# How bad would your name have to be to make you change it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 7, 2006, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588 "2006-10-07T04:34:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/41 "2006-10-09T08:21:37Z")
Hey, **Nava** , ya wanna shack up? I’m told that my last name is pretty much a darkly muttered term in Spain, seeing as how one of my ancestors sacked large portions of Spain after sinking the Armada. . . ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/42 "2006-10-09T09:33:02Z")
Sounds like a notion, but my vacation time for this year is pretty much used up. Meet here or there? ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/43 "2006-10-09T10:13:11Z")
I come from a Cornish family with a thoroughly unpronounceable name but there are so few of us left, we’re loathe to see it disappear. So I kept it, even though I constantly have to spell it and tell people how to pronounce it. It’s not helped by the fact my parents gave me a difficult first name too. Sometimes I think they just had it in for me. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/44 "2006-10-09T13:58:16Z")
I once knew a girl whose last name was Harney. Only it was pronounced HORNY. I also worked with a man whose name was Richard Head. And yes, he went by Dick. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/45 "2006-10-09T13:59:15Z")
[QUOTE=erie774] I used to work for a direct marketing company and we had a database of 160 million US names. For fun we would sometimes try to find the goofiest names. I found these people really do exist and, for the life of me, I can’t figure out why they would keep these names: Mickey Mouse Santa Clause Donald Duck June Sunday [/QUOTE] Here’s a clue for you. Just because those names exist in a marketing database, doesn’t mean that there are real people with those names. I know lots of people who have filled out marketing surveys, questionnaires, etc. with names similar to these. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/46 "2006-10-09T14:09:36Z")
“It’s pronounces ahh-swippey…” ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/47 "2006-10-09T14:24:46Z")
[QUOTE=Nava] Sounds like a notion, but my vacation time for this year is pretty much used up. Meet here or there? [/QUOTE] 'Fraid it’d have to be here as i’m out of vacation time for this year. Might be able to make it to your side of the pond next year (they’re rejiggering the vacation system at work). ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/48 "2006-10-09T14:24:55Z")
“Fuck” is a surname in the German Rheinland, especially in the city of Koblenz. No, really. I have an apartment in Koblenz and I’ve seen entries in the local phone book for residents named Fuck. Never met one, though. There’s a printing company in the city called Druckerei Fuck, afectionately know locally as the Fuck Druck: [http://www.f-druck.de/Vorwort.php](http://www.f-druck.de/Vorwort.php) “Bastard” is a surname in the UK. So is “Death,” as Sayers fans know. “Burke” and “Pratt” are mildly embarassing surnames in the British Isles. “Burke” is more or less equivalent to the US “jerk” and “Pratt” means a fool. The word “prattfall” is akin to it. I am glad not to be named “Kunz,” even if it _is_ pronounced “Koonts.” ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/49 "2006-10-09T14:29:36Z")
I’m related to (my dad’s cousin) George Bush. His name was fine until the last two elections. He named his daughter Rose. Not exactly malicious, but I wouldn’t be happy with it. I used to work with a guy with the last name of Wiener. And he didn’t try to pronounce it whiner (which wouldn’t have been much better, I guess). I also know of a guy named Micheal Hoch (pronounced hock). I’m pretty sure he doesn’t go by Mike. > [@Sonia Montdore](#): > > I am glad not to be named “Kunz,” even if it is pronounced “Koonts.” I did have a professor in college with the last name of Kuntz. He did pronounce it koonts, but many of the students didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/50 "2006-10-09T14:44:52Z")
I served in the Army under a Major Hook. His wife once told me that he was unhappy during the three years he spent as a captain because of the teasing and pirate jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Smitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/51 "2006-10-09T14:56:45Z")
I went to school with a guy named Harry Hickey. Not embarrassing, but still a little off-beat was my ex wife - Ivory Pearl Black ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/52 "2006-10-09T16:49:08Z")
[QUOTE=FatBaldGuy] Here’s a clue for you. Just because those names exist in a marketing database, doesn’t mean that there are real people with those names. I know lots of people who have filled out marketing surveys, questionnaires, etc. with names similar to these. [/QUOTE] I was responsible for data quality and had to clean up incorrect or missing data and all the info was compared against postal service and phone company records so these were not the fake names. Frightening, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/53 "2006-10-09T17:10:41Z")
