# Weird, pretentious, or bizarre names... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 26, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566 "2014-08-26T16:34:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/201 "2014-09-08T02:50:57Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I haven’t found anything that looks official, but the first five sources I find do not have any variations of Khaleesi either. You’d think an article in [The Independent](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/most-popular-baby-names-the-top-20-boys-and-girls-names-in-england-and-wales-9671635.html) would have pounced on such a name if they’d found it. > > There may be one someplace. But it still looks to me like we’re talking about La-a. I found the source: [http://www.babynamewizard.com/archives/2013/5/khaleesi-the-non-name-from-a-non-language](http://www.babynamewizard.com/archives/2013/5/khaleesi-the-non-name-from-a-non-language) Note that 146 girls is below position 1000 on the chart, which is why a normal observer wouldn’t find it. Laura Wattenberg, who runs the Baby Name Wizard, knows of techniques to find info about names rarer than show up on the standard lists. (She’s explained it sometimes, but I don’t remember the details at the moment.) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/202 "2014-09-08T03:37:10Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > For example, in this week’s entry, she points out that the eleventh-fastest-rising girl’s name in England for 2013 was “Khaleesi.” From, yes, Game of Thrones. Around here, “Khaleesi” means “Rabbit haemorrhagic disease” ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/203 "2014-09-08T03:47:51Z")
I have to agree that the weird names don’t bother me near as much as the mangled spelling common names. The Y and X abuse is rampant in middle class white suburbs. As a substitute teacher is such a pain to be standing up in front of a class trying to decipher the roll sheet again. There’s at least one kid in every class who has to correct me with a quick sigh and an eye roll. I feel badly for them, and I am getting better at deciphering the spelling atrocities of parents who were trying way too hard, but there’s only so much I can do when they deliberately use letters in ways no one has ever used letters before. Vowels in the English language are lovely flexible things but even they don’t make a certain sound just because you liked the look of the U in the middle of the name instead of an I. Sigh. All that said, one of my daughters almost went by her middle name at the start of the school year. Her name is vanishingly rare, but not made up and is actually a name in a classic children’s book. (Also it belonged to my grandmother.) The issue is that it has a double L and we live in an area that’s about 20% Hispanic. Everyone assumes the Spanish pronunciation of the LL instead of the English, turning her very uncommon English name into an exceptionally common Spanish one. Drives her nuts. To be honest the Spanish angle never even occurred to me. I didn’t even notice until the nurse at her one month check up pronounced her name wrong. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/204 "2014-09-08T13:27:51Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > Vowels in the English language are lovely flexible things but even they don’t make a certain sound just because you liked the look of the U in the middle of the name instead of an I. Sigh. A co-worker’s daughter wanted to name her baby what sounds like keera. She started with Keira but really wanted a Y in there! So, the poor baby’s name is Keiyra. Um, what about the perfectly cromulent “Kyra”? It’s served Ms. Sedgwick pretty well all these years. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/205 "2014-09-08T13:46:26Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I found the source: > > [http://www.babynamewizard.com/archives/2013/5/khaleesi-the-non-name-from-a-non-language](http://www.babynamewizard.com/archives/2013/5/khaleesi-the-non-name-from-a-non-language) > > Note that 146 girls is below position 1000 on the chart, which is why a normal observer wouldn’t find it. Laura Wattenberg, who runs the Baby Name Wizard, knows of techniques to find info about names rarer than show up on the standard lists. (She’s explained it sometimes, but I don’t remember the details at the moment.) Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/206 "2014-09-08T14:39:11Z")
I often have to spell my name for people writing it down because there are just so many spelling variations out there nowadays. I’ve seen people with all sorts of weird spellings of my name, like “Emmaleigh” and “Emilii.” At least, I _think_ those are pronounced “Emily.” ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/207 "2014-09-08T15:53:02Z")
> [@DingoelGringo](#): > > And there is always La-a. How is it pronounced? The dash isn’t silent. It is Ladasha! For full racism marks, next time don’t forget that the myth says the mother responded “the dash \*\*don’t be \*\*silent.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/208 "2014-09-08T16:22:58Z")
I’ve seen a fair number of unusual names among the kids in my son’s classes over the years, but none that struck me as “weird, pretentious or bizarre.” I don’t find genuinely unusual names as off-putting as attempts to come up with a semi-original spin on a name that’s already too popular. Once “Jason” and “Aidan” got too popular, everyone and her sister starting coming up with variations on those names (Caden/Kaden, Jaden, Jayson, Chasen, whatever). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/209 "2014-09-10T14:04:18Z")
