# Irksome names for children **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434 "2003-04-13T15:04:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/181 "2003-04-17T12:51:02Z")
Oh, just go and name your daughter \*\*Joan \*\* It’s truly a dying name. Other dying names: Ethel Betty Norma Shirley 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/182 "2003-04-17T13:28:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest \* > \*\*Oh, just go and name your daughter \*\*Joan \*\* > > It’s truly a dying name. > \*\* When my Mom was little, she was nicknamed Sissy. On her first day of school, her mother said, “Sissy, the teacher is not going to call you Sissy.” Mom said, “Why not?” “Well, because your name is Joan,” said Gram. “Sissy is your nickname.” Mom said, “Well, I don’t like it.” She did get used to being called Joan, although she NEVER grew to like it. Fast forward 15 years or so, and Mom’s about to get married and she needs a copy of her birth certificate. No record of her birth. So she telephones Gram and says there’s no record. Gram says, “Oh. Have them look under ‘Alice.’” Mom: “_ALICE_?” That’s when Mom found out that her name at birth was Alice Joan, but a well-meaning aunt switched it around when Mom was baptized in the hospital and Gram was unconscious. Turns out Grandpa had been married before, and his first daughter was Alice, and that Alice had been killed in an accident. Auntie thought it was bad luck to name a baby after a deceased child. My poor mother was 20 years old before she found out her name. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/183 "2003-04-17T13:47:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cicada2003 \* > \*\* > > I wanted to name my 3rd son Dashiell (after Hammet), because I think it’s a great name and nobody else had it. Bet they would’ve if I’d actually used it. \*\* I think you’re right–I considered Dashiell for paidhi-boy, who’s three. Like you, I’m sure that if we had used it, it would have been trendy in no time. Instead, I gave him a name that would never, ever reach the top of the charts. People who think kids should all be named Michael and Susan, cover your eyes. He’s named Gawain. Stress on the first syllable, and yes he’ll be spelling it the rest of his life, but what the hell. I’ve got a surname that everyone misspells and mispronounces, and you know what? The sun hasn’t exploded. It isn’t even minorly annoying, I just spell it automatically whenever someone has to write it down. No biggy. I’m a little worried about paidhi-girl’s name, though. We gave her an Irish boy’s name that was hardly ever heard in the US. In the past few years, that name has become increasingly common for boys here, and I’ve even seen it on a few girls’ birth announcements, which tells me it may well be headed for the “trendy” category. My only consolation is that all these kids are some six years younger than mine, so I can call myself a trend-setter. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/184 "2003-04-17T14:07:02Z")
My name is Paul. A name most people recognise as being fairly common. A biblical name, what’s more, which seems to count for a lot. It has equivalents in most European and Middle Eastern cultures. But in reality, I’ve probably barely met even 15 Pauls in my whole life of 33 years. And kids these days are pretty much never named Paul anymore. So it’s in actuality a relatively unique name, and I would be honoured if my mention of it inspired anybody here to consider it as a name for a future child of theirs. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/185 "2003-04-17T14:35:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sajwalke \* > \*\*A unique name a friend of mine has is “Shin.” I think it’s kinda cool, and it suits his personality well. Much better than Bradley, but if he wasn’t Korean it might not be as good. \*\* That’s funny. I know two Shins here, and they even dated each other. Both spelled their name “Hsin”, but it was pronounced “Shin”. It’s apparently a fairly common Chinese name. The male Hsin went by Steve with his American friends, though. It’s also very nice to have gone all the way through this thread without seeing either of my kids’ names. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/186 "2003-04-17T15:14:08Z")
There’s a grown woman who’s on staff of a gym I belong to named Cricket. That’s a cute name, but how do you grow old gracefully with the name “Cricket”? My son is Aaron George, a nice old-fashioned name. If we could just get past all the people who think his name is “Erin” we would be set. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/187 "2003-04-17T15:45:24Z")
I think the only problem between “Aaron” and “Erin” is people mumble too damn much. I always know the differece when I hear it. And I like “Gawain” as well. We were one of the few couple (so it seems) nowadays who actually didn’t want to know our baby’s sex befre birth. For a boy we were thinking “Quintus.” ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/188 "2003-04-17T16:02:07Z")
Maybe all of you with trendy names should change your names to Rasputin, Adolph, or something equally out there. Thanks to the quick and interesting social security search, I see that my name is in the top 1000; however, I have never met anyone else with my name. However, according to the SSA the diminutive of my name when I was born was around the 600’s and now is off the list. Woo woo! ---
**Author:** ![Jenypher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c4cdca/32.png) [@Jenypher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenypher)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/189 "2003-04-17T16:07:59Z")
I once wrote a term paper on Anne Rice. Her parents named her Howard cause they expected a boy. It wasn’t until she went to grade school that she insisted on being called Anne. Everyone in my family has 2 word names. My mom is a Martha Jane. When I was about 7 I asked if I could have a 2 word name. She assumed I wanted to be called Jennifer Lynn (oh, little did she know). I smiled and politly asked to be Light Bulb from then on. Luckily, that didn’t work out. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/190 "2003-04-17T16:58:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*Nope. “Caitlin” is phonetically pronounced “cauch-LEEN” or “cauch-LIN”, depending on how close to Ulster one is. It’s a slender “t” but the preceding vowel structure is the “ai” diphthong. \*\* Sure guy, and “pain” is pronounced “pauch”, and “stain”= “stauch”. There is phonetically no “ch” sound in “Caitlin”, “t” is NOT phonetically pronounced “ch”. Nor is “ai” PHONETICALLY pronounced “au”. Now, yes- it is a perfectly legit LOCAL dialect pronunciation, and sure, as you get closer to “Ulster” the dialect pronuciation become more & more common, and the phonetic pronuciation gets rare- but a local dialect, nice as it may be doesn’t get the change the way English is phonetically used. Frank- you wanted to give your daughter a name that had a “whiff of sexiness” and then you chose CHARLEY?!:eek: “I do no tthink that word means what you think it does”. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/191 "2003-04-17T17:21:23Z")
