# W-why did her parents name her THAT?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 7, 2004, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w-why-did-her-parents-name-her-that/232956 "2004-03-07T07:12:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2004, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w-why-did-her-parents-name-her-that/232956/1 "2004-03-07T07:12:41Z")
Today I rang up a sale for a woman whose first name was “Nazi”. I didn’t ask how it was pronounced. I didn’t make any comment at all, in fact. Just didn’t wanna open up the can o’ worms. But I’m here to tell you, that’s what it said on her driver’s license. N-A-Z-I. Maybe it was short for something else, although I was under the impression that the CA DMV doesn’t allow abbreviations. But I’m still wondering what cultural background would result in that for a first name. And why she hasn’t changed it. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2004, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w-why-did-her-parents-name-her-that/232956/2 "2004-03-07T07:23:36Z")
Could be short for Nazirah, Arabic meaning “equal.” Or could be that it’s pronounced something like “Na-ZEE” Or could be that her parents hate her. Or love Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2004, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w-why-did-her-parents-name-her-that/232956/3 "2004-03-07T07:29:30Z")
That woman will have questioning looks wherever she goes. Probably doesn’t know world history. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2004, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w-why-did-her-parents-name-her-that/232956/4 "2004-03-07T07:36:40Z")
There are a few close ones: Nazeef: Clean, neat. Nazeer: One who warns. Nazih: Pure, chaste. Nazim\*: Arranger, adjuster. Nazir: Observer, supervisor. I used to work with a woman named Nazeef. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2004, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w-why-did-her-parents-name-her-that/232956/5 "2004-03-07T07:37:54Z")
Well, since she’s a legal adult, we can assume she’s aware of what her name means to other people. If she had a problem with what her parents named her, I think she would have changed it by now. I think a more likely (and more frightening) explanation is that “Nazi” is what she, as an adult, changed her name to. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2004, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w-why-did-her-parents-name-her-that/232956/6 "2004-03-07T07:42:46Z")
> [@](#): > > NAZI: Giriami of Kenya name meaning “coconut.” From [this page](http://www.20000-names.com/female_african_names.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2004, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w-why-did-her-parents-name-her-that/232956/7 "2004-03-07T07:53:40Z")
I should amend my OP. When I said “I wonder what kind of cultural background”, I wasn’t trying to be cute; I really did wonder. Her last name also began with N-A-Z (I don’t remember exactly what it was), so it probably is her given name, not one that she chose. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2004, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w-why-did-her-parents-name-her-that/232956/8 "2004-03-07T08:17:17Z")
I see three people named Nazi in the 1930 US Federal Census. Nazi Kapjia who was born.c 1905 is Armenian. Nazi Lazeri who was born c. 1906 is Mexican. The third one is actually named Nagi. Here’s one in 1920 who’s Syrian and another who’s Italian. ---
**Author:** ![glass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac8455/32.png) [@glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glass)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2004, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w-why-did-her-parents-name-her-that/232956/9 "2004-03-07T08:24:54Z")
na, zi make way too much outta names 🙂