# Names that became unusable, like Kermit **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2006, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-unusable-like-kermit/372362 "2006-09-12T02:34:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-unusable-like-kermit/372362/61 "2006-09-12T23:07:25Z")
In Latin American countries, all rules are suspended. I live in the Dominican Republic and have travelled in most Latin American countries, and have found that: - **Elmer, Elvis, Felix and Vladimir** are fairly common. No one bats an eyelid. - **Homer(o)** and other classical Greek names like **Achilles** and **Pericles** are still to be found, especially among the older generation. - **Adolf(o)**, as well as **Stalin** and even **Stalina** as a first name for a girl, as well as **Hitler** and **Mussolini** are also not unheard of. Slight hijack - naming girls after place-names is another strange one. I’ve met several **Kenya** s, **Grecia** s, a **Bélgica** and even an **Albania** and a **Hanoi**. Never met a Kermit though. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-unusable-like-kermit/372362/62 "2006-09-12T23:40:59Z")
We have twin guys in our company… Elvis and Melvis… tsfr ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-unusable-like-kermit/372362/63 "2006-09-13T00:45:22Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Betty & Veronica are less popular than they were. Both Archie and Reggie are out. [/QUOTE] My circle of friends contains people with all four of these names. Sometimes several of them occupy the same place at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-unusable-like-kermit/372362/64 "2006-09-13T00:51:56Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Mudd] My circle of friends contains people with all four of these names. Sometimes several of them occupy the same place at the same time. [/QUOTE] That wouldn’t happen to be a lunchcounter & ice cream shop run by a fat guy name Tates, would it? ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-unusable-like-kermit/372362/65 "2006-09-13T01:10:35Z")
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena] Really? I don’t know anyone under age about 40 with the name Richard. I’m sure it’s still around to a degree, but it sure has fallen off since the 40s & 50s (put the name into [this website](http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html) and you will see how far it has fallen off (ok, maybe not as much as Adolph, but still…) [/QUOTE] Hey! That’s my name! Come to think of it, there are few Richards I’ve known my age. It’s so normal but not common… never thought of the Nixon connection. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-unusable-like-kermit/372362/66 "2006-09-13T01:31:02Z")
I know a Kermit…he’s about 45, and I know a lot of Richards, but most of them go by Rick or Rich…not a Dick in the bunch. And they are all under 40. I had a friend in high school named Gay…her sister was Gigi, her mother Gwen (brothers Greg and Guy…notice a trend…their last name started with a G, also) but I can imagine that the name Gay is no longer popular. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-unusable-like-kermit/372362/67 "2006-09-13T01:36:50Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Mudd] My circle of friends contains people with all four of these names. Sometimes several of them occupy the same place at the same time. [/QUOTE] But do they have a friend named Jughead? [QUOTE=elmwood] I wonder how many kids nowadays get named Bruce, considering how that name – really, 'Bruth" – is now considered the quintessential “gay name”. I wonder if Lance and Todd got hit by their stereotypically gay association as well. [/QUOTE] I thought Bruce was the quintessential Australian name, not the quintessential gay name. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-unusable-like-kermit/372362/68 "2006-09-13T02:26:50Z")
I had a professor named Rudolph. I confess to thinking about the reindeer. Apologies to all Rudolphs everywhere. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2006, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-unusable-like-kermit/372362/69 "2006-09-13T07:58:12Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] I image anyone looking at a current list of popular baby names would have to wonder… _Where’s Waldo?_ [/QUOTE] Please report to the front office for your beating. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-unusable-like-kermit/372362/70 "2006-09-13T12:36:49Z")
This thread reminds me of [this](http://snltranscripts.jt.org/92/92ababynames.phtml) sketch. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-unusable-like-kermit/372362/71 "2006-09-13T13:25:25Z")
[QUOTE=Rodgers01] _Really??_ What about the book, the Disney movie, and the stage version? All those famous versions of one of the most popular kid’s stories of all times, and no one ever made the connection until _Hook_ came out?? [/QUOTE] That’s right. In college, my sister switched to her middle name, Elizabeth. I went by my middle name up until the third grade. So that limited the window a little. No one in either my immediate or extended family was ever a Peter Pan fan. So I was only tormented with the Peter Cotton-Tail song by the one unhinged aunt. And living in the DC area meant that “Peter” didn’t have any slang meaning to bother me. But yeah, got off lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-unusable-like-kermit/372362/72 "2006-09-13T14:14:06Z")
[QUOTE=Rodgers01] But do they have a friend named Jughead? [/QUOTE] Yes, that’s **Larry Mudd** ’s RL name, isn’t it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-unusable-like-kermit/372362.md?page=3)