Names are such a cyclical thing, I’m named John, and I had 5 other Johns in my class. There isn’t a John in my son’s _whole school_. There is a Jonathon. I named my son Riley. Before the Riley explosion. What really pisses me off is that people are naming girls Riley now. WTF? Why take a good Irish _boy’s_ name and ruin it? My dad’s name is Terrance, and he hates it, so all his kids got dull names. His kids hate the dull names, so they give their kids different names. And so on, And so on. And so on. I guess it skips a generation. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/192 "2003-04-17T17:46:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ceejaytee \* > \*\*There’s a grown woman who’s on staff of a gym I belong to named Cricket. That’s a cute name, but how do you grow old gracefully with the name “Cricket”? > \*\* Especially the jokes. I can see them now. “Hey, that’s not cricket, is it?” ---
**Author:** ![austen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@austen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/austen)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/193 "2003-04-17T18:06:17Z")
My parents were pretty good with mine and my siblings’ names: Me (29) : Katherine Victoria - after my great grandmother and grandfather (Victor). Go by Kate. Brother (26): Timothy William (my uncle’s middle name and my father’s first name). Goes by Tim. Sister (19): Elizabeth Caroline - my mother’s middle name and just something they liked that sounded good with her first name. She used to be Betsy, but wehn she started high school changed it to her full first name, and now we have all gotten used to calling her that, since she won’t answer if we call her Betsy. I still do it sometimes to irritate her - that’s what big sisters are for. 😉 Looking at them all, they kinda sound slightly regal but are also all old-fashioned kinda biblical names. None of us ever had too many problems with other people having the same first names in our classes. When I was in school, there were lots of Jennifers, Michelles, Lisas, Kristens (Kirstens and other variations), always many Mikes and Daves running around. I’m thinking about Cordelia if I ever have kids - Delia for short. It’s such a pretty name, and a little unusual. For a boy - Gregory, after my father’s middle name. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/194 "2003-04-17T18:32:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Quasimodal \* > \*\*Strangest names I’ve run into include: > > September > Candy > (both for girls) > > I guess “Candy” is supposed to be short for “Candida”, though you can imagine the insults at high school. \*\* Candy is often short for Candice. Like the actress from Murphy Brown. ---
**Author:** ![AntaresJB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AntaresJB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AntaresJB)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/195 "2003-04-17T18:52:06Z")
One other name I like that hopefully won’t suddenly get popular – Desdemona. And for a nickname, I don’t like Mona, so I’d probably call her Desdi. It’s kind of unfortunate that I have all these names I wanna use and yet I don’t want kids. Guess all my cats are gonna have very interesting names. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/196 "2003-04-17T18:55:28Z")
I had a friend called Desdemona when I was a teenager (I’m 33 now). She went by “Desi”. ---
**Author:** ![little\_lighthouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea666f/32.png) [@little\_lighthouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/little_lighthouse)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/197 "2003-04-17T19:34:23Z")
I completely agonized over naming my chilren- especially my daughter. I think girls think more about thier names than boys do. I have a very common last name and did not want my children to have common first names to go along with them. My son is Tor (not Thor) and my daughter is Zella (nicknamed Zelly). I have a sneeking suspision they won’t be in class sitting next to another kid with the same name! My sister just had a daughter and named her Ava and I have a 13 year old nephew named Casey. He’s going by Case these days, since his name is now very trendy for girls. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/198 "2003-04-17T20:14:03Z")
My mom named all of us (there’s six daughters) with fairly unusual names. I’ve only met one other Darcy in my life, and that was the girl who sold me tacos at DisneyWorld. My youngest sis got a name that was unusual at the time but has quickly become trendy, much to my mother’s disgust. It’s been funny reading this thread, because I’m due with my second son in less than 8 weeks and half of the names on my list of potentials are getting ragged on! 😃 I’m thinking Jasper, Oscar, Zane, Augustus (Gus), or possibly Xavier. My first son has a fairly traditional, if slightly old-fashioned name–he’s named after my father and a paternal grandfather–but my personal preference is for the more uncommon ones. As for “Cricket”, I went to school with one of those, but her real name was Christine. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/199 "2003-04-17T22:35:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bren\_Cameron \* > \*\*He’s named Gawain. Stress on the first syllable, and yes he’ll be spelling it the rest of his life, but what the hell. \*\* Sir, you rock. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![auliya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90db22/32.png) [@auliya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auliya)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434/200 "2003-04-18T04:50:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tristan \* > \*\*My name, Raymond, I have only seen on 2 other white people, a guy I met at Faire and my grandfather. \*\* I am amazed!! in Australia every second male born in the first half of the 20th century was called Raymond, or so it seems. These days it is considered a dorky old fashioned sort of great uncle -y name. (sorry Tristan, different cultures I guess) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irksome-names-for-children/168434.md?page=11)