# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/61 "2004-10-23T07:44:23Z")
This spring, I had to do data entry of a few thousand people whoo came to our Minnesota precinct caucuses. Quite a range of people from various ethnicities, ages, etc. … and a wide range of name spellings. It got to be a joke between me and the people reading these names – we would try to guess the age of the person base on their name, and sometimes how it was spelled. We actually were able to do so with pretty fair accuracy on girls names. Boys names are tougher. But that this was possible does seem to indicate that certain names, or certain spellings/misspellings of names are rather ‘dated’. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/62 "2004-10-23T07:52:30Z")
> [@Ghanima](#): > > Clonika A female enema! ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/63 "2004-10-23T08:30:15Z")
The problem with exotic names is that the kid may have to go through life explaining his/her parents’ tastes (“No, that’s Lynne, with an “e” on the end”; “no, it’s Merrie, not M-a-r-y.”) (Granted what is and is not “exotic” changes from era to era.) My father’s (and his own father’s, for that matter) name was Harry; my brother is Gary, and my own first name is Larry. I think my sister is thankful she didn’t get named “Mary” (My Mom dislikes that name). It went to high school with kids named Dave, Vivian, Elaine, Roberta, Laura, Melody, Patrick, Martin, Eric, Francis, Ronald, Jo, Patte, Patti (in the same class), Jerry (boy and girl in that very same class), Steve, Gordon, Lee (girl), and Marsha. This was in the 60s–we were “baby boom” kids named by our parents shortly after World War II; they apparently didn’t show exotic tastes or a fascination for the “trendy.” ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/64 "2004-10-23T08:33:04Z")
That’s _"I_ went," not _"it_ went." :o ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/65 "2004-10-23T11:49:53Z")
Newt Gingrich is proof that naming kids weird has been around for a long time, and that having your first name mean “small, slimey amphibian” is no obstacle to a career in politics. Then there were the Mathers of pre-US colonial North America - names like “Increase Mather” and “Cotton Mather” (the latter a product of a union between the Mather and the Cotton families) My mother came from a family were everyone had elaborate, polysyllabic first and second names. In response, her children were all given short, simple names, Specifically, five letters and two syllables. Which is OK, although the Debra in the crowd has to keep telling people it’s spelled Debra and not Deborah and the Carol has to deal with people trying to make it into Carrol, Caroll, Carroll, Carole, Caroline, Carolyn, Carol Lynn, and mishearing it as Karen. I don’t care what your name is, you’re going to go through life having to spell it out, correct pronunciation, and deal with bullies who can make an insult out of anything. When I was growing up (and that was 30-40 years ago now) I was in a nieghborhood with enough foreign-origin students that names like “Hiroko”, “Hiroshi”, “Jesus” (“Heyzoos-don’t-call-me-Jeezus”), “Vladimir”, “Jadwiga” and so forth were nothing unusual, and nothing uncommon back in the countries where the kids were born. And then we had constructs like Siobhann Rodriguez and Llewellyn Chang. If the kids grow up among a lot of “unusual” names they’ll just accept those names as normal, because that’s their experience… and maybe think “Mary” and “Jonathan” are strange. I DO get annoyed when folks get huffy when I ask how their names are spelled or I ask them to repeat so I make sure I get the pronounciation correct. I _know_ your name is important to you, I’m _trying_ to get it right! And women with what have been traditionally men’s names are just going to have to cultivate a little patience with the occassional address as “Mr.”. Fact is, especially in junk mail, we _all_ get called by the wrong gender occassionally and it’s not a personal attack. That said - some things are just dumb or cruel. Like naming a kid “Satan”. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/66 "2004-10-23T13:12:57Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > My name is Christina. Perhaps you aren’t aware, but it is neither new: [Queen Christina of Sweden](http://www.windweaver.com/christina/christina.htm) nor uncommon (in 1960s when I was born it was the 75th most popular name). By the way, despite this, I have spent my life being called Christine, having my name spelled Kristine. I love my name, and like it a lot better than Christine, but its been a pain in the ass. My apologies, I didn’t mean to imply that Christina was new or uncommon. I meant to refer to it as a name which had a million\* different spellings. I was too vague. \*Possibly a slight exaggeration 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/67 "2004-10-23T13:40:41Z")
My niece recently named her baby boy Trapper. So far, I have called him “the baby.” I have a weirdly-spelled name (see user name) that I don’t particularly like. ( I wouldn’t like it spelled Brenda, either, but that is a different story.) Now I am about to open a private practice that will have to have my name prominently displayed. I can’t use B. Lastname because people will want to know if I am a man or a woman. I worry that they will think I am foreign or make assumptions based on my wierd first name. This, quite frankly, would be a good time to be named Jennifer. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/68 "2004-10-23T14:11:30Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > LOL - I’ve got a Celtic name, too. But it’s because I’m celtic 😃 > > ‘Ciarah’ is a misspelling. But of ‘Ciara’. ‘Keira’ (which I’m presuming you’re alluding to) is the real bastardisation, now presumed to be the ‘correct’ spelling by many people, thanks to Miss Knightley. > > (And it’s one of the names I was thinking of when I mentioned wrong pronunciation, after hearing an American Ciara call herself “See-ar-rah”. :dubious: It could also be a mispelling of the Italian **Chiara** - pronounced Kee-YAH-ra. Equivalent to Claire in French, or Clara in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![iwakura43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de0a6/32.png) [@iwakura43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwakura43)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/69 "2004-10-23T14:58:38Z")
