# Pleased to meet you, my name's... Hitler **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 15, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pleased-to-meet-you-my-names-hitler/335782 "2005-12-15T19:35:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pleased-to-meet-you-my-names-hitler/335782/61 "2005-12-18T09:56:18Z")
> [@Knowed Out](#): > > I remember there was a case against a Neo Nazi a couple of years ago who changed his named to Hi Hitler. Wasn’t Hi’s wife named Lois? When I was a kid, in Illinois, a new doctor performed surgery on me…his name was Fidel Castro. Things got a bit icky in the 60’s with his name, but he never changed it. I recently read that relatives of Adolf Hitler live in the US, but have changed their name, live anonymously and have produced no heirs. ---
**Author:** ![Dancy\_McDance\_Dance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@Dancy\_McDance\_Dance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancy_McDance_Dance)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pleased-to-meet-you-my-names-hitler/335782/62 "2005-12-18T18:14:33Z")
Stephen Cobert’s real name is Ted Hilter. No relation. Well, distant relation, two generations back. Directly.He’s Adolf Hitler’s grandson. Anyways, it’s out there. It’s no longer news. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pleased-to-meet-you-my-names-hitler/335782/63 "2005-12-19T00:07:45Z")
> [@Humanist](#): > > “Saddam Jihad.” > > The mother, it seems, was trying to impress her Islamic boyfriend. Her Islamic boyfriend who had been born and raised American. Her boyfriend, who, it seemed, was not even the baby’s father. > > Once a person recovered from the stunned silence that the boy’s name naturally evoked, the next question, naturally, is, “Why do you want to name him that?” > > “Well, Saddam for Saddam Hussein, of course, and Jihad means holy war.” > > My shock overcame my empathy, at least at first, in this instance. Okay, so that’s pretty off, but _Jihad_ is actually a regular Arabic name. My stepson has a Lebanese classmate called Jihad. He’s a nice little kid too. Maybe somebody who knows Arabic can come along and tell me the original meaning of the word (I’ve forgotten), but it’s not “holy war”. That is a secondary usage (admittedly the one most well-known to Westerners). From memory _Jihad_ is a general term meaning a sort of internal struggle and development to better one’s self as a Muslim. Muslims are meant to practice “Jihad”, even if it is simply in the form of mental development. The holy war side of it is just one manifestation. At least that’s my understanding of it. ---
**Author:** ![Humanist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71c47a/32.png) [@Humanist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humanist)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pleased-to-meet-you-my-names-hitler/335782/64 "2005-12-19T01:00:52Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > Muslims are meant to practice “Jihad”, even if it is simply in the form of mental development. The holy war side of it is just one manifestation. At least that’s my understanding of it. Right. You and I know this. The seriously odd thing is that the lady there didn’t know this. She was really just in the earliest stages of understanding this unique and diverse culture, through her boyfriend. They didn’t stay together at the hospital, and the boyfriend seemed to be a second or third generation Arab-American, and fairly accepting of the American culture around him. That’s what made it so… surreal. The woman made it very clear that the name was her choice, not her boyfriend’s. It was just odd to hear of someone who knew so little about the culture of Islam picking a name that most Americans would associate with the least pleasant aspects of its fringe groups. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pleased-to-meet-you-my-names-hitler/335782/65 "2005-12-19T01:15:06Z")
Some cultures name their kids after significant events current at the time of the child’s birth - both good and bad. There is a significant minority of kids walking (or crawling) around in parts of east Asia with the names Tsunami, Osama, Earthquake, Famine, etc. In some cultures a “good” name is a good thing. In others, an _important_ name is a good thing. As for the point about the Dublin restaurant called ‘Mao’ - now two restaurants, the first being so successful - I know one of the chefs, I’ve eaten there, and I share **Liberal** ’s queasiness about the name. And add my own queasiness because I think the food there is shit. (Incidentally, I recently met a cat called [Hitler](http://www.crowaptok.com/travelogue/images/hitler.jpg). See if you can work out why…) ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pleased-to-meet-you-my-names-hitler/335782/66 "2005-12-19T02:05:40Z")
That cat also reminds me of Leonard Nimoy for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pleased-to-meet-you-my-names-hitler/335782/67 "2005-12-19T13:17:34Z")
> [@Martha](#): > > Similarly, many old lefties have named their kids Lenin, Stalin, Engels and the incomparable ‘Sovietski’. Even if most people are not offended by this, it’s difficult to take people with these names seriously. Can’t they or their parents see that going out in the wider world with a name like that is a fucking liability? In Sweden we’ve had an MP for the Greens with the last name of [Stalin](http://www.riksdagen.se/webbnav/index.aspx?nid=1111&iid=0186490041606) and there is a former boss of one of the bigger unions with the first name Ninel (read it backwards). The name fits her though since she’s politically a leftie. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pleased-to-meet-you-my-names-hitler/335782/68 "2005-12-19T15:07:03Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > And an interesting one. Given that “Arnold” was a fairly common first name before _and_ after, it’s not exactly comparable with deciding to name your kid Hitler which does look pretty clearly like you’re naming him after Der Führer. What’s the problem, **kidchameleon**? The problem is that somehow if one doesn’t change their name in response to historical messiness, they are some how ‘endorsing it’ in your eyes. That’s just ignorant thinking. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pleased-to-meet-you-my-names-hitler/335782/69 "2005-12-19T15:08:24Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > **Michael Bolton:** Yeah, well at least your name isn’t Michael Bolton. > **Samir:** You know there’s nothing wrong with that name. > **Michael Bolton:** There was nothing wrong with it… until I was about 12 years old and that no-talent ass clown became famous and started winning Grammys. > **Samir:** Hmm… well why don’t you just go by Mike instead of Michael? > **Michael Bolton:** No way. Why should I change? He’s the one who sucks. > > 😃 Damn, being able to post this was the only reason I read past the second post. Urgh. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pleased-to-meet-you-my-names-hitler/335782/70 "2005-12-19T15:55:54Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > The problem is that somehow if one doesn’t change their name in response to historical messiness, they are some how ‘endorsing it’ in your eyes. That’s just ignorant thinking. The problem is that you haven’t been paying attention. Try actually answering his and my question. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pleased-to-meet-you-my-names-hitler/335782/71 "2005-12-19T16:21:24Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > The problem is that you haven’t been paying attention. Try actually answering his and my question. Why? Open a thread in GQ if you’re interested. I was justing using Gerneral Arnold’s name as a sarcastic example of how rediculous it is to [judge](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=297953&highlight=osama) someone upon their name. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pleased-to-meet-you-my-names-hitler/335782/72 "2005-12-19T19:46:03Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > I was justing using Gerneral Arnold’s name as a sarcastic example of how rediculous it is to [judge](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=297953&highlight=osama) someone upon their name. Who is doing that? We’re talking about stupid parents who would name their kid with a stupid name. There is also a side discussion about how names tend to become less popular in Western culture when they are associated with someone notorious. You’re off on your own. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pleased-to-meet-you-my-names-hitler/335782.md?page=3)