And August is a not-too-uncommon man’s name.
Note that July is named after Julius, which is another man’s name.
My parents were from the deep south, the home of odd names.
My mom had a cousin named Pleas (pronounced Plez). One of my grandfathers was named Arl. My mom had a friend (girl) named William Harriet.She was named for the preacher and his wife. She also had some relative named Ocie. It was her name, not initials. My dad’s side of the family had names that were more sedate, at least in the more recent generations.
I have a great-aunt named Mildred, which isn’t unusual but the story behind it is. When she was born, the doctor didn’t like the name her parents had picked out so he picked out one he liked better and put it on her birth certificate.
For odd names I’m not related to, I knew someone named Vinyl (pronounced Vin-yell)…
I have a female ancestor named Onie. Or Oney.
Variant spellings of the same, common, name, and therefore Not Weird. Though it might be less common if the guy’s first name were Dikshit or Dikshita versus just the family name?
I know a Dieter…
For sure I know an Augustus, though do not know if he is named after Octavius or just because it sounds awesome.
Haven’t encountered a Janus or January, but it wouldn’t give me a double-take as much as Odin, Thor, or Zeus.
I once saw an obituary for a woman named Methylene. I wonder if she had a parent who was a chemist.
Somehow this SNL sketch seems apropos:
Globalization means that many names that were previously innocent, become a bit funny.
So why shouldn’t a couple with the last name Willi name their son Peter?
Parikshit was a king, so of course people will name their son after him. (Okay, he spells it Parekshit. Same pronunciation.)
And I only realized that my friend Dawn could have been named differently since her parents’ last name is Rains.
And then there’s poor Beat. Pronounced “Bay ought” in German, but most of the time, well, he’s just beat.
I know two guys in St Martin, both island natives, who go by Marvel (not pronounced like the comics). Both are named Marvellous.
I once saw an obituary for Rosie Butt.
Respectfully submitted for your approval, the late band director for the Baltimore Ravens, Harry Wacker
I know a Family name of Loser. They pronounce it Low-zsher
My wife just reminded me that she had a college classmate named Dilla Gooch.
I once saw a bus with “Fücker” painted on the side in Germany. With the umlaut over the ‘u’ I assume it’s pronounced more like Foo-ker, but it’s still pretty funny to an American.
This reminded me of a college classmate named Sleasman, invariably pronounced Sleaze-man.
On the first day of a new class, as the professor was checking off the names, he tried desperately to convince him that it was pronounced Slausman, but the prof simply could not get the imagined U that my friend was trying to add.
I had relatives with the last name of “Ennema”. A good netherlander surname, but they altered it to “Ennette” after moving to the US.
If you want to go there, not weird but there are Dutch Wierdas. Also I know some people who are not so weird but certainly Odd.
That reminds me of my stint as executive director of a business association, during which time I encountered many names that I suspect the possessors and their families found perfectly unremarkable, but which to my ear sounded almost aggressively ugly.
I’m guessing it was just a culture clash: my preppie snobbery was running up against the homey South. But I was constantly amazed at the names. You can’t help what your last name is, but surely your parents should have tried to pair it with a first name that sounds as pleasing to the ear as possible.
The names were - and I am inventing all of them, but they are good representations - grating on the ear: Darryl Groat. Boyd Flink. Pardell Scrugg.
Please say he has a wife, sister or daughter named Patti.
Years ago, I ran across a citation to a book or paper written by someone named Fucks. I don’t remember even the subject of the book I saw it in, but the work referenced was written in German. At some later time, I mantioned this in an online discussion (on USENET, IIRC) and some guy refused to believe it. Apparently he couldn’t understand that Fucks is not a taboo word in another language.
Thirty-odd years ago, there was (and may still be) a large sign visible from the autobahn near Stuttgart. It was a heart-shaped logo with ASS written on it. It looked a lot like the logo on some playing cards I bought there and indeed there is a company with that acronym that makes them.
As a pharmacist, I thought this was hilarious. 99% of the population just plain old wouldn’t have gotten it.