• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • Comment
  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

In after Baud. Damn.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

A consequence of cucumbers

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

The words do not have to be perfect.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Mobile Menu

  • Four Directions Montana
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2024 Elections
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Commentary / All Too Normal / Respite Open Thread: Creativity Can Be Overrated

Respite Open Thread: Creativity Can Be Overrated

by Anne Laurie|  March 20, 20246:28 pm| 190 Comments

This post is in: All Too Normal

FacebookTweetEmail

the best part about being in a ton of 2023 pregnancy/baby groups is getting to see all the absolutely wretched names parents are coming up with these days. here are some highlights i’ve collected pic.twitter.com/UNMUHeAmKB

— henny gesserit (@heyyitsdidi) March 20, 2024

Madden Raige, Kyzier, Triniteigh and Brexleigh.

I’ve spent the past fifty-plus years telling people Yes, that’s my real name, like the song but no ‘i’ in Anne. Kids these days are gonna spend their entire lives spelling out their names, because their parents wanted them to be special…

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Afternoon Open Thread: This Seems Bad…
Next Post: War for Ukraine Day 756: A Brief Wednesday Night Update spy v. spy flyouts»

Reader Interactions

  • Commenters
  • Filtered
  • Settings

Commenters

No commenters available.

  • AJ of the Mustard Search and Rescue Team
  • AlaskaReader
  • AndyG
  • Anne Laurie
  • Anoniminous
  • Another Scott
  • Baud
  • Ben Cisco
  • BlueGuitarist
  • Bostondreams
  • Brachiator
  • brendancalling
  • buddhacat
  • Bupalos
  • CaseyL
  • Ceci n est pas mon nym
  • Chris T.
  • comrade scotts agenda of rage
  • debit
  • Delk
  • dexwood
  • dmsilev
  • dnfree
  • dr. luba
  • Eyeroller
  • Fair Economist
  • fancycwabs
  • FlyingToaster
  • Frankensteinbeck
  • frosty
  • Gary K
  • Geminid
  • Ghost of Joe Liebling’s Dog
  • glc
  • Glidwrith
  • Gravie
  • Highway Rob
  • hueyplong
  • HumboldtBlue
  • Jackie
  • jackmac
  • Jager
  • japa21
  • Jeffro
  • jimmiraybob
  • K-Mo
  • karen marie
  • Kay
  • kayg
  • Kristine
  • Leto
  • like a metaphor
  • lollipopguild
  • Matt McIrvin
  • Melancholy Jaques
  • MinbariSafari
  • Misterpuff
  • Mousebumples
  • mrmoshpotato
  • Mustang Bobby
  • NotMax
  • Ohio Mom
  • Old School
  • Omnes Omnibus
  • Origuy
  • Paul in KY
  • PaulB
  • PaulWartenberg
  • persistentillusion
  • peter
  • prostratedragon
  • Quadrillipede
  • RedDirtGirl
  • Regnad Kcin
  • Roberto el oso
  • ronno2018
  • RSA
  • Ruckus
  • Rusty
  • Ruviana
  • sab
  • satby
  • schrodingers_cat
  • Shana
  • Soprano2
  • Splitting Image
  • Starfish
  • SteveinPHX
  • SteverinoCT
  • stinger
  • sukabi
  • tailfedders
  • TBone
  • TeezySkeezy
  • Tehanu
  • The Lodger
  • TheronWare
  • Timill
  • Tony G
  • Tony Jay
  • topclimber
  • Walker
  • West of the Rockies
  • wjca

Filtered Commenters

No filtered commenters available.

    Settings




    Settings are saved immediately; press X to close the box.

    190Comments

    1. 1.

      Baud

      March 20, 2024 at 6:30 pm

      I blame Elon Musk.

      ETA: Baud is an excellent baby name.

      Reply
    2. 2.

      sukabi

      March 20, 2024 at 6:35 pm

      are they going for “special” or are they just hooked on phonics?

      Reply
    3. 3.

      debit

      March 20, 2024 at 6:36 pm

      Merricka.  Middle name Fuck Yeah.

      Reply
    4. 4.

      CaseyL

      March 20, 2024 at 6:36 pm

      Leazel?  Leazel??

      How much you wanna bet that poor kid will become “Leazel the Weasel” before the end of their first day in kindergarten.

      Reply
    5. 5.

      dmsilev

      March 20, 2024 at 6:39 pm

      Wolfgang Atreides? Let me guess, the parents believe that this child is the result of a long selective breeding process designed to produce The One who is fated to write a bunch of really compelling symphonies and operas?

      Reply
    6. 6.

      Anne Laurie

      March 20, 2024 at 6:39 pm

      @CaseyL: Maybe her parents really, really love their pet ferret?

      Reply
    7. 7.

      schrodingers_cat

      March 20, 2024 at 6:41 pm

      @Baud: Yes it short and sweet. In India there is a fashion these days of giving children meaningless Sanskrit names

      Indian Leviticus Manusmriti prescribes short names for women preferably a syllable or two. So they can be summoned easily.

      Reply
    8. 8.

      debit

      March 20, 2024 at 6:41 pm

      @CaseyL: I’m willing to bet inspired by Lae’zel from Baldur’s Gate 3.

      Reply
    9. 9.

      dmsilev

      March 20, 2024 at 6:41 pm

      I once had a student with the first name of “Bland”. He was “IV” though, so ultimate blame for that decision lies a few generations back.

      Reply
    10. 10.

      Baud

      March 20, 2024 at 6:42 pm

      @schrodingers_cat:

      बॉड

      Reply
    11. 11.

      Quadrillipede

      March 20, 2024 at 6:42 pm

      Yeah, I gave my son the name Charles, precisely because it’s a completely boring name. (And also it’s my dad’s middle name, and my wife had already vetoed both of my given names and my dad’s first name…)

      Reply
    12. 12.

      jackmac

      March 20, 2024 at 6:43 pm

      When it came time to name our babies, my wife and I felt the first gift we could give them were simple, strong names.

      Our kids — now adults — are Matt and Kate.

      Reply
    13. 13.

      jimmiraybob

      March 20, 2024 at 6:44 pm

      What!?  You mean Poopensugarfarts isn’t on the list?

      Please feel free to use.

      Reply
    14. 14.

      Quadrillipede

      March 20, 2024 at 6:44 pm

      @CaseyL: I once lived in a shared house with a South African woman named Liesl (I think that was the correct spelling, it was about 20 years ago…)

      [ETA: I don’t know enough Afrikaans to know if it rhymes with anything unfortunate. ]

      Reply
    15. 15.

      jackmac

      March 20, 2024 at 6:46 pm

      @jimmiraybob: ​
       “Poopensugarfarts”? Isn’t that a breakfast cereal?

      Reply
    16. 16.

      Highway Rob

      March 20, 2024 at 6:46 pm

      @debit: Or a superfan* of the current AG had a girl and not a boy, perhaps.

      *-There has to be one out there, right?

      Reply
    17. 17.

      Timill

      March 20, 2024 at 6:47 pm

      Whatever: none of them are as bad as “Unless-Jesus-Christ-Had-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned”

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Barbon

      Reply
    18. 18.

