# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/121 "2010-04-14T19:29:29Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > It has certainly never hurt my job prospects at all You wouldn’t necessarily know, if it had. If you’ve job-hunted at all, you’ve sent a resume in and never heard anything back from the people you sent it to. That’s what happens when people get rejected from jobs because of prejudice having to do with their name. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/122 "2010-04-14T19:29:40Z")
Henry. Henry is a retiree with thin hair slicked straight back, and smeary bifocals and jowls. Edith - forevermore Edith Bunker. I know a baby Mabel. Mabel is old fashioned but kind of pretty in a turn of the century Gibson girl way. We’ll have to wait a decade or so to see how she turns out. Bertha - NO ONE names their kid Bertha any more! (I’m going to look it up to see if anyone has in the last century…) Better to be a Sasquatchia than a Bertha - you could call her Sassy, though that’s more of a cat’s name. My given name is a diminutive of a ‘real name’. Everyone thinks my actual name is something else. it isn’t, it is what it is. I should be a Kansas housewife, living on a sunflower farm in the 30’s. I do have an unusual middle name right out of the bible, though. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/123 "2010-04-14T19:38:47Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > You wouldn’t necessarily know, if it had. If you’ve job-hunted at all, you’ve sent a resume in and never heard anything back from the people you sent it to. That’s what happens when people get rejected from jobs because of prejudice having to do with their name. Man, I’d hate to try to survive in the ignorant racist world where you live. And calling long standing traditional names like Candida and Mercedes “ghetto” makes me go :dubious: as well. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/124 "2010-04-14T19:39:04Z")
I feel bad for some of the hippy kids. Willow, Sunshine, Breeze, Freedom etc. Has to be tough living with that. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/125 "2010-04-14T19:40:37Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > _“The world ain’t fair or nice. Don’t pretend it is when you’re choosing a name for your kid.”_ Seriously? So I should just cave in and pick something ordinary and bland, devoid of any non-mainstream cultural heritage, because it’s more palatable to the general masses? Why bother with any unique identifiers at all then? I can give my daughter a number, 24601, or is that too closely associated with a boy’s identity? I’m a big fan of picking your battles. I think giving a kid a name that you know is going to encourage other kids to tease them (or employers to reject them) is cruel, unless it’s a name that really means a lot to you personally. Just like I think it would be cruel to make a kid wear clothes that you know the other kids are going to make fun of, because you don’t want the kid associating with people who judge others by their clothes. If the kid chooses not to conform with the social norms, I think parents should be supportive. But I think anyone who forces someone else to buck social norms and deal with the cruelty that results should have a damn good reason for doing it. If you’re a white man, and you want to challenge gender stereotypes, change your own name to Sue, if you want. But don’t name your son Sue in an attempt to overthrow gender stereotypes, or name him DeShawn to challenge racial stereotypes. He’s a person, not a symbol. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/126 "2010-04-14T19:42:11Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I feel bad for some of the hippy kids. Willow, Sunshine, Breeze, Freedom etc. > > Has to be tough living with that. I know a Sunshine. He’s an architect. You’d kind of expect him to have a really “sunny disposition” and stuff but he’s this really calm almost somber dude with a really sharp analytical mind. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/127 "2010-04-14T19:42:27Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > For the record, I don’t have a problem with made-up names. Particularly with black Americans, there may not be any ‘history’ that they know of to choose a ‘historical’ name from. If you want to make something up, go for it. I mean, in my case, I decided to just name my daughter an African word, but I had to randomly choose an African culture. I have no clue where my family even came from. > > Still. No excuse for that Rolexus shit. That is bananas. I don’t have a problem with made up names if there is some good, solid thought behind it. I went to high school with a girl named Nekka. When asked about it she explained that it was an African word meaning princess (or queen or something like that, I forget) and that is really cool. The woman who named her daughter Diamond Rolexus named her that because she loves diamonds, rolexes, and lexuses. There is a big difference between naming your kid Brighid after the Celtic goddess and naming your kid Count Choculicious. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/128 "2010-04-14T19:42:54Z")
Mack. Mack Mack Mack. What kind of a name is Mack? It’s barely even a nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/129 "2010-04-14T19:48:59Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I’m a big fan of picking your battles. I think giving a kid a name that you know is going to encourage other kids to tease them I have a boring name. It’s Duncan. Trust me if kids _want_ to pick on you, they will find a way, whether your legal name is Shit’head or Daniel. If an HR manager is so retarded that he’ll toss out a qualified resume because the man’s name is Beverly (another name that in the UK was more commonly a man’s until the war), then fuck 'em. That tells you all you really need to know about what it would be like working there. ---
**Author:** ![JiveCoolie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eada6e/32.png) [@JiveCoolie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JiveCoolie)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/130 "2010-04-14T19:52:38Z")
I hate names where it’s a standard name in spelling, but it has a weird pronunciation, mostly because people get huffy when you don’t magically know their parents saddled them with a messed up name. It’s like if I got pissed everytime someone called me “Steve” when the whole world should know that I pronounce it “steh-VEH”. Or, “My name’s not ‘Duane’, it’s ‘doo-AH-nay’, God!” ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/131 "2010-04-14T19:52:40Z")
