David K. Israel
8 Countries With Fascinating Baby Naming Laws
by David K. Israel - June 28, 2010 - 9:00 AM

Here in the U.S., you can name your kid almost anything, but that’s not the case everywhere in the world. Let’s take a look at some countries with pretty strict or otherwise fascinating baby-naming laws.

1. Germany

In Germany, you must be able to tell the gender of the child by the first name, and the name chosen must not be negatively affect the well being of the child. Also, you can not use last names or the names of objects or products as first names. Whether or not your chosen name will be accepted is up to the office of vital statistics, the Standesamt, in the area in which the child was born. If the office rejects your proposed baby name, you may appeal the decision. But if you lose, you’ll have to think of a different name. Each time you submit a name you pay a fee, so it can get costly. When evaluating names, the Standesamt refers to a book which translates to “the international manual of the first names,” and they also consult foreign embassies for assistance with non-German names. Because of the hassle parents have to go through to name their children, many opt for traditional names such as Maximilian, Alexander, Marie, and Sophie.

Rejected names: Matti was rejected for a boy because it didn’t indicate gender.
Approved names: Legolas and Nemo were approved for baby boys.

2. Sweden

Enacted in 1982, the Naming law in Sweden was originally created to prevent non-noble families from giving their children noble names, but a few changes to the law have been made since then. The part of the law referencing first names reads: “First names shall not be approved if they can cause offense or can be supposed to cause discomfort for the one using it, or names which for some obvious reason are not suitable as a first name.” If you later change your name, you must keep at least one of the names that you were originally given, and you can only change your name once.

Rejected names: “Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116″ (pronounced Albin, naturally) was submitted by a child’s parents in protest of the Naming law. It was rejected. The parents later submitted “A” (also pronounced Albin) as the child’s name. It, too, was rejected.

Also rejected: Metallica, Superman, Veranda, Ikea, and Elvis.
Accepted names: Google as a middle name, Lego.

3. Japan

In Japan, one given name and one surname are chosen for babies, except for the imperial family, who only receive given names. Except for a few examples, it is obvious which are the given names and which are the surnames, regardless of in what order the names have been given. There are a couple thousand “name kanji” and “commonly used characters” for use in naming babies, and only these official kanji may be used in babies’ given names. The purpose of this is to make sure that all names can be easily read and written by the Japanese. The Japanese also restrict names that might be deemed inappropriate.

Rejected names: Akuma, meaning “devil.”

4. Denmark

Denmark’s very strict Law on Personal Names is in place to protect children from having odd names that suit their parents’ fancy. To do this, parents can choose from a list of only 7,000 pre-approved names, some for girls, some for boys. If you want to name your child something that isn’t on the list, you have to get special permission from your local church, and the name is then reviewed by governmental officials. Creative spellings of more common names are often rejected. The law states that girls and boys must have names that indicate their gender, you can’t use a last name as a first name, and unusual names may be rejected. Of the approximately 1,100 names that are reviewed each year, 15-20% of the names are rejected. There are also laws in place to protect rare Danish last names.

Rejected names: Anus, Pluto, and Monkey.
Approved names: Benji, Jiminico, Molli, and Fee.

5. Iceland

The Iceland Naming Committee, formed in 1991, is the group that decides whether a new given name will be acceptable. If parents want to name their child something that is not included on the National Register of Persons, they can apply for approval and pay a fee. A name has to pass a few tests to be approved. It must only contain letters in the Icelandic alphabet, and must fit grammatically with the language. Other considerations include whether it will embarrass the child in the future and how well aligned it is with Icelandic traditions. It must have a genitive ending or have been previously adopted. Also, names should be gender specific, and no one can have more than three personal names.

Surnames in Iceland usually follow an interesting tradition. They are not family names, but are rather patronymic, or occasionally matronymic, with part of a person’s last name including their father’s name. If a father’s name is Eric, then his son’s surname would be Ericsson (or Eric’s son), and his daughter’s surname would be Ericsdóttir (or Eric’s daughter). [note: According to one of our Icelandic _flossers, since 'C' is not an Icelandic letter, the correct spelling is 'Eiríkur' and his offspring would be Eiríksson/Eiríksdóttir, e.g. Leifur Eiríksson] Occasionally, there are true family names in Iceland, that are passed down to each generation. But they are usually in families originally from other countries, or in families where a family name was adopted at one point.

6. New Zealand

New Zealand’s Births, Deaths, and Marriages Registration Act of 1995 doesn’t allow people to name their children anything that “might cause offence to a reasonable person; or [...] is unreasonably long; or without adequate justification, [...] is, includes, or resembles, an official title or rank.” Officials at the registrar of births have successfully talked parents out of some more embarrassing names.

Rejected names: Stallion, Yeah Detroit, Fish and Chips, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucy, Sex Fruit, Satan, and Adolf Hitler

Approved names: Benson and Hedges (for a set of twins), Midnight Chardonnay, Number 16 Bus Shelter, Violence

7. China

Most new babies in China are now basically required to be named based on the ability of computer scanners to read those names on national identification cards. The government recommends giving children names that are easily readable, and encourages Simplified characters over Traditional Chinese ones. Parents can technically choose the given name, but numbers and non-Chinese symbols and characters are not allowed. Also, now, Chinese characters that can not be represented on the computer are not allowed. There are over 70,000 Chinese characters, but only about 13,000 can be represented on the computer. Because this requirement is a new one, some citizens are having their name misrepresented, and some have to change their names to be accurately shown on the identification cards.

Rejected names: “@”: Wang “At” was rejected as a baby name. The parents felt that the @ symbol had the right meaning for them. @ in Chinese is pronounced “ai-ta” which is very similar to a phrase that means “love him.”