      Quadrillipede

      March 20, 2024 at 6:47 pm

      I know a guy called Merrick, but he usually goes by Mez…

      Reply
    19. 19.

      Leto

      March 20, 2024 at 6:48 pm

      Tugg Knuttson is the one I’m waiting for…Scandanavian ofc…

      his twin ofc… Knutt Tuggin…

      Reply
    20. 20.

      Quadrillipede

      March 20, 2024 at 6:51 pm

      Johann Gambolputty… of Ulm.

      • https://youtu.be/zJd2K5seVJ4?si=O8MTeY53Ltk-cdda
      Reply
    21. 21.

      SteveinPHX

      March 20, 2024 at 6:52 pm

      My spouse and I agreed very early that our kids would have names that they would not have to fight over in the schoolyard.

      Worked out that way.

      Reply
    22. 22.

      stinger

      March 20, 2024 at 6:53 pm

      Thank you for this post.

      @Quadrillipede:

      woman named Liesl

      Isn’t that the name of one of the daughters in The Sound of Music? Which is a German name, and may also be a Dutch name, which could lead to it being a South African name.

      Reply
    23. 23.

      AndyG

      March 20, 2024 at 6:53 pm

      The UK has parish baptism records going back centuries, and apparently the least popular boy’s name (one occurrence only) is “Poison “…..

      Reply
    24. 24.

      buddhacat

      March 20, 2024 at 6:54 pm

      Liesl is from the Sound of Music, Leazel probably Rolf’s version of it.

      Reply
    25. 25.

      CaseyL

      March 20, 2024 at 6:59 pm

      My Mom was saddled with a boy’s name – this was back in 1934 – which led to many funny stories and inconveniences for her.  She decided that I would have a non-ambiguous girl’s name: Cynthia, with Cindy for a nickname.

      When I decided I wanted to be Casey instead – an androgynous name, and deliberately chosen for that very reason – Mom just about lost it.

      Reply
    26. 26.

      NotMax

      March 20, 2024 at 6:59 pm

      No MAGA girl babies named Goebbelina? Or Boeberta?
      //

      Reply
    27. 27.

      Regnad Kcin

      March 20, 2024 at 6:59 pm

      I’m on the hook for this as one of eighty-leventy-zillion Michaels in the tail end of the Boom, and giving my 4 kids culturally relevant names (gaelic but with anglicized spellings, cuz cultural hegemony stomped the real spellings out), but holy hell…

      Reply
    28. 28.

      comrade scotts agenda of rage

      March 20, 2024 at 7:02 pm

      Variations of this have been an issue for 30 years.  The spelling is just the latest but JFC this is awful.

      Back in the late 90s, one of the popular names was Taylor.  Back in central Misery, every girl was named Mikayla (with an endless variety of spellings) or every boy or girl was named Taylor.  I had a friend who was a 1st grade teacher and she swears that out of a class of around 15-18, there were something like four boy Taylors and four girl Taylors and always at least 2-3 Mikaylas (or htf it was spelled) in successive first grade classes.

      Reply
    29. 29.

      PaulB

      March 20, 2024 at 7:03 pm

      There was a Vietnamese gentleman in Lawrence, Kansas whose name (I swear I’m not making this up) was Suck Dong Oh.

      Reply
    30. 30.

      PaulWartenberg

      March 20, 2024 at 7:05 pm

      What the hell’s wrong with naming your firstborn son Joshua Spurlock, Joshua in honor of Joshua Abraham Norton (Emperor of the United States) and for Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain of the 20th Maine, and Spurlock in honor of Michael Spurlock who ran the first kickoff TD in regular season Buccaneers history???

      Reply
    31. 31.

      NotMax

      March 20, 2024 at 7:05 pm

      Dipping into the political sphere, there’s good old Preserved Fish and Wankard Pooser.
      ;)

      Reply
    32. 32.

      PaulWartenberg

      March 20, 2024 at 7:06 pm

      @AndyG:

      at least Poison’s got a hair metal band named after him…

      Reply
    33. 33.

      hueyplong

      March 20, 2024 at 7:07 pm

      @PaulWartenberg: The reference to the Bucs immensely aids the search for what’s wrong with it.

      Reply
    34. 34.

      PaulWartenberg

      March 20, 2024 at 7:07 pm

      @dmsilev:

      no lie, my older brother wanted to name his firstborn son Wolfgang. the (eventual ex) wife convinced him to stick to Ryan.

      Reply
    35. 35.

      schrodingers_cat

      March 20, 2024 at 7:08 pm

      @Baud: Short and sweet! The name of one of my second cousins  roughly translates to the Body of the Vedas, it doesn’t make sense as a name of person. It is a name for several commentaries on the Vedas as a corpus. Imagine calling someone Bible Summary.

      Reply
    36. 36.

      AJ of the Mustard Search and Rescue Team

      March 20, 2024 at 7:09 pm

      @debit: I cannot wait for this!

      I anticipate Boebert-child level random crimes

      Reply
    37. 37.

      like a metaphor

      March 20, 2024 at 7:09 pm

      there was a microtrend here, several years ago, of naming baby girls Abcde.  Pronounced Absady. I have no idea how to pronounce the middle name- Fghijk

      Reply
    38. 38.

      Ohio Mom

      March 20, 2024 at 7:10 pm

      All this time I have been mispronouncing (in my mind’s ear) Anne Laurie as “Ann Laurie.” My apologies.

      Reply
    39. 39.

      BlueGuitarist

      March 20, 2024 at 7:11 pm

      More than a decade old, but on point:
      Hank Green, “How to name your baby properly”
      Suggesting rules including
      “Run it by a focus group of 12-year-olds” and
      “Spell like a normal person”
      not Jaucshuwa or Quathyryn

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4V-N6EEvY

      Reply
    40. 40.

      dexwood

      March 20, 2024 at 7:11 pm

      Decades ago, when my wife was pregnant, we were often asked if we had names picked out. Sure, I’d reply, Shadrack if a boy and Velveeta if a girl. The looks we received were fantastic

      Reply
    41. 41.

      Misterpuff

      March 20, 2024 at 7:11 pm

      @dmsilev: Wolfgang Atreides? Let me guess, the parents believe that this child is the result of a long selective breeding process designed to produce The One who is fated to write a bunch of really compelling symphonies and operas?

       
      While riding a sandworm! Spicy!

      Reply
    42. 42.

      TheronWare

      March 20, 2024 at 7:11 pm

      Those selections  look like something out of an rpg name generator – hahahaha!

      Reply
    43. 43.

      RSA

      March 20, 2024 at 7:12 pm

      Poor kids.  My reactions:

      Brexleigh sounds like a political statement (“Brexit was a good thing”) that will not age well.

      Leviathan was a sea monster. Also the title of a book by Thomas Hobbes, the most famous passage of which explains that life outside of society would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

      Mötley has no other justification as a name aside from being the first half of a metal hair band.  Good luck with that. Take out the umlaut, and you get “a mixture, especially of incongruous elements.”

