# You're naming your baby what!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [November 29, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202 "2004-11-29T20:06:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 14
### Author:  [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2004, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/261 "2004-12-05T15:35:18Z")
> [@dancefan](#):
>
> [ Urban Legends forum, snopes, fark, here, there, everywhere has had someone claiming a FOAF who claimed the Shithead story was real. If it is indeed true that you are the genesis of the Shithead story, I stand in awe. If not…
>
> …I.AM.NOT.MAKING.THIS.UP.!!! there are a lot of people reproducing that don’t give a crap about their offspring. This kid is probably about 6-7 years old today. In our department a requisition is printed out with the name of the patient to be X-rayed. The tech who recieved the paperwork showed the rest of the techs/x-ray students the name listed.
> Frankly if you don’t believe people are naming their children these horrible names I am going to assume that you are not exposed to people who go to charity hospitals in a poor city. Two weeks ago we had a little girl come in named Veijana. Someone else got to call her name in the lobby.
I’m pretty sure the last time we had a thread on this subject, someone pointed out that “Shithead” (pronounced something like Shi-theed) is actually quite a common Indian (?) name.
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/262 "2004-12-05T16:02:09Z")
**dancefan:** _Two weeks ago we had a little girl come in named Veijana. Someone else got to call her name in the lobby._
You mean, you wouldn’t want to call out a name like “Veijana” (pronounced, I’m guessing, “Vay-john-a”) because it sounds too much like “vagina” (“vuh-jine-a”)? I think your delicacy is a bit overstretched here. Suppose you had to call out a more widely recognized name like “Regina” (usually “Ruh-jine-a”) or, heaven forbid, “Dick”?
**SV:** _I’m pretty sure the last time we had a thread on this subject, someone pointed out that “Shithead” (pronounced something like Shi-theed) is actually quite a common Indian (?) name._
I’m still skeptical about that. There certainly is a (South Asian) Indian name “Shitha” (pronounced more or less “Shih-tha” or “Shee-tha”), but I can’t figure out a variant that would produce “Shithead”. I’m guessing that some non-Indian wiseacre saw the name “Shitha” and thought “hey, that looks kind of like ‘shithead’, huh-uh, huh-uh”, and the legend grew from there.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/263 "2004-12-05T17:14:44Z")
Well, my best friend in high school once was friends with an Indian girl named Shahtol, or something like that. (Everyone called her "shit-all.)
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### Author:  [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/264 "2004-12-05T17:33:20Z")
> [@Martha](#):
>
> Mine is equally unusual outside Israel, but easier to pronounce. Because it is close to several common names in other languages I frequently get re-named Alana, Elena, Ileana, Helena, Ilona among others.
That’s my Hebrew name.
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### Author:  [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/265 "2004-12-05T17:53:14Z")
Um…spoilers, people? I just started on the third season of Buffy…wasn’t expecting to run across spoilers in an unrelated thread!
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### Author:  [@Fezzik\_Twiddleypants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fezzik_Twiddleypants)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2004, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/266 "2004-12-06T03:45:21Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#):
>
> Our family is full of unusual names, although none of them are absurd, we have:
>
> Nico Blue (my daughter)
Isn’t this a variant of hydrangea? I think I have two planted to the side of my front porch.
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### Author:  [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2004, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/267 "2004-12-06T05:34:05Z")
> [@Martha](#):
>
> Tell me about it. My sister was let out into the non-Hebrew speaking word with that name. She complains bitterly that English people in particular can’t pronounce it. “Yale” and “Yayel” are the closest they can get. Spanish speakers, OTOH can deal with it perfectly OK. One of her observations about having an unusual name is that people often avoid using her name when speaking to her.
I used to work as a raft guide, and one of my co-workers was a Yael. I had no problem pronouncing it, as one of my Hebrew school teachers was named Yael, so I was used to it. But I was absolutely floored at how many people just could not pronounce the name. Yael would have a raft full of people every day who called her Yale, or repeatedly asked the other guides how to pronounce her name, or as you say, just avoided saying it at all. Even most of the people she worked with every day couldn’t get it right.
She was a good sport about it, but one day, she just got really annoyed, and started stomping around the raft barn yelling “Ya El! Ya El! What’s so hard about it!? Ya El! Ya El! YA EL!!!”
It was pretty funny to see, but I definitely felt for her. It must be very frustrating to have to deal with that all that time.
It’s unfortunate that some “foreign” names don’t work so well in English, but what are you going to do, right? But why you would pull a hard-to-pronounce and weirdly spelled name out of thin air and inflict it on a kid, I’ll never know. The Yaels of the world have some frustrations, but at least it’s a perfectly normal Hebrew name, and Yael can simply explain that to anyone who asks about her “unusual” name. What’s Keh’Vohnne going to do? Simply explain that his mommy is a moron?
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### Author:  [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/268 "2004-12-06T14:49:37Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> “Yael” means ibix.
>
> Or possibly something else from the gazelle family; I’m not sure what the name is in English. I’ve seen them, though - in the wild - and they’re definitely not goats.
>
> What type of tree, incidentally? All the tree names I can think of - Oren, Ilan, Alon, Erez - are boy’s names.
Alon? Oh crap, I’d spelt it Elan - but in my defence, I was using a baby name book. (Wolfie has four names, and Elan was one of the Hebrew ones - figured he should be named for a tree like his momma).
