# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/41 "2014-06-14T20:09:21Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > I saw a Trashon. > > I know it was meant to be pronounced as Trey-Shawn > But I saw it as Trash-on. I was told by someone early in my library career about her days in the children’s room, signing little kids up for library cards. She signed up one child name Shi’Tonya. Now look at it without the apostrophe in all caps, as it went into the computer: SHITONYA. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/42 "2014-06-14T20:17:33Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > I worked with one once, but it was spelled Cleata. Her father’s name was Cleatus and they were going for the feminized version. One of my friends’ mother was named Cleda (her twin was Cloda) after her father Cletus. There are a lot of mangled men’s names like that among old southern women. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/43 "2014-06-14T20:23:17Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I was told by someone early in my library career about her days in the children’s room, signing little kids up for library cards. She signed up one child name Shi’Tonya. > > Now look at it without the apostrophe in all caps, as it went into the computer: SHITONYA. With or without the apostrophe, and no matter how it’s pronounced, you’d think the parents would realize that their kid’s name has the word “shit” in it. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/44 "2014-06-14T20:58:42Z")
Herr Gambolputty de von Ausfern- schplenden- schlitter- crasscrenbon- fried- digger- dingle- dangle- dongle- dungle- burstein- von- knacker- thrasher- apple- banger- horowitz- ticolensic- grander- knotty- spelltinkle- grandlich- grumblemeyer- spelterwasser- kurstlich- himbleeisen- bahnwagen- gutenabend- bitte- ein- nürnburger- bratwustle- gerspurten- mitz- weimache- luber- hundsfut- gumberaber- shönedanker- kalbsfleisch- mittler- aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/45 "2014-06-14T23:55:20Z")
In the old Long Beach phone book, we once found the name Elspeth M. Lightbody. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/46 "2014-06-14T23:57:23Z")
I’ve found a T. Shirt and a P. Nutt in an online phone directory. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/47 "2014-06-15T01:15:06Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Huh. I first though you were joking, but then I checked Wikipedia. I may be weird, but it really makes me happy that there is a patron saint for that. I learned about St. Barbara in _Space Cadet_, one of Heinlein’s juveniles. The protagonist witnesses a training accident, in which a small rocket crashes and burns, killing all aboard. One of his classmates says it wasn’t really manned, and it was a setup to shake out weaklings. The young protagonist speaks to one of his superiors, who tells him that a mass has been scheduled, in which St. Barbara will be asked to intercede for the souls of those who were lost. She’s mentioned as being the patron of those who deal with high explosives, rocketmen amongst others. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/48 "2014-06-15T08:48:50Z")
In my brother’s high school yearbook one page showed Kathy Love and Kathy Loveless. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/49 "2014-06-15T12:59:26Z")
> [@Saltire](#): > > 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!” A number of years ago, there was a story in the WaPo about a kid named Malice who came to an unfortunate end. I have a feeling there are parents who decide a word has a nice ring to it, but are too dumb to know what it means, and don’t bother to look it up in the dictionary. > [@gigi](#): > > 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”. Maybe her parents really liked that Jimmy Carter speech. OK, maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/50 "2014-06-15T13:11:36Z")
A long while back I was introduced to a young man whose first name seemed to be ‘Estrus’…I even made him say it twice. Which is a hell of a moniker, really. Only later did it occur to me that mom had given her son the biblical name ‘Esdras’. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/51 "2014-06-15T13:23:33Z")
My wife was on a tour bus and they where doing a head count. Calling out names to make sure everyone was accounted for. Tim? yep. Sally? here! Fred? Hi ummm… Maryme?? (guessing the spelling) but pronounced merry me. Poor girl. ---
**Author:** ![Tread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/52 "2014-06-15T17:45:26Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > I met a Willy Wonka once, long before the first movie came out. But not before the Book came out …😉 I went to College with a fellow, named… Russell Russell ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/53 "2014-06-15T19:42:04Z")
> [@Tread](#): > > I went to College with a fellow, named… > > Russell Russell Was he that Brown Paper Cowboy I’ve heard so much about? ---
**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 15, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/54 "2014-06-15T21:42:41Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > Was he that Brown Paper Cowboy I’ve heard so much about? Dude, I love that one. [spoiler]THE BROWN PAPER COWBOY A sheriff walks into a saloon, and shouts for everyone’s attention. “Has anyone seen Brown Paper Jake?”, he asks. “What’s he look like?”, asks one shoddy looking cowboy. “Well”, replies the Sheriff. “He wears a brown paper hat, a brown paper waistcoat, a brown paper shirt, brown paper boots, brown paper pants, and a brown paper jacket.” “So what’s he wanted for?”, asks the same cowboy. “Rustlin’…”, replies the Sheriff. [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/55 "2014-06-15T21:44:46Z")
That’s so bad, it’s good. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/56 "2014-06-15T22:06:07Z")
Well, I have a Swedish ancestor whose name was Mayalisa, which does sound very cool when you say it. Maybe that was where they were going with “Malaise” but lost track of the letters. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/57 "2014-06-16T01:25:01Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > The sound of “Malaise” is oddly pleasant, if you don’t know the meaning of the word. Just like George Costanza’s “manure.” ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/58 "2014-06-16T13:11:27Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Barbara means “barbarian”. I’ve always wondered how that caught on as a name. Along these lines, I’ve got to wonder who, in any culture, would name their daughter Ursula. Doesn’t it mean “bear-like”? I can’t imagine there are too many girls would would appreciate the comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/59 "2014-06-16T13:17:58Z")
Just the other day my wife, who is a substitute teacher, mentioned that she’d taught a student named Precious. Precious is a boy. A boy who, I’m sure, gets teased incessantly. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732/60 "2014-06-16T13:19:38Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Along these lines, I’ve got to wonder who, in any culture, would name their daughter Ursula. Doesn’t it mean “bear-like”? I can’t imagine there are too many girls would would appreciate the comparison. I knew a little girl named Ursulina, who wen by Lina. It was a sweet name and she liked it. The name evoked images of teddy bears and playful cubs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-the-strangest-name-ive-seen/690732.md?page=4)