      Reply
    44. 44.

      NotMax

      March 20, 2024 at 7:12 pm

      @PaulWartenberg

      “Class, say hello to our newest student, AC/DC Voltaggio.”

      Reply
    45. 45.

      Anoniminous

      March 20, 2024 at 7:14 pm

      Why not go traditional and with Ælfgifu, Elswyth, Thorberta, & etc. , for girls; for boys Arowulfaz, Firthuriks, Waldaharaz, and so on are good choices.

      Reply
    46. 46.

      Baud

      March 20, 2024 at 7:14 pm

      I tell you, life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue

      Reply
    47. 47.

      Delk

      March 20, 2024 at 7:15 pm

      Ashli

      Reply
    48. 48.

      topclimber

      March 20, 2024 at 7:17 pm

      @Baud: Sorry, but we are talking about names for human babies.

      Reply
    49. 49.

      NotMax

      March 20, 2024 at 7:18 pm

      @Baud

      The Scottish version.
      ;)

      Reply
    50. 50.

      persistentillusion

      March 20, 2024 at 7:18 pm

      @Timill: “Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery Pulsifer”.  Fictional but still.

      Reply
    51. 51.

      FlyingToaster

      March 20, 2024 at 7:19 pm

      The spouse & I agreed that the babyname options had to be names recognizable by at least one of their grandparents.  We only have the one kid (WarriorTeen) who has a girl’s legal name and a masculine nickname — by their choice*.

      Hereabouts in the People’s Republic Commonwealth, one out of every 5 female teenagers seem named Isabella.  Jeebus.

      * Honestly, it was their nickname at about 3 days old.  The grandparent who would have recognized it had passed before they were born, and he would have approved while guffawing.  The kid chose to start using it in 4th grade as part of coming out as nonbinary — like we hadn’t figured that out when they were a toddler.

      Reply
    52. 52.

      schrodingers_cat

      March 20, 2024 at 7:21 pm

      @Baud: Rhymes with God. Coincidence?

      Reply
    53. 53.

      brendancalling

      March 20, 2024 at 7:21 pm

      @CaseyL: I used to know a lovely young woman named Liesl. It’s a lovely name.

      The vast majority of my students are Black and Latino kids, so I’m kind of used to different sounding names. Off the top of my head, I know a Yadieli, a Yarieli, a Norielis, a Kydier, a Cyncere, a Taaj (might be Tajj), an Alhaji, a Mahije, a Makhi, a M’kai, a Machai (all pronounced the same), three or four different variations of Sakarya, two Neveahs, and so many more.

      I think their names are super cool. Yadieli is a pain in my neck, but I love saying her name. It rolls of the tongue YAA-dee-EL-ee.

      Reply
    54. 54.

      RSA

      March 20, 2024 at 7:22 pm

      @comrade scotts agenda of rage:  I had a friend who was a 1st grade teacher and she swears that out of a class of around 15-18, there were something like four boy Taylors and four girl Taylors and always at least 2-3 Mikaylas (or htf it was spelled) in successive first grade classes.

      Back around the early 2000s, one of my wife’s friends had a daughter named Ava, whose pre-school class included three other Avas. Two or maybe three of them were Ava Grace. My wife and I were told that Ava Gardner, a local girl who had made it big, was still remembered in the area (North Carolina). We were still nonplussed.

      Reply
    55. 55.

      Starfish

      March 20, 2024 at 7:23 pm

      I am about to fight whoever chose “You know ‘Alison’ but with a ‘z’ in there.” I am coming after this Aliznne parents. Why do they hate their kid that much? That kid is always going to have their name misspelled to the normal way.

      Reply
    56. 56.

      Bostondreams

      March 20, 2024 at 7:24 pm

      I wanted to name my daughter Fenway. Then a friend introduced their new dog, Fenway. My wife just gave me a look. We went with Meghan.
      Now I just take them to Fenway every summer instead. :)

      Reply
    57. 57.

      Baud

      March 20, 2024 at 7:24 pm

      @schrodingers_cat:

      भगवान श्री बॉड

      Reply
    58. 58.

      HumboldtBlue

      March 20, 2024 at 7:26 pm

      @PaulWartenberg: ​ 

      Wolfgang is a fantastic name.

      Reply
    59. 59.

      like a metaphor

      March 20, 2024 at 7:26 pm

      ok, my real name is Congoleum, because I’m down, like the kitchen floor

      Reply
    60. 60.

      ronno2018

      March 20, 2024 at 7:27 pm

      many many examples here —  https://www.reddit.com/r/tragedeigh/

      Reply
    61. 61.

      West of the Rockies

      March 20, 2024 at 7:28 pm

      There were two kids (sisters) in my kids class about ten years ago named Heritage and God’s Grace.   The first seems alright, but the other one is… kind of a lot for its owner and everyone else.  Maybe she’ll just go by GG.

      Reply
    62. 62.

      Delk

      March 20, 2024 at 7:29 pm

      @HumboldtBlue: Wolfgang Van Halen

      Reply
    63. 63.

      Kay

      March 20, 2024 at 7:29 pm

      @CaseyL:

      Its Leisel, which is German.

      Reply
    64. 64.

      satby

      March 20, 2024 at 7:29 pm

      I have to cop to naming my younger son not only an Irish name but with an archaic spelling, just so we could call him Paddy. Which Americans hear as Patty and so my kid actually lived the “Boy Named Sue” song. He’s forgiven me, sort of.

      Reply
    65. 65.

      NotMax

      March 20, 2024 at 7:30 pm

      @schrodingers_cat

      Reaching back into history, Queen Victoria had “the Munshi.”

      Reply
    66. 66.

      NotMax

      March 20, 2024 at 7:33 pm

      Mentioned it previously but a family surnamed Silva here named their three sons

      Sterling
      Quick
      Hi Ho
      .

      Reply
    67. 67.

      K-Mo

      March 20, 2024 at 7:34 pm

      Rocklyn is kinda bad ass, but I’m a hard no on the rest.

      Reply
    68. 68.

      Fair Economist

      March 20, 2024 at 7:36 pm

      I always thought, and still do, that a name should be slightly unusual but not unique – uncommon enough that you’re the only one with the name in the room, most of the time, but not weird enough that people go “what?” when they hear it. If four kids in a kindergarten class have the same name, it defeats the purpose of naming.

      @schrodingers_cat:  Chinese names often kind of work that way – they mean something sounded out. Although in modern Chinese, not a 2,500 year old ancestral language. I’m not sure whether it’s better or worse to use an old language for that, although I lean to “better”.

      Reply
    69. 69.

      Mustang Bobby

      March 20, 2024 at 7:36 pm

      I’ve spent my life explaining “it’s Philip with one L.”  Yeah, there’s also Phillip, but that ain’t me, and as my grandmother explained to me some 60 years ago, I’m not an oil company.  So compared to these poor kids, I feel lucky.

      Reply
    70. 70.

      Ruckus

      March 20, 2024 at 7:36 pm

      The only thing I say is give them their own names. Be their parents, do not make them out to be the second or third you.

      And if your parents were stoned when they gave you your name, change it. Be who you want to be.

