# Why would you name your child this??? I don't get it... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 17, 2002, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070 "2002-04-17T03:16:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/101 "2002-04-18T08:11:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Flamsterette\_X \* > \*\* > > I think that “weird” names were fashionable among the hippies of the 60s; see my Frank Zappa reference below. (names such as God, Zowie, Sunshine, etc.)\*\* Since when is Zappa a hippie? Listen to his album _We’re Only in it for the Money_ or “We’re Turning Again” from _F. Z. Meets the Mothers of Prevention_ and then see if you think Zappa was a hippie. ---
**Author:** ![kawliga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@kawliga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kawliga)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/102 "2002-04-18T09:43:58Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by bodypoet \* **My kid-naming philosophy is to choose one weird, unique name, and pair it with a more normal name. That way, they at least have an option of using the normal one if they prefer. Thus, I have Tanner Fox…**[/QUOTE Which name is the normal one? ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/103 "2002-04-18T10:21:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sunshine \* > **So, does that mean he’ll be James Bean?** Hmm. Looks like we’ll have to call him **Jim Bean** for short. Incidentally, **Espen** is a perfectly normal Scandinavian name. **Espn** , on the other side, would appear to be an abomination before gawd. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/104 "2002-04-18T10:22:54Z")
Well, in Hungarian, “Attila” is a pretty popular name. The Huns and all that, I guess. There’s also the girl name “Dorka,” which would probably not be the best in an English-speaking environment. My girlfriend has an unusual name by English standards: “Aniko.” No, it’s not Japanese, it’s Magyar (and very common.) In college, we had a “Spirodoula,” (girls name) which we thought was so cool that we named a band after her. My friend’s son’s named “Balthazaar” and his girl is “Celeste.” Back in my neighborhood, we had a guy named “Slawek,” which we pronounced “Slavic” in English. BTW, “Ryan” doesn’t sound so bad for girl, at least not to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/105 "2002-04-18T13:18:04Z")
I’ve read this entire thread, and only one thing keeps coming back to me: Someone named their boys Peaches and Pumpkin?! ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/106 "2002-04-18T13:28:14Z")
I like the idea of when a kid is born, they’re given a first and last name. Then, at some age, they get to pick their own first name, at which point their previous one goes to the middle. I’m not sure what the age should be, though, and I’m not certain you wouldn’t end up with names like “Metallica Rules Alex Dawson”. But I think it would be a cool idea anyway…the person would get to send out cards to everyone announcing his or her new name and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/107 "2002-04-18T13:49:05Z")
I should have mentioned a couple of unfortunately-named people I knew way back when: For a while in high school, I went with a girl whose first two names were Mary and Annette. Seemingly innocuous, but put 'em together and you get “marionette”. And the worst of all: I knew a girl whose parents gave her the names **“Donny Marie”**. Guess the era in which she was born. Oh, the horror… ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/108 "2002-04-18T13:52:33Z")
WRT = with regard to ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/109 "2002-04-18T13:56:00Z")
My name in that link is part of 2 or more categories of “wrong names”. Bah, everyone who knows my name knows it is not true, there just isn’t a common name able to describe me as my name does. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lauramarlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@lauramarlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lauramarlane)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/110 "2002-04-18T14:06:46Z")
You never know the logic behind assigning names. I’ve often thought that if it hadn’t been for the eipdural I would have named my son Fourteen Inch Head. Well, that or Puxatawnee (he was born on Groundhog Day.) Thanks to the wonders of modern medicine he is proudly named George–which is his dad’s name but I tell him he’s named after the Sylvester and Abominable Snowman cartoon–where A.B. picks up Sylvester and says “I’m gonna hug him and squeeze him and name him George.” ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/111 "2002-04-18T16:08:21Z")
_Originally posted by **Flamsterette\_X** _ > [@](#): > > We probably get to hear a lot more about them, this is true. I remember hearing that Erykah Badu (an R&B singer) named her son Seven, of all things. Probably the number has certain properties, who knows? When I was a teenager I appeared in a school production of a rather depressing play called “The Barretts of Wimpole Street,” about Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s ghastly home life and life-saving romance with Robert Browning. I portrayed Elizabeth’s youngest brother, Octavius. The next eldest was Septimus, and guess how many children there were? I mean, they didn’t even have the decency of borrowing the imperial name Octavian, which at least has lineage attached. And this was mid-19th century. The other children had relatively normal names; I guess they just ran out of naming energy. Or they suspected the last two would die in childhood! ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/112 "2002-04-18T16:13:09Z")
Oh, and I almost forgot. Take a look at today’s Wall Street Journal (sorry, no links - it’s a subscription-only site): “Filipinos Pick Strange Names, Trying to Stand Out in Crowd - Hitler Manila’s Name Results From Law Limiting Surnames.” > [@](#): > > MANILA – A strange name has its unexpected advantages. “Sometimes it helps with the ladies,” says Hitler Manila, a smile flashing beneath his thick mustache. “It’s a memorable name, you know. But mostly, being called Hitler stops people mistaking me for somebody else.” > > And that is no small matter here in the Philippines. Thanks to Spain’s decision a century and a half ago to restrict its colony’s choice of surnames to a basket of generic Spanish names – and the Philippines’ lumbering, underfunded bureaucracy – Filipinos find it harder and harder to tell each other apart, particularly in the phone book." ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/113 "2002-04-18T16:59:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Charmian \* > **I think my buddy, Zoltan, has got one of my favourite names. IIRC, his parents created it by mixing two different names, from their two different ethnic heritages together.** I guess neither of his parents are of [Hungarian](http://www.babynamer.com/Content.cfm?ContentTypeID=1000&NameID=802899&BabySiteID=14735268) heritage, then. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/114 "2002-04-18T18:11:10Z")
