# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/41 "2014-08-27T05:58:25Z")
I’m surprised the name “Mandingo” isn’t popular for boys. Rincewind the wizzard said "My middle name is ‘Luck’. Mind you, my first name is ‘Bad’ " ---
**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:** [August 27, 2014, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/42 "2014-08-27T06:21:06Z")
I was depressed to see my daughter’s classmate’s name was “Pheonix”. Wouldn’t you think nine months was long enough to check the spelling? Then it was corrected to “Phoenix”, which made me feel better until I realised it was the _teacher_ who had spelt it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/43 "2014-08-27T06:43:43Z")
A writer’s first name is “Icess”. [Here’s how she “explained” it to someone](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/04/starbucks-write-names-correctly?commentpage=1). > [@](#): > > “I-c-e-s-s. You know like the goddess, but spelled like ice”, I explained. > > “What?” she asked again. > > Maybe she needed another reference. Here’s a popular one: “The cartoon? Oh, Mighty Isis?” > > Silence and a farrowed eyebrow. Actually, “Icess” looks like “female ice” to me. And what the heck is a “farrowed eyebrown”? Maybe she meant “furrowed brow”. Some writer. It’s one thing to have a “creative” name. It’s quite another to blame other people’s difficulty with it on THEM. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/44 "2014-08-27T06:46:24Z")
> [@HipGnosis](#): > > As the father of Tiffany and Brittany, I take umbrage with your statement. \*\*_Umbrage_ \*\*- a warrior’s name! ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/45 "2014-08-27T06:53:54Z")
> [@HipGnosis](#): > > As the father of Tiffany and Brittany, I take umbrage with your statement. If I have twins I’m going to call them ‘Liberty’ and ‘Umbrage’. “Are you taking Liberty?” “No, you’re taking Liberty - I’m taking Umbrage!” Etc. ---
**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 27, 2014, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/46 "2014-08-27T06:58:05Z")
> [@Staggerlee](#): > > If I have twins I’m going to call them ‘Liberty’ and ‘Umbrage’. > > “Are you taking Liberty?” > > “No, you’re taking Liberty - I’m taking Umbrage!” > > Etc. Perfect! Except that you should consider creative spelling. L’Berti? Uumbraage? Add some umlauts maybe? ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/47 "2014-08-27T07:16:17Z")
I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this on the SDMB before, but there is a family in my town whose sons are named “Happy” and “Lucky.” This is made even stranger by the fact that they are Japanese. They are named the Japanese equivalents of “Happy” and “Lucky,” they are named the English words “Happy” and “Lucky.” Another kid is named “Kamui,” which is Ainu for “god.” Luckily the kid is a huge goofball, otherwise he’d likely become a megalomaniac or something. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/48 "2014-08-27T08:24:12Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > Lest it be perceived that this comment has anything to do with race, 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. I was born in a year when Tiffany and Brittany were top-15 names, and I think they’ll feel just fine. They aren’t unusual or cutesy names to me at all. They’re just ordinary women’s names. ---
**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 27, 2014, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/49 "2014-08-27T11:23:04Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > There’s a family member named Xcel. Werd! ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/50 "2014-08-27T11:45:46Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > ETA: [Cite!!](http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/postgazette/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=172218183) “Mother of Destiny A. and Dyminia A. King; daughter of Devon and Delicate Jones; sister of Desire, Deva, Delovely and Devonnair Jones” Well, it certainly makes it easy to share monogrammed items. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/51 "2014-08-27T11:51:47Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > “Mother of Destiny A. and Dyminia A. King; daughter of Devon and Delicate Jones; sister of Desire, Deva, Delovely and Devonnair Jones” > Well, it certainly makes it easy to share monogrammed items. Yeah, that reminded me of a family I knew growing up. They had six girls, all with “…een” names; Coleen, Darlene, Noreen, Marlene, etc. Keppt trying for a son and kept having daughters. The seventh baby was a boy and they named him Jerry.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/52 "2014-08-27T17:22:50Z")
> [@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. That’s my name. It IS pronounced Michael. How did he say it? FWIW, I’m a girl. I tell people my name is Mikel and they insist on pronouncing it Michelle. Don’t get me started… ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/53 "2014-08-27T19:04:29Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Nope. Now, if you named your son Zoe, that’d be weird. One of my first-cousins once-removed (that is, the child of my first cousin) is named Alonzo, after his father, but called Zoey by many in the family. I just can’t do it. No, that’s a lie. I could do it. I just refuse to. