# Given Names -- What were they thinking? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 14, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759 "2012-04-14T14:32:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/181 "2012-04-18T15:37:46Z")
I used to work with an African guy named Innocent. He was fired for fraud. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/182 "2012-04-18T16:42:46Z")
I once worked with Mysti. Not enough to give your daughter a stripper name, nope, gotta have a unique spelling, too. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/183 "2012-04-18T17:33:18Z")
Sharnquovia is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/184 "2012-04-18T17:51:21Z")
We encountered a clerk at the bank whose name was Aneeda. Last name Gnapp. Silent G. Her parents were from an Eastern European country and honestly didn’t think about the fact that their baby’s name sounded as if she were always sleepy. I told her she better not marry anyone name “Mann.” Many years ago I had a student named “Princess Bernard.” Someone from another of my classes noticed the name on a homework paper on my desk and commented, “There’s a freshman named ‘Princess Bernard?’ What, does she have a brother named ‘Saint’?” ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/185 "2012-04-18T18:22:48Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > A customer of mine’s last name is Berning. His parents bequeathed unto him the name Richard. He goes by Dick. Yup, Dick Berning. Seriously, WTF? In my line of work (Public Defender) we come across some great names. Once, I was on the phone with a prostitute calling from jail. She was trying to get me to call people in her family to bond her out. I took down her dad’s number and then asked for his name. “Dick Burns,” she told me. I couldn’t help it. I laughed out loud. Thankfully the hooker had a sense of humor–she laughed too, and said “I tell him all the time he should go by Richard.” I saw a news story once about a single mother who had been shot in a drive-by. It was memorable because one of her children was named Cash’Monae. ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/186 "2012-04-18T18:58:57Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > From the book _Roots_, it was Kunta Kinte’s daughter. > > Means “great” or “powerful” in Swahili. > > “Wonderful boy” in Ghanian. Thanks for this! I mentioned in my post that a lot of names sound weird just because they’re from a different cultural tradition, so I appreciate the opportunity to learn a bit more about where they came from. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/187 "2012-04-18T19:01:58Z")
Latrina (La-treen-a so it is pronounced like how it’s spelled) People don’t believe me when I say I met someone with that name. ETA: 2gigch1, I wonder if it was the same woman. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/188 "2012-04-18T20:27:43Z")
In the 70’s,in Iowa, there was a talented womens basketball player named Fonda Dix. My nephew lived next door to a family withe 4 kids: Chanpange, Chablis, Chardonnay and the boy…Tyrone. Not sure how the boy escaped so easily. Behind his back we refered to him as Ripple, so he fit in. 😃 Friend of a friend of my wife had three kids: Sapphire Star, Steele and Titanium. We figured they were not going to have to look hard for porn names. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/189 "2012-04-18T20:56:57Z")
A friend’s daughter is Chaos. Chaos’s best friend is Destiny. They’re in their 30’s now. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/190 "2012-04-18T20:58:01Z")
I found out we have an employee named Latrina. As in, latrine-a. And right now the list in front of me includes a Schwanna. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/191 "2012-04-18T20:59:21Z")
> [@2gigch1](#): > > Also met a Latrina at the checkout of a local Giant food a decade ago. Made me want to wash my hands. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Latrina (La-treen-a so it is pronounced like how it’s spelled) > People don’t believe me when I say I met someone with that name. > [@Skammer](#): > > I found out we have an employee named Latrina. Either that’s a more common name than I thought, or she really gets around. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/192 "2012-04-18T22:50:36Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Either that’s a more common name than I thought, or she really gets around. What you bet there will be a hurricane eventually with that name? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/193 "2012-04-18T23:30:35Z")
