# What's wrong with new or different names? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 22, 2004, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567 "2004-10-22T06:21:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/21 "2004-10-22T13:31:49Z")
I’m a subsitute teacher so I see lots of kids and their names in the grade book daily. Like **Colophon** , I hate DumbCaps (Thanks for the name!) DeEtte, LaToya, WordPerfect (oops, maybe that’s not a real name…) I also hate it when a a parent says “We’re naming her Lana but we’re going to prounounce it Lay-nay. Isn’t that cute!!!” No, lady, it isn’t cute and your kid is going to have to explain it for the rest of her life. The other way around is horrible too, torturing the spelling so a stranger struggles to pronounce it: Kortnee, Necole, and Ciarah leap to mind here. I know a Fairy, a Precious and a Princess, and none of them is appropriately named. Do some parents not think at all? The stupid name trend is nothing new, however. I’ve run across some real doozies in genealogy and the obits: Fairybelle, Dimples, Dumpling, Lotus (a man), Freelove (also a man), and Chlorine (a woman) are some I can remember off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/22 "2004-10-22T13:36:31Z")
I don’t mind all unusual names. My nephew, for instance, is named Kellan. I like that. Easy to pronounce, has a nice ring to it. Sometimes misspelled, because people like to spell it with two "e"s instead of an “e” and an “a.” I also have a niece named Elsa, a name I didn’t like at first, but now I love it. Most of my family members have gone with relatively traditional names … Seth, Sara, Peter, Joshua, Martin … you get the idea. Oh, and I really wish people wouldn’t use alternative spellings. I work at a newspaper and it’s extremely difficult to get those names spelled right when you’re dealing with Ashlei and Casie. Why not Ashley and Casey (or is it Cassie)? And then those parents call us, irate because we spelled it wrong. Excuse me? _Who_ spelled it wrong? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/23 "2004-10-22T13:38:01Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > So you object to ‘Alison’? I’m fairly sure the “son” in Alison doesn’t mean “son,” and it’s been a woman’s name since at least the _Canterbury Tales_. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/24 "2004-10-22T13:46:27Z")
As a teacher in an economically distressed area, I get a disproportionate number of kids with odd, made-up names. Possibly from years of dealing with it, they have a tendency to get huffy when their names are mispronounced. On one occasion, our assistant principal made this announcement over the PA system: “I will be calling the 9th graders to the office for scheduling in alphabetical order. If I should mispronounce your name, please go home and tell your momma she misspelled it.” What’s even worse is the growing custom of giving twins names that are pronounced identically, but mispelled differently. DaJuan and Dawan Darick and Derick Miesha and Myesha Don’t do it to your kids. It’s a form of cruelty. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/25 "2004-10-22T13:46:36Z")
As I mentioned in the “name my baby” thread, I have a name that was made up. No one ever picked on me or made fun of me because of it. Kids will most likely be picked on for something during their school years, whether they have a strange name or not. This doesn’t mean you should be cruel, or go overboard but any normal child will be fine in the long run. People probably aren’t going to make fun of McKayla or Destiny because they will have heard the name several times before and learn to get used to it. As the Destinys of the world grow up, the “flavor” of the name will change with them, just the way it changed with the Gertrudes. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/26 "2004-10-22T13:48:26Z")
> [@Cub Mistress](#): > > “We’re naming her Lana but we’re going to prounounce it Lay-nay. Isn’t that cute!!!” No, lady, it isn’t cute and your kid is going to have to explain it for the rest of her life… Not to mention fend off the advances of perverted palindromists 😃 ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/27 "2004-10-22T14:00:18Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > What’s even worse is the growing custom of giving twins names that are pronounced identically, but mispelled differently. > DaJuan and Dawan > Darick and Derick > Miesha and Myesha > > Don’t do it to your kids. It’s a form of cruelty. Say this ain’t true. I’ve got twin girls coming around New Years, and they are not getting twin names, and certainly not goofazoid mis-spelled but pronounced the same dweeb/djweed names. For the record, probably Audrey and Serena to match older sister Jacqueline. oops, should that be Oddray and Cerenei and Zhakelynne??? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/28 "2004-10-22T14:00:43Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > The younger one is Gwendolyn called Gwen. Suits us and is unusual enough to stand out. On her behalf, thank you for spelling it with a “y”. You will save her years of annoyance and having to spell out the whole thing. –gigi, aka Gwendol **e** n, whose compulsive father didn’t want any letters to fall below the line (and who hopes Gwen(dolyn) nevers becomes trendy. She and her brother Justin had unusual names as kids but now looked what’s happened) ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/29 "2004-10-22T14:26:05Z")
