# Don't name your child after a JOKE in a TOM HANKS MOVIE! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 4, 2002, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896 "2002-09-04T01:08:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/101 "2002-09-04T22:22:02Z")
I named my son after myself. Works fine, so far. My daughter is Deirdre Ruth. Only problem she’ll have is explaining to all the dips out there that the “R” in the beginning is the _correct_ spelling, and this “Deidre” spelling is crap. Say… I wonder what Iffoyomia is doing these days? ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/102 "2002-09-04T22:56:30Z")
For those who hate the “creative” names: You may enjoy [this article](http://www.misanthropic-bitch.com/briandrye.html) (Warning: If you are easily offended skip this site) ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/103 "2002-09-04T23:07:50Z")
> [@](#): > > What’s in a name? Well, if your name is Axl Rose, what’s in your name is the phrase “oral sex.” I mean, if you’re going to name your precious bundle o’joy after some stupid rock anagram, you may as well name her Mr. Mojo Risin’. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Diff\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@Diff\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diff_T)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/104 "2002-09-04T23:13:52Z")
To the OP, who that fuck cares? If you don’t like the name, then don’t name your daughter that. Who the hell are you to be the authority what makes a suitable name? ---
**Author:** ![Kricket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f14d63/32.png) [@Kricket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kricket)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/105 "2002-09-04T23:15:27Z")
My mother gave us nice names but we are hard pressed to find anything already printed with our names on it and we are forever correcting people. Kristine (Kristy-me), Darren, and Robyn. My brother couldn’t come up with anything original so he married a Christine and they had a Darren and a Robyn. When my sister and I were still using our maiden names we were always getting mail for everybody! My sister has two girls, Brett Taylor, and Makayla Regina. I myself had a Sabrina Morgaine, Allyssa Krystyne, Joshua Michael David, and Dylan Anthony, and Aubreigh Renee. To clear that up for Mistress Dryad he was named after Bob. And the youngest is a girl at which a friend of mine from New Zealand was horrified to find out since Aubreigh and Renee boys names. My husband had an uncle named Aubrey Gail Lavern. We called him Vern. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2002, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/106 "2002-09-04T23:19:33Z")
Every time I hear the name “Madison,” I think of the wimpy, suit-wearing son from **The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies**. And I cannot believe no one’s mentioned him yet in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/107 "2002-09-04T23:47:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diff T \* > \*\*To the OP, who that fuck cares? > > If you don’t like the name, then don’t name your daughter that. > Who the hell are you to be the authority what makes a suitable name? \*\* Um, three pages of responses show that at least some of us are reading, posting and enjoying this thread. If you don’t like the topic, don’t read it. Who the hell are you to be the authority on what is a suitable topic for the boards? ---
**Author:** ![Diff\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@Diff\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diff_T)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/108 "2002-09-05T01:12:46Z")
LifeOnWry… HAHAHAHA, What a lame name! ---
**Author:** ![Macro\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Macro\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macro_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/109 "2002-09-05T01:33:29Z")
I work with a woman named Velveeta! Pretty sure if her parents had a boy it would’ve been named Colby Jack [Last Name]. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/110 "2002-09-05T01:41:53Z")
> [@](#): > > LifeOnWry… HAHAHAHA, What a lame name! Unlike the genius embodied in “Diff T.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/111 "2002-09-05T02:45:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\*Oh, sweet gods. This almost makes me want to have a child so I can name them something like Kevin or Cynthia. \*\* Hi my name is Cynthia. So you think that’s sweet huh? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/112 "2002-09-05T04:33:17Z")
I surely do. Cynthia is an epithet of the moon goddess Artemis. Sure beats the hell out of Madison and Velveeta. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/113 "2002-09-05T04:38:01Z")
I love my name (Michelle). I’ve always loved it, and even though it was in the top ten from 1966 (when the song I was named for came out) through the year after my birth (I was born in 1981), I have only ever know four other Michelles in my life. And only one was my age. I wanted to name my son Henry David (as in Thoreau). But my husband came with an Aryanna and an Aoghdan. Traditional spellings of very old names. So our youngest got another – Seamus. BTW, I like Scout and Tallulah. I would be pleased to be named for a character from a famous piece of literature or a great actress. That’s why I love Michelle so much, because of the song. And why I loved Henry David. BTW, I also loved Edgar Allan, but Aoghdan’s middle name is already Alan. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/114 "2002-09-05T04:50:16Z")
The name Wendy was essentially invented by [J. M. Barrie](http://www.wendy.com/wendyweb/history.html). ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/115 "2002-09-05T04:51:10Z")
