# Odd Family names? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 28, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612 "2005-04-28T20:36:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sarah\_Woodruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sarah\_Woodruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarah_Woodruff)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/21 "2005-04-29T08:34:50Z")
Speaking of MPs, New South Wales used to have a gaming minister (yes, a gaming minister) named Richard Face. The Honourable DickFace! ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/22 "2005-04-29T08:44:09Z")
Back when Donald E. Westlake was still writing funny books, he wrote this [one](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0871311496/qid=1114763919/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-7143628-8886560?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), about a gentleman with a last name based on the German word for art: Künst. Yes, the main character’s name was Harry Künt. (Don’t forget the umlaut, it’s very important to Harry. Trust me on this.) BTW, in spite of the silliness of the main character’s name, it’s a very good book, and highly reccomended. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/23 "2005-04-29T08:52:01Z")
> [@Sarah Woodruff](#): > > Speaking of MPs, New South Wales used to have a gaming minister (yes, a gaming minister) named Richard Face. The Honourable DickFace! Funny name, but nothing funny with having a Gaming Minister. [Macau](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau) has one, but he’s called the _Prime_ Minister (technically, Chief Executive). ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/24 "2005-04-29T09:54:12Z")
Oh, and Canada used to have a chief justice known as the Rt. Hon. Antonio Lamer. (Okay, fine. It’s French, it means “the sea.”) ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/25 "2005-04-29T10:03:27Z")
Several years ago there was an avalanche here in Norway that passed through a village called Bleie. The word _bleie_ means “diaper” (or “nappy” if you prefer). Most Norwegian last names come from place names, either farms or villages, and sure enough several of the people interviewed on the TV news the following day were named Bleie. In spite of this, they appeared to have survived junior high school… My assumption is that the village name is older than the modern word _bleie._ Just an unfortunate coincidence for the folks with that name. ---
**Author:** ![marky33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@marky33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marky33)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/26 "2005-04-29T10:04:57Z")
There is former jockey Malcolm Bastard. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/27 "2005-04-29T10:07:38Z")
Oops, thought of one more, this time a German ice hockey player, later coach, by the name of [Xavier Unsinn]([http://www.azhockey.com/Un.htm#Xavier](http://www.azhockey.com/Un.htm#Xavier) Unsinn). _Unsinn_ means “nonsense” in German. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/28 "2005-05-08T12:35:18Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Vingt-Trois (“twenty-three”). There’s a cardinal in France called André Vingt-Trois… a joke I heard once is, “Ah yes, I knew his father Jean.” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/29 "2005-05-08T13:02:54Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > 😕 Jean XXIII…Pope, did the Vatican II thing… There’s a Northern Irish trade unionist leader/peace and anti-poverty activist named May Blood, who was actually given a title, so now she’s Baroness Blood. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/30 "2005-05-08T13:16:54Z")
I see. Thank you. ---
**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:** [May 8, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/31 "2005-05-08T18:47:04Z")
I have a German friend whose surname is ‘Hell’. The friend from hell? I once worked with a woman whose surname is Lilicrap. If that was your name, how would you not change it?! My sister has a friend whose surname was Pratt, which is not half as bad, and she changed it. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/32 "2005-05-08T19:27:55Z")
> [@Aangelica](#): > > My mother’s maiden name is Lust. > > Her first name is Angelika. > > In high school she was therefore known as “Angel Lust”. That sounds like a porno name. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/33 "2005-05-08T20:31:47Z")
> [@Hokkaido Brit](#): > > I was in the same hospital room as a very shy gentle woman named Samejima (shark island) and the other day was served in a cafe by a handsome rugged man with a name badge proclaiming him to be Mr Sakuraniwa (cherry orchard). See, now I want to do a hard-boiled police drama starring a Detective Sakuraniwa. I can already see the trailer: Chief: You’re on thin ice, Cherry-orchard! The commissioner wants your badge for that stunt you pulled at the embassy! Cherry-orchard: You can tell the commissioner to kiss my… \ Anyway, I understand that back during the Civil War, I had a relative whose first name was Tarwater. Back then, naming children was considered a pro-active form of punishment, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58956e/32.png) [@Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoodoo_Ulove)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/34 "2005-05-08T20:47:10Z")
In my town of 30,000 people there are 6 entries in the phone book named for people named Queer. I haven’t met them but I admire their courage. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/35 "2005-05-08T20:55:07Z")
My mom used to be the person that enrolled kids and families into the local school district, she was always coming home with names that made her crack up. There was the Crapo family, who insisted it was pronounced “cra-poe”, accent on the second syllable. Somewhere out there she insists was a Kotex family. Then my favorite was the unfortunate young lady from the Philpot family. her name was Latrene. Go ahead, say it together. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/36 "2005-05-08T21:03:23Z")
My mother was once Nurse Payne, and worked with a Dr. Blood. My first mother-in-law’s maternal line, the Glutenfeltens (sp?), came over from Holland and felt the name to Americanize the name. So they changed it to Clodfelter. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58956e/32.png) [@Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoodoo_Ulove)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/37 "2005-05-08T21:05:09Z")
I had a dentist named Dr. Fang. She was a cute young asian. I had a serious crush on her. ---
**Author:** ![exastris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b38774/32.png) [@exastris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/exastris)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/38 "2005-05-08T21:41:22Z")
My pediatrician was named Dr. Bong. Not funny to me until I reached about 14… Also knew a Richard Head. Unfortunate. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/39 "2005-05-08T21:41:30Z")
I saw a marriage notice last week-a Mr. Savage married Ms. Slaughter: so the notice was headed “SAVAGE-SLAUGHTER”! ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/40 "2005-05-08T23:01:32Z")
My sister-in-law teaches in a school in Staffordshire. Apparently, the name **ANKER** is quite common in those parts and indeed there are several in her school. The poor unfortunate one in her class is called Wayne. So, he’s: W. ANKER!!! (probably doesn’t have the same impact in the US…) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612.md?page=3)