When I was younger, I thought giving a child a unique name would be cool, but whenever a trendy name comes along, like Madison, it spreads like wildfire and everyone has that name. I used to like the name, Hannah, but that’s growing in popularity, too. Kaitlyn is probably one of the most overused names right now. I prefer a more traditional name that stands the test of time. Hubby Bunny and I are trying to get pregnant and we’re both arguing about whose mother’s name will be the middle name. So I’ve considered using one of them as the first name. However, their names are Susan and Joan. They’re not unique, but they’re very boring names (no offense, moms). I’ve been thinking of naming a girl something prettier, like Jennifer or Heather and using both mothers’ names as the middle names, but I don’t know if that will seem too weird. Who knew picking baby names could be so difficult? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/30 "2004-10-22T14:33:11Z")
I have an unusual first name. My mother thinks she made it up from two other names. I have only heard/seen of two other people with the same first name and spelling. I have seen just a few other people with the same name but spelling variations. I go by the shortened version of the name which can be considered either male or female but I use the more feminine spelling. The nick is often assumed to be a shortened version of a different but somewhat similar and more well-known name. This more common name was known at the time because of a comedy show. The assumption that that was my name is what got me teased as a child which annoyed me to no end because that wasn’t my name. Now, most people don’t remember that show so people think my name is interesting. I’ve been back and forth on hating and liking my name. I considered changing it but I’m at the point that if I changed my name now I’d just make my nick the legal name since that is what I use all the time so I could drop the longer formal name in more official stuff. I also like my nick better since I found out it’s association with mythology. I will echo the sentiments already mentioned about names here. I think parents should really consider all aspects of the name, including what the kid will be called for short. I have heard people say “we’re not going to let anyone shorten the name” and I always wonder if they plan on following the kid around for the rest of it’s life. People, especially kids, will shorten any name that is not already short, there’s nothing you can do about it. Although some things that make a name odd can’t be helped, like the confusion about my name when I was in grade school. You never know if someone else is going to come along later and make a name famous or infamous. Parents should also consider if the initials spell something, for example Alan Simon Smith may seem a nice normal innocuous name until he has to initial something. _Please do not attempt to guess my name, I do not give it out online and I will neither confirm or deny any guesses._ ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/31 "2004-10-22T14:57:45Z")
I like the Supreme Court test and the stripper test. No stripper names for your daughters please. My SIL named her daughter after a pornstar because she liked the name. I hope she never finds out where her name comes from. > [@](#): > > First daughter is Jacqueline, buns two and three due in January are likely to be Audrey and Serena. Middle names will be Chinese. I don’t know about you but naming your kids Audrey Chinese and Serena Chinese seems a little odd 😉 BTW Anastasia may not be common but it is in no way unusual or cruel to name your child that. I like the name. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/32 "2004-10-22T15:01:10Z")
Both my wife and I agree with the sentiments previously mentioned here and we chose very traditional names for our kids, but we still wanted to do something to make their names unique. So we gave our children two middle names, the first being the name of somone in the family we admire, the second being the original last name of my dad before he was adopted. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/33 "2004-10-22T15:10:52Z")
My brother’s new baby is Broderick Ezra K. Neither are too unusual, he’s got a good normal nickname that people can spell and pronounce (Brody) and he’s got choices as to what he wants to be called when he grows up. (Broderick, Rick, Brody, Ezra, etc). I’m a Nicole, but I hate that name. I go by Niki. My middle name is a combination of my maternal and paternal grandmothers’ names. It’s unusual, and everyone thinks it’s Meredith, but it’s not. It’s got a good story, so I like it for that. Please, when picking a baby name, let the kid have a choice of nickname. I like the name Amy, but there is no good nick for it, and the girls I know named Amy hate it for that. I think too many names on a baby is a little odd… Christopher William Franklin Patrick (Patrick is the last name) is a lot of name, for anyone. Especially since his parents call him Gator. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/34 "2004-10-22T15:13:37Z")
> [@Nutty Bunny](#): > > However, their names are Susan and Joan. They’re not unique, but they’re very boring names (no offense, moms). I’ve been thinking of naming a girl something prettier, like Jennifer or Heather . . . “Susan” and “Joan” aren’t boring, they’re classic. I far prefer those to Jennifer and Heather. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/35 "2004-10-22T15:26:43Z")
Many things to chime in on… > [@](#): > > **From gigi** > On her behalf, thank you for spelling it with a “y”. You will save her years of annoyance and having to spell out the whole thing. > > –gigi, aka Gwendolen, whose compulsive father didn’t want any letters to fall below the line (and who hopes Gwen(dolyn) nevers becomes trendy. She and her brother Justin had unusual names as kids but now looked what’s happened) I can sympathize. My mom got the last vowel in my name wrong and I’m constantly having to correct things on forms that require full names (I use a short version in day to day life). > [@](#): > > **From Loach** > BTW Anastasia may not be common but it is in no way unusual or cruel to name your child that. I like the name. I worked with a girl named ‘Anastasia’ once. She called herself ‘Stacia’ pronounced ‘Stay-Sha’. Nice girl. > [@](#): > > **From FilmGeek** > I think too many names on a baby is a little odd… Christopher William Franklin Patrick (Patrick is the last name) is a lot of name, for anyone. Especially since his parents call him Gator. I have this going on. First born males in my dad’s family get the father’s and grandfather’s first names as middle names. So for me it’s MYNAME GRANDFATHERSNAME FATHERSNAME LASTNAME. Nyeh. It’s not so bad. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/36 "2004-10-22T15:37:20Z")