8. Norway

If you read this post earlier this morning, we said that first names, but not middle names, were governed by Norwegian law. Well, thanks to a Norwegian _flosser Solvi, who was kind enough to send over a Web site (written in Norwegian, of course), we now know that these laws were changed in 2002. Apparently, there used to be an official government list of all allowed names. Last names could not be used as first names, and foreign names that were religious in nature, such as Jesús, or that were insulting would not make the cut. Last names also used to adhere to certain rules. If you wanted to change your last name, you would have to show that you were very close to someone else with that last name, such as when you take your spouse’s last name or your mother’s maiden name. Last names that were shared by 500 or fewer people were also protected. It seems that one would have to get the permission of all of the people with that last name if one wanted to adopt the name. Talk about oy to the vey!

Previously rejected names: “Gesher” was rejected as a boy’s first name to the point where the child’s mother was jailed for refusing to pay the $420 fine.

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Comments (194)

  1. I have a few rules of my own…
    1. No last names as first names. That means you, Hunter, Tyler, Archer, Taylor, and Madison.
    2. No opposite-gender specific names. If you’re James, you should be a boy.
    3. No weird names. A kid on my nephew’s baseball team is named “Silvan”. Obviously his parents thought life wouldn’t be hard enough for the boy.
    4. Diminutives and nick-names are NOT proper names. If you want to call your kid “Jack”, go ahead but his actual first name should be “John”. “Ted” should be “Theodore” or “Edward”. “Sally” is “Sarah”.

    And on a similar topic, if you’re thinking of naming your dog “Marley”, please show an ounce of originality and don’t.

    Glad I got that off my chest.

    -TBV

    posted by TBV on 6-28-2010 at 9:22 am

  2. @TBV

    Woah. Calm down there. Jeez.

    posted by Lynnie on 6-28-2010 at 9:41 am

  3. And now, a counter-point:

    #4 – If you want to call your kid ‘Jack’, name him Jack! If you’re planning on calling your daughter ‘Maggie’, there’s no reason to name her ‘Margaret’!

    Also, re: #1. ‘James’ can also be a last name; does that mean it’s off-limits?

    #2 – Where do gender-neutral names like Lindsay, Avery, Riley, Hayden, or Morgan go?

    #3 – What defines a ‘weird’ name? Perhaps Silvan’s parents are Turkish and named him after the city? Or perhaps they’ve bastardized the Frech name Sylvain?

    (I should add the caveat that, just by having such a list, I am a big fan of TBV and intend no disrespect, just a difference of opinion.)

    posted by Josh on 6-28-2010 at 9:44 am

  4. IIRC, Iceland is moving to go away from patronymic names and starting to carry on family names.
    Sometimes I hated having Robert as a first name, but with the spate of cutesy names out there, there’s something to be said for the d standards….lol

    posted by Apprpriate first name on 6-28-2010 at 9:46 am

  5. tbv,

    i disagree whole heartedly with pt 4. why should a person be given a formal first name if it is never used. if you name the child alexander with only ever intending to refer to him as alex, then really what’s the point of being named alexander?

    also, regarding pt 2, while i agree there are some names that are inherently geneder specific, quite a few of the most common female names were once masculine (examples: ashley, courtney). do you feel that according to historical tradition that boys should be named courtney?

    posted by englishbreakfast on 6-28-2010 at 9:49 am

  6. In Korea, your family name is one syllable and your given name is two. When you have a son, you look up your family name in a book, find your generation, and the book dictates one of the two syllables of your son’s name. This practice results in a country full of brothers and cousins having matching names. My cousins are named Yong Hwan, Yong Gyun, Yong JIn, Yong Il, and Yong Kwon!

    posted by tycho on 6-28-2010 at 9:59 am

  7. On the one hand, I truly believe that no government should have the right to intervene with something as personal as the naming of a child.

    That said, I think there should be laws that anyone who utters the words, “And this is our little girl, Tampax X-Box Henderson.” (or any other obviously crap name) can and should be firmly and painfully ear-flicked by anyone within hearing distance.

    posted by EMStoveken on 6-28-2010 at 10:00 am

  8. i am a difficultly named person, as my name Maria, is not pronounced how you think it is on first read. it is pronounced like “Mariah.” Maria was actually the proper English spelling of “Mariah” for quite some time as my great-great-great-great grandmother, my great-great-grandmother and my grandmother were all named Maria. also, in Shakespeare’s 12th Night, there is a character named Maria and pronounced Maria (and you can prove it was pronounced that way through the iambic pentameter).

    now, were my parents trying to be difficult or make my life difficult? no. they simply wanted to keep an older name alive. and if anyone calls me and asks for Ma-reeee-ah, i know they’re trying to sell me something and can quite honestly say that she’s not here at the moment.

    posted by mri on 6-28-2010 at 10:03 am

  9. Thanks, Josh. You’ve raised some good questions, so I’ve taken this to the Board of Governors…

    Good point about “James”. It is, indeed, both a first and last name. The implication of my original post was names that are traditionally last names ONLY should not make the jump to first name status. It’s just rude.

    Gender-neutral names are always tricky. The rule of thumb is, “will this name get my son beaten up on a regular basis?” So I’d say “Lindsay” is not OK for a boy, “Avery” and “Riley” are OK, and “Hayden” and “Morgan” violate Rule #1 anyway.

    As an aside, the “OK-ness” of “Avery” as a boy’s name raised some debate here. But we deferred (as we usually do) to Avery Brooks, aka Captain Benjamin Sisko and major-league Bad-@ss. If it’s OK for him, it’s OK for us.

    “What defines a ‘weird’ name?” you ask? I do. I thought I made that point clear.

    And Silvan’s parents are neither Turkish nor French. Merely pretentious well-to-do suburbanites.