[QUOTE=FatBaldGuy] Here’s a clue for you. Just because those names exist in a marketing database, doesn’t mean that there are real people with those names. I know lots of people who have filled out marketing surveys, questionnaires, etc. with names similar to these. [/QUOTE] I was responsible for data quality and had to clean up incorrect or missing data and all the info was compared against postal service and phone company records so these were not the fake names. Frightening, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/54 "2006-10-09T17:11:45Z")
Sorry about the dupe posting folks. SDMB keeps timing me out around this time every day making posting an adventure. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/55 "2006-10-09T17:20:30Z")
In South El Monte, CA there is a Michael Hunt Drive. I once read a newspaper article about the LA County office in charge of changing names, and there was an interview with a man who was there to change his first name from Walo to just the initial W. and a new middle name. He said that his father named him that because, a few hours before he was born, his mother found out about his father’s mistress and had a fight with her in a mud puddle - they “wallowed.” :rolleyes: A friend of mine claims he went to school with a girl named Nita Raper. :eek: I spent many years unhappy with my first name, because it’s not very common in the U.S., at least among women of baby-boomer age or younger, but over the years I’ve gotten used to it. I would probably change it, though, if it was Princess, Girlie or Aquanetta. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/56 "2006-10-09T19:00:11Z")
[QUOTE=Sonia Montdore] “Burke” is more or less equivalent to the US “jerk” and “Pratt” means a fool. The word “prattfall” is akin to it. [/QUOTE] Nitpick: More precisely, the word “prat” refers to one’s buttocks. If one performs a “pratfall”, it means to fall flat on one’s glutei maximi. My own surname is extremely common in parts of Louisiana (as in 3 pages of the phone book common), but pretty well unknown elsewhere. So having lived all over the U.S., I’m actually surprised to hear it pronounced correctly. Which is a much more common occurrance now that I’m living in Austin. Close enough to Louisiana, I suppose. A great grandmother of mine married a gentlemen named Hess. She refused to take his name, and all of their children were given her maiden name. And this was long before the rise of the Nazis, so I have no idea what her objections were. ---
**Author:** ![jakeline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@jakeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakeline)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/57 "2006-10-09T19:28:48Z")
My name was bad enough for me to change it when I married. My parents decided it would be somehow neat if they named all four of their children with the same initials. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it’s very annoying when all of you have accounts at the same bank all under J M LastName. Also, because I was the youngest, everyone called me by my older siblings names. I’m sure other people have that problem, but it’s even worse when your names are all so damn similar. So, I had decided at a fairly young age that if I ever married, I would take my husband’s last name. Unfortunately, my husband-to-be had the same last initial as my current name. I ended up dropping my middle name and taking my maiden name as my middle name. It worked out great because I had always hated my middle name anyway. Unfortunately, now I have a difficult first \*and \*last name instead of just a difficult first name. Can I just go by my initials? ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/58 "2006-10-09T19:55:53Z")
[QUOTE=Kizarvexius] Nitpick: More precisely, the word “prat” refers to one’s buttocks. If one performs a “pratfall”, it means to fall flat on one’s glutei maximi. Kiz, we’re _both_ right: _prat (Noun) A fool, idiot or objectionable person. Originally meaning the buttocks._ From A Dictionary of Slang and Colloqialisms of the UK > **[A Dictionary of English Slang and Colloquialisms of the UK | British Slang](http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/index.htm)** > > A monster dictionary of English slang and informal expressions currently in use in the Britain and the UK, listing over 6000 slang expressions. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/59 "2006-10-09T20:58:46Z")
[QUOTE=jakeline] It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it’s very annoying when all of you have accounts at the same bank all under J M LastName. [/QUOTE] My brother and I have the same initials (our parents claim it was accidental) – and _we’re_ J M LastName! 🙂 My father has no middle name but has the same first-name initial, as does his youngest brother: we’re all “J LastName.” ---
**Author:** ![Moe\_Szyslak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Moe\_Szyslak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe_Szyslak)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588/60 "2006-10-09T21:42:18Z")
My brother went to school with a guy named Rusty Nail. My son had a classmate named Dusty Boots. There’s a whole extended family of Gruntmeirs where I grew up. I actually dated one them. I always thought the girl Gruntmeirs were the lucky ones that could marry and get a new name. The boy Gruntmeirs had to find someone to marry that would be willing to take that name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-your-name-have-to-be-to-make-you-change-it/375588.md?page=4)