# Unfortunate names of real people **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 8, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705 "2011-04-08T19:47:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/82 "2011-04-11T14:50:22Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > My wife used to work at a hospital, with a Doctor Wachter. Her dentist was Dr. Drilling at one point. I know someone whose last name is Docter. Her brother is in medical school. Years ago I was friends with someone whose last name is Ho. I was going to meet her one afternoon, and she was expecting her sister to show up from overseas. Things got a little mixed up and I missed them. But while I was waiting for a bus, I saw a girl that looked a lot like my friend. Could it be my friend’s sister? It was very tempting to ask her “Excuse me, are you a Ho?” ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/83 "2011-04-11T14:57:07Z")
…so that was a _teenage_ Ninja, **Gukumatz** …? ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/84 "2011-04-11T15:11:00Z")
I am friends with a guy named Bob Dick. ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/85 "2011-04-11T15:28:32Z")
Yet another encounter with Mike Hunt here- this one was a client of ours some years back. I also knew of a Jack Frost- went to middle school with him. And, of course, there’s Austin’s well-known urologist and performer of vasectomies, Dick Chopp. [His urology practice](http://www.urologyteam.com/our-doctors) includes Dr. Hardeman and Dr. Wang, no less. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/86 "2011-04-11T15:36:50Z")
I was reading yesterday about a guy named Peter Peterson. Don’t feel too bad for him though - he’s the founder of the Blackstone Group, was US Secretary of Commerce for a few years, and is worth about $3 billion. I also knew a guy who was saddled with the unfortunate name Rhett Butler. He pretty much acted like a person who was razzed about his name for his entire life - when the professor called out his name for the first time in class, he flinched. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/87 "2011-04-11T15:47:30Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I also knew a guy who was saddled with the unfortunate name Rhett Butler. I used to know a guy whose first and middle names were Nelson Eddy. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Know\_Nothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f04885/32.png) [@I\_Know\_Nothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Know_Nothing)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/88 "2011-04-11T16:17:15Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned [Harry Baals](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/harry-baals-respect-fort-wayne-politicians-jack-spratt/story?id=12884857) yet. Anita dick went to my junior high. My brother’s friend in high school was Phukme(phook-mee). He went by John. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/89 "2011-04-11T16:34:26Z")
I knew a guy in the Navy with the name of “Hugh G. Cox.” 😉 He was a real jerk, too–I guess he tried to live up to his name. There’s a dentist here in Connecticut whose name is “Dr. Hurt.” Of course, there’s the historical "[Ima Hogg](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ima_Hogg) of my native Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/90 "2011-04-11T16:43:50Z")
The guy who built the house I live in (and many others in my neighbourhood) was named “Home Smith”. Maybe not “unfortunate” - perhaps “too fortunate!” 😉 > **[Kingsway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingsway)** > > Kingsway or King's Way may refer to: ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/91 "2011-04-11T16:58:00Z")
Eons ago I worked with an older guy named Ronald McDonald. He was about 10 when the hamburger clown was invented. His passage though middle & high school hadda been rough. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/92 "2011-04-11T17:14:47Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > Or Dick Johnson [Dick Johnson (racing driver) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Johnson_(racing_driver)). The NBC affiliate in Chicago has an anchorman named [Dick Johnson](http://www.nbcchicago.com/on-air/about-us/Dick_Johnson.html). I saw one morning newscast with him where one of the fluff items was about bogus names given when calling for pizza delivery. With a small grin but no elaboration, he mentioned that he will occasionally run into disbelief in similar situations. The same station also has a meteorologist named [Pete Sack](http://www.nbcchicago.com/on-air/about-us/Pete_Sack.html). ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/93 "2011-04-11T17:20:56Z")
I knew a Jack Frost in Fort Myers, FL many years ago. I had a good friend named Richard Cocke; he insisted on being called Richard. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/94 "2011-04-11T17:29:43Z")
Less unfortunate names: I know a guy in sales whose name is Charlie Brown. Not Charles, not Chuck - he specifically goes by Charlie. I can only assume that he goes by Charlie because it makes him very memorable. And it does, because I always remember his name when I need to look for a product of the type he sells. I also know someone who works in medical research, whose name is Martha Stewart. She’s a very nice lady. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/95 "2011-04-11T19:41:38Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Less unfortunate names: > > I know a guy in sales whose name is Charlie Brown. That reminds me - I know an adult woman (ethnically Chinese) working for one of the larger property management companies in Vancouver, with the legal given name “Snoopy.” \* Snoopy.\* Good grief. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/96 "2011-04-11T20:01:14Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > That reminds me - I know an adult woman (ethnically Chinese) working for one of the larger property management companies in Vancouver, with the legal given name “Snoopy.” \* Snoopy.\* Good grief. I met a Chinese-American woman named Happy. ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/97 "2011-04-11T21:01:50Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I met a Chinese-American woman named Happy. I once worked with an American-American woman named Happy Days. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/98 "2011-04-11T21:03:59Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I don’t really consider “Mignon” an odd name. It’s not super common, but I don’t think of it as weird. I guess because I have books by an author named Mignon G. Eberhart. I think it is kind of pretty, but it always makes me think of meat. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/99 "2011-04-11T21:21:39Z")
“Meat Eberhart”. Now _that’s_ a name! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/100 "2011-04-11T21:48:22Z")
I think but am too lazy to look up that “mignon” means something like “dainty” or “charming.” ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/101 "2011-04-11T22:35:20Z")
I went to school with a guy named Johnson Chou. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705.md?page=6)