good friends with the siblings Jack, Queen, and King (I forget their last name).
However, the best was my old boss Dick Powers. Now that is a name that commands respect.
At one of my previous jobs, I encountered a girl whose given name – and I was in a position to see documentation of this – was Examine Annabelle Johnson.
Yes, this poor girl’s parents actually saw fit to adorn her with the label “Examine A. Johnson”.
The scenario only worsened when, after hiding my initial reaction (quite admirably given the circumstances, if I do say so myself), I attempted to give Mr. and Mrs. Johnson the benefit of the doubt by pronoucing the young lady’s first name as “EX-uh-MEEN”…at which point she corrected me, uttering what was the most definitive sigh of despair I have yet to encounter, followed by, "no, it really is ‘ex-AM-inn’ ".
It was all I could do not to offer my sincerest sympathies.
I used to chat regularly with a guy named Jack Storm. I still can’t decide if that name evokes more porn star or secret agent, but I like it all the same.
There were once two sisters attending my university. I don’t remember their last name, but their first names were Precious and Treasure.
Nature related surnames are quite common in Sweden. If translated they might sound exotic/cool/cute/hobbitsy to an English speaker I suppose.
For example:
Skog - Forest
Engstrom - Field Stream
Lund - Grove
Kvist - Twig
Gren - Branch
Fors - Rapids
Strand - Beach
Berg - Mountain
Lundkvist - Grove Twig
Berggren, Strandberg, Lundberg etc etc (there are a lot of combinations like this)
I have a few unusual names in my collection too. My stepfather’s grandmother’s name was Callie Coe! (Say it out loud) A lady in my home town was born on October 31st., and she was named Halloween.
My mother’s uncle was named Cortinas, which is spanish for curtains.
Various customer names heard or seen at work: Flash Gordon, Santa Claus, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, John Hancock, and many others, whose names I can’t recall at the moment.
My frat brother in Atlanta introduced me to a travelling rep for the Bunn company named Charlie Daniels. He told us of a time when he checked into a hotel with his crates of coffeemakers with his name on them. He turned around from the front desk to find a group of teenagers gazing at his luggage. It turned out he hit town the same day as The Charlie Daniels Band.
I asked him, “What did you do?” He said, “What else, I sold 'em a coffeemaker!”
The most famous Major from around here was Major Taylor, a black bicycle racer from a long time ago. There’s a velodrome named for him in Indianapolis. The Major we know, though, is a woman. She’s a pillar of the local domestic violence shelter.
I’ve known two men named King. One is a great guy, the other is a four-star jerk.
I dated some girls in high school who seemed to be named Dwanna.
Da spouse used to work with an Indian guy named Hari Haran Dahandapani. Which is about the most fun name to say ever! He hasn’t worked with the guy for like 10 years, but I still remember it because it’s so much fun to say.
Fifteen years or so ago I used to work with a woman named Lynette Coldiron. Always liked her name. (Pronounced “Cold - Iron,” not like “Calderon.”)