      And remember that somewhere there will always be someone with the same name as you. I have first hand examples

      Oh and if your children grow up to be a murderer, change your name. I went to school (and church) with someone that spent a lot of decades in jail for murder.

      Reply
    71. 71.

      BlueGuitarist

      March 20, 2024 at 7:37 pm

      @NotMax:

      Sterling and Hi Ho Silva are in that Hank Green video above at 39

      Reply
    72. 72.

      Brachiator

      March 20, 2024 at 7:38 pm

      Names. Names. Names.

      Even short, “normal” names can be twisted into weird nicknames of torment. There was a brief time when Ben was associated with a rat from a movie. Kids are creative when it comes to being mean.

      I have a distant cousin whose first name is an initial. His father hated his given name. The initial is what is on the birth certificate.

      Many biblical adjacent names apparently have been retired. Charity. Faith. Hope.

      Are month related names out of fashion? April. June. August.

      Wilma and Bertha no longer seem pretty enough.

      Magician Teller was born Raymond Joseph Teller and legally changed his name to the mononym. He doesn’t talk much about it.

      His partner Penn has a daughter named Moxie CrimeFighter.

      Reply
    73. 73.

      Mousebumples

      March 20, 2024 at 7:39 pm

      Both my kiddos are named after grandparents. Long names with shorter nicknames. Seems easier that way.

      Reply
    74. 74.

      West of the Rockies

      March 20, 2024 at 7:42 pm

      Never mind.

      Reply
    75. 75.

      Ceci n est pas mon nym

      March 20, 2024 at 7:43 pm

      @CaseyL: Perfectly good name if you live in Germany and spell it correctly, Lisl.

      Sounds like somebody heard the name in “Sound of Music” and liked it but never bothered to check the spelling.

      As a US name, yeah, going to get a lot of mocking. Poor kid should probably go by Liz.

      Reply
    76. 76.

      Ruviana

      March 20, 2024 at 7:44 pm

      @stinger: Yep. I went to grad school with a Liesl. She was American but of German descent

      Reply
    77. 77.

      Roberto el oso

      March 20, 2024 at 7:44 pm

      If ‘Mötley’ is after the band, then they’re doing it wrong, as hardcore fans refer to them as ‘Crue’.

      Also, assuming ‘Leviathan’ is a boy’s name, that’s just sadistic, unless the baby is extremely well-endowed. Otherwise the parents are sentencing him to a lifetime of prospective romantic partners telling him “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed”.

      Reply
    78. 78.

      Brachiator

      March 20, 2024 at 7:45 pm

      @Ruckus:

      And remember that somewhere there will always be someone with the same name as you.

      And this will be true whether the parents were stoned or sober when they chose the name, so parents shouldn’t worry about it.

      Reply
    79. 79.

      Jeffro

      March 20, 2024 at 7:46 pm

      I’m trying to be careful about “respite” threads, so I’ll save the OMG for the next time folks wanna talk about the Dems on House Oversight (spoiler: BOOM! also: LOLOLOLOL!!)

      annnnnyway…does anyone here also regularly hear stuff and go, “that would be an AWESOME band name!”?

      I actually write them down sometimes.  Weird habit but fun.  =)

      Reply
    80. 80.

      Starfish

      March 20, 2024 at 7:48 pm

      @ronno2018: There truly is a reddit sub for everything. I love the name of it so much.

      Reply
    81. 81.

      Bupalos

      March 20, 2024 at 7:49 pm

      Someone mentioned the similarity between breighly and brexit, so this not OT:

      Are folks aware that a hilarious viral slang useage in youth soccer has hopped the pond? When one player is about to commit an intentionally violent and pointless tackle they first shout “Brexit means Brexit,” the nonsense slogan of folks that insisted the U.K. kneecap itself by following through on its pointless, damaging referendum.

      Reply
    82. 82.

      TeezySkeezy

      March 20, 2024 at 7:51 pm

      @CaseyL: inverse gretel; no one would claim to be *Leazel*, least of all Leazel.

      Reply
    83. 83.

      Ruviana

      March 20, 2024 at 7:53 pm

      Nevaeh seems too precious–heaven backwards.

      Reply
    84. 84.

      glc

      March 20, 2024 at 7:54 pm

      @debit: Fouquier

      Reply
    85. 85.

      Rusty

      March 20, 2024 at 7:55 pm

      We were a  it guilty of this.  We were on an expat assignment for my job, living outside London.  We got an unexpected (but very loved) bonus 4th child when most people are all done making babies.  It was the night before planned C-section and we still hadn’t picked a name.  Looking at some British name sights my wife found Rhys, popular there but uncommon here even with the typical US spelling of Reese. (The British spelling is actually Welsh)  So that’s what he has, having to spell it every time, or mispronounced by anyone who isn’t a big Premier League fan.  He has come round that it’s unique but understandable.   It also carries the reminder of his UK birth.

      Reply
    86. 86.

      Ruviana

      March 20, 2024 at 7:57 pm

      @Bostondreams: You knew Tbogg?

      Reply
    87. 87.

      peter

      March 20, 2024 at 7:58 pm

      Did I ever tell you that Mrs. McCave
      Had twenty-three sons, and she named them all Dave?

      Well, she did. And that wasn’t a smart thing to do.
      You see, when she wants one, and calls out “Yoo-Hoo!
      Come into the house, Dave!” she doesn’t get one.
      All twenty-three Daves of hers come on the run!

      This makes things quite difficult at the McCaves’
      As you can imagine, with so many Daves.
      And often she wishes that, when they were born,
      She had named one of them Bodkin Van Horn.
      And one of them Hoos-Foos. And one of them Snimm.
      And one of them Hot-Shot. And one Sunny Jim.
      Another one Putt-Putt. Another one Moon Face.
      Another one Marvin O’Gravel Balloon Face.
      And one of them Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate…

      But she didn’t do it. And now it’s too late

       

      ETA — Dr. Seuss, Too Many Daves

      Reply
    88. 88.

      Tony Jay

      March 20, 2024 at 8:01 pm

      @Roberto el oso:

      Why didn’t they just name him Levi Ethan?

      Unless, of course, Mummy and Daddy are called Azbelial and Molech Smith and run a private little ‘Bible study’ group for anonymous individuals out of their basement smokehouse business? Nice people, a bit reclusive, always taking in strays of the four and two footed varieties who never seem to stay for long because no one ever sees them around.

      Then the kid’s name is one of those big honking sirens that should lead to ninja priest exorcists getting involved toot sweet.

      Reply
    89. 89.

      NotMax

      March 20, 2024 at 8:01 pm

      @Ruviana

      Shades of Serutan.
      ;)

      Reply
    90. 90.

      CaseyL

      March 20, 2024 at 8:01 pm

      @brendancalling: ​
      @Kay: ​

      I don’t disagree: Leisl is a lovely German name.

      Leazel is not. If they were trying for an unorthodox spelling, they should have done with Leezl or Lisel or… anything but Weasel-with-an-L.

      Reply
    91. 91.

