# What responsibility does an obstetric worker have... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 20, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-responsibility-does-an-obstetric-worker-have/622531 "2012-05-20T18:49:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-responsibility-does-an-obstetric-worker-have/622531/41 "2012-05-21T19:29:35Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I opted to battle about demonstrably important things, like getting the damn kids vaccinated. Valid point. Um, not that it’s the ONLY one in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-responsibility-does-an-obstetric-worker-have/622531/42 "2012-05-21T20:50:12Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > And Fucktong means pumpkin in Thai. I’d have no issues with anyone calling their daughter pumpkin, but would it be ok for a parent in Chicago to name their little girl Fucktong? I think that borders on child abuse. Yes, it would if they are Thai and/or the name means something to them. I am not sure why it wouldn’t be. And if you think that is child abuse, you have no idea what the term means. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-responsibility-does-an-obstetric-worker-have/622531/43 "2012-05-21T21:46:55Z")
An orthodox Jewish person I know in New York named one of his sons Shabi, short for Shabtai. In English it sounds just like “shabby”, and one would think it would be the perfect name for teasing. But he goes to an entirely Jewish school where all the kids have names like his, so he doesn’t get teased at all. So it’s all in the context. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-responsibility-does-an-obstetric-worker-have/622531/44 "2012-05-21T22:08:14Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > And in northern Nigeria, “Zachary” is the local word for penis. So what? I am so going to name my first male child Zachary. > [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > And Fucktong means pumpkin in Thai. I’d have no issues with anyone calling their daughter pumpkin, but would it be ok for a parent in Chicago to name their little girl Fucktong? I think that borders on child abuse. And now I have a name for my first female child. ---
**Author:** ![dngnb8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@dngnb8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dngnb8)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-responsibility-does-an-obstetric-worker-have/622531/45 "2012-05-21T22:23:57Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > …to keep parents from giving their children idiotic names? Case in point: Last night a 12-year-old boy named [Nazia Banks](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-12yearold-shot-killed-on-south-side-20120519,0,2162408.story) was murdered on the South Side of Chicago. No thought was given by his parents of his being mentioned on the news, whether as a victim of a shooting or as a recipient of a Nobel Prize, and whoever filled out his birth certificate did not stop and ask, “You want to name him ‘Nausea?’” \* > > Does that seem right to you? Or should nurses just make sure they have the spelling correct, allowing the child to be cast defenseless into a lifetime of people making fun of his name, even after his murder? And do none of these people know that Nazia is a [girl name?](http://www.google.com/webhp?rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS469US469&sourceid=chrome-instant&ix=sea&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS469US469&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=nazia&oq=&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=&pbx=1&fp=e98779a6a837fd4e&ix=sea&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1024&bih=677) > > - > - “Nazia” and “nausea” are pronounced much the same way in Chicago. I remember I had a client called Candice Cane. Yes, she went by Candy. I just figure mom and dad are smoking a blunt during the naming of their kids. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-responsibility-does-an-obstetric-worker-have/622531/46 "2012-05-21T22:34:51Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > And in northern Nigeria, “Zachary” is the local word for penis. So what? Well, then if I lived in northern Nigeria, I wouldn’t name my son Zachary. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-responsibility-does-an-obstetric-worker-have/622531/47 "2012-05-21T22:56:14Z")
There was a kid in my high chool named Fok-Yan. Yes, it was pronounced “Fuck-yan,” or damned close to it. Nobody really seemed to care. The sound just doesn’t have the same effect in a different context. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-responsibility-does-an-obstetric-worker-have/622531/48 "2012-05-21T23:33:12Z")
I was given then most common first name of that year, which rhymes with nothing and has no unpleasant implications, and a last name that is a simple noun that most people find pretty, and once again has nothing unpleasant associated with it. I got fun of for my name relentlessly in childhood. There is no way to choose a name that is foolproof. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > Well, then if I lived in northern Nigeria, I wouldn’t name my son Zachary. Your kid might very well end up there anyway. Every few years, like clockwork, Peace Corps sends a Zachary or two to a Fulfulde-speaking area (or an Andy, which means boobies, or a Maya, which means looming death…) Generally, they use a nickname or adopt a local name. It’s not a huge deal. Again, there is no surefire way to choose a name that will never be a burden. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-responsibility-does-an-obstetric-worker-have/622531/49 "2012-05-22T00:56:01Z")
> [@dngnb8](#): > > I remember I had a client called Candice Cane. > > Yes, she went by Candy. > > I just figure mom and dad are smoking a blunt during the naming of their kids. I knew a Candace Kane. She was a high school student at the time, worked at a store I managed. She would go ballistic if you called her Candy. I knew her mother as well. Complete idiot. I mean dimwitted in the extreme. Had absolutely no idea what the joke was in her daughter’s name. Kid went to college, community college, but still for that neighborhood she was doing really well. I just googled Candace Kane and found 17 LinkedIn profiles. Including hers. Looks like she is doing okay professionally. I’m hoping most of the other 16 married into the name. Even so I would have kept my maiden name. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-responsibility-does-an-obstetric-worker-have/622531/50 "2012-05-22T01:02:08Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Your kid might very well end up there anyway. Every few years, like clockwork, Peace Corps sends a Zachary or two to a Fulfulde-speaking area (or an Andy, which means boobies, or a Maya, which means looming death…) Generally, they use a nickname or adopt a local name. It’s not a huge deal. > > Again, there is no surefire way to choose a name that will never be a burden. Well there is a difference between naming your child something that has a tiny possibility of being embarrassing and giving a name that would almost certainly be embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-responsibility-does-an-obstetric-worker-have/622531/51 "2012-05-22T01:22:59Z")
Well, if **I** ever have kids, I’ll name 'em something safely Biblical . . . Jezebel, Judas, Cain, Caiaphas . . . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-responsibility-does-an-obstetric-worker-have/622531.md?page=2)