# Help me convince my wife to name our hypothetical son "Lester." **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 26, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150 "2010-09-26T23:08:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/1 "2010-09-26T23:08:14Z")
My rationale is thus: Our daughter is named Stella, which means “star”, and is comprised of the initial sounds of her parents’ names, with her mother’s bit first. A reversal of this (with a minimum of hyper-rhotic fudging,) would give us “Lester.” Dad’s bit first, still means “star.” Her objection to this perfect symmetry is merely that it would leave us with a son named “Lester,” who would consequently go through life named “Lester.” My position is that “Lester” is kind of cute, for a small boy – and when he starts to get bigger, he can always fall back on “Les.” Still, it seems a hard sell. Any ideas on howI might better put it across? ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/2 "2010-09-26T23:13:10Z")
Nope, sorry. Can’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![FE3O4ENAIL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba9def/32.png) [@FE3O4ENAIL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FE3O4ENAIL)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/3 "2010-09-26T23:18:08Z")
Since the other kids will call him mo’lester, he will learn at an early age to defend his honor- eg: Boy named Sue. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/4 "2010-09-26T23:20:28Z")
“Les” isn’t a bad name, but “Lester” is just an invite to the bullies. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/5 "2010-09-26T23:48:44Z")
I agree with this only if you spell it [Leicester](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicester). ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/6 "2010-09-26T23:48:57Z")
Name him Gilgamesh ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/7 "2010-09-26T23:53:57Z")
No. Apologies to any Lesters out there, but it’s not a good name. Les is also short for lesbian, which is not so good for little boys. ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/8 "2010-09-26T23:54:12Z")
It will give him a boost on his way up the ladder as a pedophile. It’s an unfair advantage maybe, but what are parents for anyway? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/9 "2010-09-27T00:08:33Z")
Jeez! I hate to pile on, but Lester is a pretty icky name. The only one I’ve ever know was a very smelly, vile character. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/10 "2010-09-27T00:10:31Z")
What’s wrong with ‘Atilla James’ or ‘Genghis Bob’? ---
**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:** [September 27, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/11 "2010-09-27T00:10:56Z")
Why not just make him wear a “Kick Me” sign all his childhood? Was the name “Horace” already taken? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/12 "2010-09-27T00:14:36Z")
The first two things that popped into my head were Lester the molester and Les Nessman. I’m not buying the “kinda cute” argument, and Les doesn’t seem like much of an improvement when he gets older. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/13 "2010-09-27T00:16:35Z")
I recommend “Larry.” ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/14 "2010-09-27T00:16:53Z")
Clearly, you should name him Ringo. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/15 "2010-09-27T00:24:28Z")
I like Lester and its short form, Les. Lester Polsfuss, AKA Les Paul. ‘President’ Lester Young Lester B. Pearson, Canada’s 14th Prime Minister Les ‘Cham’ Paine was a jazz pianist and educator in my home town. You pilers-on can go soak your heads. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/16 "2010-09-27T00:59:32Z")
Nope. But then, I dated an eastern European guy who used Lester as his everyday name rather than his giant-mouthful-Eastern-European-name-that-also-started-with-L. No, I don’t know why. But that’s why I don’t like it. And yes, technically, it was Lester B. Pearson, but he went by Mike among his family and friends. For real. Because his flying instructor in World War One declared that he wasn’t going to have anyone named Lester on his squadron. Hence, Mike. Take that for what you will. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/17 "2010-09-27T01:05:56Z")
No. > [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Our daughter is named Stella, which means “star”, and is comprised of the initial sounds of her parents’ names, with her mother’s bit first. > > A reversal of this (with a minimum of hyper-rhotic fudging,) would give us “Lester.” Dad’s bit first, still means “star.” I will, however, condone the name “Aleister”, which is way closer to Allets than Lester is. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/18 "2010-09-27T01:08:31Z")
In my head: Lester = Molester. So no. Bad name choice. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/19 "2010-09-27T01:15:21Z")
Don’t stop with Lester, if you are intent upon raising a serial killer be sure to make his middle name Wayne. Lester “the molester” Wayne Mudd, it has a nice ring to it, more or Les. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150/20 "2010-09-27T01:23:42Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Don’t stop with Lester, if you are intent upon raising a serial killer be sure to make his middle name Wayne. I think “Lee” is also a common serial killer name…can you work with Lee instead? I mean, there’s always the chance that he WON’T end up building a cage-bed out of human bones. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-convince-my-wife-to-name-our-hypothetical-son-lester/555150.md?page=2)