      Kay

      March 20, 2024 at 8:02 pm

      @Rusty:

      Rhys is nice. Good job.

      Reply
    92. 92.

      Kay

      March 20, 2024 at 8:03 pm

      wsj
      9m
      Global shipping executive Angela Chao had nearly three times the legal limit of alcohol in her system when she drove a Tesla into a pond and drowned in Texas, according to a law-enforcement report released Wednesday.

      Mystery solved!

      Reply
    93. 93.

      Anne Laurie

      March 20, 2024 at 8:04 pm

      @Ohio Mom: NO, please, ‘Ann Laurie’ is the correct pronunciation, in my case!

      (My sister’s name is Barbara Ellen… )

      Reply
    94. 94.

      Kay

      March 20, 2024 at 8:05 pm

      @CaseyL:

      It is a bad spelling.

      Reply
    95. 95.

      kayg

      March 20, 2024 at 8:05 pm

      @CaseyL:

      It’s pronounced “ellee-aizel,” not “weasel.”

      Reply
    96. 96.

      NotMax

      March 20, 2024 at 8:10 pm

      @Anne Laurie

      No Molly Malone?
      :)

      Reply
    97. 97.

      japa21

      March 20, 2024 at 8:10 pm

      My first name is one (was one) of the 3 most common names. My last name is still one of the top 5 most common names. In third grade, in a class of around 20 students, there were three of us with the same first and last name and the teacher had to use middle initials when calling on us.

      Therefore, we wanted to not go too normal. Our eldest son was born after several years of trying to produce progeny. We decided, therefore, that he is very special to us. We named him after a precious stone, but one that he could easily have a nickname from and one that wasn’t overly bizarre. It has increased in usage and though generally viewed more as a female name there are also a few well known males with the same name. We were astounded one time in rural Arkansas when we discovered the gas station attendant had the same first and last name. And our son has never expressed any discontent with his name.

      We were not sure we would ever be able to have another child so when our second son was born we somewhat considered him a miracle, specially since he was 5 weeks premature and was in neonatal ICU for several weeks. We gave him a more conventional name, Matthew, which means “Gift from God”.

      All the older son’s kids have biblical names and I won’t go into the background for that, but none of the weirder ones. Matthew and his wife gave special names, but not weird ones, to their boys. Lincoln Oliver (Abe and Holmes) and Theodore Francis (Roosevelt and the Pope). He, by the way, is the history teacher.

      Reply
    98. 98.

      Baud

      March 20, 2024 at 8:10 pm

      @Kay:

      she drove a Tesla

      Once again, the car gets off scott free

      Reply
    99. 99.

      schrodingers_cat

      March 20, 2024 at 8:11 pm

      @NotMax: Munshi is like a secretary. That’s not really a first name but a title and is most likely of Farsi origin.

      Reply
    100. 100.

      Kristine

      March 20, 2024 at 8:11 pm

      It was bad enough in the ’60s/’70s when I was one of the few Kristines with a “K.”

      Reply
    101. 101.

      schrodingers_cat

      March 20, 2024 at 8:12 pm

      @Baud: Reminiscent of Bhagwan Rajneesh.

      Reply
    102. 102.

      Origuy

      March 20, 2024 at 8:13 pm

      My given name is Jeffery; not Jeffrey. I was never sure which way my mother actually wanted it spelled when they gave her the papers until I got a copy of my birth certificate. Fortunately, that was the way I was used to spelling it. People will look at it written down and type it in wrong. At least one of my car registrations has it wrong. I’m not the only person with that spelling, though, as mystery writer Jeffery Deaver is fairly well known.

      ETA We had a house fire when I was eight, so the original birth certificate was lost.

      Reply
    103. 103.

      NotMax

      March 20, 2024 at 8:13 pm

      @CaseyL

      Vin Diesel always sounds like a boutique winery in Alsace-Lorraine.
      ;)

      Reply
    104. 104.

      TBone

      March 20, 2024 at 8:17 pm

      A friend of mine was going to go with the first name of ‘Doctor’ for the little bundle of joy until he was talked out of it.  Silly dude.

      Reply
    105. 105.

      Frankensteinbeck

      March 20, 2024 at 8:20 pm

      Names of major characters in my books:

      Avery Special

      Artifact Forge

      Vanity Rose

      Magenta Slade

      Hodir Deathshriek Thorvalesen

      Penelope Justice Akk

      Do not let me anywhere near your children.

      Reply
    106. 106.

      Jager

      March 20, 2024 at 8:21 pm

      @PaulB:

      Did his cousins own the Long Dong restaurant in Golden Valley MN?

      Reply
    107. 107.

      Kay

      March 20, 2024 at 8:21 pm

      @TBone:

      We have an auctioneer here who uses “General” before his name – just like that, in quotes. It’s on his card and his letterhead.

      People are just crazy as hell,

      Reply
    108. 108.

      Old School

      March 20, 2024 at 8:25 pm

      I always said that I liked biblical names.  And also that I didn’t believe that one person should ruin a perfectly good name.

      So I was going to name my firstborn Judas.

      Little Judas Benedict.

      Alas, I only have daughters.

      Reply
    109. 109.

      Jager

      March 20, 2024 at 8:25 pm

      I went to high school with a lovely girl named Sandy Kuntz, he dad’s name was, (you guessed it) Harry.

      Reply
    110. 110.

      prostratedragon

      March 20, 2024 at 8:27 pm

      @dexwood:

      🎼Bowlene! Bowlene! Bowlene, Bow-lene!🎶

      Reply
    111. 111.

      glc

      March 20, 2024 at 8:28 pm

      @Anne Laurie:

      (My sister’s name is Barbara Ellen… )

      I’ve just hit my cognitive limit for the day. I’ll go process,

      Reply
    112. 112.

      NotMax

      March 20, 2024 at 8:29 pm

      @Kay

      General: one of the great jingles.
      :)

      Reply
    113. 113.

      karen marie

      March 20, 2024 at 8:31 pm

      @RSA:   They’re all horrible but Leviathan struck me as the absolute worst if the kid ends up being any kind of overweight.

      It’s long been my contention that anyone who wants to be a parent should have to take and pass a rigorous parenting class.  Anyone who fails is barred from reproducing, adopting or fostering.

      Reply
    114. 114.

      prostratedragon

      March 20, 2024 at 8:32 pm

      @Anoniminous:  Whenever I encounter such names in the wild I try to remember that st some level, they’re all just made op.

      Reply
    115. 115.

      NotMax

      March 20, 2024 at 8:33 pm

      @Old School

      Why not jump in with both feet — Abednego.
      :)

      Reply
    116. 116.

      Quadrillipede

      March 20, 2024 at 8:34 pm

      @Fair Economist: Mandarin naming conventions are… very different from Western naming conventions.

      (I mean, Hungarian uses Surname Firstname order as well, but I don’t think you can use literally any two words as a first name in Hungarian…)

      Reply
    117. 117.

      karen marie

      March 20, 2024 at 8:35 pm

      @like a metaphor:  Wouldn’t that be “fuggedaboutit”?

      Reply
    118. 118.

