# Weirdest names you've ever heard **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 19, 2020, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747 "2020-07-19T12:05:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2020, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/302 "2020-12-24T20:24:21Z")
Political pundit Molly Jong-Fast is the daughter of author Erica Jong and the granddaughter of historian Howard Fast. She is married to professor Matthew Greenfield. Their son is named Max Jongfast-Greenfield. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/303 "2020-12-25T04:28:10Z")
**Increase Clapp**. Saw it on a gravestone. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2020, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/304 "2020-12-25T15:11:20Z")
One I just recently learned: Thurgood Marshall’s original name was **Thoroughgood** Marshall. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2020, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/305 "2020-12-25T18:17:15Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Molly Jong-Fast is the daughter of author Erica Jong and the granddaughter of historian Howard Fast. She is married to professor Matthew Greenfield. Their son is named Max Jongfast-Greenfield. I’m all for hyphenated names, but they can get out of hand pretty quick. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/306 "2021-01-04T04:01:48Z")
Which reminds me of the town of [Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Louis-du-Ha!_Ha!) in Quebec. 🙂 ---
**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:** [January 4, 2021, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/307 "2021-01-04T19:46:11Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > This is nothing much by the standards of the thread, but there’s a moderately well known Victorian era book called Flatland, written by one Edwin A. Abbott. > > I just now discovered that the A stands for … Abbott! > > [Edwin Abbott Abbott](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Abbott_Abbott) Then there’s the famous mathematician, Bernard B Mandelbrot. His middle initial (he claimed) stood for “Bernard B Mandelbrot.” ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/308 "2021-01-04T20:34:37Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Then there’s the famous mathematician, Bernard B Mandelbrot. His middle initial (he claimed) stood for “Bernard B Mandelbrot.” That’s hilarious. Really. On the other hand, he used the name Benoit B. Mandelbrot. But maybe he was born Bernard and changed it to Benoit when he was growing up in France. Doesn’t change the story though. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/309 "2021-01-04T20:40:19Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > > Then there’s the famous mathematician, Bernard B Mandelbrot. His middle initial (he claimed) stood for “Bernard B Mandelbrot.” > > On the other hand, he used the name Benoit B. Mandelbrot. But maybe he was born Bernard and changed it to Benoit when he was growing up in France. Doesn’t change the story though. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/310 "2021-01-04T23:02:21Z")
In high school football, I had 4 teammates last names which became our rallying cry for the year(s). Because no administrator could really get us in trouble for just using our teammates’ names in our cheer. They were chanted as “the law office of: Young Stiff Cox & Bush” I will omit their first names to prevent that meme from continuing to plague them in adulthood. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/311 "2021-01-04T23:30:20Z")
I once knew a guy, Laotian I think, named Phuc. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/312 "2021-01-05T03:21:46Z")
If I have failed to mention the famous Johns Hopkins pathologist Arthur Purdy Stout in this thread, I apologize for the omission. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2021, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/313 "2021-01-06T00:28:11Z")
Myrtle Scrupnuck (Someone from my wife’s side of the family) I. Quentin Duck (Sounds like someone taking an oath) Clarence P. Gnau (The last name is pronounced “now”) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2021, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/314 "2021-01-06T00:42:44Z")
I just remembered former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, whose name does sound like a cartoon character. Then, while skimming Frankfurter’s Wikipedia article, I discovered another awesome name: judge and legal scholar [Learned Hand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_Hand). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/315 "2021-01-09T05:43:53Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I once knew a guy, Laotian I think, named Phuc. That’s a Vietnamese name. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/316 "2021-01-11T16:58:23Z")
A few of my relatives’ relatives, as recorded on [Ancestry.com](http://Ancestry.com): Lumina Liberty Experience Paine (born c. 1700, when Puritan names were in vogue. Her sisters included Temperance and Reliance). My favorite, though, is probably Florence Bowling, who married a Mr. Ball. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/317 "2021-01-11T17:07:18Z")
I worked with a guy whose first name was “M2”. I’m not sure if that was his real legal name or just an affectation. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/318 "2021-01-17T06:16:20Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > Experience Paine (born c. 1700, when Puritan names were in vogue. Her sisters included Temperance and Reliance). If she lived today, it would be a given that she would become a dominatrix. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/319 "2021-01-17T19:22:27Z")
My ex wife knew a Candy Dish when she was growing up, and her mother (my mother in law) worked with a woman named Spring Greene, though she married into that surname. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/320 "2021-01-17T19:32:08Z")
My parents’ social circle has always largely consisted of the people with whom they play bridge. When we moved to Wisconsin in the mid '70s, they joined a bridge club there; one of the other couples in the group had the last name Buob (pronounced “boob”) – that was hilarious enough of a name to a 10 year old like me. But, then, I learned that Mrs. Buob’s maiden name was “Chickie,” and I wished that she had hyphenated her name when she had married Mr. Buob, because “Chickie-Buob” would have been an incredible name. Another couple in that same bridge club had the last name “Wahl” (pronounced “Wall”), and they had a son, Brick Wahl. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747/321 "2021-01-18T03:03:38Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > > > > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > > > > > I’d never make that connection just by hearing the name on its own. > > > > It’s more along the lines of eating/eaten peters. Sophmoric humer. > > I still don’t get it. It’s starting to sound like a stretch to me. Very late reply, but I apparently missed this thread the first time around. “Edie” (/ˈiːdi/ or /ˈiːdɪ/) and “eating” (/iːdiŋ/ or /iːdɪŋ/) differ by only the /ŋ/ sound in many (or even most) American dialects, and that final consonant often gets deemphasized (reduced in volume) or even completely elided in fast speech. I admit it took me a minute, as I initially read it as Eddie (/ˈɛ.di/ or /ˈɛ.dɪ/) instead of Edie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-names-youve-ever-heard/915747.md?page=17)