    Thank you for your questions and I appreciate your interest, as does the Bureau of Arbitrary Decision Making (BADM) and their Board of Governors.

    Arbitrarily spending your tax dollars since 1965.

    TBV

    posted by TBV on 6-28-2010 at 10:06 am

  10. There are a number of European countries, Belgium for example, that only recently stopped requiring everyone to be named after a catholic saint. They still have an approved list however

    posted by Jeff on 6-28-2010 at 10:12 am

  11. I wouldn’t mind seeing a couple naming laws in the US… my cousin just named her baby Maddox (after Angelina Jolie’s kid), and I know a girl named, get this, La-a (pronounced La-dash-a, of course). People forget that babies grow up and if they have a silly, cutesy name, it may be hard for people to take them seriously.

    posted by Emily on 6-28-2010 at 10:39 am

  12. @tycho – that’s more of an arbitrary guideline than a hard and fast rule nowadays. :) A lot of Korean parents give their kids names that have one syllable in common (for example, both my and my brother’s Korean names end in the syllable “-A”), but it’s not always the case. Some kids I grew up with in Korea had Biblical names, some had names that their parents made up by combining two Chinese characters, some just had names that their parents thought were pretty.

    Also, while most Korean last names are one syllable and given names have two syllables, there are rare exceptions. There is an extremely small number of last names with two syllables, and slightly more common, people with one or three syllable names.

    posted by Jina on 6-28-2010 at 11:13 am

  13. Also, if your suggested name has a meaning, be careful that it means what you want – both in the language intended and the local language. For example, I point to one name my mother encountered as a teacher – Asshole (pronounce Ah-shol-e). Apparently it was an acceptable name in some regions, just not here…

    posted by tkrausse on 6-28-2010 at 11:17 am

  14. I’m going to offer a caveat on psycho spellings: Reasonable import from foreign language.
    One of my son’s middle names is Nikolay (my wife’s father) which is the appropriate direct import from the Cyrillic alphabet (she being Russian). We went over the spelling for ages and decided in the end to just go letter for letter, where ‘y’ is often substituted for a letter English doesn’t have, even though by normal English pronunciation, ‘ay’ is rarely an ‘ai’ sound.

    posted by Joshua on 6-28-2010 at 11:25 am

  15. My friend’s mom is a nurse in the OB department. She has helped deliver 2 sets of remarkable twins:
    Orangjello and Yellojello, because mom craved orange and yello jello during her pregnancy.
    Bubbles and Bam-Bam, because mom was clearly on drugs throughout her pregnancy.

    posted by Brian on 6-28-2010 at 11:26 am

  16. I should note that New Zealand was intellient enough to reject the name for a girl of
    “Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii”

    No where in here does it address the topic of initials — something my parents thought through and so should everyone else

    posted by KCK on 6-28-2010 at 11:29 am

  17. As my friends have all begun having kids, I have developed two key rules for children naming:

    1. Whatever names you are considering, run it by your friends and family to try to come up with as many variations your child will suffer through. This recently prevented Avery Rose (think of the band Poison).

    2. When naming a female child, use the name in the following sentence:
    “OK fellas, next up on the main stage…”

    I pretty sure those two rules should prevent any unfortunate naming situations.

    posted by Adam on 6-28-2010 at 11:46 am

  18. Discounting family or ethnic names, my personal rule is that kids shouldn’t be given names with creative spellings. My daughter goes to school with 3 “Kay-Lees”, all spelled in radically different ways.

    Also, as someone with a given name that differs from what I prefer to be called, I also advise against setting your child up for a lifetime of explaining, “Yes, my name is Elizabeth, but please call me ‘Beth’.” I always hated the first day of school, when I had to explain my preferred name over and over!

    posted by Tammy King on 6-28-2010 at 11:50 am

  19. I don’t see why we should have restrictions on the names and/or the way names are spelled. If you don’t want your chid to have a different name then don’t give them one. But to say what parents should or should not name their child does not coincide with the freedom that the United States is founded on. I don’t necessairly disagree that some names are outrageous or may cause teasing in the future; but it’s no business of mine because it does not personally effect me.

    posted by Jaime on 6-28-2010 at 11:51 am

  20. Here we have twins named Orangejello and Lemonjello. I also have a friend who is an OB nurse and she tells a great story where the Mom liked the name the Hospital had already given her daughter “Female” pronounced like tamale. For really out there names parents need to think about the long term job prospects of kids with these names.

    However, I have a different name which does not conotate gender (would have been my name regardless of if I was a boy or girl) but is a family last name (violating all kinds of rules). To be cruel to my unborn son he will have his mother’s first name as his middle name. Of course the only person I have ever met with my name is my father who has it as his middle name. So it is very rare and gets comments all the time, but by now I am used to it. I will note it is not as strange as many of the worst examples and is not a common last name either.

    posted by Legaleagle on 6-28-2010 at 11:59 am

  21. It’s funny, for all the times I’ve heard the stories of children named Lemonjello, Orangejello, etc., I’ve never met a single one. Hello, urban myth!
    I have an older generation name, so I’ve spent my whole life hearing, “That’s my mom’s name.” But at least I’m not one the millions of Jennifers, Heathers, of Tiffanies my age.

    posted by Carol on 6-28-2010 at 12:16 pm

  22. Ok, so this is a touchy subject for me, being a woman with a “boy’s name”. There is nothing more frustrating than getting mail for “MR. Shawn ___” or having a customer sit at my desk and say “Where’s Shawn?” When they see my name tag. I love my name most of the time, its unusual and fun. (and BTW, my parents didn’t want a boy, my mom just said that Shawn was too feminine for a boy)

    My sister is named Margaret and we only call her Maggie (except my dad who says “If I wanted to call her Maggie, I would have named her Maggie”). We taught her how to spell Maggie before Margaret and she put Maggie on all of her school work, why bother naming her Margaret. I don’t know that I can agree with TBV’s requirement for no nicknames. It’s not like the nicknames in question are “Lumpy Dumdums” or “Pooki” It’s Jack and Ted. These names have been around for centuries. I didn’t even know Sally was from Sarah until a couple weeks ago when I read it here.

