# Do any common American names have unfortunate translations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602 "2014-04-21T12:52:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/1 "2014-04-21T12:52:30Z")
I see that [“Dikshit”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dikshit) is a known Hindu family name. Depending on who you talk to, it’s pronounced “dixit” or “dick-shit”, the latter having uncomfortable connotations in English. Whichever way you pronounce it, [try not to laugh about it.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QVzKihKiYI) In college I knew a fellow from southeast Asia with the given name “Dong.” Nice fellow, though his name was a source of snickering when he wasn’t in the room. How about the other direction? Are there names common in America that have unfortunate translations in other languages? For the purposes of this thread, I’ll take “common” to mean that you’re likely to find that name in a rack of souvenir keychains sold at tourist locations. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/2 "2014-04-21T13:57:46Z")
_I don’t think you mean “translations”; maybe pronunciations?_ Anyway, the common American (male and female) forename or name-contraction “Randy” has pretty unfortunate connotations in Britain. An American named John Thomas would raise a few eyebrows in Britain too. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/3 "2014-04-21T14:04:12Z")
Bob means bean in Russian. Not that unfortunate, but one time my friend called the wrong number in Moscow, trying to reach me, and asked (in Russian) if Bob is there and he answered, “we don’t have any beans, but we do have peas,” and hung up. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/4 "2014-04-21T15:07:21Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > _I don’t think you mean “translations”; maybe pronunciations?_ > > Anyway, the common American (male and female) forename or name-contraction “Randy” has pretty unfortunate connotations in Britain. > > An American named John Thomas would raise a few eyebrows in Britain too. As does the female name Fanny. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/5 "2014-04-21T15:13:32Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > As does the female name Fanny. Forgot about that one. Brits must laugh at the fact that we have a prominent financial institution named Fanny Mae. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/6 "2014-04-21T15:22:48Z")
I’ve been told by Mexican friends that “Luke” or “Lucas” can imply “crazy” (_loco_), and that this has caused the Spanish equivalents to decline in popularity among parents of newborns, but I don’t know how true this is. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/7 "2014-04-21T15:50:11Z")
Apparently Janine sounds very much like the Arabic (or at least Egyptian Arabic) word for foetus. Dick is obviously problematic in English, but in German it also means fat/thick. Depp, as in Johnny, means idiot in German. ---
**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/8 "2014-04-21T15:59:44Z")
Not that it’s all that common of a name, but I worked with a guy who was American that had the name ‘Coy’, which was greatly amusing to some Laotian employees, because that name translated to ‘Penis’ in their language. I can also remember growing up in the 1980s, there was a popular boxer named Gerry Cooney who was in the news quite a bit, which was also a source of great humor with some Iranian friends who explained that the word ‘Cooney’ translated to ‘Asshole’ in Farsi. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/9 "2014-04-21T16:55:34Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I see that [“Dikshit”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dikshit) is a known Hindu family name. When I was in high school we got endless amusement from the fact that this name was listed in the Greater Baltimore Metropolitan White Pages (early 1970s). This is the first time I’ve seen it in print since then. > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Forgot about that one. Brits must laugh at the fact that we have a prominent financial institution named Fanny Mae. My wife works for Fannie Mae. You should have seen the look on our English friends’ faces the first time they asked her where she worked. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/10 "2014-04-21T17:34:46Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I’ve been told by Mexican friends that “Luke” or “Lucas” can imply “crazy” (_loco_), and that this has caused the Spanish equivalents to decline in popularity among parents of newborns, but I don’t know how true this is. May be true for Mexico (never ran into it but hey, local slang is local) but right now in Spain you can’t enter a schoolroom between K and about 6th without finding three Marcos, two Lucas and a Mateo. Juanes have always been very common, either the name by itself or in combinations. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/11 "2014-04-21T17:44:21Z")
