# Names you loathe... and why! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991 "2010-04-13T21:59:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/201 "2010-04-16T03:28:37Z")
I’ve mentioned this in other names threads, but my dad went to high school with a Dick Hertz. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/202 "2010-04-16T03:33:54Z")
I’m not so bothered by Paisley, amazingly. I agree that the -lee/-ley/-leigh bullshit has to stop. Bayleigh? Kayley? Leighlee? On one of those horrid soccer mom vans I saw four baseball or softball player graphics with names: Shon, Shonlee, Shea, and another Sh- variant for a girl. I wanted to run them off the road. Shonlee? Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/203 "2010-04-16T03:40:29Z")
Naming kids is not hard but coming up with stripper names is getting difficult. Parents are using them all up. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/204 "2010-04-16T06:07:59Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Creatively (or stupidly) misspelled names. Of course, Gregg [sic] is the worst, but Kris, Haylee, and Britney are on my list. How many times have I had to explain how to write my name just because a certain percentage of parents can’t spell. “Kris” is short for Kristen. Sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![frito45](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@frito45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frito45)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/205 "2010-04-16T10:56:12Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > There was a girl in my school named Holly Tannenbaum. I hope she went into the military, because she was guaranteed to be highly decorated. 🙂 OK, this made me laugh. Hilarious! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/206 "2010-04-16T13:18:36Z")
On the Paisley subject, you do have to realize that some people will think your friend named the girl after the popular (male) country singer. Is that an association she’s willing to put out there? I’m not a huge fan of the name; I prefer classic names like Theodore, Arthur and Evelyn. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/207 "2010-04-16T18:50:08Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > There was a girl in my school named Holly Tannenbaum. I hope she went into the military, because she was guaranteed to be highly decorated. 🙂 I don’t get it ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/208 "2010-04-16T19:35:47Z")
Truman Capote (mentioned by **suranyi** ). And funny too: in French _capote_ is condom. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/209 "2010-04-16T19:40:59Z")
And his true name was Truman Streckfus Persons. Not much better. ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/210 "2010-04-16T19:45:57Z")
Put me down as another one hating the last names as first names and, of course, all the cutesy trendy spellings. Some older names can cycle back around- Addie sounds fine to me, and I, too, have heard of a baby named Mabel. Old, yes, but neither one clanks on the ear the way, say, Gladys or Gertrude does. Toward that end, I have to say I was horrified to learn from my wife that one of the new moms on a forum she reads named her daughter Enid. _Enid???_ That just sounds like ugly on a stick to me. ---
**Author:** ![Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Long_Time_First_Time)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/211 "2010-04-16T20:32:54Z")
Siobhan - impossible to spell. Sounds NOTHING like is looks. Worst. Name. Evah. I grew up with a girl named Mildred. She hated the name, and as an adult had it legally changed. She vowed she’d never saddle her kids with a sucky name. Her two daughters: Brenna and Serena Ugh ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/212 "2010-04-17T03:34:01Z")
As the owner of an oddly-spelled name, don’t. Just don’t. Brenda isn’t much better, but I really am tired of spelling it, telling people it is pronounced “Brenda”, etc. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/213 "2010-04-17T04:28:33Z")
My mom hates guys’ names that start with “E”. I found this out when we were watching the credits of a movie so that she could see who played a particular character. Upon reading it, she shuddered, “‘Earl’! I hate men’s names that start with ‘E’!” Looking at my dad, I piped in, “Like your second husband here, Eugene?” Then my dad said, “Like your first husband, Edwin?” 😃 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/214 "2010-04-17T04:34:44Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > > [@Jackmannii](#): > > > > There was a girl in my school named Holly Tannenbaum. I hope she went into the military, because she was guaranteed to be highly decorated. > > I don’t get it ☹ ‘Tannenbaum’ is German for Christmas tree. And holly is a traditional element of Christmas garlands. Holly Tannenbaum is therefore a decorated Christmas tree, highly so. 😃 Reminds me of an old friend of my brothers, who ran an excavating business (backhoes, bulldozers, etc.). His name was Barry Lowe (bury low). ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/215 "2010-04-17T16:35:20Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > What do you guys think of ‘initial’ names? > > Like JT, CJ, BJ, DJ, RJ, AJ? > > Our sons name is Alex John but we’ve called him AJ since birth. > I’ve always wondered what people think of the name or if it annoys certain people but I think everyone I know would be too polite to say anything. To me, being from Texas, they sound very, very redneck. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/216 "2010-04-17T20:43:21Z")
Every pretentious or wannabe\* first name. Every pretentious and wanna-be\* last name, particularly hyphenated and double last names: Melissa Wilkinson-Brumbaugh Jonathon Simpson Everett and any other indecisive twit too cowardly too choose a name. \*Wannabe anything other than what you obviously are. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/217 "2010-04-17T20:54:18Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > As the owner of an oddly-spelled name, don’t. Just don’t. Brenda isn’t much better, but I really am tired of spelling it, telling people it is pronounced “Brenda”, etc. I went to high school with a girl named Kemm. Pronounced Kim. I really don’t get it. If you’re going to use a common name, spell it in the common fashion. If you don’t want to do that, find an uncommon name. Oh, and please use whole names. Not Max, Liz, Becca, etc. ---
**Author:** ![yuliya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/f6c823/32.png) [@yuliya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yuliya)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/218 "2010-04-18T00:15:05Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > The joke’s on her-- when pronounced that way, it’s a man’s name (in Italian). I know a girl named Andréa. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/219 "2010-04-18T05:57:52Z")
> [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](#): > > I grew up with a girl named Mildred. She hated the name, and as an adult had it legally changed. She vowed she’d never saddle her kids with a sucky name. > > Her two daughters: Brenna and Serena > Ugh OK, I understand Brenna, but Serena? I don’t see anything wrong with it. Someone upthread mentioned the name “Hennessey” and said it was an urban myth. At the welfare office where I work, I’ve run into some, shall we say, interesting names - I can vouch for someone actually being named Hennessey, because I’ve seen her birth certificate and that of her little brother, Courvoisiervalentino. I’m willing to swear on the Bible, the Koran, and the holy book of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, whichever it is. ---
**Author:** ![lshaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e36b37/32.png) [@lshaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lshaw)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/220 "2010-04-18T06:12:31Z")
As others have mentioned before: virtue names. I know too many girls named Grace, and it drives me nuts. I also dislike names like John David Michael Smith - could you get any more vanilla than that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991.md?page=12)