# Swear words used as names **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2001, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171 "2001-08-06T20:19:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/61 "2001-08-09T03:40:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cazzle \* > \*\*I don’t know of any Australian laws preventing parents choosing odd names, but I’m pretty sure that you have to give a good reason to have your name changed, and a lot of silly or obscene names are refused by that department. \*\* You don’t have to give any reason in Australia for changing your name and there are no significant governmental controls on what your name may be, and no department in control of names. You simply declare yourself to have a particular name and then start to use it. A slight hijack, I used to have a client (Korean) whose ships were named the “_something_ Yu”. So there was the Suk Yu, and the Fuk Yu… And then there’s that famous joke email that goes around, attaching a .jpg of a letter, supposedly genuine, from a British consular officer serving in the Raj in Central Asia somewhere in the 19th Century, which describes him being introduced to a local by the name of Mustapha Kant. ---
**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/62 "2001-08-09T05:37:58Z")
"I always thought it was hilarious that my mother’s maiden name is Woodcock. " * * * OK got another one for you. I bought a book on computer networking a few years back. The printers made some kind of mistake though, and while the book was about 250 pages long, they tacked on an additional 75 pages or so or another book. So pages 1-250 were the complete networking book, and 251-325 were the last pages of – a sex manual. One of those “Joys of Sex” type books, not mere base smut. Ha! The name on the cover – that is, the author who wrote the networking book – was Bill Woodcock. The combination was priceless. Let’s just say it was the most popular computer networking book in the office. I also knew a woman who worked at a TV station, her last name was Furbush. And she always threatened people before they could make fun of her name. =) ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/63 "2001-08-09T09:07:37Z")
My mother claims she was at school with a girl called “Maida Smellie”. And there’s always room for an eyebrow-raising language-difference single-entendre, such as: [http://www.eurosport.com/News.asp?StoryID=102878&SportID=22&FetchDate=2001-06-06&LangueID=0](http://www.eurosport.com/News.asp?StoryID=102878&SportID=22&FetchDate=2001-06-06&LangueID=0) ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/64 "2001-08-09T09:13:51Z")
Oops…and another one (just spotted Princhester’s contribution above)…‘Mustafa Kamal’ provides 2480 hits on Google. Didn’t ‘Esso’ change its name to ‘Exxon’ a few years ago because of similar unintentional cross-language amusement, or is this just an urban legend? ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/65 "2001-08-09T09:36:28Z")
I discussed this subject with a couple of friends yesterday and one of them said that she had had a school mate called Ben Dover. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/66 "2001-08-09T10:48:36Z")
Exxon’s been Exxon for as long as I can remember. I think there is a company called Esso, but it’s not the same. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/67 "2001-08-09T11:26:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sturmhauke \* > \*\*Exxon’s been Exxon for as long as I can remember. I think there is a company called Esso, but it’s not the same. \*\* Esso changed name to Exxon some time in the sixties but you can still find the old name in places. I have seen it in Finland. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/68 "2001-08-09T13:17:46Z")
I could have sworn **Cecil** did a bit on the whole Exxon/Esso thing (essentially, Esso was too much like S.O. (Standard Oil), so they were losing or on the verge of losing trademark and related battles as they expanded out of the territory that they had after the Standard Oil breakup). But I’ll be darned if I can find it in the archives. At any rate, does there remain in this thread a General Question still on the table? ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/69 "2001-08-09T13:36:45Z")
Good lord, how can you leave out the Congressman from New Hampshire named (and this is indeed what he went by, no Richard for him!) : \* Dick Swett \* This was posted purely in the interest of advancing knowledge and fighting ignorance. It was not in any way just a chance to revert to 6th grade and get cheap amusement out of potentially sexual words like say Dick Swett (he-he-he. Dude, he said “Sweat” he-he-he) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/70 "2001-08-09T13:51:01Z")