    (and TBV, I had a TI at basic training named Sgt Lindsay, and I’ve never met anyone with the last name Hayden, so this would all have to be based on a few peoples personal experience)

    My sister and I both want to name our future daughters Charlotte, but only because we want to call them “Chuck” and “Charlie” and we don’t want any confusion for them like I have had…

    It seems like everyones had some contact with the Orangjello and Yellojello names, I hear that story a lot. Nothing beats Shithead for me though pronounced “Sha-theed” of course.

    posted by Shawn on 6-28-2010 at 12:25 pm

  23. My mother chose unique (yet normal) names for all four of her children, but the girls have names that have boyish nicknames (mine is Cori) because she didn’t want to peg us with frilly girly names if we weren’t going to be frilly girly girls. Most of the family calls me Cori and I use Corinne at work because it sounds more professional.

    posted by Corinne on 6-28-2010 at 12:30 pm

  24. @Adam – “main stage…” Nearly spit out my coffee.

    Even bearing in mind the fool who named his kid Adolf Hitler, parents should name their kids whatever they please regardless of the “better” judgement of government. Both of my kids have very traditional names, but if I wanted to name them Krondor Butterfly Lexus Jones and Jefferson D’Marquez Realtree Johnson, why should anyone else have a say in what name I give them? Leave discernment up to the parents, after all, they’ll live with the consequences as much as the kid.

    Isn’t your name just one more legacy from your parents, for better or worse? You live with what they give you, learnt from it and pass on to your kids your own legacy.

    If you’re cursed with a strange or goofy sounding (or spelled) name, it’s not a determining factor in your success. Who you are matters a hell of a lot more than what you’re called.

    And a criticism of odd spelling should definitely come from a “Kerri,” instead of Carrie, Carrey, Carey, Karrie, Kari, or K’ree.

    posted by Chicago ExPat on 6-28-2010 at 12:32 pm

  25. What about naming your kid Seven?

    posted by KAR on 6-28-2010 at 12:40 pm

  26. I’ve known several southern males with the first or middle name “Lynn”. It’s also not unusual for the name on the birth certificaate to be “Danny” or “Jimmy”.
    Set the clock back about a century and you’ll find the names Beverly and Meredith, while not super popular were often male names.

    posted by PartiallyDeflected on 6-28-2010 at 12:54 pm

  27. Where did you get your information from?
    Everything about Norway is wrong and/or outdated.

    posted by Solvi on 6-28-2010 at 1:08 pm

  28. Elvis is not rejected in Sweden, I have a friend who’s son is named Elvis.

    posted by pixiebelle on 6-28-2010 at 1:14 pm

  29. “La-a”? “Oranjello”? Not that again! Here’s a very interesting read on baby names and urban legends: http://www.babynamewizard.com/node/30322

    posted by Alanna on 6-28-2010 at 1:21 pm

  30. Wow, Norway rejected Gesher. That’s harsh. I actually changed my surname to Gesher when I moved to Israel. It means “bridge” in Hebrew.

    posted by NG on 6-28-2010 at 1:22 pm

  31. I would never name my child Veranda, but I do think it’s kind of pretty and a lot better than Lego and Google, for crying out loud.

    posted by Danielle on 6-28-2010 at 1:23 pm

  32. TBV, apply your own rules to your own kids.

    Sincerely, Sarah – daughter of Bobby NOT ROBERT and Peggy NOT MARGARET. Sister of BETH NOT ELIZABETH. Ticked off now?

    And Sally as a nickname for Sarah? Nope, never been called that. And it’s fine for a formal name. You know why? Because at the time it was developed, THERE WERE TOO MANY GIRLS NAMED SARAH. Duh.

    I’m naming my firstborn girl Addison, in your honor.

    posted by Sarah on 6-28-2010 at 1:27 pm

  33. @Solvi – can you please advise what laws have changed? All the information on Norway is available on multiple Web sites if you google “norway baby naming laws.” We’re only as good as our sources, so please, let us know and point us to a link or two. Muchly appreciated!

    posted by David K. Israel on 6-28-2010 at 1:31 pm

  34. I was born in Sweden in January ’83. My mom wanted to name me Madeline, but the Queen had just had Princess Madeline. I was always told that my mom simply didn’t want people thinking she was copying the Queen, but I’ll have to tell her (maybe she knew) that there’s an actual naming law.

    As it is, I got a very old and unusual name that I rather enjoy. I’ve only met, in person, one other person with my name, and it was an absolute riot. Of course, people tend to tell me their great-auntie had my name.

    P.S. Avery Rose? HILARIOUS.

    posted by Maud on 6-28-2010 at 1:38 pm

  35. People who make a big fuss about names (in the US) are forgetting that, after a certain point, a person can choose to change his/her name. Sure, it’s a little bit of a hassle, but if you don’t want to enter the workforce with the name of MacKenzie, you can go ahead and change it to Mary.

    posted by Ike on 6-28-2010 at 1:42 pm

  36. Sarah, I realize that tone and intent are difficult to convey in writing, but rest assured that all was meant in good fun. I was being whimsical. One might even go so far as to say, “cheeky”. So please release the Caps Lock and holster your “Duh”. No offense was meant.