      Matt McIrvin

      March 20, 2024 at 8:36 pm

      I kind of like “Coyote Bao.” It’s a fine tribute to wild suburban canids and steamed dumplings. An actual coyote bao might be a little gamey though.

      Adryck is going to have to watch out for Cybermen.

      Reply
    119. 119.

      Jackie

      March 20, 2024 at 8:39 pm

      Forty-four yrs ago when pregnant with my son, we decided if a boy he would be named after his dad and my maiden name for my dad. My ex’s name was David but went by Dave, and I definitely didn’t want my son called Davy or Little Dave – so thinking we were being both clever and original decided he would be “DJ” for Dave junior. “J” isn’t the first letter of his middle name at all. Fast forward eight years and at least a third of his classmates and/or teammates were BJ, CJ, JJ, KJ… The only unique difference between my DJ and all the other alphabet J’s was their “J” stood for an actual J name. J is NOT on his birth certificate, so it causes confusion now and again when he’s asked, and he says Junior. He’s not a true junior as he only shares his first name with his dad.

      Reply
    120. 120.

      Timill

      March 20, 2024 at 8:39 pm

      And yet there is no Wiki page for Wonderful Terrific Monds III

       

      [His father Wonderful Terrific Monds Jr. and his brother Mario Monds both have pages]

      Reply
    121. 121.

      Matt McIrvin

      March 20, 2024 at 8:41 pm

      @AndyG:

      and apparently the least popular boy’s name (one occurrence only) is “Poison “…..

      Well, of course, that’s a girl’s name [cue Bell Biv DeVoe drums]

      Reply
    122. 122.

      dnfree

      March 20, 2024 at 8:41 pm

      My mother named me a fancy spelling of a very common girl’s name when I was born in the early baby boom. Fortunately, by the time I started school in the early 1950s, she realized that everyone already knew how to spell this name, and it was going to be a lifelong inconvenience to me to spell it differently. So she just signed me up with the normal spelling. In those days, no one checked my birth certificate, and I’ve been grateful ever since.

      Reply
    123. 123.

      karen marie

      March 20, 2024 at 8:45 pm

      @Baud:   It shouldn’t.  Even a sober person has trouble figuring out whether they’re putting a Tesla in drive or reverse.

      It would baffle me why such a design would have been greenlit but it’s fucking Musk, so …

      Reply
    124. 124.

      dnfree

      March 20, 2024 at 8:48 pm

      @jimmiraybob: My parents hated nicknames that ended in the “y” or  “ie” sound, but naming my brothers common names like Steven, David, John, they did not succeed in keeping people from calling them Stevie, Davy, Johnny.  My brothers were taught to correct people who called them those nicknames.

      My aunt and uncle were more successful with names like Mark and Bret.

      Reply
    125. 125.

      like a metaphor

      March 20, 2024 at 8:48 pm

      I went to a foot doctor named Dr. Knee.  I chose her out of the phonebook because it made me laugh.  The same reason I chose Dr. Fang as a dentist.  Neither of their offices were too far from the Tak Kee Chinese restaurant that I wanted to try.

      Reply
    126. 126.

      lollipopguild

      March 20, 2024 at 8:49 pm

      Back in the 60’s when I was in grade school I went to school with a boy named  James Bond.

      Reply
    127. 127.

      mrmoshpotato

      March 20, 2024 at 8:51 pm

      @dmsilev:

      I once had a student with the first name of “Bland”. He was “IV” though, so ultimate blame for that decision lies a few generations back. 

      “Hi, I’m Bland, and this is my brother, Unseasoned.”

      Reply
    128. 128.

      schrodingers_cat

      March 20, 2024 at 8:52 pm

      @mrmoshpotato: And this is my sister Mayonnaise

      Reply
    129. 129.

      dnfree

      March 20, 2024 at 8:53 pm

      @dexwood: I once had a landlord whose last name was Buick.  When asked what they planned to name their forthcoming baby, he would answer, “Rusty”.  (I do not know the name or gender of the eventual baby.)

      Reply
    130. 130.

      tailfedders

      March 20, 2024 at 8:55 pm

      I had a job that entailed researching old court records, and for a while kept a list of the most amazing names I ran across.  An all-time favorite: Aquanetta

      Reply
    131. 131.

      NotMax

      March 20, 2024 at 8:57 pm

      @like a metaphor

      There’s a micro-chain of kosher Chinese restaurants in NY on Long Island named Cho-sen.

      Reply
    132. 132.

      mrmoshpotato

      March 20, 2024 at 8:58 pm

      @schrodingers_cat: And do you know our Aunt Avocado?

      Reply
    133. 133.

      mrmoshpotato

      March 20, 2024 at 9:00 pm

      @NotMax: That’s good.  I’m assuming there’re no pork dishes on the menu.

      Reply
    134. 134.

      Ruckus

      March 20, 2024 at 9:05 pm

      @Brachiator:

      I’ve had enough trouble picking out dog names – children?

      I’ve often wondered if that’s why I don’t have any, so I didn’t have to name them.

      Reply
    135. 135.

      RedDirtGirl

      March 20, 2024 at 9:06 pm

      @Ohio Mom: I’m still not sure how it is supposed to be pronounced, if not that. : )

      Reply
    136. 136.

      Jackie

      March 20, 2024 at 9:06 pm

      Off topic sorta. It’s related to children…

      Barron Trump turned 18 today, and there’s already a media food fight about whether he’s now “fair game.” I say no – unless he starts behaving publicly like his three older siblings, which I don’t see happening. Melania did one thing right – keeping Barron away from public scrutiny as much as possible. Much like Tiffany was raised: Quietly and mostly out of public.

      Reply
    137. 137.

      schrodingers_cat

      March 20, 2024 at 9:12 pm

      @mrmoshpotato: And Uncle Cottage Cheese.

      Reply
    138. 138.

      Old School

      March 20, 2024 at 9:17 pm

      @RedDirtGirl:

      I’m still not sure how it is supposed to be pronounced, if not that. : )

      Like this.

      Reply
    139. 139.

      Omnes Omnibus

      March 20, 2024 at 9:22 pm

      @japa21: My mother has an “interesting” first name.  My brother and I have names that were in the top 5 the years we were born.  that tells you what she thought of having an interesting name.  Me, if I had a son, I would have wanted to call him Hugo.

      Reply
    140. 140.

      Splitting Image

      March 20, 2024 at 9:24 pm

      Nicholas Barbon’s baptismal name was apparently “If Jesus Christ Had Not Died For Thee Thou Hadst Been Damned”. He was the son of Praise-God Barebone, who served in Oliver Cromwell’s 1653 Parliament.

      Reply
    141. 141.

      dr. luba

      March 20, 2024 at 9:25 pm

      @CaseyL: Perhaps Sound of Music fans who are bad at spelling…..Liesl, the oldest daughter.

      I have friends who named their daughter Lieschen.  Old German name.  She had to spell it out often.

      Reply
    142. 142.

      dr. luba

      March 20, 2024 at 9:28 pm

      @karen marie: I had a couple who named their baby daughter Gidget.  The were both large (tall and stout) people.  The kid has no chance…..

