# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/141 "2002-04-19T07:17:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Flamsterette\_X \* > \*\*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. > \*\* Any chance it was Ian? ---
**Author:** ![robinc308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@robinc308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinc308)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/142 "2002-04-19T08:06:37Z")
I went to school with a _girl_ called Michael. I have a cousin called Lafcadio. I know a little boy called Stormy Blue with surname Ocean. I remember when my mum was pregnant with my little sister, my brother, who was 4 at the time, suggested we call her Safeway if she was a boy, and K-mart if she was a girl. All things considered she was lucky to get Anna really. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/143 "2002-04-19T11:59:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yarwitz \* > … as far as names not sounding the way theyre spelt how about siobahn, pronounced shivahn. i happen to like the name but the spelling … I thought I’d already handled this one? > [@](#): > > _originally posted by … er, me_ > … using a certain letter-combination that’s traditionally pronounced in a certain way in a certain language - Siobhán _just is_ pronounced “Shivawn” (approx) in Gaelic … In other words, certain letter combinations are pronounced a certain way in English and differently in other languages. In Gaelic “mh” is pronounced like a “v” too; in French “ch” sounds like “sh” but in Italian it sounds like “k” and English-speakers pronounce it “tsh”, which a Pole would spell “cz” etc. etc. Is it really so diffcult to understand? I did hear of some parents who had two sons and called them Sean and Shaun, unaware that they’re both pronounced the same way (never heard of Sean Connery?) **(your name here)** - the Danes would pronounce Kelby “Kelboo”. Has anyone tried that on you yet? ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/144 "2002-04-19T13:02:56Z")
I once heard of a woman who had twin girls and named them . . . Laura and Laurie! ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/145 "2002-04-19T13:07:40Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by kawliga \* \*\* [QUOTE] \*Originally posted by bodypoet \* **My kid-naming philosophy is to choose one weird, unique name, and pair it with a more normal name… Thus, I have Tanner Fox…** [/QUOTE \*\*Which name is the normal one? \*\*[/QUOTE] HA! Here, at least, Tanner is very common. Although I had never heard of it until maybe 10 years ago, now it seems that my Tanner will go to school with several other Tanners. I’d much prefer to call him Fox. My niece’s middle name is Scout, or I would probably have used that instead of Sage for my little girl. (Of course, now I think Sage fits her MUCH better than Scout would’ve.) k ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/146 "2002-04-19T13:19:51Z")
I just remembered a poet I used to workshop with. His name was Ivan, pronounced (long E)-von. (Rhymed with Elton John’s Levon.) When he mentioned his sister for the first time, we all looked at him oddly, because he pronounced it exactly the same way he pronounced his own name, “ee-von.” It was a definite “huh?” moment for the Bloomington Free Verse poets, lemmetellya. After much explaining, it turned out that his sister’s name was spelled differently, and there was a very _very_ slight difference in the way he accented the syllables. Her name was “EEvon”, his name was “eevon.” Unfortunately, the fine points were sort of lost on us Hoosiers, and I still can’t really make the distinction. k ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/147 "2002-04-19T13:22:08Z")
My brother went to elementary school with a boy named “Samoyed”. :eek: I guess that’s better than “Shih-Tzu” ME ---
**Author:** ![DrFrasierCrane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@DrFrasierCrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFrasierCrane)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/148 "2002-04-19T13:29:54Z")
Kelsey??!? ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/149 "2002-04-19T13:35:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robinc308 \* > \*\*I went to school with a _girl_ called Michael. > \*\* Um…haven’t you ever seen “The Waltons”? 😉 The actress who portrayed Olivia Walton is named Michael Learned, and there’s no evidence I can find that it’s a stage name. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/150 "2002-04-19T13:57:46Z")
I once meet a boy named Merlin and I was once good friends with a girl named Penny Lane. (Lane was not a her last name) Pennys parents insited that her name did not come from the Beatles song but rather from a different song called Penny Lane but they couldn’t remember who did the song. ---
