I wanted to name my middle daughter Jesse James Surname. My husbands grandmother swore she was kin to him. Her maiden name was James. My husband and MIL said noooooo! I am glad I didn’t now.
One of my favorites is Athol Fugard, who apparently chose not to use his first name of Harold, and instead went with ‘Athol’. He almost certainly HAD to become a famous play write, novelist and director, as the only other choice would be to legally change his name. He’s also a good crossword clue.
That could be a factor in people voting for him. It was for long-time Texas State Treasurer Jesse James. (After his death, evidence was uncovered that he may have changed his name to that early on.)
I have encountered* an Ashley Madison.
I remain nostalgic for the days of 6 on 6 girls high school basketball in Iowa, and the scoring exploits of Fonda Dicks.
Glad to see that Ima Hogg made Texas Monthly’s list of 50 outstanding Texas women.
*not the way you’re thinking.
We had some Hoggs in my school. And some Butts. They were teased, of course. I felt sorry for them.
There’s a local chef here named Chuck Hughes. Which doesn’t sound unusual, but if you say that name in an angry tone of voice, it kind of sounds like a rude saying.
There was a radio announcer in Anchorage named Jack Frost. He tried to run for office using his name as leverage. Didn’t work.
One of the people running for governor of Oregon this year is named Buehler. I’m not sure voters will get past hearing Ben Stein in their heads.
My sister-in-law and I love to share bad names. I recently sent her this list:
Ticore
Indiga
Totyana
Fayrene
Shiann
Daija
Deshante
Konstanse
Khyree
Krystalen
Marquisha
Kinsey
Tyschell
Chasity
Uquasi’a
Stronda
Makaela
Kareta
Margine
Sequoria
Mycol
Elexis
Jerrica
Appolonia
Rockelle
Champale
I keep a list of such names, too, when I come across them at court. Some recent favorites:
Phinia Aten
Park Goist
Vilray Russell
Angela Shockahosee
Bro Krift
Nancy Quenomoen
Huldah P. Kinlaw Mills
Some of these sound like drugs you take to lower cholesterol.
Got that daily dose of Mycol, yo?
There’s Italian international footballer Ciro Immobile:D
I’ve discovered an insurance broker in California whose name is Fyle Cabagnot.
I have a cousin named Peter Burns.
About 50 years ago there was a grad student who was utterly repressed, judgmental, all that sort of thing. Her name was Mary Wright, but the other students called her Mary Righteous. Bad enough, but not a disaster. Then she married. A man named Upham. Now she was referred to as Mary Right Up’em. I don’t know if she ever caught on, but she soon dropped out.
I was going through some family genealogy and had the realization that my grandfather and his brothers had very deeply odd names for uneducated Utah fundie Mormon dirt farmers: Clement, Sixtus, Benedict, Linus, and Severinus.
It took me 50 years to realize these are all Catholic pope names. Taken singly, they’re not terribly odd names for the early 1900s, but taken as a sibling group they’re odd choices for an anti-Catholic region. No one seems to know/remember who chose the names or why.
I’ve friends who named their kid Siobhan – a perfectly nice name if you live in the UK, a mess if you live in the US. My friend complains that no one knows how to pronounce the kid’s name. Really? Just what did you expect?