      Reply
    143. 143.

      Tony G

      March 20, 2024 at 9:30 pm

      Back in the late eighties, my wife and I anticipated this trend, so we gave our sons really old-school names (Joseph and Daniel).  We haven’t regretted it.

      Reply
    144. 144.

      Ghost of Joe Liebling’s Dog

      March 20, 2024 at 9:31 pm

      @Brachiator:

      I’ve personally encountered a girl whose name is pronounced Kyrie Eleison, though it’s spelled slightly differently, and I’ve encountered in print I Will Rise And Go To My Father Smith.

       

      Also a fellow who had adopted the nickname Fibber because he was given the name Lyman at birth and didn’t care for it in the least…

      Reply
    145. 145.

      TBone

      March 20, 2024 at 9:38 pm

      @tailfedders: I ran across that name IRL at a law office.  I immediately smelled the hairspray my mom used to use on her 60s beehive hairdo.  Aquanet had a very strong whiff, pew!

      Reply
    146. 146.

      Ghost of Joe Liebling’s Dog

      March 20, 2024 at 9:44 pm

      @like a metaphor:

      When I was a kid, my dad used to like to take the family out to brunch when he was in funds. He favored a restaurant where he could park so as to pass by a doctor’s office which had on its front door the doctor’s name and specialty.

       

       

      Elmer D Bones

      Osteopathy

      Reply
    147. 147.

      Another Scott

      March 20, 2024 at 9:53 pm

      @Quadrillipede: My mom said she went to school with a girl named “Annis”.  Apparently it’s a fine name in Greek.  Not so much for rural Ohio.

      :-/

      A college friend said he knew someone who swore his name was (something like) John McSlush XXIII and signed his name that way.

      Someone in my field published scientific papers under her one name.  5 letters.

      People, and names, are weird.

      Cheers,
      Scott.

      Reply
    148. 148.

      Melancholy Jaques

      March 20, 2024 at 9:58 pm

      @brendancalling:

      I teach in middle school. I’ve seen some fairly unusual ones. My newest student is a very nice young lady named Yorgelis. Never saw that one before. She wants everyone to call her Paola.

      Reply
    149. 149.

      Omnes Omnibus

      March 20, 2024 at 10:01 pm

      @Another Scott: Someone in my field published scientific papers under her one name. 5 letters.

      Adele?

      Reply
    150. 150.

      frosty

      March 20, 2024 at 10:07 pm

      Our sons were adopted from Chile and Bolivia. Naming them was simple, we kept the names they were born with: Cristian and Carlos.

      Reply
    151. 151.

      Eyeroller

      March 20, 2024 at 10:10 pm

      @CaseyL: ​It should be spelled Liesl, however. It’s a diminutive for (mainly) Elisabeth. In German, ie is pronounced like we’d spell “ee” whereas ei is pronounced “aye”.​
      ​
      ​

      Reply
    152. 152.

      Another Scott

      March 20, 2024 at 10:13 pm

      @Kay: We should be happy that she didn’t make it out to the highway, I guess??

      :-/

      Cheers,
      Scott.

      Reply
    153. 153.

      Gary K

      March 20, 2024 at 10:16 pm

      Since the New Year, I have been working in a 6th grade math classroom in the city school system, and man is it a chore for this elderly brain to learn 60+ names: how they’re spelled (very creatively) and pronounced (ditto) and which faces go with them. They’re laughing at me for not even knowing which are boy names and which are girl names, plus they think it’s great fun to pretend to be each other. I tell them that math is easy and learning names is hard, but they think it’s the other way round.

      Reply
    154. 154.

      Eyeroller

      March 20, 2024 at 10:18 pm

      @tailfedders: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquanetta

      Reply
    155. 155.

      Gary K

      March 20, 2024 at 10:19 pm

      @Ghost of Joe Liebling’s Dog: Our campus once had a History instructor whose office nameplate read “Art Bowling, History”. He singlehandedly covered a wide swath of the curriculum!

      Reply
    156. 156.

      Another Scott

      March 20, 2024 at 10:22 pm

      @Omnes Omnibus: [ snort! ]

      Cheers,
      Scott.

      Reply
    157. 157.

      wjca

      March 20, 2024 at 10:59 pm

      @Baud: भगवान श्री बॉड

      Modesty does not become you.

      Reply
    158. 158.

      AlaskaReader

      March 20, 2024 at 11:03 pm

      Creativity can be overcome…

      Reply
    159. 159.

      MinbariSafari

      March 20, 2024 at 11:08 pm

      @peter: I showed this post to my husband, who immediately asked “where’s Oliver Boliver Butt?”  Not to mention Paris Garter and Harris Tweed!

      Reply
    160. 160.

      Tehanu

      March 20, 2024 at 11:11 pm

      I’ve been collecting remarkable names for many years. My two top favorites happen to be next to each other in the alphabetical list: Poopa Dweck (cookbook author) and Prince Octopus Dzanie (athlete).

      Reply
    161. 161.

      wjca

      March 20, 2024 at 11:19 pm

      I, and my next two siblings, got only first names.  Our parents’ explicit reason was “So if you decide you don’t like it, you can pick a middle name you do like and then just use that.”

      None of us did. Our youngest brother, however, got both a first and middle name.  He ended up changing to entirely different first, and last, names.  Guess they had it right initially.

      Reply
    162. 162.

      Soprano2

      March 20, 2024 at 11:22 pm

      People who think those names are good have names like “John” and “Mary”. Girls didn’t have the name Erin when I was a kid. I got called Erwin a lot. It’s not fun to have a strange name when you’re a kid.

      Reply
    163. 163.

      Glidwrith

      March 20, 2024 at 11:27 pm

      The grandfathers on each side of the family wanted our firstborn son to be named after them. We were willing to grant that William Robert does have a fine sound.

      However.

      Half the family lives in Kentucky and we knew our son, if so named would forever be:

      Billy Bob

      We declined.

      Reply
    164. 164.

      Another Scott

      March 20, 2024 at 11:46 pm

      @Glidwrith: My step mom was from Mississippi.  The William in her family was always, always, “William”.  It always struck me as a bit odd, but I never asked about it.

      I had a cousin who was always called “Butch” in the family when we were kids.  I found out later that he was a “, Jr.” and that seemed like a decent solution to the old problem of being called “Junior”.

      Names are weird.

      Cheers,
      Scott.

      Reply
    165. 165.

      Shana

      March 20, 2024 at 11:53 pm

      @comrade scotts agenda of rage: I was one of four Susans in my grade school classes which is why I started going by a variant of my Hebrew name

      Reply
    166. 166.

      Glidwrith

      March 21, 2024 at 12:00 am

      @Another Scott: Deleted for privacy

      Reply
    167. 167.

      sab

      March 21, 2024 at 3:25 am

      @Shana: Every grade school class I ever had had at least four Susans.

      My family tends to name traditionally (old ancestors). The new name in my family was mine, Susan. Everyone had it. Thanks Dad.

      Three or four of them in every class ever. They killed it. Nobody names kids that now.

      Reply
    168. 168.

