What's the most hideous given name in your family?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Inspired by another GQ thread I just posted, I’m curious: what are some of the names in your family that you’d never give to a child of your own? (I think that Southerners [like myself] have an unfair advantage in this one since some of the names of our 19th and early 20th century ancestresses in particular set pretty high beams in “bad nomenclature”.) Please don’t feel obligated to give your surname if you’d rather keep it secret.

From my family (all of these are, I swear to Gawd, actual names- surname an initial):

Male:

Judieth Tresvant R. (called “Trez”)

Herman Ballou S.

Cooter G. (it was his name, not his nickname)
Female:

Zulimer (maternal grandmother)

Louisiana Talitha Cumi Cotton (paternal great-grandmother)

Lou-Ida Raylene D.

Paralee (this name appeared several times in my mother’s family)

Rhoda Lavinia C. (great-grandmother)

Sybil Morgan M. (my paternal grandmother- either name by itself isn’t bad, but both names mean “witch”, and neither could have been more accurate)

Maryalice Joellen M. (cousin: very odd that you find two double names together)

2

And how could I forget my grandmother Zulimer’s baby sister?

Meridian

3

Mine; James Effenger R. My dad and grandfather, Effenger James R. I was supposed to be the third, but my mom switched them. (Thanks mom! :slight_smile: )

4

I have a cousin in Scotland who named his son Wayne (don’t know why), anyhoo is Scotland people use the word wean when referring to a child (it’s pronounced wayne), we thought it strange [till we copped on] that the child was three and didn’t have a name …

5

My ancestress, Mehitabel. Grandma’s sister, Jacomina. I also have ancestresses named Geukin, Geeskin, Enneken, and one ancestor named Fridfrod.

And this is in GQ because…?

6

My grandmother, Qadgop’s mother-in-law, Villa Jean (Lastname). At least, I think that’s how you spell her real first name. I have the feeling she’d disembowl anyone who tried to use it, so I haven’t been exposed to it much.

Villa. Sheesh.

7

Off to MPSIMS.

DrMatrix - GQ Moderator

8

Paternal grandfather’s middle name: Roscoe. My aunt’s sister is named Dorkus. Apparently it’s a Biblical name.

9

You sure it’s not spelled “Dorcas”? Because that actually is a Biblical name.

10

My maternal grandmother’s name is Gertrude. We call her Frances, which is her middle name.

My paternal grandfather’s name is Klaus. Ptooie.

11

Mine…
Banks

12

A distant cousin of mine is named Cain. Poor kid, he’s only five or six.

13

I have an Aunt Bernice.

14

My (now deceased) paternal grandmother was Maurice Tutwiler. First and middle name. Maurice was not known as a woman’s name back then (and probably not much since then, either), and my dad always said that they didn’t want a girl, even though they already had five boys.

While Tutwiler is a very well known, historical name here, sadly she was no kin to them. Her mother was close friends to a Tutwiler growing up, and named her only daughter after that family. Heh…didn’t hurt when she was being courted, though…every man in that part of the state thought she was “A” Tutwiler (synonymous then with money and status). Joke was on them, though!

Before I was born, my parents toyed with the idea of naming me Janie Maurice. (Both grandmothers) I am glad they sobered up before they did.

15

I realize the connotations with that name, but I really like it! Wonder if it is a family name, and no one thought about the biblical (and Poltergeist movie, albeit a different spelling) associations?

Still a cool name, though!

16

My great-grandmother was named Birdella - people called her Birdie.

17

My great-great grandmother’s name was Perfilia, which was passed down two more generations as middle names.

My great-grandmother was Syble Perfilia.

Her children were named Billie(f), Ena(f), Ardis(m) and Tiffin(m) - Tiffin also being a family name.

18

My grandpa’s name was Elmer Burdette. My dad’s middle name is Burdette, and his sister’s middle name is Burdetta.

!!

19

I actually like some of the names mentioned in this thread, I think it would be nice to have an uncommon name. Then again, what do I know? My own name is stupidly popular.

The worst name in my family is my cousin Deirdre. I have no problem with the name Deirdre, the trouble is in the fact that her mother read it somewhere and had NO IDEA how to pronounce it. They went with a “sounding it out” sort of thing, so saying her name mostly sounds like grunting. I have a personal grudge about this because I once had to read a passage aloud in school that featured a character named Deirdre, and of course I grunted my way through it and was mocked by teacher and fellow students alike.

20

My mother had a great-aunt named Thusnelda (pronounced THOOZ-nel-da). I first encountered the name in an old address book and refused to believe any parents would saddle their kid with that moniker, but Mom assured me that “Aunt Thusie” (yes, like “Susie” with a lisp) indeed bore that appellation.