My girlfriend’s aunt was going to name their daughter August. Their 5-year-old said, “Ugh, that’s a month!” So they named her Haley. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/116 "2002-09-05T04:58:02Z")
I heard an interesting theory a while ago about the rise of unusual names, that made a great deal of sense at the time. In the past (say, before about mid-twentieth century) it was much more common to refer to people by their surnames than their first names. First names were mostly used within the family - a fairly small circle of people. Your business associates would all be referred to as Mr Smith, Miss Thomson, Mrs Jones, etc etc. There’s a much wider variety of surnames around than decent first names. So the chances of confusion - minimal when we were all ‘Mr Smith’-ing each other - increased greatly when referring to _everybody_ by their first names started to become common. Basically, what we’re witnessing now (with bizarre spellings, strange new names etc) is the struggle to increase the pool of available first names so that it matches the amount of diversity in the surname pool. Then we can all get back to being able to actually distinguish between different people by their names. Of course, this doesn’t _quite_ explain why everyone and his pet goat feels the need to name their daughters ‘Madison’ and ‘Taylor’ all in a row. But I wonder if there are actually as many Madisons in 2002 as, say, Dianas in 1950 or Catherines in 1970. Oh, and since we’re in the pit… I have a very common name. Not quite as loathsomely common as Catherine was in my generation, but enough to make me sick to death of hearing my name called, only to turn around and see that the caller was talking to someone else entirely. If I ever have kids I don’t know if I’ll give them a ‘traditional’ or a ‘new’ name but one things certain - it won’t be anything within cooee of the top fifty names on ANY ‘most common names’ list ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/117 "2002-09-05T05:00:41Z")
Also, I’ve known multiple people who’ve named their child Mercedes specifically because of the character in [License to Drive](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0095519). (Wow, I had no idea that was Heather Graham.) ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/118 "2002-09-05T05:08:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jodi \* > \*\*Hey, originality isn’t everything. Didn’t Bob Geldof’s exwife – the one who died – name her kids some awful names? I believe they were three girls, named . . . um . . . well, I think _one_ was named Peaches and I _know_ one was named Fifi Trixibelle, and I can’t remember the name of the third. But I have always remembered the horror of “Fifi Trixibelle.” > > And Demi Moore and Bruce Willis’s daughters are named Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah. _Tallulah_?? > > I’m not pulling for boring names, but on the whole I’d rather be a Jennifer. \*\* [Paula Yates’ four daughters’ names.](http://www.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/17/yates.obit/) **Jodi** , the one you’re missing is Pixie. Fifi Trixibelle is bad enough, but Peaches Honeyblossom and Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily (her daughter with Michael Hutchence)? All I have to say is :eek: By the way, I know who Dylan Thomas and (obvoiusly) Bob Dylan are, but can someone please enlighten me as to who Dylan McKay is? I’ve heard the name, but can’t place it… a TV or movie star, maybe? I really have no idea. F\_X ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/119 "2002-09-05T05:39:25Z")
Here is one vote for well-done unusual names. My mother insisted that her first-born son be named “Maverick”. Here I am today. I love my name because, it fits my personality perfectly, it is extremely uncommon (never met another one although a few other people claim they have), and it is already a word so people and computer spell checkers know how it is spelled (well, the computers do anyway). I have a newborn daughter and I wanted an unusual name for her but my wife and I couldn’t find anything truly unusual that we liked so we settled on “Charlotte”. I think it is a beautiful name and is surprisingly unpopular considering that everyone knows of the name and it has a very long history with royalty. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896/120 "2002-09-05T05:41:45Z")
Man, do you all bitch about those wacky Chinese giving their kids strangely spelled unpronouncable names? I know it isn’t the same thing, but it seems equally silly to me. As long as the name isn’t a JOKE (aka Mary Christmas) I don’t really have a problem with it. All names start some time. Esra sounds pretty strange to me now; as does my middle name (Melford, from my grandfather). I got a normal name, but not so common when it was given to me (Alexander). My next sister got a normal name with an uncommon, though increasing, spelling (Aimee). My final sister got a common name with a spelling that, so far as I know, my mom made up (Arrin). My first half-sister got a common nickname that isn’t actually short for anything (Beth); it seems to cause some people physicial pain that her full name isn’t Elizabeth. My final half-sibling got a “trendy” name (Skyler). My sister named her daughter after a character from Mortal Kombat (Mileena), not because she liked the game, but because she liked the name. Alexander, Aime, Arrin, Beth, Skyler, Mileena In the next generation up from me: Debra, Linda, Robert, Kevin, Keith, Kim In the next one up: Melford, Frieda, Ruth, Cecile, Roberta, Lynn, Merlin, Leslie, Warren, Regine I don’t see any names on that list that I would consider unacceptable, though for all I know Roberta was the McKaelia or Dyllan of its day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-name-your-child-after-a-joke-in-a-tom-hanks-movie/126896.md?page=7)