Latrina? Hahah, sounds like latrine. Those people don’t know how to give real names to their kids. I’ve got to go tell that to my buddy Dick. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/194 "2012-04-19T00:02:51Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I went to school with a girl named Sandy Rhodes. She said her father went by “Dusty”. A friend of my in-laws is named “Shady Lane”. I don’t know if this is the name on her birth certificate but it’s the name she uses. ([cite](http://ploc.org.nz/club-history/archive-collection/list-of-productions)) 🙂 My son is friends with a lad who goes by “CJ” whose full name (as far as I know) is Cue-Jay. He has a sister named Tiwana-Lee (sp?), and another who I believe is named Mercedes (which is only odd because of the car association, but an otherwise nice name IMHO). His littlest sibling however is named Legion Lestat \. If there’s such a thing as a future-stripper name is there also a future-juvenile-delinquent name? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/195 "2012-04-19T01:03:12Z")
[Obligatory link](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/hl-40039046/saturday_night_live_baby_names_season_18/) ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/196 "2012-04-19T01:39:30Z")
Nothing beats “Nevaeh”. I cringe every time I see it. UT ---
**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 19, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/197 "2012-04-19T05:06:36Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Latrina? Hahah, sounds like latrine. Those people don’t know how to give real names to their kids. > > I’ve got to go tell that to my buddy Dick. Haha, you caught us. We’re all just racist here. [That’s why](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14978464&postcount=185) [no one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14968045&postcount=126) has [mentioned](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14977406&postcount=179)the [name](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14965802&postcount=25) [Dick](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14965620&postcount=8). ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/198 "2012-04-19T06:27:11Z")
A hippie family down the street named their daughter Sequin. She had a brother named Moon. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/199 "2012-04-19T10:24:47Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Haha, you caught us. We’re all just racist here. [That’s why](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14978464&postcount=185) [no one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14968045&postcount=126) has [mentioned](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14977406&postcount=179)the [name](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14965802&postcount=25) [Dick](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14965620&postcount=8). It takes an unfortunate last name for Dick- a word with no positive associations that manages to mean both penis and jerk- to make the list. Latrina, however, is apparently worthy of ridicule on its owns, despite its negative association being that it sounds a little bit like a rarely used word. Latrina Digger? Sure. But just Latrina? I’d argue that the real gaffaw people get out of this name, which shows up in every thread like this, is that it falls do neatly into African American naming practices, which are becoming less and less acceptable to make fun of on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/200 "2012-04-19T12:17:41Z")
Amazing as it may be to know, this thread has now moved into the position of the 10th most responded to thread I have ever started. Who would have guessed? ============================================ Thread / Thread Starter Last Post Replies Views Forum College football fans: how’s your team look? – 2011 Version ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 … Last Page) Zeldar 12-10-2011 11:15 PM by RaftPeople 453 16,001 The Game Room Malapropagation (Thread 3 of game – #1 with New Name) ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 … Last Page) Zeldar 04-30-2008 09:38 PM by kunilou 394 3,538 The Game Room This thread is just about this thread ( 1 2 3 4 5 6) Zeldar 09-23-2003 12:03 PM by Zeldar 290 4,686 Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS) Botticelli – Round 3 ( 1 2 3 4 5 6) Zeldar 03-19-2007 12:16 PM by Johnny L.A. 277 2,006 Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS) Non-USA Dopers: Stand and be counted. Please. ( 1 2 3 4 5 6) Zeldar 10-25-2006 03:50 AM by ScareyFaerie 256 6,869 In My Humble Opinion (IMHO) I thought that was a \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ( 1 2 3 4 5) Zeldar 04-09-2008 06:46 PM by twickster 249 2,548 The Game Room The Cossack Game – Thread #2 ( 1 2 3 4 5) Zeldar 04-16-2008 02:18 PM by Sternvogel 238 1,932 The Game Room Put a face on a Doper you’ve never seen – Round 2 ( 1 2 3 4 5) Zeldar 03-31-2007 05:01 PM by Quartz 237 5,631 Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS) Southern USA Dopers: Stand and be counted, please ( 1 2 3 4 5) Zeldar 08-15-2006 11:37 AM by Zeldar 201 3,136 In My Humble Opinion (IMHO) Given Names – What were they thinking? ( 1 2 3 4) Zeldar Today 05:24 AM by even sven 198 4,740 Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS) ==================================== How high can it go? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759.md?page=11)