# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/101 "2007-07-07T02:38:35Z")
Honest to goodness, I met a girl named “Levitra” the other day. I’m not sure about the spelling, but she’s older than the medication. Still a bummer, though. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/102 "2007-07-07T03:28:00Z")
[QUOTE=Licentious Ectomorph] 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. [/QUOTE] Esme is also a real name. I had an English teacher named Esme. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/103 "2007-07-07T03:52:16Z")
I know a guy who named his daughter Starshine. His excuse, fortunately, is that years ago he was in the road cast of Hair. And then there was my cousin, a dear sweet woman who named a child who, unfortunately, only lived 12 hours, who she named after two dear family friends. Which are bad enough, but in combination with their last name, it was seriously unfortunate – Bracken Waxy Ball. (My evil joke is to say that he checked out after hearing what she’d named him!) ---
**Author:** ![straykat23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@straykat23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straykat23)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/104 "2007-07-07T03:53:09Z")
I had a friend (now deceased) who did the '60s hippie thing, traveling with her husband around the US in a Volkswagon bus. Her daughters were named after the cities in which they were conceived: Tampa, Marin (Marin County, California), and Simeon (after San Simeon, California, where the Hearst Castle is located). Poor Simeon is sometimes spelled Simian, which often leads to great confusion. She and her husband decided to wait until their sons were six months old before naming them; they were named Hunter and EagleMan. The ‘kids’ (now in their thirties and forties) named their children what we’d consider normal names. ---
**Author:** ![Piffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a8b319/32.png) [@Piffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Piffle)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/105 "2007-07-07T14:22:11Z")
I’ve been lurking around the MB for a while now, and I just had to chime in on this one. I spent about 4 years working in direct mail. As one might expect, I’ve seen some genuinely awful names / combinations of names. The one that still tops the list in my mind is an unfortunate coming together of name and title that just has to be said aloud to appreciate it: Harry Mounts Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/106 "2007-07-07T14:39:26Z")
Last night at Marsh, our cashier was “Lavelle.” It seemed a little feminine for him. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/107 "2007-07-07T16:41:58Z")
[QUOTE=Mirror Image egamI rorriM] Honest to goodness, I met a girl named “Levitra” the other day. I’m not sure about the spelling, but she’s older than the medication. Still a bummer, though. [/QUOTE] I’m still pissed that one of my favorite names, Allegra, has been used as a drug name. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/108 "2007-07-07T23:20:36Z")
[QUOTE=straykat23] I had a friend (now deceased) who did the '60s hippie thing, traveling with her husband around the US in a Volkswagon bus. Her daughters were named after the cities in which they were conceived: Tampa, Marin (Marin County, California), and Simeon (after San Simeon, California, where the Hearst Castle is located). Poor Simeon is sometimes spelled Simian, which often leads to great confusion. [/QUOTE] Especially because Simeon is a male name. I know a guy named Simeon Chow – sounds like a Purina product served at fine monkey houses everywhere. **Avarie537** : [LaVell Edwards](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaVell_Edwards) was the longtime football coach at Brigham Young University. For six years of his tenure, he shared the campus with men’s basketball coach [Ladell Andersen.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladell_Andersen) ---
**Author:** ![Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Metal_Lotus)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/109 "2007-07-08T03:00:13Z")
There is a family up my way that has the last name of Hole… They named one of their son’s Harold… (Harry) Harry Hole go figure FML ---
**Author:** ![Kricket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f14d63/32.png) [@Kricket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kricket)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/110 "2007-07-08T09:09:02Z")
[QUOTE=5-4-Fighting] In 1978, my cousin named her daughter Charisma. Is that bad? I kind of like it. 🙂 [/QUOTE] One of the actresses from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series is named Charisma. She did a spot or two on Charmed as well. ---
**Author:** ![Incensed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Incensed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incensed)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/111 "2007-07-08T10:08:20Z")
I grew up on a small town where everyone knew one another, so nicknames were the rule. Most were corruptions of or plays on given first or last names, although some were completely beyond logic (Matt is called Fred-I have no idea why, unless its because he ‘looks like’ a ‘Fred’). Anyway it was always fun when an outsider came into the group, since it took weeks or months for them run down the (sometimes tenuous) reasoning behind all the nicknames. Inevitably they would ask why the kid who went by ‘Grizzly’ was called that, and be told that it was his given name. Yes I know someone whose parents named him Grizzly. (His brother is Cody, so I presume his father-or mother-has a thing for bears) ---
**Author:** ![Landshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/77aa72/32.png) [@Landshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landshark)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/112 "2007-07-08T10:34:22Z")
[QUOTE=Licentious Ectomorph] 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. [/QUOTE] At my workplace I occasionally have need to talk with a woman who also works there named Lucia. I’d guess she’s in her mid to late-20s. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/113 "2007-07-08T16:47:39Z")
An episode of _Intervention_ featured a crack addict named “Antwahn,” who had a daughter named “Cymone.” My guess is granddaddy is named “Frannswah.” ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/114 "2007-07-08T16:50:02Z")
My sister named her son “Seref” (pronounced “Sheriff”, thank you very much :rolleyes: ) I worked with a guy named “Clint Boiko” who legally changed his name to “Palm Tropix”. Why, I don’t know. I went to school with a kid from Sierra Leone named “Foday Tarawali Del Pieve Gobi Fortier”. Perhaps that’s a common SL name, but it isn’t around here. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/115 "2007-07-08T17:30:49Z")
I just ran across a name that makes me think someone’s mother liked Tolkien a wee bit too much. Rohan? Okay… ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/116 "2007-07-08T18:13:39Z")
[QUOTE=Mama Tiger] I just ran across a name that makes me think someone’s mother liked Tolkien a wee bit too much. Rohan? Okay… [/QUOTE] Oh, I really like that one. Derived from \*ruadh \*meaning “red” or “red-haired” in Irish. Tolkien was the thief here. [Rohan on a baby-name info site.](http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Rohan) [More information on the variations of Rohan as a surname, including Roan and Rowan.](http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/4658/Roan.01.html) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/117 "2007-07-08T18:30:07Z")
[QUOTE=Redfrost] Dewey Dick. That’s his real name. Parents were obviously amused by this. [/QUOTE] I once worked with Dewey Wong. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/118 "2007-07-08T18:35:38Z")
I also worked with Felicia Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/119 "2007-07-08T21:08:02Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] [LaVell Edwards](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaVell_Edwards) was the longtime football coach at Brigham Young University. For six years of his tenure, he shared the campus with men’s basketball coach [Ladell Andersen.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladell_Andersen) [/QUOTE] Utahan Mormon given names have a [creative tradition](http://wesclark.com/ubn/) all their own. La- prefixes are important, as are blended and gender-bent names. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340/120 "2007-07-09T02:59:55Z")
And from today’s news…Netrajehon. I think it’s a boy’s name. And from today’s obits…Vrisie. And Odus, which I think was a creative version of Otis. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-of-the-week-or-mom-what-were-you-thinking/410340.md?page=7)