**Author:** ![Thinks2Much](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Thinks2Much](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinks2Much)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/151 "2002-04-19T18:59:02Z")
I am sorry, but I don’t agree with the site about naming your children humanely. The people who wrote that must have had very odd names and were picked on extensively as children. If we all followed this, we all might as well just use our last names to talk about one another and forgo first names completely, except in your own home where you all share the same last name. As a woman who goes by Chris, and spending all of my life in classrooms with at least 4 other Chris’s, I chose to give my son (who is now 2) an old fashioned Scottish name paired with a normal middle name - Caiden Zachary. From the other women I have run into in LaMaze class, etc, it appears to be quite the trend to use very old-fashioned ethnic names, and I support it whole heartedly. I believe my son will go to class with several other children with unusual names, so there won’t be 5 Mike’s 4 Dave’s, 5 Jennifer’s and 4 Lisa’s like I did. If everyone has their own unusual name, there is nothing to pick on, because it isn’t unusual anymore. Which is fine - I wasn’t trying to be a trend-setter, I just wanted my son not to be confused with anyone else. I am so sick of hearing “no, not you, Chris. The other Chris.” So he can’t go buy a key chain with his name on it. There are plenty of things you can get personalized without needing to buy preprinted off the shelf these days. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/152 "2002-04-19T19:11:33Z")
While working in the U.K. Passport Office, I did deal with an application from a man who had the (middle) name of “Christine”. I suppose he was lucky it was his middle name, really. ---
**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, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/153 "2002-04-19T21:47:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cazzle \* > \*\*Any chance it was Ian? \*\* No, she even showed me a sign (wanting to change the zoning properties or some such) outside her house that gave her father’s name as Eon LastName. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robinc308 \* > \*\*I went to school with a _girl_ called Michael. > I have a cousin called Lafcadio. > I know a little boy called Stormy Blue with surname Ocean. > > I remember when my mum was pregnant with my little sister, my brother, who was 4 at the time, suggested we call her Safeway if she was a boy, and K-mart if she was a girl. All things considered she was lucky to get Anna really. \*\* I’ve heard of little girls called Ocean, but **Stormy Blue Ocean**??? I think that takes the cake right there! :eek: Safeway and K-Mart, eh? 😃 Little kids’ ideas of names are really amusing at times! > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by everton \* > \*\*I did hear of some parents who had two sons and called them Sean and Shaun, unaware that they’re both pronounced the same way (never heard of Sean Connery?) \*\* Oh my goodness… they probably thought that Sean was pronounced “Seen” or something! > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bodypoet \* > **HA! Here, at least, Tanner is very common. Although I had never heard of it until maybe 10 years ago, now it seems that my Tanner will go to school with several other Tanners.** I remember meeting a little boy named Tanner at a local McDonalds at least ten years ago… his friends said his last name was Snitch. I don’t know about that, but here it doesn’t seem that popular. I could be wrong, of course. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zebra \* > \*\*I once meet a boy named Merlin and I was once good friends with a girl named Penny Lane. (Lane was not a her last name) > > Pennys parents insited that her name did not come from the Beatles song but rather from a different song called Penny Lane but they couldn’t remember who did the song. \*\* Well, I once met a woman in my old neighborhood named Merlyn; I guess her parents wanted to feminize Merlin. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/154 "2002-04-19T23:31:35Z")
I’m a vision screening tech for the Memphis City Schools, so I get to witness the most unusual names every day. My favorite was Exclamation !..pronounced “exclamation point”. He had two sisters, Heavenleih and Lingeray. I’ve seen a Sir John, a Royalty, a Luck’ee, a Marble, a Mitacondreea (meetaconDREEah), a Uvala, and a Pristine. I enjoy these names: they add a bit of flavor to my day. 🙂 BTW, I named my daughter Laura, after my mom. She hates it! Kid wants to be called MAX! ---
**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 20, 2002, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/155 "2002-04-20T00:37:26Z")
Why does the name Mitacondreea make me flash back to memories of my Gr. 10 science class? Probably because it sounds so much like mitochondria. Guess you’ll never know what you’ll come across next in your job! I was named after my aunt (no matter what my mom says about just liking the name), and I went through a time where I wanted to be named Cordelia! :eek: Not that I didn’t like my aunt; I saw her so infrequently (she lives in Hong Kong) that it wasn’t an issue. She wants to be called Max, eh? Hmm… maybe if her name was Maxine or something, that could be a nickname. But “Max” from Laura… somehow, I don’t know about that! ---
