# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/242 "2012-04-24T17:11:37Z")
At our all hands meeting the other day, one of the employees recognized was a young woman named Amber. I know, I know, that’s not an odd name. However, coupled with the last name Prairie, it struck me with a sense of the ridiculas. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/243 "2012-04-24T19:08:53Z")
> [@missred](#): > > At our all hands meeting the other day, one of the employees recognized was a young woman named Amber. I know, I know, that’s not an odd name. However, coupled with the last name Prairie, it struck me with a sense of the ridiculas. Maybe she’s glad her last name isn’t Alert or Wavesofgrain. ---
**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 24, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/244 "2012-04-24T19:31:47Z")
Here’s our running list of names we’ve seen at work. Sir Edward and Queen Elizabeth (siblings) Sparkle Lovelady Eunique Africa (pronounced a-freak-a) Starquasha Sir Elton Shampayne Alpacino Precious, Princess, and Passion (sisters) Hennessey Shemale (sha-ma-lee) Trebreh (Father’s name was Herbert) Messiah Rage and Bravery (siblings) Ma’Lawn Zamzam Preciouserenity Passion Cokeine (first and middle name) Bonjovi ---
**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 24, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/245 "2012-04-24T19:47:13Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Note that Dolores is also very common in the US, albeit generally spelled Delores. And Blanca, at least in Navarra where it’s very common, does not quite mean “White”… “Our White Lady” is a nickname given to Nuestra Señora de las Nieves (Our Lady of Snows), so your Navarrese Whites are… Snows. Dolores, too, is one of those “our lady of…” names. “Sorrows,” in this case. (“Mercedes” is, too.) Off-topic: Vladimir Nabokov was a semi-professional butterfly expert. One of his butterfly-catching trips was to Dolores, Colorado, [named by two Spanish priests in 1776.](http://www.townofdolores.com/About-Dolores) Nabokov liked the name, and latter affixed it to his most famous literary creation. ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/246 "2012-04-24T20:45:34Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Really and truly, sometimes I go through entire days without thinking of what race someone belongs to. > > ETA I wish I could figure out some way to avoid ending that sentence with a preposition. How about “Really and truly, sometimes I go through entire days without thinking of what race someone belongs to, asshole”? 😉 [ul][_]I knew of a woman named Dimple.[_]A young woman, Vietnamese perhaps, said her name was “Pet”.[_]Another woman I know had the name “Gay Cox”.[_]There’s the story of a stripper looking for a name who settled upon, “Debris”.[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/247 "2012-04-24T21:02:22Z")
> [@missred](#): > > At our all hands meeting the other day, one of the employees recognized was a young woman named Amber. I know, I know, that’s not an odd name. However, coupled with the last name Prairie, it struck me with a sense of the ridiculas. From treasury? ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/248 "2012-04-24T21:49:17Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > Nimrod does not mean idiot in English, it means idiot in North American slang. See [this blog](http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/nimrods-and-other-idiots.html) for confirmation that the idiot meaning is unknown outside the US. Actually, I’ve heard it used in the UK; it might be a relatively recent import, but I’ve never travelled to the US and I knew that use. Incidently, in the UK, we tend to find the name ‘Randy’ somewhat hilarious… ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/249 "2012-04-24T23:16:04Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > . . . Incidently, in the UK, we tend to find the name ‘Randy’ somewhat hilarious… I know a Randy Lance Wood. Would that also translate? (He doesn’t use the middle name ordinarily.) ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/250 "2012-04-24T23:19:00Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > ETA I wish I could figure out some way to avoid ending that sentence with a preposition. Why worry? There’s nothing wrong with sentence-final prepositions in English. John Dryden may have preferred to avoid them, but he also thought huge powdered wigs looked spiffy. Besides, he’s been dead for 312 years, so the hell with him. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/251 "2012-04-24T23:28:01Z")
On my wife’s father’s side there is a kid named Master, yes his first name is Master like the Doctor Who villain. His parent’s reasoning was that everyone will have to address him as Master for life, no word on if they are supervillains. ---
**Author:** ![Arabella\_Flynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Arabella\_Flynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arabella_Flynn)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/252 "2012-04-25T05:59:26Z")
Hearkening back a few pages, Shakira is also the name of a Spanish-language pop singer who had a few hits in English. I believe she’s Colombian. If the kid’s young, that might be where the parents got it. As for my contributions: One of my friends in college was a girl named Phaidra. We called her Feff. Last I heard from her she was dating a fellow named Adric – we’re quite sure his parents got that from Doctor Who, because the name they had picked for a girl was Nyssa. I also once had a coworker Char, pronounced “shar”. Turned out to be short for Charlemagne. Odd enough on a boy, but even odder on a stunningly beautiful girl. ---
**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 25, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/253 "2012-04-25T23:48:41Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Actually, I’ve heard it used in the UK; it might be a relatively recent import, but I’ve never travelled to the US and I knew that use. Ditto, re. _Nimrod_ use in NZ – if Bugs Bunny used the term (even if it wasn’t the original use) that could explain a spread outside of the US. > [@Yllaria](#): > > I know a Randy Lance Wood. Would that also translate? _goggle_ Holy heck… and his parents called him that voluntarily? Are you sure blackmail wasn’t involved? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/254 "2012-04-27T05:07:56Z")
Keep in mind that not all of these came from the parents. Family nicknames can end up on official documents, and people change the spellings of their names (or the names themselves) all of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/255 "2012-04-27T07:48:10Z")
From Facebook (you can do a search): Fatty Nadiwska Brayan Yankanerys Leydys Nail Kotex From the news: Pura Olimpia Bastardo (Pure Olympic Bastard). Each name alone is a bona fide Spanish name, but who the hell would think of that combination of names for their children? From the annals of the infamous (most parents had no idea who these people were, just that they were famous): Several Stalins (one was a classmate of mine, his parents were doctors, so I can’t explain it as simply ignorance) Several Lenins Idis Amin Fermin Penalo (in the news when he was accused of murder, duh!) Adolf Hitler Rodriguez (one of my brother’s clients, and no, my brother is not a criminal lawyer) The brothers Hitler and Mussolini (parents were from the middle East, I guess they were holding a grudge). They also have “Christian” names as the story goes the Catholic priest refused to give them those names. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/256 "2012-04-27T07:57:47Z")
I forgot my workmate whose given names were Doctor Obispo (Doctor Bishop). Why waste money on an education? ---
**Author:** ![BaconAndEggs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@BaconAndEggs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaconAndEggs)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/257 "2012-04-27T11:54:01Z")
Shatira Damarrhea…like damn girl, you have some explosive diarrhea! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/258 "2012-04-27T15:55:02Z")
My son goes to school with a boy whose first name is Aloha, middle name Sunkist. :eek: Furthermore, Aloha has about fifteen siblings and they all have very imaginative names. The only one I can think of right now is a girl named Ocala Forest (which is the name of a real place not far from here). ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759/259 "2012-04-27T16:36:30Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Reflexively assuming that people who have a name that **doesn’t fit you convention** must be uneducated is exactly why we see effects like resumes with traditional African American names being automatically tossed out. (bolding mine) Especially if it’s written in Ebonics. mmm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-names-what-were-they-thinking/618759.md?page=12)