# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/21 "2014-08-26T19:10:53Z")
If I ever have a son I’m going to name him Zeus. ---
**Author:** ![HipGnosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@HipGnosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HipGnosis)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/22 "2014-08-26T19:12:25Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > we’ve said the same thing for years about parents who thought it would be cute to name their little girls Tiffany or Brittany or names of that ilk. One wonders how these little girls will feel when they’re 70 years old. They’ll be use to it by then, I’m quite sure. As the father of Tiffany and Brittany, I take umbrage with your statement. And if you have an issue with the name Stephanie, I’m going to have to hunt you down and manually adjust your attitude. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/23 "2014-08-26T19:18:15Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > If I ever have a son I’m going to name him Zeus. One middle name around here is Apollo… 🙂 > [@HipGnosis](#): > > As the father of Tiffany and Brittany, I take umbrage with your statement. Maybe the plethora of such names eases the situation a bit, but I have to say these and names like them - Crystal comes to mind - saddle a woman with a terminal case of never being able to be taken seriously. I know adults with all three that have changed their names, usually to the boring “it was my grandmother’s name” middle name in order to compete for jobs, promotions, etc. I really think it’s cruel to give children cute widdle names they’ll have to contend with as a 30yo rising professional. Ditto for bizarre spellings that might look good in prison tats but like hell on an executive office door. ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/24 "2014-08-26T19:20:51Z")
My husband and I have an ongoing joke about the stupid yewnique names that middle class suburbanite white Gen Xers give their kids. When we see toddlers in public being annoying, we whisper to eachother what their name might be. We guess possible names like Palin, Gryler, Quinoa, Blayden, Grayden, Maydenne, Kevlar, Bucket, Pointer…you get the idea. It’s become shorthand between us. We know not to eat at certain restaurants at certain times because it’s bound to be a “Gryler-fest”, and maybe we should hold off until later. One of these days somebody’s going to actually name their kid “Gryler” and I’m going to laugh my ass off. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/25 "2014-08-26T19:24:15Z")
> [@MeanJoe](#): > > I really dislike when people start screeching about government overreach in the U.S. but seriously… this is way-way-way overboard. I’d be opposed to this on principle alone. > > What is the justification for this type of law? > > MeanJoe [Naming laws.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naming_law#New_Zealand) New Zealand prohibits names which “might cause offence to a reasonable person; or […] is unreasonably long; or without adequate justification, […] is, includes, or resembles, an official title or rank.” In Sweden, first names “shall not be approved if they can cause offense or can be supposed to cause discomfort for the one using it, or names which for some obvious reason are not suitable as a first name.” Which didn’t stop a Swedish couple in 1991 from trying to name their kid “[Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naming_law_in_Sweden#Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116)” (pronounced “Albin”). They didn’t get away with it, though. Other countries make you pick from a list of allowed names, which does seem slightly crazy to me. However, I’m all for not allowing a parent to name their kid something so dumb that it basically amounts to child abuse. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/26 "2014-08-26T19:25:29Z")
Hmmm, if you Google it, a lot of people think that former teenybopper names like Tiffany and Brittany are now stripper names. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/27 "2014-08-26T20:06:15Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > If I ever have a son I’m going to name him Zeus. One of my dad’s colleagues had sons named Thor, Sigurd & Tyr. Their sister Erin felt wildly cheated. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/28 "2014-08-26T20:40:43Z")
> [@HipGnosis](#): > > They’ll be use to it by then, I’m quite sure. > As the father of Tiffany and Brittany, I take umbrage with your statement. > And if you have an issue with the name Stephanie, I’m going to have to hunt you down and manually adjust your attitude. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Maybe the plethora of such names eases the situation a bit, but I have to say these and names like them - Crystal comes to mind - saddle a woman with a terminal case of never being able to be taken seriously. I know adults with all three that have changed their names, usually to the boring “it was my grandmother’s name” middle name in order to compete for jobs, promotions, etc. > > I really think it’s cruel to give children cute widdle names they’ll have to contend with as a 30yo rising professional. > [@Turpentine](#): > > Hmmm, if you Google it, a lot of people think that former teenybopper names like Tiffany and Brittany are now stripper names. Heh. Agreed on all counts. (P.S. I don’t have a problem with Stephanie, which of course long predated the cutesy trend. However, one of my clients is named Stephenie, and I have to wonder if her parents thought they were being clever…or simply couldn’t spell.) ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/29 "2014-08-26T20:51:50Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > The strangest case I’ve come across is a guy who introduced himself as “Mikel… it’s spelled like ‘Michael’.” Um, no, your name is actually ‘Michael’, dumbass. Start pronouncing it normally. These are the people I don’t understand. Usually I start the whole “Throatwarbler mangrove” sketch by Monty Python from memory and they either get angry or walk away before I can finish. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/30 "2014-08-26T20:52:27Z")
