# The best name ever **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 19, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171 "2012-09-19T14:41:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/1 "2012-09-19T14:41:31Z")
NPR correspondent, [**Ofeibea Quist-Arcton**](http://www.npr.org/people/4513318/ofeibea-quist-arcton), has THE best name ever. And possibly the best voice, too. When she signs off, the way she says her name and her city, _Dakar_, is heavenly You can hear her [here](http://www.npr.org/2012/09/10/160864049/for-many-s-africans-strikes-recall-apartheid-era). That is all. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/2 "2012-09-19T20:21:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Da-Kaaarrrrrr!!! Between her and Silvia Poggioli, I can curl up and listen to them talk for the full show. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/3 "2012-09-19T20:31:38Z")
Back before Maria Hinojosa left NPR for CNN, I used to love hearing her say her name - it sounded like a satin ribbon slipping through her fingers. NPR seems to have a hiring requirement that their correspondents have euphonius names. _Nell Greenfield Boyce_ and _Mara Liassen_ are two more of my faves. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/4 "2012-09-19T20:33:45Z")
I’ve had a crush on Christiane Amanpour for years. Her last name sounds like three loving pats on my head. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/5 "2012-09-19T20:35:41Z")
I’m partial to Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson. (I always imagine her husband’s name is Joe Nelson, or maybe even Joe-Bob, but I see from her biography it’s Erik.) ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/6 "2012-09-19T21:02:44Z")
A favorite of mine (name, not particularly voice) is defense spokesman **Flex Plexico**. It sounds like it could be part of the “manly names” bit in the MST3K episode _12 To The Moon_. “… Sledge Riprock, Tank Concrete, Bronc Drywall, Stump Hugelarge …” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/7 "2012-09-19T21:30:33Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Between her and Silvia Poggioli, I can curl up and listen to them talk for the full show. No fucking joke. I was at a party one time where all of us took turns imitating how she says her name. And then (firmly): _ROME_. > [@PoorYorick](#): > > I’ve had a crush on Christiane Amanpour for years. Her last name sounds like three loving pats on my head. I’m going to be her in my next life… ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/8 "2012-09-19T21:50:33Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I’m partial to Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson. (I always imagine her husband’s name is Joe Nelson, or maybe even Joe-Bob, but I see from her biography it’s Erik.) Oh, yeah, she’s got a great name, and an intriguing voice. Plus, the contrast between her Arabic first and maiden names and her white bread Anglo surname amuses me. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/9 "2012-09-20T14:16:58Z")
I’ve always liked Magnus ver Magnusson’s name. How could you be anything _but_ the World’s Strongest Man with a name like that? And yet, the manliest name in the worst belongs to [Staff Sgt. Max Fightmaster](http://www.cracked.com/funny-2592-staff-sgt.-max-fightmaster/). ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/10 "2012-09-20T14:18:31Z")
I always liked Psoriasis Hari Nelson’s name, too. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/11 "2012-09-20T14:57:17Z")
I have to admit, as a Tolkien geek, the first time she introduced herself, I thought her name was Ofeibea \*\*Orcrist \*\*Arcton, and I was thrilled beyond words. Nevertheless, it’s still the kickassest name on NPR, and her accent is to die for. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/12 "2012-09-20T15:09:22Z")
There was a baseball player in the 1950s known as Cal McLish but his full name was Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish. > **[Cal McLish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cal_McLish)** > > Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish (December 1, 1925 – August 26, 2010), nicknamed "Bus", was an American professional baseball pitcher and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1944, 1946), Pittsburgh Pirates (1947–1948), Chicago Cubs (1949, 1951), Cleveland Indians (1956–1959), Cincinnati Reds (1960), Chicago White Sox (1961), and Philadelphia Phillies (1962–1964). He was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. > In a 15-season career, McLish post... ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/13 "2012-09-20T15:10:57Z")
Former NASCAR driver Dick Trickle doesn’t get a nod? ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/14 "2012-09-20T15:20:42Z")
Me, I like [Lakshmi Singh](http://www.npr.org/people/2101212/lakshmi-singh)! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/15 "2012-09-20T15:33:24Z")
[Gugu Mbatha-Raw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbRz3MHM6rw) On a side-note, she did a good job on her American accent in _Larry Crowne_. It was the first thing I had seen her in and I didn’t realize she was British until I saw her doing an interview later. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/16 "2012-09-20T15:38:15Z")
From Australia we can only manage something a little more [prosaic](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROeDUCn8c-8). ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/17 "2012-09-20T15:44:48Z")
There’s a woman who reports from Asia whose name I enjoy - Doualy Xaykaothao, pronounced dwa lee sy ky tao. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/18 "2012-09-20T15:58:17Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > There’s a woman who reports from Asia whose name I enjoy - Doualy Xaykaothao, pronounced dwa lee sy ky tao. Wow. I had no idea her name was spelled that way…and I had no idea she was that cute! A new NPR crush! ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/19 "2012-09-20T16:25:08Z")
I always think of gymnastics when she’s on. Wasn’t there some move called a Triple Sow-Cow? 😃 I’ve liked her since she did a personal piece about having to keep her children indoors because of all the pollution where she lives, Beijing I think. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171/20 "2012-09-20T16:40:21Z")
I like Deblina Chakraborty from HowStuffWorks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171.md?page=2)