[Exxon](http://www.exxon.com/index_flash.html) and [Esso](http://www.exxon.com/exxon_worldwide/index.html) are the same company. It’s “Exxon” in the US and “Esso” everywhere else. Please see [Whatever Happened to Standard Oil?](http://www.us-highways.com/sohist.htm): [Edited by manhattan on 08-09-2001 at 03:52 PM] ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/71 "2001-08-09T13:56:33Z")
From [http://www.exxonmobil.com/emhistory/index\_content.html](http://www.exxonmobil.com/emhistory/index_content.html): > [@](#): > > Jersey Standard changed its name to Exxon Corporation in 1972 and established Exxon as an uncontested trademark throughout the United States. In other parts of the world, Exxon and its affiliated companies continued to use its long-time Esso trademark and affiliate name. When that happened Mad Magazine had a picture of the White House with a big neon sign on the roof spelling out the name Nixxon (with x-es crossing just as in the Exxon logo). The caption was “It’s a new name, but it’s still the same old gas” (or something to that effect). ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/72 "2001-08-09T13:59:56Z")
How could we forget **Dick Army?** San Anabis = son of a bitch if any of you were still wondering. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/73 "2001-08-09T14:00:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jinty \* > \*\*Didn’t ‘Esso’ change its name to ‘Exxon’ a few years ago because of similar unintentional cross-language amusement, or is this just an urban legend? \*\* So it wasn’t Esso but their Enco subsidiary that was causing translation problems. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/74 "2001-08-09T14:10:31Z")
Hey, **Manhattan** , or whomever finds this first: Can you please fix my lists so everyting lines up? Looks like I forgot to close the first two. ---
**Author:** ![Glenoled](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Glenoled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glenoled)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/75 "2001-08-09T14:29:30Z")
in the Moncton, NB, area phone book, there’s a listing for Kok, Dick Petrus… Now, is ‘Petrus’ a dirty word, or did that idea just get ingrained in my mind, after so many years of seeing that listing? I know it sure sounds dirty to me… lol ---
**Author:** ![mongrel\_8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@mongrel\_8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mongrel_8)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/76 "2001-08-09T14:35:12Z")
I also had a elementary music teacher whose first name was Gay, which of course we all thought was funny. I bet that there aren’t many children being named that anymore. We also had a police officer in my hometown with the last name Dick. His uniform actually said: Lt. Dick. ---
**Author:** ![axel54](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@axel54](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/axel54)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/77 "2001-08-09T14:35:47Z")
Recently ran across a young man who was blessed by his parents with the first name of Pfalus. ---
**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/78 "2001-08-09T14:56:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DEC216 \* > \*\* > And then there’s the woman who saw the word “vagina” on a medical chart while in labor; she liked the name so much she decided to name her kid Vagina. \*\* On meeting their new Persian in-laws, my parents were more than a bit surprised to learn that my wife’s paternal aunt is named Vaggie.:eek: And among my in-laws friends is an American lady who lived in Iran with her Iranian husband for a while. Her given name is Ann, but goes by Lisa, because Ann means shit in Iranian (Farsee). ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/79 "2001-08-09T15:01:34Z")
Ok, so this isn’t quite a “swear” word, but it’s pretty goddamn funny. The victim was my great-great-uncle, patriarch of my family, who died ten years ago at 92. Family history: Once upon a time, there was a family in Germany named Groethe, which was pronounced **Gruh** -tuh. And it was good. They immigrated to Milwaukee sometime in the 1870s, whereupon they Anglicized the pronunciation of their name to **Growth**. And that was good, too. And then they had a beautiful baby boy. Reflecting their pride in their new land, they gave him the all-American name of: Harry. Not Henry, or Heinrich, or Harris, but Harry. And that was not good. Solution: he changed the pronunciation yet again, to **Growth** -ee. And it was good again. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171/80 "2001-08-09T17:36:08Z")
And in the [WWII Aces thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=81195) we are regaled with the story of **Maj. Dick Bong** , P-38 ace. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-words-used-as-names/75171.md?page=5)