My eighth-grade daughter has classmates named: Staija Plez Cianni Theori (thee-OR-ee) Liyah (Leah, in normal-people spelling) Ungodly numbers of Jaden/Cayden/Braylens with every Yew-nique spelling variant you can imagine. Ditto McKenzie/McKenna/Mc-everythings. Cheznie Tysauni Emaje etc. I almost feel bad for the poor little Eugenias, Seths, and Christophers! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/31 "2014-08-26T20:56:07Z")
We had an ugly cat one time and to keep from forming any real attachment to it, I named it Blotharta. It worked. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/32 "2014-08-26T21:14:34Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > If I ever have a son I’m going to name him Zeus. If I ever have a son I’m going to name him “Dad”. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/33 "2014-08-26T21:37:39Z")
> [@Satchmo](#): > > These are the people I don’t understand. Usually I start the whole “Throatwarbler mangrove” sketch by Monty Python from memory and they either get angry or walk away before I can finish. 🆒 Nitpick: Throatwobbler mangrove. The SDMB brought that to my attention a while back. It’s sort of hard to distinguish in the British accent. There’s a football announcer named Ian Eagle, but he pronounces it Eye-An. I kept thinking it should be “_I’m_ An Eagle”, which is at least grammatical. What does he do if he’s announcing a Philadelphia game? Creative misspellings like former celebrity glutton Rachael [sic] Ray are bad enough, but now we need creative mispronunciations too? Bah, humbug! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/34 "2014-08-26T21:52:16Z")
I got a kick out of this list of names: [http://www.amasupercross.com/rules/pdf/2014/Bulletins/AMA%20SXMX%20Numbers%202014%20FINAL.pdf](http://www.amasupercross.com/rules/pdf/2014/Bulletins/AMA%20SXMX%20Numbers%202014%20FINAL.pdf) 100 young men, mostly white, mostly American. Not a single “John”. Only one “Mike”. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/35 "2014-08-26T21:57:30Z")
You guys might be interested in the [Baby Name Wizard Blog](http://www.babynamewizard.com/blog). I don’t have any kids currently, nor any on the near horizon, but I follow this blog because it’s fascinating. She discusses trends in baby naming, and what these trends say about our society. 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. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/36 "2014-08-26T22:21:35Z")
Meh. Naming trends change. I’m sure my great grandparents complained about all the Shirleys and Barbaras, wondering what is wrong with classic names like Gertrude and Myrtle. As someone who recently named a baby (an awesome name), I am sick to death of the stupid competition to find a name that is juuuuuuuuust on the bleeding edge of “classic and old-fashioned” and “popular and overplayed.” It’s like a perpetual race to name you kid whatever is on spot 150 of the social security register, so you can revel in your genius at finding that single name that is “old fashioned but unique.” Just name your kid what you and your spouse can agree on. We’ve had a Secretary of State named Condoleeza (OMG they’ll know she’s black!) and Hilary (which was at the time a pretentious surname-as-given-name.) I suspect that people with names you are not familiar with will survive without your heartfelt concern. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/37 "2014-08-27T03:33:39Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > However, one of my clients is named Stephenie, and I have to wonder if her parents thought they were being clever…or simply couldn’t spell.) She doesn’t write _Twilight_ novels, does she? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/38 "2014-08-27T03:55:18Z")
> [@MeanJoe](#): > > I really dislike when people start screeching about government overreach in the U.S. but seriously… this is way-way-way overboard. I’d be opposed to this on principle alone. > > What is the justification for this type of law? > > MeanJoe Because some parents call their kids “Satan”, or “Shitstain”, or "… you get the picture. Why should the kids suffer with that? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/39 "2014-08-27T05:31:43Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > We had an ugly cat one time and to keep from forming any real attachment to it, I named it Blotharta. It worked. Hank Ketcham, cartoonist of Dennis The Menace fame, did a story arc about 40-some years ago, in which he examined the arbitrariness of given names. Dennis found and adopted a stray cat, which he named Hotdog. The story arcs then followed his attempts to convince, often requiring some substantial effort, all the other characters in the strip that Hotdog is as perfectly cromulent a name as any other, for a cat to have. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/40 "2014-08-27T05:42:08Z")
There’s a family member named Xcel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566.md?page=3)