What do people think of the name Lazarus? (as in, Lazarus Long, though I understand it’s a Bible reference). I think that “z” sound is the coolest. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/70 "2004-10-23T15:15:32Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > My niece recently named her baby boy Trapper. So far, I have called him “the baby.” Big _M_A_S_H fan? Ava ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/71 "2004-10-23T15:58:42Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > My apologies, I didn’t mean to imply that Christina was new or uncommon. I meant to refer to it as a name which had a million\* different spellings. I was too vague. > > \*Possibly a slight exaggeration 😃 Yep, slight exaggeration. Christina, Kristina, Cristina. Then you have to get into the odd ones I never saw anyone use until the popularity of the “random y” - Crystyna, etc. I’m the only person I’ve ever known who has gone by Xina (as in Christmas). We have a daughter Elinor. Although Eleanor is the more common spelling, Elinor is the second most common alternate and was used by Jane Austen. I have little problems with alternate spellings with some sort of track record. But the random y does bug me. I’ve spent my life spelling a fairly common version of a not uncommon name - it didn’t bug me enough to choose an alternate spelling for my daughter, but I did not go with my first choice of spellings Alienore - the medieval French version - because no one would spell or pronounce it correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/72 "2004-10-23T16:13:52Z")
**avabeth** , no, not a MASH fan, but that is what everyone thinks. The story is a little better than that. Turns out her husband (Travis) was called Trapper by his mother. His mother died young, tragically, and recently. Can’t beat that, so the name had to be something related to her. Her own name had no feminine variation, so Trapper was it. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/73 "2004-10-23T16:18:49Z")
Twin Names Oh dear OG. I would think people with twins would want to give them distinct names to make the yelling easier. “Rob, put down the cat! Dan, I said no! Rob, put down the lighter! Dan, I said no ice cream!” Change the names to “Geofrey with a g, stop painting the tv! Jeffrey with a j, do NOT give yourself a haircut!” and you’ve got exhausted parents with laryngitis Anastasia Philadelphia has a large Russian population. In many parts of the city, nobody would bat an eye. My neighborhood has Gennedys and Arkadys (both boys’ names). Rez Zayden? Never let your kid anyplace where German people are counting aloud or otherwise saying numbers. He’ll be alright with ein. Svei won’t be a problem. Drei is fine. Fir is no cause for alarm. Funf is okay. Even zeis won’t be any trouble. But, once they get to zeiben, he’ll be constantly looking around to see who’s calling his name. There will also be a problem with Jewish kids. If they call for grampa in the traditional Yiddish, your boy will think that they’re yelling his name. Of course, should he one day have a Jewish grandchild, then your son would be zeide Zayden. Lazarus You want a z in there? What about-Isaac, Isaiah, or Israel. All of these take the nickname Izzy. In fact, I was seventeen before I found out that my great grandfather’s nickname was not short for Isaac but Israel. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/74 "2004-10-23T18:43:30Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Newt Gingrich is proof that naming kids weird has been around for a long time, and that having your first name mean “small, slimey amphibian” is no obstacle to a career in politics. I’m guessing name is probably “Newton” and “Newt” is just a nickname. I know an (older) man who goes by “Newt,” but who’s really a “Newton.” ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/75 "2004-10-23T18:46:18Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > I’m guessing name is probably “Newton” and “Newt” is just a nickname. I know an (older) man who goes by “Newt,” but who’s really a “Newton.” If his mother had named him “Mudpuppy” then there’d be no question… ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/76 "2004-10-23T19:30:37Z")
Just found an amusing site: [http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/](http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/77 "2004-10-23T19:36:59Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Just found an amusing site: > > [http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/](http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/) That’s a wonderful site. Hours and hours of laughs if you have the time. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/78 "2004-10-24T05:39:05Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > ‘Ciarah’ is a misspelling. But of ‘Ciara’. ‘Keira’ (which I’m presuming you’re alluding to) is the real bastardisation, now presumed to be the ‘correct’ spelling by many people, thanks to Miss Knightley. > > (And it’s one of the names I was thinking of when I mentioned wrong pronunciation, after hearing an American Ciara call herself “See-ar-rah”. :dubious: I personally love the name Ciara, but the poor girl would have to correct people’s pronunciation for the rest of her life. If ever I have a daughter, I might name her that anyway, though, as it’s one of my all-time favorite names. My first name has been popular for many years. I think it’s declining now, but that wasn’t the case when I was a child. I was constantly in a class with several other girls named Kelly. The same with my sister, who has a very popular name as well. How is “Caitlin” supposed to be pronounced anyway? I have a cousin named Caitlyn, and that seems to be a more accepted spelling than the former. Aaron/Erin is an interesting mention. I knew a girl in high school whose name was spelled “Ayran.” ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/79 "2004-10-24T06:15:33Z")
> [@Harimad-sol](#): > > How is “Caitlin” supposed to be pronounced anyway? I have a cousin named Caitlyn, and that seems to be a more accepted spelling than the former. I could be wrong, but I always thought it originally sounded like “Kathleen”. I was raised in the Maritimes, though. We have a LOT of Irish people where I’m from, with Irish babies named “Caitlin” pronounced “Kathleen”. I’ve always pronounced it that way before any other way, though I’ve been corrected more in the past year than I have been in all my life over that particular name. The “newer” version I hear sounds like “Kate-Lynn”. I kind of like Kathleen better, since it looks “proper” to me, but that’s just how I know the name. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567/80 "2004-10-24T06:20:14Z")
Ah, it’s just been pronounced phonetically according to English rules, like Ciara as See-ar-rah. Thank you. I don’t think I’ll tell my cousin. Her eyes will just bug out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-new-or-different-names/270567.md?page=5)