One of my grandmothers was named Ophelia – a good Shakespearean name, I always thought.
I had an aunt named Juquillian (pronounced juh-QWILL-yan.) That’s one of the most unusual names I’ve come across. I think someone looked sideways at the name “Jacqueline” or something.
My dad and brother both have the middle name Clemoth.
I was going to be Mary Louise Ethel Elsie LastName. Thank you dad, for picking my real first name. ML and EE are my grandmothers’ names. I ended up with the middle name Mareth. (mar-y eth-el)
Mary Louise (my maternal grandmother) always went by Mickey.
Her sister Genevieve went by Pete.
Her brother had the given name Chubby.
Her husband was Harold, but he went by Sox.
Their son was also Harold, but he went by Wally.
We don’t have a lot of weird names, but a lot of weird nicknames.
My friend’s family had a new baby they named Walter Pendragon LastName. How’d you like to grow up as Walter Pendragon?
My real given first name is Ayla. I haven’t used it in decades.
My SIL is Synni Katrix. She goes by Sue.
Mom’s name was Rozelda. My grandmother was named Almeda at birth, but she was known as Osa all her life and eventually had her name legally changed. Husband’s grandmother was Cecil May.
Other names that have popped up when researching family history:
Alonzo
Anderson
Jeptha
Ogle
Major
Mom got creative for the WWII births of her kids, and named them after family members who were fighting overseas. My brother’s name wasn’t so outlandish, but my sister was named Laurenda. (Submitted because it’s so unusual - we’ve only encountered a few others, and none spelled the same way - and not because I think it’s hideous. I like it.)
My mom had 9 siblings. She was one of the first ones so her name was pretty normal. Her sisters, Octavia and Zelma weren’t so lucky. Their mother’s name
was Zinia.
Then there’s the “Texas City Names”, that keep popping up in both my family and my husband’s family. Houston and Austin. Neither family has a Texas origin.
Let’s see…
on my Dad’s side there is my grandfather: Wade Hampton B. who went by “Hamp” - his son Wade Hampton Jr who went by “Wade” - his son WH III who goes by “Hamp” and the IV who is called “Wade.”
Another brother wsa named Stratton Worth B. - Stratton was my grandmother’s maiden name. He goes by “Strat.” Of course his son is a junior- called Worth.
My Dad got lucky and got away with Jack Houston B. He is called “Jack,” and his son, my brother, is of course a junior, too. No, he doesn’t go by “Houston!” All the kids have broken the pattern - some by not having children at all!
On my Mom’s side - my mom was named Dorothy Enola R. - but it wasn’t that weird I guess, if you think about the era. (For you youngsters, the Enola Gay was the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima in WWII.)
I had an aunt named Verda, too.
That’s all I can think of.
My grandmother and her sisters (all born in rural North Carolina in the 1910/20s) were:
Celestial (nicknamed Leck)
Sophronia (nicknamed Froney)
Eunice (Who the hell names a baby Eunice? Why did my poor sainted grandma get such an ugly name?)
Millie Gray
My husband’s grandmother was named Wava. Her married name was Barefoot. Put together they sound like a bizarre Simon Says command: wave a bare foot.
On my father’s side of the family tree, about a century and a half ago, there was a woman named Snowy Belle.
My grandpa was named Valentine.
My husband has an uncle named Lemoine and a cousin named Lemoine Jr.
The rest of the family has very normal names.
When I was in the 5th grade, we were asked to do a family tree. I was born in Illinois, but my father was from the Tennessee. We had several unusual names on the tree to say the least. When I brought the family tree in, my teacher had to comment loudly and give me the oddest look when she came out and said “What kind of name is Pettibone”? This was my grandfathers name on my dads side. As a 5th grade girl, I will never forget how that teacher made me feel. Embarrassed, because I didn’t feel I had a “normal family tree”. I was so ashamed. I get mad to this day when I think about how she made me felt. No kid should ever be made to feel that way in a learning environment.
The limericks just write themselves, don’t they?
My husband’s grandmother’s first name was Cupola, no middle name either.
My best friend’s brother, the 13th child born to her parents, was Justanother McCoy, Justin for short.
“Louisiana Talitha Cumi Cotton”
Actually, it’s surprising how many girls were named Talitha Cumi/Cume/Kumi. I named a poem that, does that count?
Weird names in my family take some digging, but one pair of my ancestors were named Blazius and Walaburga. I can deal with Blazius, but Walaburga?
Considering how enormous my family is (over 100 first cousins), it’s surprising how few unusual names we’ve got. I have a cousin Dismas. That’s about as weird as it got.
my 3 week old nephew is named Baylor.
Neither parent attended the University.
We are having a child in early August, and we are naming him Nathan Kane K___________(Last Name)…I think it works pretty well!!
All this talk about ancestral names had really got me interested in finally putting together my own family tree, just to find the weirdos. 
So, you’re avoiding naming him after the biblical Cain who killed his brother, but naming him after a pro wrestler who buried his brother alive. Or is it a nod to the “flamboyant” actor Nathan Lane? Don’t hit me! I’m just kidding! Congratulations on the coming arrival. (Please, stop hitting me.)
I knew a girl in elementary school named Angel. That’s not a bad name, IMO. The girl in question, however, was possibly the most precocious girl in school, always getting into trouble. I don’t know if that had anything to do with her name though; if her parents jinxed it when they named her.
Anyhoo…
I wanted Kane to be his first name, but the wife wasn’t having any of that!(Not even with the "alternate"spelling!)
P.S…There is no hitting going on here …No “flamboyancy” either!!!
Well I can’t compete with some of you folks, but I did have a grandmother named Myrtle, which I always thought was a rather poor name ( 'course her poor parents produced twelve offspring - they may have been forced to start scraping the bottom of the barrel of family names ).
My paternal grandmother was born Goldie, but actually changed it to Gertrude. We have no idea why, and we have no idea whether she ever changed it officially. But then that entire side of the family is somewhat of a genealogical disaster.
Can we count Hebrew naems? Many Jewish kids are also given a Hebrew name at birth. Mine is Biblical, which is handy because then there’s always a direct Hebrew translation. (The Hbree name usually has some linguistic relationship to the English name.)
But my sister? Her English name is Julie, but her Hebrew name is Sheindelminke. I have absolutely no idea where Mom got that one from.
I asked my parents today if there were any “different” names in our family tree, but they couldn’t think of any off hand. I did remember to ask my father (Carl, twin of Carol) what his brother’s real name was. Beverly [sic]. But everyone called him Buddy. He eventually changed his name to Joe. (Legally or just casually, I’m not sure.)
My cousin had a friend name with the Hebrew name of Hyman. I’m sure more than a few jokes were cracked at his expense in junior high. Isn’t that Krusty the Clown’s first name?
By the way, would anyone care to post some links to some really good name websites - for both given names and family names - with detailed definitions and etymologies? Lexicology and onomastics and what not? (I used to have a handful of links, but forgot to save them to my Yahoo! homepage, and have since had to reinstall my OS.)
Anyhoo…