    And I do love being honored, so thanks!!

    posted by TBV on 6-28-2010 at 1:50 pm

  37. My name is rare in the US, not English, and not common where my family comes from either. Despite ending in -a, many people think it’s a male name, which was really embarrassing when I was a kid and got seated with the boys at formal sit-down events where the hostess didn’t know me. And despite the fact that’s spelled phonetically, no one ever knows how to pronounce it without my help (I had no idea four letters could be so difficult!). My kids won’t be Jennifers and Michaels, but they’re also not getting my incomprehensible mess of a name either.

    But at least I’m not Te’Quila (seen on a cubicle), Nefertiti (went to college with her), Daffodil (Nefertiti’s little sister), Vignette (also from college), L’Asagna (student my sister had once), or Princess (knew one in middle school and met another one a couple years back).

    posted by maggie on 6-28-2010 at 1:53 pm

  38. What about a boy named Sue?

    posted by HansMoleman on 6-28-2010 at 2:03 pm

  39. @David, the same wrong things are repeated on many, many English-language web-sites.

    Despite popular myth (also here in Norway) there has never been a list of allowed names. There was a list of names that weren’t allowed though.

    The Norwegian law about names changed in 2002. http://www.lovdata.no/all/hl-20020607-019.html
    I can’t find an English translation of it.

    A quick summary of the 2002-law:
    You can use anything as a first name unless it will be a major disadvantage to the person or there are other strong reasons not to use it. You also can’t use a last name as first name unless it has been used as a first name before.

    After the law changed quite a few people changed their name to really weird things and they were approved. I think names that still won’t be approved will be things like “Vidkun” or “Musa”

    The 2002-law eases the use of last names too, making it much easier to change it or use names from different naming traditions. The limit for protected last names is 200 not 500.

    The Gesher-case would not have been a problem today, that case was in 1994.

    posted by Solvi on 6-28-2010 at 2:05 pm

  40. @Kerri –
    I dated a “Kerri” back in the day, so, no, it’s not all that weird. I just thought it oddly appropriate.

    But aside from annoyance/inconvenience, what has the name changed about your life?

    I make a case for “Boy Named Sue.”
    “…and it’s that name that helped to make you strong.”

    posted by Chicago ExPat on 6-28-2010 at 2:07 pm

  41. In defense of “strange” names, especially as they pertain to the African-American community… I have noticed that uniqueness and originality in naming is often considered an asset. Many of the names speak to the Creole heritage of many American Blacks: Spanish, French, First Nations, Muslim/Arab — among others — are all in the mix. Hence the popularity of girls’ names such as Jameelah (Arabic) and Laquita (American Indian).

    posted by chemical_carlos on 6-28-2010 at 2:13 pm

  42. @KCK- dead on with initials. I once knew a guy who was gay, and had very, very unfortunate initials…..

    posted by Kate on 6-28-2010 at 2:14 pm

  43. New Zealand APPROVED Number 16 Bus Shelter!? What was the “adequate justification” for that!?

    posted by Laura on 6-28-2010 at 2:17 pm

  44. @TBV – I have the same rules for naming my children and wish most other people did, too.

    A teacher at my high school had the given first name of Billy. He got much more respect by using his middle name.

    Where I work, I see A LOT of creative spellings and made-up names. They drive me bonkers.

    posted by Amanda on 6-28-2010 at 2:22 pm

  45. This is sickening. What right does any government have to dictate what a parent may name a child? It’s astounding people don’t revolt over such intrusions.

    posted by B-Doc on 6-28-2010 at 2:23 pm

  46. @Solvi – fascinating!! Thanks so much for bringing all this to our attention. I’ll update the post in the next hour or so to reflect your input.And fascinating that the myth exists in Norway, as well. Mental_Floss readers to the rescue!!!

    posted by David K. Israel on 6-28-2010 at 2:24 pm

  47. I can’t imagine telling someone they can’t name their own child something they like but it is probably for the best, considering some of the names people come up with (Pilot Inspektor, Zowie Bowie).

    I know a girl named Japanica who’s having a baby with her fiance, Sendarious and they’re going to name him….Fred.

    posted by Donna on 6-28-2010 at 2:25 pm

  48. Take it from someone who’s on her way to court to change it legally: Don’t use your child’s middle name as their given name! (maybe it’s a southern thing:) but in my family we’re named after grandparents, but have always used our middle names to go by. Financial institutions, the medical community and government agencies will only recognize you as First Name, Middle Initial, Last Name. I have NEVER used my First name and it’s exceedingly frustrating having strangers tell me I must and that they will NOT recognize me as Fran!

    So Parents out there do your kid a favor and make sure that their first name is the one you’re going to use!!!

    posted by Fran on 6-28-2010 at 2:40 pm

  49. I’m so glad my parents said “No nicknames. If I wanted him called that, I would of named him that”

    posted by Sara on 6-28-2010 at 2:52 pm

  50. Gah I feel the pain. My nephew’s father was irish so they chose the irish spelling of Erinn. Needless to say anybody who looks at his name on paper thinks he’s a girl and he went to kindergarten to find his desk all decorated up in pink. :P Of course in our family we also have a Bobby (grandma) and Glen (grandpa) and a Christian (girl) and Carey (brother) which all have famous people of the other gender associated with them.

    He may get the spelling changed when he’s older but for right now it doesn’t seem to bother him. Me personally I’m an Angela and I certainly wouldn’t have it any other way. Over the years I’ve gone by Angie, Ange (rhymes with flange) and now by Angela. When you’re Angela you can do that. But if my birth certificate said Angie people would give me a hard time. I know plenty of people who don’t go by their given first name or go by a variation of it and I don’t see what the real problem is. When I went by Angie I just told people. But what I do have is a name that will work equally well on a diploma, a wedding announcement, a resume and a tombstone.

    posted by Pleased to be Angela on 6-28-2010 at 2:52 pm

  51. I’m amazed that governments get involved in naming of children.

    posted by dan1101 on 6-28-2010 at 2:54 pm

  52. I think if you want to go wild and get expressive with your baby’s name, the middle name is the place to do it. That way, it’s there forever, and the kid can choose to use it or hide it. You can take the opportunity to gift your baby with a unique special name or honor whomever or whatever you want to honor or express whatever it is you value that way without running the risk of saddling your baby with a lousy first name. If they like their rare middle name, they can flaunt it. If they think it’s weird, they can at least use it for an ice breaker occasionally. If they hate it, few people ever have to see it. I know several people with atrocious middle names that no one outside of a couple of close friends and relatives and administrative offices know that they have.

