[QUOTE=acsenray]
I’m still curious about how “Anastasia” got into the original list. I’m really not trying to be jerkish, diggleblop, but I’d really like to know what you thought was so outlandish about “Anastasia” even to the extent of labeling it “no joke.”
[/QUOTE]
Me too. It was the only name I actually recognized.
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
It was popular around here (Chicago) for a while to mix the mother and father’s first names to produce a baby name. It’s still done, as far as I can tell, especially with girls.
Sherri + Andre = Shandre or Shandray or Andrie
Michelle + Tony = M’Toni, Tonshelle, T’shelle, Mishtona
[/QUOTE]
<Hijack>I had a friend who loved this notion, and wished that her parent had done this with her. Then she worked out what the options were and was less enthused. Her mom was named Cathy and her dad was named Phil, so she would have been called Cattle or Filthy. </Hijack>
[QUOTE=pulykamell]
That chapter in Freakonomics grated on me. “Orangelo” is a real name, but the story of twins being named Lemonjello (leh-MON-jeh-low) and Orangelo (oh-RAHN-jelh-low) seems to be apocryphal. Same with the “Shithead” (shih-THEAD) story. I’ve read and heard many accounts of people supposedly going to school with Lemonjello and Oranjello, yet nobody has any real evidence, like say a yearbook or graduation program, proving such a thing. And the “Shithead” story I’ve heard from various nurses or people related to nurses that I think there’s either a huge spike in kids being named “Shithead” these days or, more likely, that this is an urban legend. Sure smells like one.
Somewhere else I remember hearing that “Shithead” is a common Indian name, or something like that, but I fail to find any evidence for that, so I’m a bit :dubious: on that explanation, too.
At any rate, I’m willing to believe these stories, but it sure has the stink of urban legend about it.
[/QUOTE]
I personally know a Chinese woman named Shi Ting. She goes by an English name in the states. If you want proof, PM me.
[QUOTE=Offkenter]
<Hijack>I had a friend who loved this notion, and wished that her parent had done this with her. Then she worked out what the options were and was less enthused. Her mom was named Cathy and her dad was named Phil, so she would have been called Cattle or Filthy. </Hijack>
[/QUOTE]
I get Filthy, but Cattle seems less obvious than Cail. Cail actually sounds pretty. Hell, it could even be Catil (KAY-till). Or Cathil.
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
I can, and should, have the right to eliminate candidates for any non-protected class reason I want,.
[/QUOTE]
And if you were a corporation of any size you would get sued and lose a lot of money. What next, will you eliminate people on hair style (curly is in, straight is out), but not on race, and presume that will somehow protect you from the accusation that you are, in fact, discriminating upon race? Or reject applicants from a certain zip code (again, not a protected class, but if you pick the right zip codes, you’re headed for Losing a Big Law Suit City)?
The effect (and probably intention) of discriminating based upon name is to discriminate based upon race.
[QUOTE=acsenray]
I’m still curious about how “Anastasia” got into the original list. I’m really not trying to be jerkish, diggleblop, but I’d really like to know what you thought was so outlandish about “Anastasia” even to the extent of labeling it “no joke.”
[/QUOTE]
It’s the same exact reason that, in the past, people were baffled when meeting me, a white Natasha, after only having seen my name on paper. There are a lot of people in black [and Hispanic] communities that like certain ethnic names, and in some areas, they’re more widely used by black [or Hispanic] minorities than the members of the [non-Hispanic] white population. Until a few years back, I was the only white Natasha that I’d ever met; then again, the area I grew up in did not have too many people of Slavic heritage, and Natalie/Natalia was a lot more popular.
The reason I found the name Anastasia so amusing was because it’s the name of a cartoon movie. That’s all. Don’t look into it so hard. 
I think I might name my next son, Aladdin.
[QUOTE=diggleblop]
The reason I found the name Anastasia so amusing was because it’s the name of a cartoon movie.
[/QUOTE]
That movie was based on a real person though.
[QUOTE=hajario]
That movie was based on a real person though.
[/QUOTE]
Sort of ;).
But, yeah Diggleblop, the name Anastasia does date back a long, long time before the cartoon. The bemusement arises because unlike the others you cited, it is not of recent construction ( there was a late Roman emperor named Anastasius ) and probably most have never associated it primarily with American blacks. It’s really more a Russian thing.
No big deal, you’ve obviously missed running into it in other contexts somehow. Just your “no joke” probably took a lot of people by surprise, because I suspect most wouldn’t consider it any more exotic than ‘Amelia’.
[QUOTE=threemae]
And if you were a corporation of any size you would get sued and lose a lot of money. What next, will you eliminate people on hair style (curly is in, straight is out), but not on race, and presume that will somehow protect you from the accusation that you are, in fact, discriminating upon race? Or reject applicants from a certain zip code (again, not a protected class, but if you pick the right zip codes, you’re headed for Losing a Big Law Suit City)?
The effect (and probably intention) of discriminating based upon name is to discriminate based upon race.
