# Given names these days **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424 "2017-10-10T00:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424/61 "2017-10-12T16:53:23Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Spelling you might have a point because they can be written in kanji or hiragana or katakana. Spelling _is_ my point because the same kanji can have multiple pronunciations and the same pronunciation can be represented by multiple kanji. I was using the “O” in Orwell as an analogy for having to explain the pronunciation of one or more kanji, not as a literal “O” in an English transliteration. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424/62 "2017-10-12T16:55:47Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > People should have GUIDs instead of names. Everything will become easier. My GUID is {524n9982-z20q-12f9-g459-416711223421}, but I hate it when people refer to me as simply {524n9982}, I hate that, please don’t do it. A valid GUID is a hexadecimal written form of a 128 bit integer. As such, it can only contain the letters a through f. Standards vary on whether they’re rendered all upper or all lower case but the casing carries no difference in meaning. Sorry: your thoroughly modern, nay, \*futuristic \*name does not compute! 😃 > [@california\_jobcase](#): > > … > The strangest names of people I have personally met have to include Maleria (she said it was pronounced Mallory, but it sure didn’t read that way on her cashier’s name tag), Euretha, and Chimera (pr. Sha-mare-uh). The other day I encountered a 20-ish waitress whose name tag said “Valeria”. This being South Florida, her having obvious Hispanic facial features, hair, and skin tone, I assumed it was simply the feminine Spanish form of the English “Valerie”. So I pronounced it 'Vah le REE ah" with a hint of rolled r. She said, in English that made it real obvious both she \*and \*her parents were born and raised here, “That’s ‘Vah LAIR ee uh’, like Valerian root without the n.” :o Oops. Fooled me. She was nice about it and was obviously used to hearing that mistake since she already had her mnemonic ditty all ready to go. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424/63 "2017-10-12T17:14:57Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > About all the truly odd spellings, are they deliberate, or do the parents have a less than firm grasp of orthographics? Does the kid usually go along with it? Whether the parents have a grasp or orthographics or not, stupid is what they look when they name their kid Chastady, instead of Chastity, or Jurnie instead of Journey, or Mavrik instead of Maverick. It’s bad enough when someone can’t figure out “Leah,” and names the kid Leigha, but if your kid’s name is an actual word, you really look like a 10th grade drop-out if it’s spelled wrong. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424/64 "2017-10-12T17:16:04Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > One interesting case is Oprah Winfrey. Her birth name was [Orpah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpah), but so many people misspelled/mispronounced it that “Oprah” stuck. I heard they just spelled it wrong on the birth certificate (bc) > [@papaw](#): > > I > Some examples are- > Jedeveoon, Bonquisha,Tanisha, T’a nay, Deshaun, Tayshaun, Deron, Rau’shee, Raynell, Deontay, Taraje, Jozy, Kerron, Hyleas, Chaunte, Bershawn, Lashawn, Sanya, Trevell, Sheena, Ogonna, Dremiel , and many others. > “it is largely and profoundly the legacy of African-Americans,” writes Eliza Dinwiddie-Boyd in her baby-naming book “Proud Heritage.” Shalondra and Shaday, Jenneta and Jonelle, Michandra and Milika – in some parts of the country today, nearly a third of African-American girls are given a name belonging to no one else in the state (boys’ names tend to be somewhat more conservative). > Why is this so ? I have a feeling that some people might be changing their named as adults. I’m all for heritage but are those really from the slave days?? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424/65 "2017-10-12T17:25:13Z")
> [@WildBlueYonder](#): > > I heard they just spelled it wrong on the birth certificate (bc) I always heard that, too, but Wikipedia says it the other way. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424/66 "2017-10-12T17:44:40Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > My cousin’s new baby is named Levi. Fine, but we’re not Jewish. 😕 My evangelical niece named her older son Izaak. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424/67 "2017-10-12T17:49:43Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > And I know of at least two little girls called Arya-with-a-y. One I can understand but _two_? And I’ll bet it gets tiring pronouncing all 5 syllables! :eek: 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424/68 "2017-10-12T18:02:01Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > The really amusing part is that in 80 years or so, Ashley, Tiffany and Brittany will be the names that sound like old women. 😉 Point well taken. And in 40 years, Lisa, Teresa, Susan, and Karen will be old lady names. One of my grandmothers was named Evelyn, and one of my cousins named his daughter after her, they call her Evie. I think that was a nice way to modernize it. I like to read old memoirs with diaries and letters, I am one of those history geeks like that, and one of the best parts is coming across truly colorful old names like Coral, Lota, Asbury, Ignatius, Ambrose, Ulof, Everard, Woodfin, Parmalee, etc… Of course there are plenty of boring old Johns, Williams, Henrys, and James, too. “Colorful” names are nothing new I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424/69 "2017-10-12T18:19:48Z")
