# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/81 "2007-07-06T01:32:38Z")
Yeah, Google gave me twenty bajillion hits. Stupid MTV Cribs. I started using the name years ago–all my game and internet screen names are scientific names of venomous snakes. I thought Nivea sounded nice, but now I suppose the entire SDMB thinks I’m on the trailer park bandwagon :smack:. ---
**Author:** ![pprgrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f6c823/32.png) [@pprgrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pprgrl)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/82 "2007-07-06T02:28:52Z")
[QUOTE=Septima] If he’s names for the character in “To Kill a Mockingbird”, I’d hate to meet his parents. [/QUOTE] [I don’t think that’s what she was referencing.](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=boo) When my parents had their last child, they made a deal that my dad could name it if it turned out to be a boy, and my mother if it was a girl. My dad was in all seriousness ready to inflict Woodrow Wolfgang Lastname on the poor kid. He thought it would be funny to call the kid “Woody-Woolfy” for short. Thank Jebus she was a girl. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/83 "2007-07-06T06:44:42Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] My real name is Maverick and both I and other people generally love it. However, the Top Gun jokes are just settling down after 20 years (although not completely; I predate the file). [/QUOTE] Friends of friends have a grandson named Maverick, and I do think it’s a neat name. But his baby brother is Mustang. I can’t for the life of me remember the sister’s name, but it’s along the lines of Dakota or Sierra… something vaguely western sounding. Weirdest combinations I ever encountered were Julio Frankewicz and Juan Schmidbauer. One of the guys I hung around with in high school was saddled with Myron Werbowecky, which is loads of fun to say (and who was really a pretty cool guy despite the amazing nerdiness of his name.) ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/84 "2007-07-06T07:55:19Z")
[QUOTE=phil417] I worked for a company that billed for hospitals. My favorite baby names came from a new mom named Brandy – she named her neonatal twins Tequila (girl) & Mercedes (boy). [/QUOTE] But, Mercedes is a girl name! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/85 "2007-07-06T08:03:59Z")
[QUOTE=Azeotrope] one junior high teacher of mine had a neice named Cinnamon Buntz. I also went to high school with a girl named Nanciann, harmless enough but her last name was Cianci (pronounced see-antsy). No one could call her by her full name without cracking up because it sounded like Nancy-antsy-antsy. A guy I worked with once swore he knew a girl named Tiffany Chanda Lear, but I think he was making that one up. [/QUOTE] He probably heard about [Bill Lear’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Lear) daughter, Shanda. That happens to be her middle name, her first name is Crystal. > [@](#): > > Though he could be difficult to work for, William Lear reportedly had a good sense of humour. He named his daughter Crystal Chanda (“crystal chandelier”). That’s not a good sense of humor, it’s more sadistic than funny. ---
**Author:** ![This\_ll\_Do](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/this_ll_do/32/3023_2.png) [@This\_ll\_Do](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_ll_Do)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/86 "2007-07-06T14:10:03Z")
My first babysitter had a combined name: Donella, for her parents Don and Ella. Went to elementary school with a boy named Marshall Dillon. I met a woman named Preselfannie. Fortunately I saw her name in writing before actually meeting her, as it took me a moment or two to figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/87 "2007-07-06T14:21:46Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I thought for a moment you were talking about a person whose name was Hombre Anglo - that would be even funnier. [/QUOTE] I totally did too, and it took a LOT of rereading to get why the name wasn’t “Hombre Anglo” Gestalt ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/88 "2007-07-06T14:28:27Z")
[QUOTE=Ca3799] My DD went to school with a pretty little girl named “Melena”…the black, tarry stool passed when there is gastrointestinal bleeding. I **know** her parents did not know this. Yikes. [/QUOTE] And the perfectly good “Candida” (~ white, like Blanche and Gwendolen) has other connotations. All right, **Hal** , who has the first-best name in rock and roll? ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/89 "2007-07-06T15:08:20Z")