I read not long ago of a large Chicago high school in which no two children in the freshman class had the same name. I see people with a lot of offbeat names come through my court, and have long kept a list. My two favorites of all time are Daphne Threat Medley (band name!) and Imhotep Box. In recent months I’ve seen: La Mercedes Duequaner Jordan Riviera Golphin Dalemone Spruill Lacardaire Thedford Theodoric Bland Tranceita Norman Darvell Zellers La’Asie Null Symphony Falcon ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/210 "2014-09-10T17:11:20Z")
You’ve never heard of the Symphony Falcon? It’s the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs! ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/211 "2014-09-10T17:35:22Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You’ve never heard of the Symphony Falcon? It’s the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs! Also it plays “Flight of the Bumblebee” in less than twelve seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/212 "2014-09-10T20:00:10Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > What the hell kind of name is Semi? That is a fail on so many levels. Semi was Akeem’s Aide de Camp in the esteemed film “Coming to America”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/213 "2014-09-10T20:52:30Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > But Moth? Seriously? 😛 Maybe there are siblings named Peaseblossom, Cobweb, and Mustardseed. > [@Pliam](#): > > I’m a fan of a game series called “Suikoden”, and one of the recurring characters is named Apple. I thought that was a very cute name and wanted to name a daughter that if I ever had one, but then Gwyneth Paltrow beat me to the punch, ruining the name. (If I actually used it, I would get responses like “Just like Gwyneth Paltrow’s kid”) Since Paltrow was an actress, and the daughter of an actress, I thought maybe she got the name “Apple” from the movie _One Sings, the Other Doesn’t_, which is a great movie, and one of the all-time classics of feminism. Then I saw and interview, or read somewhere that she just thought it was cute. Later it dawned on me that Apple’s last name is Martin, so it sounds a lot like “apple martini.” _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/214 "2014-09-11T22:20:37Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > Quincifer - A cross between Quincy and Lucifer? > Souvaghini - A dish combining souvlaki and pasta? > > I can tell you, Emily is pretty common these days, more so than when I was born. > > The other day I was riding the bus with a group of kids from a day camp. One of them (a boy) was named Tanner. Not as bad as some of the other names in this thread, but it’s a name I hadn’t heard before. I just occurred to me that Quincifer could be named after Quincy & Jennifer. But the Lucifer connotation comes to my mind first. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/215 "2014-09-11T22:36:35Z")
“Tanner” is another one of those “medieval occupations” surnames that has become popular recently: Hunter, Connor, Fletcher, Chandler, Mason, Tailor/Taylor, Cooper, Reeve. Pretty soon, I expect to see kids named Ratcatcher, Witchfinder, Serf, and Yeoman. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/216 "2014-09-12T02:51:37Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Since Paltrow was an actress, and the daughter of an actress, I thought maybe she got the name “Apple” from the movie _One Sings, the Other Doesn’t_, which is a great movie, and one of the all-time classics of feminism. Then I saw and interview, or read somewhere that she just thought it was cute. Later it dawned on me that Apple’s last name is Martin, so it sounds a lot like “apple martini.” > > _sigh_ I heard it was because a friend of theirs had named their kid Apple. Ah, here: [http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,639624,00.html](http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,639624,00.html) So, unoriginally original. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/217 "2014-09-12T23:55:38Z")
A relative of mine named their son “Drexton.” – We have these threads from time to time. I wonder if another 'Doper has ever (honestly) said: “Hey! I named **my** kid Jaxcskon! Fuck you!” ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/218 "2014-09-13T01:13:46Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I’ve seen a fair number of unusual names among the kids in my son’s classes over the years, but none that struck me as “weird, pretentious or bizarre.” > > I don’t find genuinely unusual names as off-putting as attempts to come up with a semi-original spin on a name that’s already too popular. > > Once “Jason” and “Aidan” got too popular, everyone and her sister starting coming up with variations on those names (Caden/Kaden, Jaden, Jayson, Chasen, whatever). Oh, good lord. I had the fleeting thought that someone somewhere might have named their innocent little baby boy “Jeighson.” Then I thought to myself, no, no one would ever do something so horrible. So I googled it, because I google everything, and yes, there is more than one person out there who is named Jeighson. :rolleyes: Also Jeighden, Jeighdon and Jeighdyn. And there’s one lonely Cheighson. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/219 "2014-09-13T02:14:10Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > A relative of mine named their son “Drexton.” > > – > > We have these threads from time to time. I wonder if another 'Doper has ever (honestly) said: “Hey! I named **my** kid Jaxcskon! Fuck you!” I recall we had one Doper whose kid had an ordinary name with a messed up spelling because (iirc) her husband had chosen the name and she wanted to get her say in too, or something like that. I don’t think she got a lot of positive feedback from us. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/220 "2014-09-13T02:31:34Z")
Found it! [“A crime against humanity” - Diogenes the Cynic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8415267&postcount=12) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566.md?page=12)