    Also, names shouldn’t need punctuation to be pronounceable (with the exception of genuinely traditional foreign names). Chances are good that if the name you have in mind needs a punctuation mark to be read the way you intend it to be spoken, it’s either a pretty bad name or pretty bad spelling.

    Plus, there shouldn’t be any point while reading your child’s name that people are going to think “OH, I get it.” . It’s a name not a puzzle. Spell things in a way that makes sense on first glance. It’s okay if it’s not the traditional spelling, but it shouldn’t be spelled oddly enough that a fairly normal name has to be decoded.

    posted by melissa on 6-28-2010 at 3:03 pm

  53. Name your child Null (or maybe True or False) – that will probably cause some database applications to crash. :-)

    posted by Robert on 6-28-2010 at 3:04 pm

  54. Greetings from Estonia!
    First of all, do any of you know where Estonia is? Probably no, but if you are intrested use Google maps.
    Now for names:
    Im Kristiina (try saying that in english..nothing? Actually it sounds just like Christina)
    My mothers name is Reet (You pronounce it like red, only with a long e and strong t at the end.)
    My father is Ants (like Hans and his name has nothing to do with ants..)
    Grandmother Ene (the english pronunciacion is completely wrong, its more like Iinii)
    Grandfather Kalju ( in estonian it means boulder, but again it is completely wrong when an english speaker says it)
    And now for the best name : Tiit (yes, its a mans name, its actually quite common…You pronunce it like Teet)
    And this just from a normal estonian family, you have no idea what names we have ( ry saying Ülle or Õie or Piia)
    So what would happen if Id live in a foreign country, like America, and try to give my child an estonian name, like Ãœlle Aigi Jõeäär (the last one is a surname)? NO NO NO Is probably the answer…

    posted by kiki on 6-28-2010 at 3:07 pm

  55. Having a grandfather named “Boulder” is just about the coolest thing I’ve heard all day.

    posted by TBV on 6-28-2010 at 3:18 pm

  56. I was lucky and was not given a middle name at birth. My first name is Adolfo.

    Yeah that was a lot of fun. I got the Nazi salute walking down the halls in HS. Terrible.

    It wasn’t until graduation ceremony practice when all my friends had middle names and my name sounded dull being only two names. So I lied and told them that my middle name was Alexander.

    The first time anyone called me by that name was when I went up to get my diploma. LOL after the graduation my mom was like “who the hell is Alexander?”

    I told her what I had done and started calling myself Alex after that. I still use Adolfo on my legal docs, bank accounts. My family all call me Alex now, so I guess if they can call me Alex, then it should be fine.

    I have no kids, but when I do, I think I want to leave them without a middle name and as they grow up tell them that they will chose their middle name when they turn 18. Then when they do turn 18, they can choose any middle name they like and I’ll take them down to the courthouse to have it changed legally. People say I’m crazy.

    posted by xanderjones on 6-28-2010 at 3:19 pm

  57. Sometimes I think I’d rather have a unique, fun, “rejected” name. Better than being named after a blight on the wall or the car door.

    posted by Mark on 6-28-2010 at 3:22 pm

  58. A guy at my husband’s work gave his son the middle name “Danger”. He will legitimately be able to say when he’s older, “Danger is my middle name!” I haven’t told anyone yet who doesn’t think it’s just awesome! Oh, and he has regular first name that he goes by.

    - Beth (legally Elizabeth, originally Betsy)

    posted by Beth on 6-28-2010 at 3:54 pm

  59. On the subject of given names versus surnames there is only one obvious solutions.

    The Bureau of Arbitrary Decision Making must publish a complete list and tell people once and for all whether each name is proper as a given name or surname.

    Just about every given name you can think of has also been a surname.

    So let’s start with….Wayne. Wayne Gretzky or John Wayne? As of right now we have to rename one.

    posted by TheBear on 6-28-2010 at 4:33 pm

  60. @Fran, I’m surprised you have the issue with the first name/ middle name thing. My mom is named Mary Theresa because her mother was catholic, from what I know her siblings told her mom they would never call her Mary and her whole life my mom has gone by Theresa, she uses both her both her names interchangeably.

    And when it comes to naming, try not to make it too generic, my name isn’t even that common compared to some, but I hate being in a class with 3 other Melissa’s and turning my head anytime anyone says my name. On the opposite note do not name your children anything too wild.

    P.S. my nephew’s name is Nitro, and I love it!

    posted by Meleesssa on 6-28-2010 at 4:34 pm

  61. It pisses me off when people get righteous about other people’s kids’ names. Nunnyabiznis!

    However, there are always the idiots who ruin it for everyone else (Yeah, I’m looking at you Mr. and Mrs. Bus Shelter.)

    posted by Bakedpotatoes on 6-28-2010 at 4:58 pm

  62. In defense of creative names, my mother gave me an unusual name that I ALWAYS get compliments on. I love it, and I always felt special when there were ninety Jessicas and only me.

    As a teacher I always feel a little sad when I have to say “Stephanie H. And Stephanie B. Robert W. And Rober G…. etc.”

    Luckily we live in America with tons of different cultures and can name our kids whatever we like.