[QUOTE=Waenara] I think it was only created a couple years ago when some christian rock singer named his daughter Nevaeh. (“heaven” spelled backwards) [/QUOTE] What an odd idea. Do you suppose the family is in the habit of reversing \*all \*religious words? How about the Lord’s Prayer? The Christening ceremony must have been quite remarkable. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/90 "2007-07-06T15:49:23Z")
When my sister was expecting her first, she asked for suggestions in naming her daughter. My brother (smart ass that he is) suggested Amanda for the first name and told her he thought that Lynn would be perfect as a middle name. She was all for it… for about a week… when she told someone else the name and realized that she didn’t want her daughter named after [a small stringed intrument](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandolin). ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/91 "2007-07-06T16:26:05Z")
OK I know I’m being thick but could somebody please explain why his name \*wasn’t \* Hombre Anglo? I’m lost. What was his name? Kids I used to babysit had a friend called Doobydoo. That’s (presumably) not the correct spelling but that’s how they pronounced it. Never got to meet that kid dammit. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/92 "2007-07-06T16:56:44Z")
Back in Cuba I worked with programmer named Maikel, which is the phonetic spanish pronunciation of Michael. He’s in the US now and I imagine he has to explain his name a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/93 "2007-07-06T17:13:47Z")
**zelie** “Anglo” is an adjective in this case, meaning “the last name was Anglo in origin, like Smith or Miller or Praline”. ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/94 "2007-07-06T18:30:20Z")
[QUOTE=Sean Factotum] **zelie** “Anglo” is an adjective in this case, meaning “the last name was Anglo in origin, like Smith or Miller or Praline”. [/QUOTE] :smack: Of course it is. Boy that post was hard work! ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/95 "2007-07-06T18:59:04Z")
[QUOTE=Waenara] I think it was only created a couple years ago when some christian rock singer named his daughter Nevaeh. (“heaven” spelled backwards) Now it’s becoming popular. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] There was a contestant on Survivor a few seasons back with that name, and she had the same explanation for it. She must have been around 20, so someone came up with it a while back. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/96 "2007-07-06T19:09:49Z")
There was a teacher at my high school who named his two sons Gunner and Gator. Nice. ---
**Author:** ![Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Licentious_Ectomorph)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/97 "2007-07-07T01:24:44Z")
[QUOTE=Mouse\_Maven] Our parents had a thing of geographical names. I was named after a South African diamond mine. Luckily, its not as obvious as bro’s. 😃 [/QUOTE] Mervis? 🙂 I went to nursing school with a young woman of Hispanic descent named Milena (pronounced muh-lenna). Immediately after we learned that melena is black, tarry stool, she started pronouncing it “Mee-lenna.” ---
**Author:** ![Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Licentious_Ectomorph)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/98 "2007-07-07T01:28:45Z")
[QUOTE=miyako] A couple of years ago when I worked in the NICU at this so-called celebrity hospital in L.A., I used to come across some of the most pretentious and overly precious names you can imagine. Most of the offenders are 30-something, type A personality, white or Asian parents. Let’s see, I remember Esmeralda, Esme, Declan, Lucia, Leni, Bodhi, just to mention a few. Methinks those parents have visions of their little Esme or Declan as the next Da Vinci or Picasso because such names connotates bohemian or artistic bent. [/QUOTE] Declan is an old Irish name. I’m not sure about the pedigrees of Esmerelda and Lucia, but those are real names also. I think they’re very nice, and they don’t strike me as particularly “artistic.” YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Licentious_Ectomorph)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/99 "2007-07-07T01:30:52Z")
[QUOTE=Licentious Ectomorph] Immediately after we learned that melena is black, tarry stool, she started pronouncing it “Mee-lenna.” [/QUOTE] By “it,” I mean her name. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/100 "2007-07-07T02:15:53Z")
Female checker seen at local Super-K. **Chimera.** Complete with faux gold script neck chain proclaiming her name to all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340.md?page=6)