Unfortunate Names

Growing up I hated my name. It's a common name, from the bible...quite dull.

I don't mind it now, but think if I had a manchild, I might get a bit more unusual.

I think it would be amuzing to be named Lance Boyle, especially if I were a Pop-Artist, or to be a Banker named Nicholas Dymes would be a hoot.

Also last names which are real things can be fun too

"Hullo, is Mr Lyon there?"
I'm sorry he's on another Lyon right now"

I read a few years ago about a child in LA named Porcilina LaTrina, and thought despite my love for "madcap" things life may not be easy for her.

What do you wish you were named?

I'm not sure what I would prefer to be named. "Richard" is not too terribly common or bilical, so it works for me :wink: At my last company, we had 6 "Daves" out of 23 employees. That's just wrong.

A co-worker I had last year just had a boy and named it.....dear lord this is sad - Talon Angel! Yes, "Talon Angel!" This guy (really) thought he was "The Crow" character. I think this name qualifies his newborn to be taken into custody by child services. Once there they can find a good home for him and and raise him in a less punch-filled environment. That's the games biz for you - the last bastion of true goofballs who still manage to actually function in society.

It's not name-related, but I worked with another guy years ago who wore a cape to work everyday. A brown suede cape. He was in his 20s. Make up your own comment here.

There's a woman in Texas named Louella Hogg who married a man named Fatt & hyphenated her name, although I can't see why you'd want to be Louella Hogg-Fatt.

There's a lady in NYC named Mary Christmas who would be called by all the radio stations at Christmas. The next year she'd change her number, they'd get it from a fan at the phone company & call her, etc. Before I moved out west she'd given up on changing her number & was setting appointments for the radio stations to call her at set times.

In my family the most unfortunate name is probably my daughter Galadriel's (I didn't name her). She spent 30+ years explaining what her name was, & now everyone thinks it's trendy to be named after a character in that movie...

When I married my wife & met her relatives I was introduced to her niece Amanda Lynne. I commented "Oh, like the musical instrument!" Everyone looked at me blankly, no one had ever thought of that & the girl was 15 at the time. She later sold Pampered Chef & didn't know why selling Mandolines was funny, either.

My friend's daughter is named Sahara Desert Flower. That's just a first name.

I predict she will be "Sara" by the time she's in school.

I know a guy from high school named
Richard Eaton.....when they called off
his name in study hall (for attendance)
they would say "Eaton Dick"...he always
got pissed!

Real Funny Names

Baby's named a Bad, Bad Thing:

http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/index.html

Here's a name that hasn't quite caught on yet:

Shitanya.

When I was in the fourth grade, there was a boy with a wine stain birthmark that covered half his face, and the unfortunate name Kao Pu. I am not making this up. No one made fun of him, even grade school students knew it would just be too cruel.

Once upon a time I knew a Vietnamese girl whose name was Phuc Phan. Asian names can often be unintentionally funny in English. What kills me is the recent trend of naming kids after cities like Austin, Camden, Dallas, Denver, etc. I once joked that I was thinking of naming a kid Lake Forest.

My name, Shani has always been trouble, since people have such a hard time trying to figure out the pronunciation.(rhymes with fanny) It was spelt Chani, which comes from the novel "Dune"(parents love sci-fi) but that really screwed the nurses up, so they changed the C to an S.

My parents were going to name me Brin if I were a boy, which I don't particularly care for. phew

My best friend's name is Amaya, which is also pretty different. When people ask her what her name is, they often think she's saying "a man"(ususally that happens in a loud bar)

Drinks Well with Others

[ Edited by: Tikiwahine 2006-08-15 11:07 ]

There was a Nancy Reagan at my high school (class of 1988); nobody really thought much of it.

One of my good friends named his daughter Yavin.
Star Wars fans?

The little Cambodian neighbor girl gave my sone his first Valenitine card signed
"Suk Mi" pronounced "Sue My". She started school in the states her 5th grade year, by the time she started the 7th grade her name was legally changed to Sabrina.

A kid in our school was named Cash Register.
I swear to GOD! It was not a nickname.

On 2004-12-14 14:19, DawnTiki wrote:
The little Cambodian neighbor girl gave my sone his first Valenitine card signed
"Suk Mi" pronounced "Sue My". She started school in the states her 5th grade year, by the time she started the 7th grade her name was legally changed to Sabrina.

A lot of my Asian classmates had two first names. They had the Chinese/Korean/Vietnamese name given to them by their parents, and the Americanized name that they actually used.

Well,at the preschool I work at,we've got all sorts of ethnicities.Had a Korean family that had two girls-Crystal and Joyce.Have another family -also Korean,whose daughter's name is Vivian.Go figure.

