# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/102 "2011-04-11T23:45:33Z")
Funny Vietnamese names: Bích – green Dung – good demeanor … can be combined with Mỹ, beautiful, for My Dung Dũng – bravery Hùng – heroic Lan – orchid Liên – lotus Long – dragon Phát – prosperity Phúc or Phước – happiness, good luck Sơn – mountain Thắng – victory Thông – smart Trí – intellectual Trúc – bamboo ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/103 "2011-04-12T07:05:32Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > Brilliant. > > I Googled the [name](http://vsites.unb.br/ig/prof/ReinhardtAdolfoFuck.htm), [I think] he was from Brazil; hence, it’s Portuguese. So what does “Fuck” mean in that language? The hence doesn’t follow: Bundchen is a lastname found in Brazil but if it’s Portuguese in origin, those Germans have been lying to the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/104 "2011-04-12T07:15:46Z")
There’s always [Randy Bender](http://www.thebendergroup.net/whoarewe.php?navVal=1&optVal=0), whose real estate ads are always showing up around the area where I grew up. It’s great because only if you have a working knowledge of British slang does this name become uproariously funny. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/105 "2011-04-12T07:29:15Z")
There’s **Pat Smear** , guitarist for The Germs, Nirvana, and Foo Fighters. I used to chuckle about that one years ago, but just now finished watching a Foo Fighters documentary on MTV, so it came back to me. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/106 "2011-04-12T09:32:57Z")
I worked with a girl named Jenna Tole and a guy named Palm Tropix and I went to school with a kid named Johnny-John Johnson and a kid named Foday Tarawalie Del Pieve Gobi Fortier ---
**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 12, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/107 "2011-04-12T13:40:00Z")
Doina Simian. (I can’t help reading the first name as “Doin’ a.”) ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/108 "2011-04-12T14:05:53Z")
Buford Pusser ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/109 "2011-04-12T14:07:05Z")
New personal favorite: Rmanie I can only assume it’s pronounced “Armani” ---
**Author:** ![markm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@markm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markm)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/110 "2011-04-12T18:33:42Z")
There’s a local guy named Dick Smallwood I run into occasionally. Also a gentleman with the last name Shorthose. Then there’s a billboard with a somewhat attractive lady with her name under her picture. Last name: Tangsrud (may be a short U, but I’m pretty sure it’s a long U). Also, and this is only amusing if you have the same opinion of chiropractics that I do, but we have a couple of local chiros, one named Dr. Kinnard (at least his name is honest about his practice) and a Dr. Piker (not as appropriate for a quack, but still a funny name). A bus driver at my school growing up was Rusty Surface. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/111 "2011-04-22T13:38:53Z")
Internist [Dr. Michael Hirt](http://www.drhirt.com/content/index.php/about-dr-hirt.html) ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/112 "2011-04-23T02:23:46Z")
[Young Boozer](http://www.youngboozerfortreasurer.com/) Mike Raap–owns a local body shop. [Jim Schwartz](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Schwartz) Doubly good because he’s a coach and every sports commentator I’ve heard pronounces it as “Jim SHORTS.” ---
**Author:** ![opossum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2bfe46/32.png) [@opossum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/opossum)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/113 "2011-04-23T04:32:42Z")
Jacksonville, Florida City Councilwoman Glorious Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/114 "2011-04-23T05:11:49Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > I went to high school with a girl named Karla Hidy (HI-dee). Not so unfortunate, you say? > > Her older sister’s first name was Heidi. > > I always wondered what her parents were thinking. They were thinking: Do you realize that if our first born marries an Asian guy with the last name Ho, she’ll be Heidi Hidy Ho. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/115 "2011-04-23T05:13:11Z")
> [@opossum](#): > > Jacksonville, Florida City Councilwoman Glorious Johnson. Oh, I hope she becomes a judge… “Presenting the Honorable Glorious Johnson..” ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/116 "2011-04-23T05:27:20Z")
On the Ronald McDonald theme, my Latin teacher in High School was named Harry Potter. He wasn’t teaching there when the book series came out so I have no clue what he did. A colleague claims to have known people named Tracy Tracy and Dick Fitzwell. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/117 "2011-04-23T14:03:50Z")
One of my sons-in-law, whose last name is Bloom, married a girl named Rose. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/118 "2011-04-23T17:26:13Z")
There is a book on animal behavior by Lionel Tiger and Robin Fox: [http://www.amazon.com/Imperial-Animal-Robin-Fox/dp/1560009624](http://www.amazon.com/Imperial-Animal-Robin-Fox/dp/1560009624). As far as Anil Dikshit mentioned above, there was an Indian diplomat (Ambassador to the US, I believe) named Dixit and I wonder if that is the same name, with a better transliteration. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/119 "2011-04-24T09:18:12Z")
My wifes best friend used to be a social worker. One of her clients (I think that’s the term) was woman named La Trina. There is a sociologist called [Dennis Wrong](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Wrong). I was once told he once co-authored a book with a man named Wright, but that may be apocryphal. However, I see from his Wikipedia page that “The award for the best graduate paper of the year in the sociology department at New York University is named in honor of Dennis Wrong.” The Wrong award? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/120 "2011-05-23T02:28:02Z")
[Dr. Ronny Hertz](http://www.slranesth.org/pain.html), whose specialty is. . . pain management! ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705/121 "2011-05-23T03:09:25Z")
I remember a girl named Ava Cato, and another woman with the first name Velveeta. (What were their parents thinking?) I really have never understand the idea of “matching” first and last names. I’ve met or have heard of: Marty Martin John Jonhson Will Wilson Luke Luckenbach Dave Davidson David McDavid (a used car dealership) When one of my kids was in the hospital, I amused myself by reading off the names of the newborns in their bassinets one day. There were some ODD names in there. Cute little “Siren” and another one with a name that sounded like “scrambledeggs” when I tried to sound it out. Yay for the next generation of oddly-named people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-names-of-real-people/577705.md?page=7)