# Interesting name origins **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 16, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-name-origins/666409 "2013-08-16T13:31:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-name-origins/666409/1 "2013-08-16T13:31:30Z")
I noticed the unusual spelling of Malcom Floyd’s first name. A quick online search reveals the amusing reason why it’s spelled that way. Apparently his father allowed his older brother to name him. His older brother’s name? Malcolm 😃 ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-name-origins/666409/2 "2013-08-16T17:08:10Z")
Is his middle name Noël? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-name-origins/666409/3 "2013-08-16T18:41:50Z")
American Literature professor [Sacvan Bercovitch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacvan_Bercovitch) was named after controversially convicted murderers Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. This once caused a moment of confusion in a literature class, when he asked which character in a novel we most identified with. I explained that I had a natural affinity for one character, since we shared a first name. He was intrigued by this, pointing out that it was a situation that he had never experienced. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-name-origins/666409/4 "2013-08-16T18:53:07Z")
I find it interesting that [Madison](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_(name)) became so popular, based on the movie **Splash**. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-name-origins/666409/5 "2013-08-16T20:52:40Z")
Mussolini was named after Benito Juarez. He didn’t quite fulfill that egalitarian legacy. Worse for him, he didn’t share his namesakes aversion to certain Austrians. “Victoria” was almost unknown as a given name for girls in Great Britain in 1820. It came from her mother’s Germany. Picasso was the maiden name of Senior Ruiz’ mother. His father was an art teacher who specialized in painting pleasant pictures of doves to decorate homes. The Spanish word for dove is Paloma. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-name-origins/666409/6 "2013-08-16T22:57:10Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I find it interesting that [Madison](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_(name)) became so popular, based on the movie **Splash**. Although the connection isn’t quite as strong, the popularity of the name [Jayden](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaden_(given_name)) coincided with its use on _Star Trek: The Next Generation_. I know of one family who named their son Jayden specifically in reference to the STNG episode. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-name-origins/666409/7 "2013-08-17T00:53:47Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Although the connection isn’t quite as strong, the popularity of the name [Jayden](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaden_(given_name)) coincided with its use on _Star Trek: The Next Generation_. I know of one family who named their son Jayden specifically in reference to the STNG episode. My husband came up with the name Kira from Star Trek The Next Generation for our daughter. Because he’s Japanese and I wanted her to have a Japanese sounding name, I liked it for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-name-origins/666409/8 "2013-08-17T01:58:32Z")
Had two friends in school who had the smooshed together first names…Bevelyn, who was named after her mother’s two best friends, Beverly and Evelyn. And then there was Jonva, who IIRC was named after a Jonathan and Eva, but I might be misremembering that. I do remember her middle name was Sabrina because her mother loved the movie by the same name. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-name-origins/666409/9 "2013-08-17T02:14:05Z")
This reminds me of the English soccer coach and former player Anthony Philip David Terry Frank Donald Stanley Gerry Gordon Stephen James Oatway, who was named after the entire 1973 Queens Park Rangers first team squad. He goes by [Charlie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Oatway). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-name-origins/666409/10 "2013-08-17T02:43:28Z")
Screen actress Zasu Pitts was named after two aunts – Eliza and Susan. Her name is actually pronounced “Say-Zoo.” I had an acquaintance whose first name was “Roe.” She was supposed to be called “Rose,” but the “s” was left off on the birth certificate.