I come from one of those families where everyone has the same first initial, but my family tree takes it a step further: we're all named "Joseph" in some way. My Mom(Josephine); Dad (Joseph); myself & 2 brothers (Jeffrey Joseph, Jonathan Joseph, James Joseph); BOTH of my grandfathers (Joseph); BOTH of my great-grandfathers (Joseph); an uncle & and his son on my mom's side (both Joseph). Oh, and my grandmother (Julia) just to change it up a little...
My last name's not so simple either, but it sure makes getting & giving monogrammed stuff a breeze!

As far as unusual names go, my first year of teaching I had students named Autumn, Summer, Tree, Duck, Radiance, Champagne and these SEVEN different variations: Chris, Chris(topher), Kris(toffer), Chris(tina), Kris(tina), Chris(tian) & Crys(tal).

Well, my aunt went on a date with a guy who had his name legally change to Picnic Table. She really liked him but was scared that if they ever went any further with the relationship he would want her to name the kids Dining and Kitchen.

On 2004-12-14 17:05, Doctor Z wrote:
BOTH of my great-grandfathers (Joseph);

So, only 2 great-grandfathers? That's...unfortunate.

Kidding, kidding.

I always thought if I had a bunch of Daughters (common in my family) It would be fun to name them Edith, Drinketh, Bea and Mary.

Fortunalty for many, we only have dogs...used dogs at that who already have names.

Took a signals analysis course with a woman named Philis back in '97 who told me her mother was a "bit country." Mom thought that Phyllis was short for another name, like Will for William, Sue for Susan, etc.

So, until she had her name changed when she moved out, her legal name was "Syphilis."

On 2004-12-14 12:23, Tikiwahine wrote:
My name, Shani has always been trouble, since people have such a hard time trying to figure out the pronunciation.(rhymes with fanny) It was spelt Chani, which comes from the novel "Dune"(parents love sci-fi) but that really screwed the nurses up, so they changed the C to an S.

My parents were going to name me Brin if I were a boy, which I don't particularly care for. phew

Tikiwahine, how are your brothers Benford & Bear? :D

gigantalope-don't you mean "preowned",or perhaps "prewalked"?Just a thought.

Names I know of:

My daughters Great Grandma went to school with Normal Peters.
A friend in Athens GA, went to school with Orangejello and Lemonjello. Pronounced Or-an-JEL-oh and Lem-ON-Jel-oh.
In the same school anual of a friend, Pelvis Johnson and Anus Johnson. Related?

caitlan, ashley, britney, amber, kaylee. Kylie, Crystal, cheyanne, and for boys, tyler, cody, joshua, jordan, justin, connor,

I work with abused foster children, and these are the MOST common names used!!

it just makes me mad enough to spit!As soon as the Social Worker enters the trailer to take a report, they find that all the little kids have those names!

"do you work sir?" "well, ocifer, ah have bin train ta tell ye, ah was out lookin fer a job, but mah back went out a few yars ago, and mah old lady caynt git a job, 'cause she has to look after Jordan, Joshua, Conner, Kaylee, amber and Brittany, so she caynt work niether, and tuh asnwer your other question, ah have been off the crystal fer about 4 months now, but occasionally ah like tuh drink a budwhyzer with mah fernds"

Find something original, like Mary, or June, Fred, arthur or Bob, and get a damn job!

On 2004-12-15 15:58, Swanky wrote:
A friend in Athens GA, went to school with Orangejello and Lemonjello. Pronounced Or-an-JEL-oh and Lem-ON-Jel-oh.

Are you sure about that one? It's a well-known urban legend. See http://www.snopes.com/racial/language/names.htm.

If I ever have a kid, I'm going to eliminate all pretense and call it Tropheigh. :roll:

On 2004-12-15 14:26, freddiefreelance wrote:

Tikiwahine, how are your brothers Benford & Bear? :D

Luckily, they were named Troy and Jay. Of course they had to wait and give me the freak name. :wink:

My Dad taught jr. high in L.A. for years and had a Vietnamese kid in his class named: "Phuk Yu"

My grandmother's boyfriend's name was Sunday Church. He always gave me the creeps.

A kid at my grade school was named Oswaldo Baldo Maldonaldo...not too weird, but really hard to say 3 times real fast after a coupla mai tais.

[ Edited by: Kalikiana on 2004-12-15 20:33 ]

At school we had a "John Thomas" and a"Terry Ball".
Thinking about it now, is John Thomas just an English saying or not?

Cheekytiki, I think John Thomas is thought of as a Brit expression...Like calling suspenders "Braces" or a Traler a "Caravan". Most folks have heard of it, bu it would sound kind of Wallace and Gromit to use.

There is a baseball player here named Randy Johnson. He should seek a second career as an Ambasador.

I went to high school with a mexican kid named Jesse Poetz

He only went by Jesse because his real name (ah, wicked parents) was Edgar Allen Poetz.

One must always be thinking to the future, like how clever things like that will seem old after about a month.

The only ones I can recall (from High School) are Mike Hunt, Pat Busch and Chuck Berger.
And, no one ever seemed to think anything of any of these.
Of course, my own beloved dad's name is...WAIT FOR IT...Dick Spears.