**Author:** ![c-of-cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@c-of-cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c-of-cyn)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/156 "2002-04-20T16:11:39Z")
My Dad worked with a guy who was living with his girlfriend for only a few months when she became pregnant. They named their daughter **Surprise**. I knew someone that worked in a medical clinic in inner New York City. One of her frequent patients was named **Pretty Nails**. I have a problem with the name **Hunter** , which seems to be rather popular for boys these days (at least, I know of 3 people who have named their sons that). Why would parents want to name their son after someone who kills animals for sport (let’s keep it real here folks, most hunters in western society do it for sport rather than necessity)? Perhaps it’s a problem for me since I’m a big animal lover. To me it is similar to calling your son Warlord or Killer. ---
**Author:** ![Lennygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Lennygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lennygirl)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/157 "2002-04-20T19:38:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kittenblue \* > \*\*Speaking of name typos, I’ve always been curious about Oprah’s Alleged typo on her birth certificate. Supposedly she was named Orpah, but there was a typo on the certificate, so she’s Oprah. \*\* According to Oprah, her _mother_ is the one who misspelled the biblical name, turning “Orpah” into “Oprah.” Real names of people I have known: Paris, Italy, Rice, Cinnamon, amd Mercades (which started out as a girl’s nameand was then appropriated by the car). All female. If you want to find some _really_ unusual names, go to the Utah baby namer site, [http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/3450](http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/3450) . ---
**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 20, 2002, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/158 "2002-04-20T20:56:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lennygirl \* > \*\*Real names of people I have known: > > Paris, Italy, Rice, Cinnamon, amd Mercades (which started out as a girl’s nameand was then appropriated by the car). All female.\*\* I was just reading the paper, and I saw a picture of an animal handler at our local petting zoo: her name was **Clover**. No, this was not the name of either the lamb or the goat in the picture… this was the actual name of the animal handler! I used to know a girl named Paris, and there was a girl named Mercedes at my high school. Some more names I have seen in birth announcements include: Holland, Ireland, Montana, and Summe Tyme (all girls). The name Cinnamon reminds me of an Ann Rule book I was recently reading, _If You Really Loved Me_. Seems the teenage murderer in that book was named Cinnamon by her parents so she would stand out if she ever became famous. Bet they weren’t expecting her to become famous in quite that way, though! (murdering her stepmother) ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/159 "2002-04-21T00:42:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Flamsterette\_X \* > \*\*Why does the name Mitacondreea make me flash back to memories of my Gr. 10 science class? Probably because it sounds so much like mitochondria. > > Guess you’ll never know what you’ll come across next in your job! > > I was named after my aunt (no matter what my mom says about just liking the name), and I went through a time where I wanted to be named Cordelia! :eek: Not that I didn’t like my aunt; I saw her so infrequently (she lives in Hong Kong) that it wasn’t an issue. > > She wants to be called Max, eh? Hmm… maybe if her name was Maxine or something, that could be a nickname. But “Max” from Laura… somehow, I don’t know about that! \*\* Oh, I should have mentioned Max is from her beloved Dark Angel. She’s gonna be brokenhearted when that show ends. I thought the same about Mitacondria, and even pronounced it that way, but I got an eye-roll correction…It’s mitaconDREEah! Whatever, kid! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070/160 "2002-04-21T00:58:18Z")
**Mercedes** is an uncommon-common Hispanic name, it has nothing to do with the car brand. I’ve met a Rome, who is a guy, and a Nayanerise, and Sedeline, Nessara, Nanette, Nicolette, Nicholed, etc. My cousin is Helma and I’m Karelma…if you want to name your baby after us, please tell me…I would like to have a namesake! 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-you-name-your-child-this-i-dont-get-it/104070.md?page=9)