# Officially the strangest name I've seen **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 13, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732 "2014-06-13T21:59:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/1 "2014-06-13T21:59:53Z")
Yes, I’m the one who looks at the baby announcements and shouts “that’s not a name!” or cringes at creative spellyinngz. But I was watching Family Feud the other day and was brought up short when the camera panned to the next contestant and her name tag read “Malaise”. \ I am stumped to think of the thought process behind this choice. “Oh, that’s a pretty word”? “I like Malasia except for that pesky extra sound at the end”? WHAT HOW WHO???! WHY? Oh crap: [Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080722111318AAb1Llo) The idea seemed to be shot down six years ago but ended with the ominous “Do you pronounce it : Mala-ease:? I am not sure how to pronouce it, but its a cute looking name. Its different. Good Luck!” ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/2 "2014-06-13T22:18:00Z")
I dunno about Malaise (which seems to me a particularly uneducated choice of name.) But several years ago I went to a bank to cash a check, and the bank teller’s name - right on her name tag - was Vageena. We even had a brief conversation about unconventional names and spellings, because my name is very uncommon (although not Vageena, or Malaise, or anything like that.) She seemed unaware that her name was just one syllable away from Vagina. Me, I would have legally changed my name a long time ago if my parents tried that stunt. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/3 "2014-06-13T22:29:23Z")
I work with someone called “Gaye Scarfe”. I have no idea why. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/4 "2014-06-13T22:39:21Z")
Are you absolutely sure it wasn’t _Malise_? > **[Nickelodeon Parents](https://www.nickelodeonparents.com/)** > > Printables, coloring pages, recipes, crafts, and more from your child’s favorite Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. shows. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/5 "2014-06-13T22:52:34Z")
I used to work at a place with a woman named “Dilda”. On the way to work today, I saw a vanity license plate that said, “LATRINA”. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/6 "2014-06-13T23:04:14Z")
One of my FB friends said the other day that she heard a mother calling to her child in the store. “Get over here, Complicity!” ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/7 "2014-06-13T23:06:43Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Are you absolutely sure it wasn’t _Malise_? Absolutely sure. Found it and her: [http://www.exbobcatblab.com/may-31-2013.html](http://www.exbobcatblab.com/may-31-2013.html) [http://amarillo.com/stories/031608/ann\_9858590.shtml](http://amarillo.com/stories/031608/ann_9858590.shtml) ETA: Crap, one of her (seven!) flower girls was named Frensley. OK, that I can chalk up to “old family name” without other connotations. And maybe that is the case with “Malaise” too, but couldn’t you find a different family name to use for her, one without a drag of a meaning? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/8 "2014-06-13T23:13:38Z")
Hmm. One set of her grandparents were named “Coker”. Perhaps Malaise won out over Coker. I think I would have gone the other way. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/9 "2014-06-13T23:23:40Z")
[Crystal Metheny](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/florida-woman-crystal-metheny-arrested-drugs-cops-article-1.1827168) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/10 "2014-06-14T00:00:16Z")
“Malaise” makes me ill. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/11 "2014-06-14T00:39:46Z")
The sound of “Malaise” is oddly pleasant, if you don’t know the meaning of the word. I was waited upon once by a young woman whose nametag read “La Sonja.” I thought, Your parents named you Lasagne?? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/12 "2014-06-14T01:56:19Z")
Dolores means sorrows. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/13 "2014-06-14T02:00:54Z")
I met a Willy Wonka once, long before the first movie came out. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/14 "2014-06-14T02:13:16Z")
I know a woman named Cleeta. Close enough that she should get together with Vageena. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/15 "2014-06-14T03:23:03Z")
There was a woman at a bar I used to frequent years ago named Doucia, and it was pronounced like the sanitary product. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/16 "2014-06-14T03:37:57Z")
We have a neighbor named Susan. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/17 "2014-06-14T04:18:23Z")
My name isn’t actually Susan. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/18 "2014-06-14T04:21:46Z")
My husband’s cousin is named … Justin Spector. WTH were they thinking? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/19 "2014-06-14T04:24:42Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Dolores means sorrows. Barbara means “barbarian”. I’ve always wondered how that caught on as a name. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/20 "2014-06-14T04:40:51Z")
> [@ddsun](#): > > My husband’s cousin is named … Justin Spector. WTH were they thinking? I knew a therapist whose first name and middle initial were “Leighton C.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732.md?page=2)