# Given names off the beaten path **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 24, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216 "2013-05-24T13:49:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/61 "2013-05-26T17:35:04Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > And, since the letter Q is underused, the little hook could be artistically added to change OLIVE and VIOLET into QLIVE and VIQLET, pronounced ‘clyve’ and ‘vicklet’. We resolved that if we ever owned two pet goats, they would be named Qlive and Viqlet. Oooh, I love Qlive! And Viqlet would be a great name for a horse. I’ll remember those. 🙂 My contribution: I had a female ancestor whose name was “Comma Reader.” We could never figure out what inspired that choice. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/62 "2013-05-26T19:29:44Z")
> [@campp](#): > > I’ve met a Woodfin and a guy named Booger in Texas. There was a famous oil firefighter named Booger Red in the early part of the 20th. He was supposedly called that because an early fire scarred his face and “made it look just like a booger.” ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/63 "2013-05-26T21:47:08Z")
We had babies named inadvertently after body parts. Vulva and Ulna comes to mind. There was a King and Queeny. Oh, and Gods Precious Miracle, Mom said she’d go by Precious, but her actual first name was Gods. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/64 "2013-05-26T21:53:43Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > We had babies named inadvertently after body parts. Vulva and Ulna comes to mind. There was a King and Queeny. > Oh, and Gods Precious Miracle, Mom said she’d go by Precious, but her actual first name was Gods. _Without_ the apostrophe? Seems to rather defeat the point… ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/65 "2013-05-26T21:57:13Z")
No one’s mentioned the infamous Nosmo King? Or the battle one hospital had trying not to get a woman to name her daughter the “beautiful” Clitoris? ---
**Author:** ![jsquire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jsquire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsquire)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/66 "2013-05-27T00:53:53Z")
I taught/coached a girl whose first name is America. She has a very straight-laced small-town background and it turns out it’s a family name (her grandmother’s, I think). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/67 "2013-05-27T02:34:41Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > I know a young man whose first name is Cain. Always seemed a strange choice to me. My step-cousin’s name is Cain. I also think it’s a strange choice, but then again if you knew my aunt (by marriage) you might understand. My boyfriend has an ancestor, a great-uncle I think, who was named Royal. When I was doing exploratory teaching in high school I had a boy named Loyal in my class. Someone I knew from a previous job named their daughter Jovi, the parents were both big Bon Jovi fans. ---
**Author:** ![applebetty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4af34b/32.png) [@applebetty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/applebetty)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/68 "2013-05-27T04:59:50Z")
I know men named Luscious and Thorn. ---
**Author:** ![smaje1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@smaje1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaje1)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/69 "2013-05-27T05:53:03Z")
I heard a mom in Starbucks call out to her daughter “Tesla,” which I think is a fantastic name. I’m a few weeks away from giving birth to a baby girl we plan to call “Romana.” I hope she likes her name. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/70 "2013-05-27T21:43:25Z")
> [@smaje1](#): > > I heard a mom in Starbucks call out to her daughter “Tesla,” which I think is a fantastic name. > > I’m a few weeks away from giving birth to a baby girl we plan to call “Romana.” I hope she likes her name. Mary Tamm or Lalla Ward Romana? ---
**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:** [May 27, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/71 "2013-05-27T23:20:55Z")
> [@smaje1](#): > > I’m a few weeks away from giving birth to a baby girl we plan to call “Romana.” I hope she likes her name. Please tell me her middle name will be “Dvoratrelundar.” And that you’ll call her Fred. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/72 "2013-05-28T01:19:22Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > Please tell me her middle name will be “Dvoratrelundar.” And that you’ll call her Fred. Damn. That’s what I _should_ have posted. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/73 "2013-05-28T02:07:08Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Do you mean he’s the only person with his first name, and the only person with his last name, or do you mean he’s the only person with both? Because if it’s “both,” I’d be surprised if there’s a duplicate for anyone in my extended family. Yes, I’m talking about his first name/last name combo. Each is unusual but not unheard of, but apparently only two living people have both. I, on the other hand, am a dime a dozen, middle initial and all. (I kept my birth name when we got married.) ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/74 "2013-05-28T02:19:44Z")
Ignatius Aloysius was the name of one of my uncles. My friend’s neighbors named her daughters “Sunshine” and “Rainbow” which I think is a bit too treacly for real life. I know an Aphrodite, an Elwyn, a Murphy, and a Smith (all given names). ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/75 "2013-05-28T03:14:26Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Do you accept Jerónimo? Pretty popular in some locations, usually either the patron saint is St Hyeronimus or there is a large monastery by that name. I have friends that named their son Hieronymus, friends who named their son Tiberius, friends whose daughter’s middles name is Danger. I also worked with a man named Kim Iris Lastname. He did not go by his name. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/76 "2013-05-28T12:14:48Z")
I used to work with a Sandra Olympia. One day she mentioned her brother, Alexander Philip, and that both of them had the same godfather. I said “fan of Alexander the Great, uh?” “😕 Well, he is a professor of Ancient History but I don’t know about that detail…” “The parents of Alexander the Great were called Philip and Olympia.” “Oh!” ---
**Author:** ![Inter\_Alia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@Inter\_Alia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inter_Alia)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/77 "2013-05-28T15:12:52Z")
I know a woman named Zenobia. I always thought that was an odd one. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/78 "2013-05-28T16:02:38Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > My best friend’s daughter, who is without doubt the most awesome kid in the world, is named Rowan. My cousin’s daughter is named Harper. Rowan is a girl’s name now? I had no idea! I’ve known a few male Rowans. My sister-in-law used to go out with one (he was Irish). Why do so many male names get co-opted as female ones? Ashley, Cameron, Evelyn, Leslie, Jody, Vivian, Kelly (OK those last two happened some time ago)… Many of those names have now become almost exclusively female, to the extent that it would seem strange giving them to a boy. And yet I can’t think of any names that have gone in the opposite direction. Very odd. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/79 "2013-05-28T17:27:40Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Why do so many male names get co-opted as female ones? Ashley, Cameron, Evelyn, Leslie, Jody, Vivian, Kelly (OK those last two happened some time ago)… > > Many of those names have now become almost exclusively female, to the extent that it would seem strange giving them to a boy. That reminds me: I knew a woman named Milo. ---
**Author:** ![smaje1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@smaje1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaje1)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216/80 "2013-05-28T18:21:01Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Mary Tamm or Lalla Ward Romana? Lalla Ward Romana. 😛 And her middle name will be Josephine, so if she decides that her parents were just TOO nerdy for words, she can go by Josephine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-off-the-beaten-path/659216.md?page=5)