# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/41 "2005-05-09T01:04:10Z")
> [@kaiwik](#): > > When I worked at the phone company there was a large family in the community whose surname was Turnipseed, and they found _nothing_ amusing about it! [Donald Turnipseed](http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/ly/dean.htm) was the driver of the Ford involved in the accident that killed actor James Dean. I’ve seen a death notice for a woman whose last name was Titman, and an article about a high-school athlete whose name was Michelle Nipple. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/42 "2005-05-09T01:58:36Z")
Our neighbor’s daughter married a man with the last name of **Lusty**. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/43 "2005-05-09T03:08:29Z")
My mother’s physician used to be one Dr. Klutz. ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/44 "2005-05-09T03:10:11Z")
There’s a hockey player whose last name is Satan. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/45 "2005-05-09T13:40:11Z")
> [@Martha](#): > > I have a German friend whose surname is ‘Hell’. The friend from hell? > > . But that just means ‘light’ (as in color), in German. There actually is a family name Snooks. It’s a contraction of ‘Sennocks’, which itself is a contraction of ‘Seven Oaks’. Their coat-of-arms usually has seven acorns on it. There’s also a Dutch family variously named Versnickt, Vandersnick, or Snick van der Snick. In certain Low German dialects, the word for snail is ‘snicke’. Accordingly this family’s coat-of-arms has a diagonal bar across the shield with three snails on it. These are both examples of ‘canting arms’, which are a pictorial representation of the name. I wonder what the arms of the Death family look like? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/46 "2005-05-09T14:02:49Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > 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…) My Mother-In-Law had a friend called Ruth Soles. I’lll leave you to work that one out ! ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/47 "2005-05-09T14:04:05Z")
What about the RV dealer in Richmond, Indiana advertised on billboards throughout the state … **Raper** , I think. There’s **Manlove** and **Gay**. What about ethnic names such as **Lipschitz** , **Buffafuoco** , and **Wang**? **Lynch**? A common family name in Las Cruces, New Mexico is **De La O** , which translates into English as “of the O”. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/48 "2005-05-09T14:09:43Z")
> [@ggurl](#): > > There’s a hockey player whose last name is Satan. **Miroslav Satan** , a left wing for the Buffalo Sabres. The name is Slovakian, and pronounced “sha-tan”. I’d love to hear RicK Jeanneret, an enthusiastic announcer for Sabres radio broadcasts, yell “HE SOULD HIS SOUL TO GET THE GOAL!” ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/49 "2005-05-09T14:15:04Z")
Regarding the names listed in the OP (which appear to have intentionally been chosen to sound bad), I once read that there used to be a concern that the devil would carry off children. Naming the kid something bad was supposed to fool the Devil into thinking that the kid’s loss wouldn’t be great, which discouraged Old Nick from grabbing them. Can someone corroborate or correct? There is also the history of European Jews having embarrassing names forced on them by anti-Semitic kings. Examples included Goldwater (urine) and Aselkopf (ass-head). (No ‘Beavis’, apparently). I once worked under a military officer with the last name Hoar. He was a good guy, but tough as nails, the sort you didn’t want to piss off, and I seriously wonder if his name contributed to that, ala ‘A Boy Named Sue’. ---
**Author:** ![CateAyo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@CateAyo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CateAyo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/50 "2005-05-09T15:21:11Z")
Re: the surname “Raper”, my wife has the family in her lineage. In her case if was a Cherokee family that was “assigned” a name by government census takers. I suppose the more proper “Rapist” would have been worse. Hawk ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Krebbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@Mr.Krebbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Krebbs)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/51 "2005-05-09T15:32:34Z")
Okay, so these aren’t surnames, but I find the arrangement of my girlfriend’s middle initials humorous. Her middle names are Frances and Naomi, named after two ancestors. When she gave the valedictory at her highschool graduation, they announced her as “Hillary F. N. [last name].” You’d think her parents would have known better. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/52 "2005-05-09T15:36:32Z")
I always thought that Professor Drydyk, from the Carleton University in Ottawa, ON (my hometown, Awww…) had the most unfortunate last name ever. I knew his daughter when she was in 5th grade. Poor kid. Talk about playground abuse… ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/53 "2005-05-09T17:15:36Z")
OK, I’ve mentioned it before, but at my job, I’ve been collecting names. Some funny, some sad, but all are interesting. No first names, 'coz we’ve got privacy laws, dammit! **Dickensheets Bouymaster Fightmaster Clinkenbeard Titcomb Butzlaff Posthumus Gearheart Moron Wimpee Craps Pancake Plump Stiffend Sillyman Bumpass** I could go on and on - I’ve collected 122! ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/54 "2005-05-09T17:19:11Z")
> [@CateAyo](#): > > Re: the surname “Raper”, my wife has the family in her lineage. In her case if was a Cherokee family that was “assigned” a name by government census takers. I suppose the more proper “Rapist” would have been worse. Heh. Funny. My paternal grandmother’s maiden name was Rapes. Greek. Same problem; it was pronounced differently, though. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/55 "2005-05-09T18:22:59Z")
People who I’ve met with “interesting” last names… Mule Bloodgroom Butt Dickshit (Later changed to Dixit after they lived in the US for a cople of years.) ---
**Author:** ![YWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6f9a4e/32.png) [@YWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YWalker)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/56 "2005-05-09T20:07:23Z")
> [@CateAyo](#): > > Re: the surname “Raper”, my wife has the family in her lineage. In her case if was a Cherokee family that was “assigned” a name by government census takers. I suppose the more proper “Rapist” would have been worse. > > Hawk Rape and Raper are pretty common surnames in North Carolina. My mother, who grew up in Kentucky before moving here, wondered aloud why on earth anyone named [Charlie Raper Jonas](http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000206) would not just run as “Charlie Jonas.” Some of the natives set her straight — there were a lot of Rapes and Rapers out there. (And his name obviously didn’t hurt him. He served in Congress from 1953 - 1973.) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/57 "2005-05-09T20:19:17Z")
A former boss used to have an obituary taped to the side of his filing cabinet. He told me that it wasn’t anyone he was related to, but the name was so funny that he just had to clip it out of the paper. The dead woman’s name was **Edna May Swallow Cox**. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Sparky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8dc957/32.png) [@Master\_Sparky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Sparky)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/58 "2005-05-09T20:30:26Z")
A guy in my high school class had the last name of **Outhouse**. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/59 "2005-05-10T00:44:02Z")
Many of the Tennessee Valley Authority dams, as well as Union Station in Cincinnati, were designed by an up-and-coming architect of the 1930s by the name of **Roland Wank.** ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612/60 "2005-05-10T00:56:17Z")
don’t forget the nantucket “starbuck’s” and “coffin’s”. both nifty last names. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-family-names/301612.md?page=4)