Erykah Badu named her son (by hip hop artist Andre 3000 of Outkast) Seven because it’s a lucky number. That’s the explanation she gave. **Flamsterette\_X** , I’m intrigued by your use of the word ‘Oriental’… ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/115 "2002-04-18T19:08:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ShibbOleth \* > \*\*What’s the most unusual name any of us has actually encountered, in person? \*\* There’s a guy that used to live at my apartment complex named **Leonidas** , which I always thought would be a good Imperial-sounding name for a Space Marine. One of my best friends in high school was named Mwanza (after the lake in Tanzania). He goes by Wanz. He’s the lead singer of [The Falcon Project](http://www.idol-records.com/onesheets/ir015.htm). > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Legomancer_ > \*\*In contrast, I was in a calculus class where the other three guys sitting in my row were ALL named “Matt”. And in third grade I had to go by “Davy” because there were two other Davids in this small class and I drew the short straw of Davy. \*\* When I was in Circle K in college, we had five Jennifers:[ul][_]Jennifer “Jenny” Collins[_]Jennifer “Beers” Beers[_]Jennifer “Junior” Jessup[_]Jennifer “Postie” PostJennifer “Byrd” Byrd[/ul]None of them actually went by “Jennifer.” ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/116 "2002-04-18T20:02:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by psiekier \* > **There’s a guy that used to live at my apartment complex named Leonidas, which I always thought would be a good Imperial-sounding name for a Space Marine.** Believe it or not, I work with four men who have Leonidas as either a first or middle name. ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/117 "2002-04-18T21:41:01Z")
I just remembered: in high school, there were girls named Steinunn, Drina, Odette, and Sharmon. In elementary school, there was a kid named Kaz. Also, I remember hearing about girls called Heaven, Miracle, Noah, Phoenix, and George. There was this time I was talking to one of my friends, and she happened to mention that her father was called **Eon**. I thought that was rather odd, to say the least. The discussion of the name **Zoltan** reminds me of a guy I used to go to high school with: his name was **Zvonimir**. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Already in Use \* > \*\*Since when is Zappa a hippie? Listen to his album _We’re Only in it for the Money_ or “We’re Turning Again” from _F. Z. Meets the Mothers of Prevention_ and then see if you think Zappa was a hippie. \*\* Oops… I meant the influential counter-culture figures of the 60s, like Grace Slick and Zappa. (yes, Abbie Hoffmann counts, too) Although I’m sure that the true hippies of the 60s had some weird names for their kids, as well. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max Torque \* > \*\*For a while in high school, I went with a girl whose first two names were Mary and Annette. Seemingly innocuous, but put 'em together and you get “marionette”. \*\* That reminds me of a Family Circle article I was reading a long time ago, about what names people would give their children. Do not call your daughter **Amanda Lynn** , even though it may sound pretty… much better to change it to **Amanda Leigh**! If you put the two togetyher, they sound like “a mandolin”. :eek: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by White Lightning \* > \*\*Erykah Badu named her son (by hip hop artist Andre 3000 of Outkast) Seven because it’s a lucky number. That’s the explanation she gave. > > **Flamsterette\_X** , I’m intrigued by your use of the word ‘Oriental’… \*\* Yes, I thought it would be something along those lines. Believe me, I’m not racist, and certainly not towards memebers of my own race! 🙂 It’s just that some of the names that Hong Kong immigrants seem to choose for their children that are a bit… peculiar, shall we say? Not that the children are odd in any way, but some of the names I’ve encountered over the years sometimes make me wonder. More examples: [ul] [li]Niva (girl)[/li][li]Winkie (boy)[/li][li]Camay (girl)[/li][li]Colman (boy)[/li][li]Zion (a Biblical name, to be sure, but more suited to a place than a person, IMO) [boy][/li][li]Zen (boy)[/li][li]Ankie (girl)[/li][li]Tedmond (boy)[/li][li])Shindy (girl)[/li][li]Cinkie (girl)[/li][li]Osmond (boy)[/li][li]Wilsie (girl; my second cousin, in fact)[/li][/ul] I’m not talking about the names such as Ji Soo,. Ji Woo, Yan-Yan, Yin, etc. **Those** names are perfectly fine! Just the Chinese names, after all… And as for that link to all the weird names such as Whisper, Reality. Veal, Bologna, etc., etc., etc… … I looked, and some of these names are actually in my book! (Relaity, Unique, Sincere, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![trainwreck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/fbc32d/32.png) [@trainwreck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trainwreck)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/118 "2002-04-18T21:56:42Z")
As a young black male, I often shudder at some of the names given to young black children in the quest for uniqueness- the daycares I worked for had several “special” ones at any given time. The worst however, was a boy named “Jihad”. JC ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/119 "2002-04-18T22:17:35Z")
One of my sister’s friends is Skyanne and i used to know a Bethica, from work. ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/120 "2002-04-19T00:29:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by trainwreck \* > \*\*As a young black male, I often shudder at some of the names given to young black children in the quest for uniqueness- the daycares I worked for had several “special” ones at any given time. The worst however, was a boy named “Jihad”. > JC \*\* Definitely not the best of names, especially not now! Then again, I heard a few months ago that some mothers in the Middle East are naming their newborn babies after Osama bin Laden! (yes, even some of the girl babies) :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070.md?page=7)