# 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:** 17
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/321 "2014-10-13T15:49:06Z")
In a restaurant I was waited on by a young woman whose name tag said, La Sonya. Okay, but then I realized, “Your mother named you Lasagna??” ---
**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:** [October 13, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/322 "2014-10-13T16:44:28Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > When the trend of giving kids nouns for names began among my crunchier acquaintances (no doubt inspired by the Phoenix clan), I threatened to name any spawn I created Lampblack, Mailbox, and Corset (obviously, Corset is a girl). I want to use at least two of these names in my next novel. That’s the advantage of writing fantasy–you can inflict almost any name you want without feeling guilty. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/323 "2014-10-13T18:03:49Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I want to use at least two of these names in my next novel. That’s the advantage of writing fantasy–you can inflict almost any name you want without feeling guilty. TY. I like Lampblack, myself. It would be a good steampunk name, too. Corset Lampblack, Steampunk burlesque star! ---
**Author:** ![Lorene89095](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/324 "2014-10-16T20:29:32Z")
My checker at the grocery is named “Shena”:dubious: No,I didn’t ask. I have some cooth. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/325 "2014-10-17T07:09:51Z")
> [@Lorene89095](#): > > My checker at the grocery is named “Shena”:dubious: > No,I didn’t ask. I have some cooth. Not gettin’ the connotation. ?? (Is it just that it’s more commonly “Sheena,” making the “long e” pronunciation more obvious?) ---
**Author:** ![NuclearBombPop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@NuclearBombPop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NuclearBombPop)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/326 "2015-04-30T23:57:40Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > There’s a family member named Xcel. That’s a weird name for a [utility company,](http://www.xcelenergy.com) let alone a person. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/327 "2015-05-01T00:37:38Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Kai is a super normal Danish/Norwegian name. As a Scandiwegian, I think it’s kind of cool that it’s catching on internationally. Yeah, Kai is an old Germanic name. King, well, I guess it worked for King Faraday. Ripley is pretty cool, I think. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/328 "2015-05-01T00:43:30Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I suppose cheering “Go Isis” at the soccer game rubs some people the wrong way, that they think someone is cheering on the terrorists. People apparently can’t separate contexts. Isis isn’t that weird, is it? It doesn’t seem that strange to me. Now, if she had a brother called Dash, that’d be funny. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/329 "2015-05-01T01:00:38Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > If you want to ban the use of [“Anal” or “Lucifer”](http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/01/world/asia/new-zealand-stange-baby-names/) as first names, that a-okay with me. That list has the perfectly respectable Justus on it, as well as Honour. I think they went overboard. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/330 "2015-05-01T01:57:52Z")
> [@Haldurson](#): > > My brother named my niece and nephew with traditional Russian names because we primarily have Russian ancestry – Tatiana and Aleksi. I think they are great names, while also being fairly unique. You don’t have to be all that creative to be unique, just go back far enough and the old names are new again. I’m amused that Tatiana and Aleksi are “unusual.” Those seem like incredibly ordinary Russian names to me. But in the English-speaking world, I guess they’re a bit more unusual. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2015, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/331 "2015-05-01T04:54:41Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Isis isn’t that weird, is it? It doesn’t seem that strange to me. > > Now, if she had a brother called Dash, that’d be funny. Isis, like ISIS aka ISIL aka IS = the terrorist group highly active in the Middle East at the moment. Though I wonder if people who are bothered by that also shun the name “mark” because it’s a word that refers to a discoloration, stain or area of damage. ---
**Author:** ![Teach-me-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a4c791/32.png) [@Teach-me-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teach-me-not)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/332 "2015-05-01T05:53:34Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > That list has the perfectly respectable Justus on it, as well as Honour. I think they went overboard. …so are Lucifer, Christ, and Messiah IMO (though i don’t like ‘Messiah’ personally). ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/333 "2015-05-14T06:10:32Z")
Just heard a new one today. _Empire_. A little girl named Empire. Screw Princess, Queenie, etc. We’ll just go for the whole shebang. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/334 "2015-05-14T13:59:35Z")
> [@blue\_infinity](#): > > Just heard a new one today. > > _Empire_. A little girl named Empire. > > Screw Princess, Queenie, etc. We’ll just go for the whole shebang. Could it be because of the new hit TV show? ---
**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:** [May 15, 2015, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/335 "2015-05-15T06:37:51Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Could it be because of the new hit TV show? That’s no excuse. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/336 "2015-05-15T07:16:45Z")
Saw this on the news: a little girl named “A-million”. Maybe mom misheard someone named “Amelia”? “My baby’s not one-in-a-million, she’s A-million.” :rolleyes: (Coincidentally, the story was about CPS coming to take the baby away, the mom has 3 or 4 other kids already taken from her.) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/337 "2015-05-15T09:06:51Z")
> [@Hopeful\_Crow](#): > > Speaking of strippers, the son of a friend of mine married one who had had her first name legally changed to Bambi. This was in Florida around 1980. > > The granddaughter of a friend of mine has a friend who’s name is Tannery. I find that name terribly unattractive. Didn’t her parents know that a tannery is a place where animal hides are processed and are generally not pleasant places to be? Too bad Mike Rowe’s “Dirty Jobs” wasn’t around 24 or so years ago. Seeing the episode where he’s working in one might have averted this travesty. It would have been even worse if the show was around then, though. Imagine if Mike Rowe had fallen in love with her and married her. She would be named Tannery Rowe. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/338 "2015-05-15T10:45:40Z")
My daughter’s school is full of “unusual” names (including hers) but only because there’s a huge immigrant population and thus there are lots of foreign names. So she’s got friends named Olurinu and Sanjana and Zainab and Eleri and Addien and Serwa and Freya and Amarachi. To be honest, they’re easier to remember than trying to keep all the Olivias straight (she had three in her class one year). More on topic: my niece (a self-described redneck) has named her daughters Makenzie and Kalysta (Kenzie and Kaly for short) but since they seem to be turning out fine I don’t mind. Not sure what their teachers think though. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/339 "2015-05-15T11:00:49Z")
The correct response to an unusual name is to take delight in diversity and wonder, happily, about the story behind the name. Laughing at a person’s name is childish. Laughing at a child’s name is worse. Hey everybody how’s it going? ETA: But **Frylock** , giving kids unusual name will saddle them for problems for life! My reply to this is that you are correctly pointing out that most people are assholes. But the important question is, are _you_ one of them? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/340 "2015-05-15T11:16:15Z")
I will admit to an involuntary chuckle upon meeting a man named “Wonderboy”. I suspect he got that a lot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566.md?page=18)