The name “Schwarzkopf” literally translates to ‘black head’ in German. I don’t think that that’s the German word for ‘blackhead,’ but it’s still a little amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/12 "2014-04-21T18:06:41Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > The name “Schwarzkopf” literally translates to ‘black head’ in German. I don’t think that that’s the German word for ‘blackhead,’ but it’s still a little amusing. There is no mental connection to a blackhead in German (a blocked follicle is a _Mitesser_, literally a fellow diner). The name does look a bit strange in German only because Schwarzkopf is a well known brand of hair care products. The word dick means fat or thick, so abbreviated Richards also get sniggers by German speakers. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/13 "2014-04-21T18:36:59Z")
Brad Pitt can be seen as amusing in Sweden seeing as Pitt means “dick” there. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/14 "2014-04-21T20:03:33Z")
I’m not sure about the exact pronunciation of “merde” in French, but there is “Murday” as a surname. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/15 "2014-04-21T20:10:49Z")
Bob Dole apparently means “big dick” in Farsi. This caused problems for Iranian news media during the 1996 presidential election. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/16 "2014-04-21T21:04:36Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > As does the female name Fanny. Well, yes, but not too many generations ago Fanny used to be a quite common female name (or, rather, name contraction) in Britain itself, and although it is certainly not common in Britain now, I don’t think it is any more common, as a name, in America either. Indeed, it has a somewhat unfortunate, though different, alternative meaning in America too. My impression, however, is that Americans will quite freely name their sons and even daughters “Randy”, and the U.S. Thomases would not think twice about naming their son “John” (whereas Hugh Johnson is probably right out). I think _Fannie Mae_ just sounds odd, to Brits, as the name of a major financial corporation, quite apart from any sexual _double entendre_ it might evoke. _Freddie Mac_ seems almost as silly, really. (Mind you, in Britain we have an insurance/financial company called [Scottish Widows](http://www.scottishwidows.co.uk/), so we should not be pointing the finger: “All my money is tied up with Scottish Widows,” as the bishop said to the actress.) ---
**Author:** ![Cerealbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Cerealbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerealbox)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/17 "2014-04-21T21:10:06Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Well, yes, but not too many generations ago Fanny used to be a quite common female name (or, rather, name contraction) in Britain itself, and although it is certainly not common in Britain now, I don’t think it is any more common, as a name, in America either. Indeed, it has a somewhat unfortunate, though different, alternative meaning in America too. > > I think _Fannie Mae_ just sounds odd, to Brits, as the name of a major financial corporation, quite apart from any sexual _double entendre_ it might evoke. _Freddie Mac_ seems almost as silly, really. (Mind you, in Britain we have an insurance/financial company called [Scottish Widows](http://www.scottishwidows.co.uk/), so we should not be pointing the finger: “All my money is tied up with Scottish Widows,” as the bishop said to the actress.) Don’t be mislead - the first time most people heard those names was when the housing market crashed. Most people were pretty wtf about those names - not really serious financial institution names. But then again, if some dude called Barack Obama was running for president, then a company can sound like the cousins of foghorn leghorn and yosimitie sam. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/18 "2014-04-21T22:34:06Z")
Of course the Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps, originally the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry and known universally as FANYs have been around since 1907. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/19 "2014-04-21T22:42:36Z")
“Dole” is the Farsi word for “penis”, so this caused much amusement when Bob Dole was a presidential candidate. Never mind all the Viagra ads he did later on. While we’re on that subject, the launch of Cialis was delayed by some months, not because of safety or efficacy issues, but because some people with the surname Cialis sued the drug company to change the drug’s name, even by just one letter. They obviously lost. :o There’s the Vietnamese name Phuc, and thanks to the tsunami, we do know now how to pronounce the Thai city Phuket. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/20 "2014-04-21T22:45:03Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I’m not sure about the exact pronunciation of “merde” in French, but there is “Murday” as a surname. \*Merde \*rhymes roughly with “scared.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602.md?page=2)