# Most-regretted baby names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 7, 2023, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730 "2023-07-07T13:45:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/161 "2023-07-10T04:30:31Z")
Well, This is Arkansas. I found it cringy. But, no his aunt is not also his sister. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/162 "2023-07-10T12:32:21Z")
Growing up we had neighbors who wanted a son and daughter. They kept having girls though, one after the other. They named them Darlene, Colleen, Noreen, Arlene, Evangeline. After 5 girls they finally had a boy. Jerry. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/163 "2023-07-10T13:40:39Z")
My grandmother had a beautiful name, Lela. Unfortunately a Southern accent added er to the pronunciation. Lee-ler. Not quite as nice. 😉 Grandmother did spell it Lela. Google indicates it was a very popular name from 1890-1920. It had a uptick starting in 1999. Link [Lela - Baby girl name meaning, origin, and popularity | BabyCenter](https://www.babycenter.com/baby-names/details/lela-14145) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/164 "2023-07-10T13:43:29Z")
Raised in the South, I was never crazy about the pronunciation of my name as Jool-ya. But a Hispanic lady I work with pronounces all three syllables, Ju-li-a. Much better! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/165 "2023-07-10T13:47:10Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > But a Hispanic lady I work with pronounces all three syllables, Ju-li-a. Much better! How does she pronounce the J? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/166 "2023-07-10T14:16:00Z")
As a J, not H. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/168 "2023-07-10T14:56:31Z")
Not a baby name, but how about Pharoah Sanders? There has to be a story there, not simply not being able to spell one’s own adopted name. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/169 "2023-07-10T14:58:28Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Not a baby name, but how about Pharoah Sanders? I’ve read that name hundreds of times, but I never noticed the wrong spelling. 🤦‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/170 "2023-07-10T15:09:54Z")
Well, the o-a combination is common in English, while the a-o, especially for that pronunciation, is counter-intuitive. No less than a Triple Crown winner, [American Pharoah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pharoah), got the spelling wrong. The explanation(s): > American Pharoah’s name is inspired by that of his sire, Pioneerof the Nile, and his dam’s sire, Yankee Gentleman.[[33]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pharoah#cite_note-Hoppert22May-38) The horse’s name also acknowledges Zayat’s own Egyptian-American background.[[34]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pharoah#cite_note-Bishara30Apr-39) The misspelling of “[Pharaoh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharaoh)” is permanent, but inadvertent. Zayat originally claimed that the spelling was the result of an error by the [Jockey Club](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jockey_Club_(United_States)), but the organization’s president stated, “The name request for the 2012 colt American Pharoah was submitted electronically on January 25, 2014, through the Jockey Club’s interactive registration site. Since the name met all of the criteria for naming and was available, it was granted exactly as it was spelled on the digital name application.” Zayat later retracted his statement.[[35]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pharoah#cite_note-Lintner21Apr-40)[[f]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pharoah#cite_note-42) > > Zayat’s wife, Joanne, offered another explanation for the name’s origins to a local news reporter just before the Preakness. Zayat’s son, Justin, ran a contest on [social media](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media) in which fans could submit names for the horse. The winning entry had “Pharaoh” misspelled, she said. “Justin cut and pasted the name from [the winner’s] email, and sent it to the Jockey Club.”[[37]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pharoah#cite_note-Palmer-43)[[38]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pharoah#cite_note-ZayatNamingContest-44) Marsha Baumgartner of [Barnett, Missouri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnett,_Missouri), who submitted the winning entry, told _[The New York Times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times)_, “I don’t want to assign blame”, but “I looked up the spelling before I entered.” Nonetheless, Baumgartner minimized the controversy, stating, “Horses can’t spell, anyway.”[[33]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pharoah#cite_note-Hoppert22May-38) Ultimately, Justin Zayat accepted responsibility for the error, stating, “I didn’t happen to realize at the time that it was misspelled wrong [_[sic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sic)_] … Most English teachers in the world now are unhappy with me, but I’ll live with that.”[[39]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pharoah#cite_note-45) ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/171 "2023-07-10T15:24:24Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > My former step-grandfather used to go by Bunny. Which was weird, until you found out that his actual given name was Adolf. My mother’s brother went by the nickname Bunny. Uncle Bunny’s given name was \*Lorenzo. . \*(Not so stealth brag - he was Lorenzo Semple Jr, screenplay writer, one of the originators of the Batman tv series, among other things) ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/172 "2023-07-10T17:11:42Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Growing up we had neighbors who wanted a son and daughter. They kept having girls though, one after the other. They named them Darlene, Colleen, Noreen, Arlene, Evangeline. My sister worked with a woman who was one of twelve…sisters! No brothers at all. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/173 "2023-07-10T17:13:24Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > But a Hispanic lady I work with pronounces all three syllables I had a Mexican co-worker and a Persian co-worker who both pronounced my name as “Powla.” I liked it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/174 "2023-07-10T18:17:11Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > My sister worked with a woman who was one of twelve…sisters! Did the parents keep trying for a boy and gave up after 12 girls? I’m thinking that at around girl number 5 I might say, “AFAB? Nope, not gonna go along with that”. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/175 "2023-07-10T18:29:06Z")
I don’t think she ever said, but I’m guessing the answer is ‘yes.’ She was from Java and ethnically Indian. I just wonder what the odds are. Twelve girls. Dang. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/176 "2023-07-10T18:41:49Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I just wonder what the odds are. Twelve girls. Dang. That’s easy. If we assume that the odds for giving birth to a girl or boy are exactly 1/2, the odds for 12 girls in a row are 1/2^12=1/4096. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/177 "2023-07-10T18:47:54Z")
It should be slightly greater than that, because a non-zero percentage of births are multiple births, and a non-zero percentage of multiple births are identical twins (triplets, etc.). A quick google says 3% of births are multiple, and 33% of twins are identical. Not sure how that would adjust the numbers. Edit: though perhaps the fact that the multiple births could be either sex evens this out? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/178 "2023-07-10T23:52:22Z")
Just saw a lady on PBS News hour named “Umm” Um? ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/179 "2023-07-11T00:37:10Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Pharoah Sanders I always thought it was kinda weird for a black avant garde jazz musician to name himself after history’s most famous slave driver. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/180 "2023-07-11T00:48:30Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Just saw a lady on PBS News hour named “Umm” So a couple at the table near her are talking and the guy has the habit of saying “umm” before speaking. She turns and looks each time thinking he’s calling out to her? Ummmmm ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730/181 "2023-07-11T00:57:54Z")
My brother-in-law name is spelled doubly wrong: Micheal and his middle name is spelled Jeffery. I don’t dare say anything about the intelligence about my wife’s parents though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-regretted-baby-names/986730.md?page=10)