    (Personally I suggest staying away from Hitler, Stalin, Etc.)

    posted by HappilyUnique on 6-28-2010 at 5:06 pm

  63. My wife, a teacher has a girl student nammed ” La_Sha ” and is pronounced lah-dash-ah I would think with a spelling like that it would have been la-underscore-a but is isnt….

    posted by Sumgye on 6-28-2010 at 5:19 pm

  64. When I was in college in the early ‘80s, an acquaintance had a popular Christian first name, and the middle name of “Rowdy”. Everyone called him Rowdy, and I remember that I thought it was a really cool name.

    posted by DJ on 6-28-2010 at 5:24 pm

  65. http://xkcd.com/327/

    Little Bobby Tables

    posted by Nick on 6-28-2010 at 5:34 pm

  66. KCK – Actually NZ approved Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii as a name! The poor thing had to get a court to allow her to change it at age 9!

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/24/familyandrelationships.newzealand

    posted by Kate on 6-28-2010 at 5:53 pm

  67. @adam—totally agree that people need to at least speak potential names outloud to people before bestowing them on innocent newborns. i read something once that suggested going out and introducing yourself using the name…just to see how it feels. (i liked the name “jackson russell” until i said it outloud as “jack russell”…nipped that in the bud REAL quick).

    i think parents do forget that kids are only “kids” for about 18 years…they spend the majority of their lives as adults. the least they could do is give them a name that will sound somewhat respectable at an older age.
    personally i like more traditional names…i just might be the only sarah out there who was (and still is) excited to meet other sarahs :p

    posted by sarah on 6-28-2010 at 5:57 pm

  68. There is something to be said for standard names. Of the 6 guys at work, 3 of us are named “David”. So the boss just uses last names. There are a some folks with very unique first names that if it wasn’t for the email system nobody would know they had a last name.

    Personally, I would rather be in the second group. a

    posted by DaveP on 6-28-2010 at 5:58 pm

  69. I grew up hating my parents for naming me Georgia. As a kid, finding keychains with my name on it was vital to my existence.

    However, now that I’m an adult I have learned to fully embrace my unusual name and I really love it now. I can’t imagine being called anything else!

    Although I always get asked if I’m named after the state. (I’m actually named after the artist, Georgia O’Keefe.) When I was younger I hated that question, but now it makes me laugh. & I swear if I had a dollar for every time a person has sung “Georgia on my Mind” to me, I’d be rich. But hey–I can’t complain. How many people have an awesome song with their name?

    posted by Georgia on 6-28-2010 at 6:06 pm

  70. I knew a guy in high school who was kinda hip and played the drums. Everyone called him Fury.(pronounced like the synonym of anger, not like someone who gets hot over plush costumes) I thought it was a cool stage nickname like “Animal” or something. It turns out that Fury was his given name.

    Growing up in a predominately black area, I’ve known some interestingly named folks (America, Asia, Africa, all the keishas, Bikeisha, Trikeisha, etc). Honestly, the names don’t seem to harm them.

    For instance: Te’Quila was a bright young woman who eventually went on to get a PhD in poli sci. She would joke that you don’t want to mess around with Te’Quila unless you could really handle it.

    posted by Corduroy climber on 6-28-2010 at 6:11 pm

  71. I blame Frank Zappa for people naming their kids asinine things. Anyone who names their kids Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen needs to be beaten publicly.

    posted by Jordan on 6-28-2010 at 6:28 pm

  72. @TBV… my son is named Archer. It was the oldest family surname I could find in my genealogy, and I wanted it as a middle name. However, my husband vetoed Reuben (after my grandfather) as a first name because it is his favorite sandwich and would be too weird. So we switched them. I would like to point out that not everyone chooses their child’s name based on the same criteria. Archer has been a common first name for over 100 years. It is easy to spell and pronounce, the dictionary definition is not offensive in any way, it doesn’t rhyme with anything crude, and it suits our sons quiet personality. My husband’s parents chose a far more unconventional, and embarrassing surname to use. Harley. As in Harley David Simm.

    On another, less personal note:

    Spark Plug was a boys name chosen in Brazil in the ’90s. The child later sued.

    All female surnames in Czech end in kova (with an accent over the a). So, Obamakova etc. This rule is applied to visiting foreigners as well.

    posted by Jessica on 6-28-2010 at 6:47 pm

  73. My friends mom was an OB nurse and the woman giving birth named her child Placenta because she thought it sounded pretty when at the doctors office. Really? Your child is now destined to be made fun of for the rest of their life. Good job for not knowing what that is!

    posted by Jenn on 6-28-2010 at 7:18 pm

  74. I married into a family where everyone is called by a nickname, not their actual name.

    For example:
    Shelby is called Screech
    Stacy is called Bitsy
    Bobbie is called Scooter

    So when we were expecting my son, I picked a name with no nickname possibilities.

    I feel very sorry for any child named Alec. They almost always hear their name as Alex and are very confused when learning to write.

    My husband went to school with someone who named her children: Synjyn, Jynsyn, Kynnydy, and Zyhyn.

    I went to school with an Ethan Allen and a James Bond.

    Being a university employee, I can’t tell you how many students have said to me, my mom gave me “this crazy name”, but I go by “this”.

    I absolutely think there should be a veto stamp for names. I have seen children named Rainbow and Christianity. No one should be forced to go through life saddled with a crazy name.

    posted by GinaC on 6-28-2010 at 7:55 pm

  75. And in other news….get off my lawn.

    posted by Antinous on 6-28-2010 at 7:59 pm

  76. Dear David,
    Since ‘C’ is not an Icelandic letter, Eric would not be accepted. Ericson/Ericsdóttir would therefore never exist. (Correct spelling is ‘Eiríkur’ and his offspring would be Eiríksson/Eiríksdóttir, e.g. Leifur Eiríksson)

    posted by Eric the Red on 6-28-2010 at 8:07 pm

  77. I was named Laura, but my family insisted on calling me Laurie. That worked until I hit middle school, and got sick of arguing with 7 different teachers every day that my name was Laurie. I basically gave up trying to correct everyone constantly, so reverted to my “real” name. Only my mom and sister still call me Laurie. My sister, Debby (really Debra) managed to hang on to her nickname, since she is a more persistent person than I am.