> [@WildBlueYonder](#): > > I have a feeling that some people might be changing their named as adults. I’m all for heritage but are those really from the slave days?? I think the point of those unconventional names is to sound more African in origin and NOT from the slavery era. I recall popular names for my black male classmates in the 70s were Demetrius, Darius, DeWayne, Kelvin…oh, and a bunch of Alphonsos. Other than one girl named CeKeithia, and another one named Aurelia, the black girls, like the white girls, were mostly lost in a sea of Lisas, Teresas, Susans, and Karens. Damn, those really ARE going to be old lady names in 30-40 years! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424/70 "2017-10-12T22:13:03Z")
I’ve heard more than one story about HCPs freaking out when they find out a woman is named Candida. That’s a common Hispanic name, and was also the title of a song by Tony Orlando. It’s also not pronounced the same way as the fungal infection. :rolleyes: One of my friends has a daughter who was born before the name “Olivia” really took off, and this name has an alternate spelling that I won’t use here because it’s unique enough to identify her. I’ve never had a problem with it because her daughter is this name, and NOT Olivia. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424/71 "2017-10-13T01:07:13Z")
Matthew McConnaughey named his son Levi, because Levi was another name for St. Matthew, in the Bible. Anyway, Christians have been giving their kids Biblical Jewish names forever. and nowadays, half the Jewish kids I know have Irish names (lots of Aidan Rosenbergs, Sean Cohens, and Ciara Goldfarbs these days). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424/72 "2017-10-13T10:30:28Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > One I can understand but _two_? And I’ll bet it gets tiring pronouncing all 5 syllables! :eek: 🙂 It’s even worse in Spanish from Spain: _Arya con y griega_ has 6 syllables! But in Mexico (and most of Latin America, I think) it’s _Arya con ye_, so only 4 🙂 The name Aria (song) already existed before the Game of Thrones variant and had a recent peak in popularity due to a Spanish series. Mothers currently naming the baby either one are so used to being asked which is it that they directly tell you “with i” or “with y”. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424/73 "2017-10-13T22:14:02Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Forget about ever getting a job with a name like that, assuming you stay out of jail long enough to ever apply for one. > > (well, it’s true) If by true you mean racist, then yes. > [@papaw](#): > > I guess I am asking the wrong question. > Without any disrespect to African-Americans, the names I am asking about are the ones that in the last 25 years or so have surfaced with odd to me spellings and unknown origins. > Some examples are- > Jedeveoon, Bonquisha,Tanisha, T’a nay, Deshaun, Tayshaun, Deron, Rau’shee, Raynell, Deontay, Taraje, Jozy, Kerron, Hyleas, Chaunte, Bershawn, Lashawn, Sanya, Trevell, Sheena, Ogonna, Dremiel , and many others. > “it is largely and profoundly the legacy of African-Americans,” writes Eliza Dinwiddie-Boyd in her baby-naming book “Proud Heritage.” Shalondra and Shaday, Jenneta and Jonelle, Michandra and Milika – in some parts of the country today, nearly a third of African-American girls are given a name belonging to no one else in the state (boys’ names tend to be somewhat more conservative). > Why is this so ? If you wanted a large variety of real answers on this, you’ve come to the wrong place since this is not a very diverse board. Why? Americans of all races put a big emphasis on their ancestral culture. People feel connected to Ireland and Italy etc. even if their family left generations ago. African Americans didn’t get the opportunity to know where their ancestors came from until relatively recently, thanks to the rise of ancestral DNA testing. So some people made up names that they thought sounded African, and some people made up names because they thought they sounded pretty. Then other people adopted some of those names, and they spread. Names like Lashawn, Tanisha and Deontay, for example, don’t even strike me as unusual. They’ve been in widespread use for years. It’s become a tradition. It’s a new tradition, but it’s no less valid than any other. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-these-days/798424.md?page=3)