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/54 "2014-08-27T21:27:10Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Creative misspellings like former celebrity glutton Rachael [sic] Ray are bad enough, but now we need creative mispronunciations too? Bah, humbug! Eh? I’ve known multiple Rachaels, it’s a pretty old name. Sometimes the ‘creative mispronunciations’ are simply other language variants. I remember meeting a German girl called Claudia (pronounced like ‘cloudier’); almost everyone insisted on pronouncing it like the English name. Not when they’d just read it, that would be perfectly understandable, but when she introduced herself. She’d say it, and people would say a totally different word back to her like she didn’t say her own name right (“Cloudier? Oh, right, _Clawdia_!”). Drove her nuts. I also know a German Annette (pronounced Annettə) who gets just as annoyed by being called by the English variant, because… well… that’s not her name. Someone’s name is what they say it is, whatever you think it _should_ be. ---
**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 27, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/55 "2014-08-27T21:27:51Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > That’s my name. It IS pronounced Michael. How did he say it? FWIW, I’m a girl. Obama’s mother’s name is Stanley. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/56 "2014-08-27T22:11:11Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > And what the heck is a “farrowed eyebrown”? Obviously, it’s an eyebrow that has given birth to a litter of pigs. > [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > That’s my name. It IS pronounced Michael. How did he say it? He said it was **spelled** like Michael – therefore, it is Michael. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/57 "2014-08-27T22:33:26Z")
What the hell kind of name is Semi? That is a fail on so many levels. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/58 "2014-08-27T22:36:28Z")
I do Baby Story Time at my library and so I have seen every permutation of names you can think of. Here is my criteria for judging whether a name is good or not: If you can spell the name upon hearing it, or can pronounce the name upon reading it, it’s an acceptable name. The name trend that bothers me most is a deliberately quirky spelling of an entirely common name, like John spelled Dzhawn. Quirky names per se don’t bother me though. One of my favorite names I’ve encountered lately is Atlas. I like Atlas because it’s a word/character familiar to all English speakers, but not a common modern name. In general, though, I try not to get too worked up about names. I changed my own name to make me less demographically obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/59 "2014-08-27T22:36:38Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > What the hell kind of name is Semi? That is a fail on so many levels. You realize English is not the only language in the world, yes? > **[Semi - Meaning of Semi, What does Semi mean?](https://www.babynamespedia.com/meaning/Semi)** > > Meaning of Semi - What does Semi mean? Read the name meaning, origin, pronunciation, and popularity of the baby name Semi for boys. ---
**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 27, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566/60 "2014-08-27T23:27:28Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Sometimes the ‘creative mispronunciations’ are simply other language variants. Fair point, I suppose. It does seem to me, though, that when you’re in an anglophone country and insist that your name should be pronounced the same way as when you’re back home, all you’re doing is making your own life harder. My actual first name, which is Norwegian, isn’t entirely pronounceable in English. When I’m in an English-speaking country, I go by a slightly-cute diminutive version of it, which is the same as a common English-language name. It’s not really a big deal, but I’ve always been jealous of anyone who has a name which is usable in English right out of the box. I always want to smack people over the head when they insist on a native pronunciation, which just makes things more complicated again. > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > You realize English is not the only language in the world, yes? Again, a fair point. Although, in an ever more Americanized and anglophone world, I wish parents would at least check to see if their kids’ names are usable in English, or at least that they don’t sound completely silly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-pretentious-or-bizarre-names/696566.md?page=4)