      Geminid

      March 21, 2024 at 4:48 am

      @sab: Linda used to be a popular name. I read about a Society of Lindas that even has annual conventions, but they have trouble recruiting young Lindas because there are so few these days.

      Reply
    169. 169.

      Chris T.

      March 21, 2024 at 4:49 am

      Probably dead thread by now, but in the spirit of “mispronouncing words like misled as missile-ed”: when I was in college, I knew that Andre Norton (SF writer) was female. I did not know anyone named Andre so I assumed “Andre” was either a female name or an ambiguous one. I had a TA named Andrea and I mis-heard her name as “Andre”.

      Lucky for me I only used that with the prof, not with the TA….

      Reply
    170. 170.

      fancycwabs

      March 21, 2024 at 9:25 am

      Sure, those names are weird, BUT have you considered that in the future they’ll be easy to Google?

      Reply
    171. 171.

      Walker

      March 21, 2024 at 10:39 am

      @Anne Laurie: It is worse than that. Laezel is the name of a (non human) character in Baldurs Gate 3

      Reply
    172. 172.

      PaulWartenberg

      March 21, 2024 at 12:35 pm

      @HumboldtBlue:

      yeah but not with Wartenberg. Too many syllables. Wolfgang Wartenberg does not roll off the tongue easy. Ryan is shorter, fits better.

      Reply
    173. 173.

      Paul in KY

      March 21, 2024 at 12:44 pm

      I can’t believe anyone would name their kid ‘Motley’ (the band name with the dots over letter, etc.). Even the band members, at their most stoned, would not do that.

      Reply
    174. 174.

      Paul in KY

      March 21, 2024 at 12:47 pm

      @PaulWartenberg: That’s not anywhere near as bad as some of the examples given in the post.

      Reply
    175. 175.

      Paul in KY

      March 21, 2024 at 12:48 pm

      @schrodingers_cat: “Old Testament Stevenson”. There probably actually is one of those.

      Reply
    176. 176.

      Paul in KY

      March 21, 2024 at 12:49 pm

      @like a metaphor: That’s bad…

      Reply
    177. 177.

      Paul in KY

      March 21, 2024 at 12:50 pm

      @NotMax: Also Slipknot Fredricks in the class.

      Reply
    178. 178.

      Paul in KY

      March 21, 2024 at 12:53 pm

      @NotMax: Assume the ‘Hi Ho’ one hates them.

      Reply
    179. 179.

      Paul in KY

      March 21, 2024 at 12:55 pm

      @kayg: Tell that to the assholes on the playground.

      Reply
    180. 180.

      Paul in KY

      March 21, 2024 at 12:57 pm

      @Kay: I know a ‘General Morgan’. If he had made O-7, he’d have been General General Morgan.

      A civilian tho.

      Reply
    181. 181.

      Paul in KY

      March 21, 2024 at 12:59 pm

      @karen marie: It was cool & edgy & they were all stoned…

      Reply
    182. 182.

      Paul in KY

      March 21, 2024 at 1:00 pm

      @dnfree: Should have named them Zarkon, Largor and Klarg. Harder to ‘y’ those.

      Reply
    183. 183.

      Paul in KY

      March 21, 2024 at 1:02 pm

      @NotMax: Used to be little hole-in-the-wall Chinese places in NOLA called ‘Takee Outee’.

      Reply
    184. 184.

      Paul in KY

      March 21, 2024 at 1:02 pm

      @Splitting Image: Boy, I bet that was a fun family to be around.

      Reply
    185. 185.

      Paul in KY

      March 21, 2024 at 1:05 pm

      @Chris T.: Have read her stuff. Never knew Ms. Norton was female.

      Reply
    186. 186.

      Ben Cisco

      March 21, 2024 at 1:32 pm

      Spelled: Jkmnop

      Pronounced: Noelle

      I’d have been tempted to call CPS…

      Reply
    187. 187.

      Gravie

      March 21, 2024 at 1:42 pm

      We named our son Zachary (just before that name became HUGE) and our daughter Jessica. They both labor under the burden of absolutely ordinary, much-used names, but at least people can spell them.

      Reply
    188. 188.

      Paul in KY

      March 21, 2024 at 2:09 pm

      @Ben Cisco: I would have had to call her ‘Jak-Mn-Nop’.

      Why give them a effed up name like that. I knew an Indian couple that had a daughter and gave her a name that is pronounced ‘pervy’. I told him what the English word that sounded like that meant and he was a bit sad.

      Reply
    189. 189.

      SteverinoCT

      March 21, 2024 at 7:40 pm

      @Ohio Mom:

      All this time I have been mispronouncing (in my mind’s ear) Anne Laurie as “Ann Laurie.”

      I had a coworker whose given name was Ann. She started using Anna when she married Mr. Drew.

      Reply
    190. 190.

      The Lodger

      March 22, 2024 at 1:00 am

      @ronno2018: I was thinking of Bletchleigh, for the cryptography aficionados out there.

      Reply

    Leave a Comment

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    If you don't see both the Visual and the Text tab on the editor, click here to refresh.

    Clear Comment

    To reply to more than one person, click the X to save & close the box.

    Primary Sidebar

    Recent Comments

    • Baud on Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Fading Neom Dreams (Apr 17, 2024 @ 6:44am)
    • NotMax on COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: April 17, 2024 (Apr 17, 2024 @ 6:33am)
    • raven on COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: April 17, 2024 (Apr 17, 2024 @ 6:25am)
    • ColoradoGuy on Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Fading Neom Dreams (Apr 17, 2024 @ 6:24am)
    • NotMax on Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Fading Neom Dreams (Apr 17, 2024 @ 6:20am)

    🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

    Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
    Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

    Balloon Juice Posts

    View by Topic
    View by Author
    View by Month & Year
    View by Past Author

    Balloon Juice Meetups!

    All Meetups
    Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning
    Proposed BJ meetups list from frosty

    Fundraising 2023-24

    Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8
    Virginia House Races
    Four Directions – Montana
    Worker Power AZ
    Four Directions – Arizona
    Four Directions – Nevada

    Featuring

    Medium Cool
    Artists in Our Midst
    Authors in Our Midst
    Positive Climate News
    War in Ukraine
    Cole’s “Stories from the Road”
    Classified Documents Primer

    Calling All Jackals

    Site Feedback
    Nominate a Rotating Tag
    Submit Photos to On the Road
    Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
    Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
    Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

    Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

    Balloon Juice for Ukraine

    Donate

    Twitter / Spoutible

    Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
    WaterGirl (Spoutible)
    TaMara (Spoutible)
    John Cole
    DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
    Betty Cracker
    Tom Levenson
    David Anderson
    Major Major Major Major
    ActualCitizensUnited

    Political Action 2024

    Postcard Writing Information

    Balloon Juice for Four Directions AZ

    Donate

    Balloon Juice for Four Directions NV

    Donate

    Site Footer

    Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Comment Policy
    • Our Authors
    • Blogroll
    • Our Artists
    • Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2024 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

    Insert/edit link

    Enter the destination URL

    Or link to existing content

      No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.
        Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

        Email sent!