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### Author:  [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/269 "2004-12-06T15:46:34Z")
> [@Mynn](#):
>
> Alon? Oh crap, I’d spelt it Elan - but in my defence, I was using a baby name book. (Wolfie has four names, and Elan was one of the Hebrew ones - figured he should be named for a tree like his momma).
No, that’s fine. Elan is an alternative spelling for Ilan, which means tree.
Alon, IIRC means _oak_ tree.
There is another tree name which is a girl’s name - Tamar.
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### Author:  [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/270 "2004-12-06T15:53:20Z")
> [@Martha](#):
>
> There is another tree name which is a girl’s name - Tamar.
A lot of Hebrew names are taken from nature - including my own. Aside from the ones mention above there are:
Boys’ names
Zev - wolf
Ari - lion
Dov - bear
Tzvi - deer
(Just for the record, my name is Zev Ari and my father’s is Tzvi Dov)
Girls’ names
Devora - bee
Rachel - ewe
Tzivya - deer
Tamar - date (Mnemonic: Judah took Tamar on a date…)
… and probably many others that I can’t think of off the top of my head.
Zev Steinhardt
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### Author:  [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/271 "2004-12-06T16:05:08Z")
I just watched **Fiddler on the Roof** yesterday and I thought the old _shtetl_ names were very pretty–Tzeitel, Chava, Hodel, Golde.
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### Author:  [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/272 "2004-12-06T16:21:06Z")
> [@Martha](#):
>
> No, that’s fine. Elan is an alternative spelling for Ilan, which means tree.
>
> Alon, IIRC means _oak_ tree.
>
> There is another tree name which is a girl’s name - Tamar.
Ah … that makes sense. But I’m glad to hear that Alon is different - maybe we can name the kid that. 🙂
Zev - yep - I recognize a number of those names in my family tree … huh.
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### Author:  [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/273 "2004-12-06T16:31:56Z")
> [@Fezzik Twiddleypants](#):
>
> Isn’t this a variant of hydrangea? I think I have two planted to the side of my front porch.
Yep, she’s a flower and The Velvet Underground and Nico is my all-time favorite band, so it’s kind of a combination.
A weird thing about Nico Blue is that the late singer for Blind Melon also named his daughter that and it was right around the same time my daughter was born. Just when we thought we gave her a name that no one else would have!
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### Author:  [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/274 "2004-12-06T16:35:25Z")
> [@gobear](#):
>
> I just watched **Fiddler on the Roof** yesterday and I thought the old _shtetl_ names were very pretty–Tzeitel, Chava, Hodel, Golde.
I’ve tossed around Chava for a daughter - I fell in love with the name after watching Fiddler for the first time on Broadway. However, my husband thinks it will sound a little odd to have such an obviously Jewish name with our very obviously German surname - especially since we aren’t Jewish. However, I was in love with Ava for a daughter until it grew so popular, which is why I think Chava appealed to me aside from the fact that it’s a beautiful name in it’s own right.
As it is, when we do decide to take the plunge into parenthood, we both like Miranda Katharine for a daughter and Malcolm Leo for a son.
E.
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### Author:  [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/275 "2004-12-06T16:48:11Z")
Just to add to the examples of mis-named children:
My daughter (who attends an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva) has a classmate who has one parent who is an immigrant from Russia and another who came from Israel. They wanted to give their daughter a name that was “American” and yet sounded somewhat “Israeli.”
Her name: Natalie :smack:
Zev Steinhardt
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/276 "2004-12-06T17:14:24Z")
> [@Fionn](#):
>
> My brother knew a woman named Caiman, because she was conceived on the Caiman Islands. Naming a child after the place of conception has always seemed odd to me. Is fucking in an exotic place that much of an accomplishment?
You’d hope they at least spelt it right (Cayman)…
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### Author:  [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2004, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/277 "2004-12-07T11:27:33Z")
> [@Colophon](#):
>
> You’d hope they at least spelt it right (Cayman)…
Perhaps she’s named for her mother’s creepy, reptilian skin? 😃
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2004, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/278 "2004-12-07T11:47:56Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#):
>
> Just to add to the examples of mis-named children:
>
> My daughter (who attends an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva) has a classmate who has one parent who is an immigrant from Russia and another who came from Israel. They wanted to give their daughter a name that was “American” and yet sounded somewhat “Israeli.”
>
> Her name: Natalie :smack:
>
> Zev Steinhardt
Huh? Natali is a fairly common Israeli name; I’ve known quite a few Natalis, including two in my 8th-grade class. I’m not sure it has a deeper Hebrew meaning - it could be a female variation on Natan, or perhaps from the N-T-A’ root (“to plant”) - but it certainly exists.
In fact, it’s almost as common as Yael.
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### Author:  [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/279 "2004-12-07T13:00:40Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> Huh? Natali is a fairly common Israeli name; I’ve known quite a few Natalis, including two in my 8th-grade class. I’m not sure it has a deeper Hebrew meaning - it could be a female variation on Natan, or perhaps from the N-T-A’ root (“to plant”) - but it certainly exists.
>
> In fact, it’s almost as common as Yael.
Is this what Zev’s talking about?
> **[Meaning, origin and history of the name Natalie](https://www.behindthename.com/name/natalie)**
> [@](#):
>
> NATALIE
> Gender: Feminine
> From the Late Latin name Natalia, which meant “Christmas Day” from Latin natale domini.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-naming-your-baby-what/277202/280 "2004-12-07T13:02:11Z")
Nevertheless.
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