[/QUOTE]
[Moderating]
Please see my instructions in post #95. If you want to discuss discrimination based on names, please start a thread in another forum. This thread should focus on discussion of the names themselves.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
[QUOTE=diggleblop]
The reason I found the name Anastasia so amusing was because it’s the name of a cartoon movie.
[/QUOTE]
I think my brain just broke in half.
[QUOTE=Slypork]
[…] She also taught Urethra, Vulva, Placenta, BB (for Baby Boy) and Barbital. The mothers were all teen mothers, high school dropouts from some of the worst parts of the city and chose names that they heard in the hospital, except for BB whose mother thought that the hospital had already named him.
[/QUOTE]
I would have thought that the hospital staff would have attempted to prevent those things. Doesn’t the staff prepare the forms, and the physician signs the birth certificate?
[QUOTE=Colibri]
[Moderating]
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
[/QUOTE]
My apologies, I should have previewed more closely through the rest of the thread.
[QUOTE=pulykamell]
I’ve read and heard many accounts of people supposedly going to school with Lemonjello and Oranjello, yet nobody has any real evidence, like say a yearbook or graduation program, proving such a thing.
[/QUOTE]
There’s always room for Jello. From the Social Security Death Index:
For the curious, Jell-O has been a national brand since 1902.
[QUOTE=diggleblop]
The reason I found the name Anastasia so amusing was because it’s the name of a cartoon movie. That’s all. Don’t look into it so hard. 
I think I might name my next son, Aladdin.
[/QUOTE]
Based on the legend of the REAL Grand Duchess supposedly surviving the murder of her and her family. (Which turned out to be bullshit)
We’re trying to tell you to do some research. And yes, we’re “looking into it hard.” After the Aladdin crack…
sigh
[QUOTE=nashiitashii]
It’s the same exact reason that, in the past, people were baffled when meeting me, a white Natasha, after only having seen my name on paper. There are a lot of people in black [and Hispanic] communities that like certain ethnic names, and in some areas, they’re more widely used by black [or Hispanic] minorities than the members of the [non-Hispanic] white population. Until a few years back, I was the only white Natasha that I’d ever met; then again, the area I grew up in did not have too many people of Slavic heritage, and Natalie/Natalia was a lot more popular.
[/QUOTE]
I’ve known several Natashas, all of them white. Most of them were from Canada, oddly. I don’t think I’ve ever met a black Natasha…
[QUOTE=Slypork]
From what I have seen and heard from family members who teach in the inner city and from my own experiences the majority of these names give no attempt at a meaning or a traditional nature but are merely words that sound good. My mother taught a pre-k special ed student and every time she received a note from his mother the name was spelt differently: Trwan, Tywon, Thrawon, etc. My mother finally asked her how to pronounce his name. She told my mother that she had seen that name on a shoebox and it sounded pretty but she couldn’t remember how to spell it. His name was pronounced Taiwan. She also taught Urethra, Vulva, Placenta, BB (for Baby Boy) and Barbital. The mothers were all teen mothers, high school dropouts from some of the worst parts of the city and chose names that they heard in the hospital, except for BB whose mother thought that the hospital had already named him.
[/QUOTE]
These kinds of stories always sound true, but very seldom are. snopes on Funny Names
[QUOTE=ragerdude]
I would have thought that the hospital staff would have attempted to prevent those things. Doesn’t the staff prepare the forms, and the physician signs the birth certificate?
[/QUOTE]
Hospital staff don’t have veto power over naming. In any case, there’s no standardized procedure in the United States for the preparation of birth certificates.
[QUOTE=diggleblop]
The reason I found the name Anastasia so amusing was because it’s the name of a cartoon movie. That’s all. Don’t look into it so hard. I think I might name my next son, Aladdin.
[/QUOTE]
Hmmm … so … the following names are laughable?
Alice (in Wonderland)
Peter (Pan)
Rudolph (the Red-Nosed Reindeer)
Jack (and the Beanstalk)
Charlie (Brown)
Charlotte ('s Web)
Robin (Hood)
Oliver (Twist)
Heathcliff
Garfield
… Anastasia is hardly different from any of these named.
[QUOTE=acsenray]
Hmmm … so … the following names are laughable?
Alice (in Wonderland)
Peter (Pan)
Rudolph (the Red-Nosed Reindeer)
Jack (and the Beanstalk)
Charlie (Brown)
Charlotte ('s Web)
Robin (Hood)
Oliver (Twist)
Heathcliff
Garfield
… Anastasia is hardly different from any of these named.
[/QUOTE]
If you think Anastasia is no different than plain old Charlie or Jack or Robin, you obviously don’t understand exotic names. I can guarantee you that there are millions more people named Charlie than there are Anastasia in the world. I would ask you how many people named Anastasia you know personally as opposed to someone on your list, but my guess is that you’re the type that likes to argue and would naturally come up with an answer similar to “well, my cousin is named Anastasia, so take that” type of person.
Have a good rest of your Sunday. 
Thanks to the rest of you guys. And for those saying I should do some research, I knew about the story and the movie before I said anything. I also knew it was a crock, so that’s why I said that someone naming their child Anastasia was kinda cruel in a funny way.