# How many syllables is too many for a first name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 24, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-syllables-is-too-many-for-a-first-name/980301 "2023-02-24T15:20:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-syllables-is-too-many-for-a-first-name/980301/21 "2023-02-25T01:34:50Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > A friend just told me her newest granddaughter is named Oceania, which she thinks is stupid. It’s supposed to be pronounced Oh-sea-an-e-uh. Friend is trying to establish her ‘use’ name as Shawna, but DIL objects. > > I suggested she call the kid “Ocean-yuh” for a bit 😆 and maybe they’ll change their minds. I mean, okay, but “Oh-sea-an-e-uh” isn’t actually that difficult to remember or pronounce, and “Oceania” isn’t that difficult to spell, so couldn’t your friend just suck it up and use the name they’ve given her, instead of trying to pressure or annoy them out of it? Really, new parents have enough on their plates without a grandparent whining that they don’t like the baby’s name. Mind you, I think it would be adorable if, when she’s old enough, the little girl and her grandmother agree on her having a special “Grandma nickname” like “Shawna”. Then your friend can use the name she likes, and the granddaughter gets a little nomenclatural variety that she can use as she sees fit in later life, rather than making the baby’s name a bone of family contention before the baby can even pronounce any version of it. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-syllables-is-too-many-for-a-first-name/980301/22 "2023-02-25T01:40:06Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > There’s noted footballer Equanimeous St. Brown, of course. Full name: Equanimeous Tristan Imhotep J. St. Brown. 😃 His brothers: Amon-Ra Julian Heru J. St. Brown Osiris Adrian Amon-Ra J. St. Brown The story goes that their dad, John Brown, a former Mr. Universe, felt his own name was rather ordinary, and wanted his sons to have distinctive names. He succeeded. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-syllables-is-too-many-for-a-first-name/980301/23 "2023-02-25T10:00:39Z")
Ignorance fought. (Though that’s not always a good thing.) 😉 j ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-syllables-is-too-many-for-a-first-name/980301/24 "2023-02-25T10:45:45Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Full name: Equanimeous Tristan Imhotep J. St. Brown. 😃 > > His brothers: > Amon-Ra Julian Heru J. St. Brown > Osiris Adrian Amon-Ra J. St. Brown I mean, great, all that is wonderfully weird, go hard or go home I say but… Adrian? Julian? Tristan? Did he have a thing for Eton School’s first XI circa 1954? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-syllables-is-too-many-for-a-first-name/980301/25 "2023-02-25T18:12:27Z")
I’m not sure how many is too many, but I’m sure that [Rhoshandiatellyneshiaunneveshenkescianneshaimondrischlyndasaccarnaerenquellenendrasamecashaunettethalemeicoleshiwhalhinive’onchellecaundenesheaalausondrilynnejeanetrimyranaekuesaundrilynnezekeriakenvaunetradevonneyavondalatarneskcaevontaepreonkeinesceellaviavelzadawnefriendsettajessicannelesciajoyvaelloydietteyvettesparklenesceaundrieaquenttaekatilyaevea’shauwneoraliaevaekizzieshiyjuanewandalecciannereneitheliapreciousnesceverroneccaloveliatyronevekacarrionnehenriettaescecleonpatrarutheliacharsalynnmeokcamonaeloiesalynnecsiannemerciadellesciaustillaparissalondonveshadenequamonecaalexetiozetiaquaniaenglaundneshiafrancethosharomeshaunnehawaineakowethauandavernellchishankcarlinaaddoneillesciachristondrafawndrealaotrelleoctavionnemiariasarahtashabnequckagailenaxeteshiataharadaponsadeloriakoentescacraigneckadellanierstellavonnemyiatangoneshiadianacorvettinagodtawndrashirlenescekilokoneyasharrontannamyantoniaaquinettesequioadaurilessiaquatandamerceddiamaebellecescajamesauwnneltomecapolotyoajohnyaetheodoradilcyana](https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19910122&slug=1262030) is over the limit. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-syllables-is-too-many-for-a-first-name/980301/26 "2023-02-25T18:45:56Z")
Let’s hope she never falls down a well and her brother has to go ask for help from the neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-syllables-is-too-many-for-a-first-name/980301/27 "2023-02-25T19:06:10Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > > Full name: Equanimeous Tristan Imhotep J. St. Brown. 😃 > > > > His brothers: > > Amon-Ra Julian Heru J. St. Brown > > Osiris Adrian Amon-Ra J. St. Brown > > I mean, great, all that is wonderfully weird, go hard or go home I say but… > > Adrian? Julian? Tristan? Did he have a thing for Eton School’s first XI circa 1954? So, you sent me down the rabbit hole. The middle names were picked by the boys’ mother, who is from Germany. That’s the best I got. > [@](#): > > IT ALL begins with the names. > > “No offense, but Jim Brown, John Brown—what is that? There’s too many of them,” John says. “I’ve got the option to use any name I want, I’m going to pick a slave name?” > > There is, of course, an endless spectrum of possibilities between “John Brown” and “Equanimeous Tristan Imhotep J. St. Brown,” “Osiris Adrian Amon-Ra J. St. Brown,” and “Amon-Ra Julian Heru J. St. Brown.” With the exception of Equanimeous, a name he plucked from a character in a friend’s novel, the boys’ first and middle names follow a formula: an Egyptian name, a traditional name chosen by Miriam, a second Egyptian name and a “J” for John. (After Miriam delivered Equanimeous, John told her he was also adding a flourish to their surname. “Brown doesn’t look good on the back of a jersey,” he explained. Thus, St. Brown—which John says narrowly edged Von Brown.) [https://vault.si.com/.amp/vault/2017/09/18/stop-us-if-youve-heard](https://vault.si.com/.amp/vault/2017/09/18/stop-us-if-youve-heard) ---
**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:** [February 26, 2023, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-syllables-is-too-many-for-a-first-name/980301/28 "2023-02-26T05:55:03Z")
If you have a one or two syllable surname, you can get away with a few more syllables in the first name. When both of those names are multipolysyllabic, it can get tiring. Not to mention that some school forms have fields with a limited number of spaces. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-syllables-is-too-many-for-a-first-name/980301.md?page=1)