# Unusual Name of The Week...or Mom, what were you thinking? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 3, 2007, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340 "2007-07-03T13:11:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/41 "2007-07-04T01:39:28Z")
[QUOTE=5-4-Fighting] In 1978, my cousin named her daughter Charisma. Is that bad? I kind of like it. šŸ™‚ [/QUOTE] Whereā€™s she dancing now? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/42 "2007-07-04T01:39:43Z")
[QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth] I now know two men named Maverick. The other one goes by ā€œMavā€. [/QUOTE] I have never met another one although I know they exist somewhere. I have had nightmares where Maverick is called in a public place and two of us show up. I know that other people get used to that but it has never happened to me. A tiny school in my high school district had big, black, twin basketball stars guys namedā€¦Peaches and Pumpkin. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/43 "2007-07-04T02:10:36Z")
[QUOTE=5-4-Fighting] In 1978, my cousin named her daughter Charisma. Is that bad? I kind of like it. šŸ™‚ [/QUOTE] [Charisma Carpenter](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004806/) seems to be doing okay with it. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/44 "2007-07-04T02:26:25Z")
Edit: I posted under the wrong name. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/45 "2007-07-04T02:30:01Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] I have never met another one although I know they exist somewhere. I have had nightmares where Maverick is called in a public place and two of us show up. I know that other people get used to that but it has never happened to me. A tiny school in my high school district had big, black, twin basketball stars guys namedā€¦Peaches and Pumpkin. [/QUOTE] Those were my nicknames for my nieces when they were bornā€¦because they were a bit jaundiced and kind of orangeā€¦ And I love the name Maverickā€¦bet your Mom had a crush on James Garner back in the dayā€¦ Okay, had another one today at workā€¦a girl named Morning Starr Chang. And engraved something for a conductor whose name is Loras John Schisselā€¦he doesnā€™t go by John, apparently. It was his mom and Dad that got something engraved for him, and I missed the opportunity to ask why they chose Loras for a little boy, and how he dealt with it growing up. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/46 "2007-07-04T03:32:54Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Woo] Oh lord. I once saw a fax at work from Kimball Pugmire to Henrietta Roudabush. There was also a guy there named Dwayne Macadangdang. All pretty regular names, but the first name - last name combos still crack me up. [/QUOTE] Those sound like characters straight out of Harry Potter. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/47 "2007-07-04T04:39:08Z")
My grandmaā€™s neighbor was named Germoineā€¦pronounced ger-MAIN-ya. ---
**Author:** ![pprgrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f6c823/32.png) [@pprgrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pprgrl)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/48 "2007-07-04T05:44:12Z")
A friend of mine has a fifteen year old daughter who goes to school with a boy named Boo. I said that has to be a nickname. No, itā€™s on his birth certificate. Boo. ---
**Author:** ![boggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/848f3c/32.png) [@boggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boggle)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/49 "2007-07-04T06:35:00Z")
[QUOTE=xanthous] Spookaleen (sp?) [/QUOTE] Love. this. name. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/50 "2007-07-04T06:52:08Z")
I once worked with a Tyranny. My daughter goes to school with a Unique (she is one of threeā€“sheā€™s the only one spelled correctly). I once had to deal with a call center person named Tequila and yes, I had a Tanqueray once, too. I still like Carol Burnettā€™s fav names: LaVicka Trickleson and Theresa Renterreea. ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/51 "2007-07-04T07:11:10Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] I once worked with a Tyranny. My daughter goes to school with a Unique (she is one of threeā€“sheā€™s the only one spelled correctly). I once had to deal with a call center person named Tequila and yes, I had a Tanqueray once, too. I still like Carol Burnettā€™s fav names: LaVicka Trickleson and Theresa Renterreea. [/QUOTE] I saw a birth announcement once for a ā€œUneakā€. I think a part of me withered and died. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/52 "2007-07-04T08:33:11Z")