I have an unusual name, and I’ve always disliked it. Yes, children made fun of it. I also couldn’t get any personalized junk when I was little, which seems like such a small thing, but it made me very sad back then. I always have to spell it, and my little cross to bear is that it is similar to a shortening of two different more popular names, so everybody is always asks me, “What’s that short for?” or worse, they say, "Oh, that must be short for . . . " No. No, it’s not. But thanks for assuming. It’s enough of a part of my identity that I’d never change it. Someone once had the audacity to suggest that I really _should_ go by my (much more common) middle name, and I was offended beyond belief. But all in all I kinda wish I’d been a Jennifer or a Michelle. Or Heather. I always really liked Heather. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/37 "2004-10-22T15:49:40Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Me too. I griped in the other thread about people pronouncing “Caitlin” wrong, but that battle’s been lost as I read recently that “Kaitlyn” and variants thereof, such as “KateLynn”, was the most popular girls name in at least one year of the 1990s. I wonder if there are _any_ Caitlins outside of Ireland these days that are actually pronounced the way nature intended… There are [155 different ways to spell Caitlin.](http://www.namenerds.com/irish/Katelyn.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/38 "2004-10-22T15:50:08Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Oh, and my own personal gripe - people who decide to go back to their roots and give their children celtic names, but _don’t bother to find out the correct pronunciation_. :mad: I just hate people that give their kids Celtic names period. I am \*\*\*NOT \*\* \* one of those scary LARP or Ren Fair people, nor am I trying to “get back to my roots” – my last name’s Irish but I’m more Italian than anything – but I just happen to like a couple, very Celtic names, like Colm, Errol, Colin (my favorite), Ian, etc. But since they’re so damnably trendy, I might have to name my future son, if I am (un?)lucky enough to have one something else and I don’t like having to settle. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/39 "2004-10-22T16:14:57Z")
My son was the only Justin around when he was born 28 years ago. Now, they’re a dime a dozen. My name was made up. There’s only one other one that I know of. I suppose I should try to look that up some time. Anyway, most people seem to like it a lot. It took years for it to grow on me, but now I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/40 "2004-10-22T16:27:03Z")
> [@avabeth](#): > > Anastasia is actually on my list, but not my husband’s - he thinks the kid’ll get beaten up. I’m still working on that one - did you get a ton of flack as a kid for being named Anastasia? (I love the name because I’m a history buff, and read everything I can get my hands on that’s about the Romanovs). Nope, I got zero flack as a child, no other kids bothered me at all, and often complimented me. The only time I did get hear anythign negative about it was when I got older, and it was always much older people (50+ at least) who wondered how my parents “could do that” to me. (Also, they were always female… the men may have just kept their mouths shut, but they never said anything). > [@](#): > > I worked with a girl named ‘Anastasia’ once. She called herself ‘Stacia’ pronounced ‘Stay-Sha’. Nice girl. That’s what I go by to most friends and family, though I didn’t _choose_ it, it just stuck, only I spell it Stasia. It’s pronounced about the same, only much closer to “Anastasia” minus the “Ana”. So not quite Stay-Sha, but more like Staizha… sheesh, did that just make any sense? I don’t know how to write it, but it’s so subtle, I don’t cuss anyone else for pronouncing it like Stacia. Stayzya. Yeah, more like that one. I think. Stayzhya. MOM! :mad: The closest I ever came to someone from my own generation making fun of it was my fault anyway… I went to a booth at a giant flea market where a lady made a personalised piece of jewellery by first writing your name on a grain of rice, then putting it into a tiny bottle with other tiny trinkets and some thick liquid that magnified the bit of rice, so you could actually _see_ your name. I noticed her sign said she could write up to ten letters on the grain of rice, so I thought, “oh, yay! I can finally have something personalised!” When I told the lady my name was Anastasia, her smile didn’t falter, until she asked me to spell it. Then you could see her ticking off each letter on her fingers as she counted in her mind… “a-n-a-s-t-a-s-i-a… Oh God, that’s _nine_ letters!” I felt I had insulted her. “But your sign said up to ten…” _deep sigh_ “Yes. Yes it does. I’ll give it a try, don’t you worry.” _mutters under her breath_ “Where are all the Pats? Or Daves?” She did it, by the way, after three grains of rice. I tipped her very generously. And thanks to everyone who complimented my name. It’s not so much weird as uncommon - in all of my life, I’ve only ever met two other "Anastasia"s, and one was through the Internet. I know there are many more out there, but I’m only talking about those I met personally. The only thing that irks me now is that often when I tell someone new my name, they say “OH! Were you named after that lovely cartoon movie?” What do I look, _seven_? No wonder I still get ID’d. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567.md?page=3)