If I could magically stop anyone from ever making fun of anyone else because of their name, or stop anyone from giving less consideration to Shaniqa’s resume than they do to Mary’s, I would. In a heartbeat. I wish we lived in a world where there was no such thing as discrimination or ostracism based on first names. I just don’t think we do. And since we don’t, I think parents should take those things into consideration when choosing a name for their kid. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/132 "2010-04-14T20:01:02Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Bertha - NO ONE names their kid Bertha any more! (I’m going to look it up to see if anyone has in the last century…) My mother in law was a Bertha. And yes, she was a big fat lady. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/133 "2010-04-14T20:01:15Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > You wouldn’t necessarily know, if it had. If you’ve job-hunted at all, you’ve sent a resume in and never heard anything back from the people you sent it to. That’s what happens when people get rejected from jobs because of prejudice having to do with their name. Thank you, but I’m not stupid. I do (or rather did) actually track and pay attention to my applications and response rate, rather than just blindly sending stuff all over the place and crossing my fingers. It’s similar to a marketing campaign: you analyze results and make adjustments as necessary. Generally, just out of university I was pretty much on par as far as the job hunting results of my peers, even those who had exotic names like “Tim”. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/134 "2010-04-14T20:05:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Trebreh (first person to figure out what his or her dad’s name is wins a prize!) Uhhhh…Herbert? Anyhoo, I hate the name Skyler. It’s the only thing about ‘Breaking Bad’ that rubs me the wrong way. I’m glad to see some strong, old-fashioned male names are coming back in style: Henry, George, Jack. These kids will kick some ass in the playground (probably a Tyler or a Cody). ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/135 "2010-04-14T20:06:40Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > If I could magically stop anyone from ever making fun of anyone else because of their name, or stop anyone from giving less consideration to Shaniqa’s resume than they do to Mary’s, I would. In a heartbeat. I wish we lived in a world where there was no such thing as discrimination or ostracism based on first names. I just don’t think we do. And since we don’t, I think parents should take those things into consideration when choosing a name for their kid. But then the terrorists have won. Fuck that. Let those that don’t want to hire Shaniqua because of her name go to hell. And let Shaniqua develop the kind of skills, attitude and hutzpah to make it in the world doing any kind of career she happens to love and choose. If she can’t overcome a tiny barrier like a ghetto name, then she deserves to have her application tossed. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/136 "2010-04-14T20:08:13Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I wish we lived in a world where there was no such thing as discrimination or ostracism based on first names. I just don’t think we do. And since we don’t, I think parents should take those things into consideration when choosing a name for their kid. So… let me get this straight… it kind of sounds to me like you think that rather than encourage diversity and teach tolerance, instead we should conform to the expectations of the lowest common denominators, avoid uniqueness, and bend heritage names to suit Wonderbread tastes. That way our precious snowflakes won’t be traumatized. No Jaime for you, it’s gotta be Jim! Classic! ETA: No, wait! “Classic” could lead to names like “Portia” and that just will not do! Call the girl Pauline. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/137 "2010-04-14T20:09:25Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Oh, man. Working in juvenile court, I’m on the cutting edge of Ghetto Names. > > Here’s a few we’ve collected over the years: > > Eunique > Mercedez > Starquasha > Alpacino > Hennessey > Shemale (pronounced shuh-mah-lee) > Trebreh (first person to figure out what his or her dad’s name is wins a prize!) > Sillouette > Ma’Lawn > Cokeine (a middle name, not a first, but the first was pretty bad too) > Fashion Oh come on! I can believe Eunique, Sillouette and even Starquasha. But Alpacino, Hennnessey and Shemale? You’re pulling our leg here. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/138 "2010-04-14T20:11:44Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > So… let me get this straight… it kind of sounds to me like you think that rather than encourage diversity and teach tolerance, instead we should conform to the expectations of the lowest common denominators, avoid uniqueness, and bend heritage names to suit Wonderbread tastes. That way our precious snowflakes won’t be traumatized. No Jaime for you, it’s gotta be Jim! All I can say is, I was made fun of because of my (last) name, among other things. I did not like it, and I do not think it benefited me. When I have kids, I will do what I can to keep it from happening to them. I’m not willing to make my kids suffer in the name of diversity or heritage. Well, not over a name, anyway. I just don’t think my desire to give my kid a particular name is that important. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/139 "2010-04-14T20:12:03Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Oh come on! I can believe Eunique, Sillouette and even Starquasha. But Alpacino, Hennnessey and Shemale? You’re pulling our leg here. Can’t speak for the rest of them, but I’ve personally worked with a Hennessey. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/140 "2010-04-14T20:13:20Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > I don’t have a problem with made up names if there is some good, solid thought behind it. I went to high school with a girl named Nekka. When asked about it she explained that it was an African word meaning princess (or queen or something like that, I forget) and that is really cool. The woman who named her daughter Diamond Rolexus named her that because she loves diamonds, rolexes, and lexuses. There is a big difference between naming your kid Brighid after the Celtic goddess and naming your kid Count Choculicious. Pbbth, you are cracking me up today. You have a knack for these names! For the record, I also don’t begrudge anyone naming their kid something materialistic. Diamond, Ruby, whatever. But Rolexus is an abomination. Period. No defending that, no matter how hard I want to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991.md?page=8)