I recently bought a baby name book from a thrift store. Why? Because it was a quarter and a _British_ baby name book. That had to make it better than mere American baby name books, filled with creative spelling and dubious name definitions. And it billed itself as ā€œThe Best Baby Name Book.ā€ It was the best! It was a quarter! I had to have it. I was a fool. Throughout the book are little paragraphs of advice and guidelines for choosing a name. The following led me to believe this was not the best baby name book: [QUOTE=The Best Baby Name Book, page69] Do It Yourself Names Every Juliet has Shakespeare to thank. Every Geraldine is a reminder of the disguised love poems written by the Earl of Surrey to the beautiful Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald. . . . There is nothing new about making up names. It is easy and fun to do, and increasingly popular. **Parents called David and Amanda could name their child Davanda. Two grandmothersā€™ names could be honoured at once, so Janet and Anne might merge as Jananne or Annet.** There parentsā€™ honeymoon might be remembered ā€“ Paris, Florence, or the more unusual Florida, Kashmir, Provence, Eire or Lanka (from Sri Lanka). [/quote] Emphasis mine. Davanda? Annet? Freaking _Lanka?_ My god. _Davanda_. Those suggestions pale in comparison to say, Nevaeh, but the horror that could unleashed with the suggestion that parents create their names makes me quiver. In that ā€œoh no, Iā€™m about to be hit by a truck driven by a girl named Vingtā€™unā€ kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/53 "2007-07-04T08:38:20Z")
My husband grew up with a kid named Phelan Lo šŸ˜› I call vendors all teh time, and I have spoken with people named Star, Summer, Fluff and Sicko, and they insist they are the persons real name. Nothing like faxing a contract for someone named Fluff šŸ˜• Although you cant help liking a trash and recyclable vendor called the Wizard of Ooze šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/54 "2007-07-04T11:24:35Z")
My first husbandā€™s sister wanted to honor her father, Dean and her father-in-law, Joe. Unfortunately, the child was a girl and is now walking around with the name Jodeane. I guess she thought the last ā€œeā€ made it more feminine. I think she goes by her middle name now that sheā€™s old enough to chose. I went to grade school with Kimberly Clark. We called her Kleenex. We were mean children. :rolleyes: I think Iā€™ve mentioned this one in a previous thread. A new born named Myshyanne. When one of the other nurses asked where the name came from, mom said ā€œWell, I really loved my aunt Anne, she was so shyā€¦ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/55 "2007-07-04T11:35:48Z")
[QUOTE=percypercy] I think Melena is a fairly common name in Spansh-speaking countries, but round here it makes me wince. [/QUOTE] Iā€™ve known some MarĆ­a Elenas who used Malena, Melena or Melina as a nick (Melina is pronounced the way an Anglo would pronounce Melena). Havenā€™t met one who had it as her baptismal name, but then, until a couple years ago I hadnā€™t met any Dorindas eitherā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/56 "2007-07-04T11:37:42Z")
We have an academic here called Pink Dandelion, and also one whoā€™s changed his last name to ā€œ6ā€. My favourite still has to be a staff member who glories in the name of Kurly Mawaha. Thereā€™s just something about it, makes me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/57 "2007-07-04T11:44:23Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] I still like Carol Burnettā€™s fav names: LaVicka Trickleson and Theresa Renterreea. [/QUOTE] The second lastname looks like a first-mispronounced, then-misspelled _RenterĆ­a_ (a town near Bilbao). The biggest problem many people who donā€™t speak Spanish have pronouncing it isnā€™t so much the famous ā€œstrong Rā€ as trying to make strong those rā€™s that are soft; toponimic lastnames are very common for Hispanics, even more around the Basque area. We once spent several hours looking up my classmatesā€™ lastnames on a regional road map - either the first or last (when not both) invariably showed up! ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/58 "2007-07-04T14:41:42Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Purl McKnittington] I recently bought a baby name book from a thrift store. Why? Because it was a quarter and a _British_ baby name book. That had to make it better than mere American baby name books, filled with creative spelling and dubious name definitions. And it billed itself as ā€œThe Best Baby Name Book.ā€ It was the best! It was a quarter! I had to have it. I was a fool. Throughout the book are little paragraphs of advice and guidelines for choosing a name. The following led me to believe this was not the best baby name book: Emphasis mine. Davanda? Annet? Freaking _Lanka?_ My god. _Davanda_. Those suggestions pale in comparison to say, Nevaeh, but the horror that could unleashed with the suggestion that parents create their names makes me quiver. In that ā€œoh no, Iā€™m about to be hit by a truck driven by a girl named Vingtā€™unā€ kind of way. [/QUOTE] My former back-door neighbor was named for her motherā€™s two best friends, Beverly and Evelynā€¦hence Bevelyn. And I had to engrave another Nevaeh the other dayā€¦thatā€™s like the tenth one Iā€™ve done. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2007, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/59 "2007-07-04T15:05:58Z")
My cousin named her daughter ā€œSierraā€. Except she spelt it ā€œCieraā€. Or possibly ā€œCiaraā€. Wasnā€™t that a car? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/60 "2007-07-04T15:11:43Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] My cousin named her daughter ā€œSierraā€. Except she spelt it ā€œCieraā€. Or possibly ā€œCiaraā€. Wasnā€™t that a car? [/QUOTE] Oldsmobile Ciera. Yep, and it _was_ my fatherā€™s Oldsmobile. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340.md?page=4)