    I gave my daughter a regular first name and a Welsh middle name that nobody can pronounce, and she has just mastered spelling at age 9. She is Lucy Angharad (pronounced ahn-hawr-ad). We considered making it her first name, but had mercy on her. And she is Lucy, not Lucille, Lucinda, Lucilla, or any other such, after her great-grandmother.

    And I used to work in a hospital, and I have heard a lot of strange names (working in pediatrics). The most memorable was a boy named Loquacious. Oh, boy. How sad is that. And in my daughter’s class at school, 4 of the 25 kids were named Tyler (3 boys, one girl).

    posted by Laura on 6-28-2010 at 8:57 pm

  78. Thanks Eric! I made the tweak.

    posted by David K. Israel on 6-28-2010 at 8:59 pm

  79. @melissa You speak so sensibly– I wish more people would remember that the middle name is a viable option for hiding the crazy. I’m dating a guy whose middle name is Ralph–not a crazy name, but definitely a terrible one. Fortunately, it’s his middle name, and I never have to think about it. :)

    @Gina How on earth would you pronounce “Zyhyn.”

    I can’t say I’m a big fan of having a government list, but I do wish that so many parents gave more thought to what they are doing to their children. A name is not what makes your child unique–that would be, you know, their personality. I know plenty of fascinating Sarahs, Johns, and Jasons.

    For more laughs (or sheer terror) on this subject, check out Baby’s Named a Bad, Bad Thing, a collection of names found on baby naming website message boards:

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

    posted by Catherine on 6-28-2010 at 9:41 pm

  80. The discussion in the comments made be think of the movie “Idiocracy” where the lawyer’s name was Frito, one of the reporters was named Formica Davis, the President had Mountain Dew in his name somewhere and one of the police (or something like that) was named “Beef Supreme”. That is where we are headed.

    posted by Clevegal42 on 6-28-2010 at 9:43 pm

  81. @Kar: Only if you’re from Nebula M78. [/geek]

    I went to school with a Micaela, Shelly and Easter–and I thought that was as unusual as things were going to get. Now when I mark attendance at my old college I see people called things like Becher, Belissa, Jeyon, Ketty, Alston and Cinch Vv. The last one’s a given name, but I hope the others were ‘glamour’ names and not actually bestowed by parents. *shudder*

    And since we brought up Japanese names, I have to mention DQName, the list for Really Bad Japanese Names. Link’s in my name. Currently topping their list are Sensou(War), Shimobe(Servant) and Nimono (Boiled Dish)–as well as Kenichiro and Seitaro. All are girls.

    posted by Bwee on 6-28-2010 at 10:00 pm

  82. I have had a long interest in names and published an academic paper on the names of my one-time home area in northern England showing that in the 18th and 19th centuries 6 out of 10 boys were named John, William, Thomas or Joseph, while a small minority had one-off names like Birkby, Gilfrid, Kelsick, Rashell, Skeffington and Twentyman (and one whose full name was “Humble Lamb”, poor fellow.)
    Our four daughters were given fairly unusual first names for Canada (nothing weird); fairly common second names (in case they wanted to switch), and a hard to spell and pronounce Portuguese third name from my wife’s family. They all claim to like their names, though the youngest (23) wants to add her mother’s maiden name as a fourth personal name.
    When my (English) mother was told we had named #2 “Eden” she exclaimed “But that’s a boy’s name!”. Look now, and it is in every name book under Girls.
    As with so many things in life, I tend to take the middle road on naming laws. I do not like the idea of approved government lists, but I do like to see someone stepping in to prevent names that will expose a child to ridicule and embarrassment. We accept the need to protect children against other forms of abuse, do we not?

    posted by Gollum on 6-28-2010 at 10:27 pm

  83. I went to school with a girl named Mercy. Her sisters were Faith, Hope, Charity, Grace and Jill. I guess their parents ran out of theological virtues. Anyway, s a Patricia who hates to be called Pat or Patti, as my family called me, I decided to be Tricia. Then there’s my sister Leslie who is named after my father. Yes, Leslie was originally a man’s name, as was Ashley and Courtney.

    We can be who we want and our names are up to us. They’re just names. As we grow and reinvent ourselves, why can’t we do the same with our names?

    posted by Tricia on 6-28-2010 at 10:41 pm

  84. When my mother was in the hospital having me she overheard a lady in the room next to hear name her new baby “Pajama” pronounced Pa(long A)-ja (short A)-ma ( Short A). It did not help that she spoke Ebonics and probably was doped up after giving birth to her child. I have also heard Flavorlover (all said together) and Lemonjello and Orangjello as proper first names (pronounced Lem-ondge-ello, Or-andge-ello). I’m curious to ask, what do you think about those TBV?

    posted by Jessica on 6-28-2010 at 10:43 pm

  85. To clarify my previous post:
    The lady who named her child Pajama was doped up, not my mom (she had not had me yet, lol).

    posted by Jessica on 6-28-2010 at 10:44 pm

  86. I kind of like how you can name your kids anything you want. That way you can tell immediately if someone was raised by people who are ignorant, pretentious, satanic, or just goofy. Apples don’t fall far from trees. That last comment is for you, Gwyneth Paltrow.

    posted by Jonzo on 6-28-2010 at 10:47 pm

  87. Working witht the public, I see a lot of crazy names, but one I heard last year took the cake. I saw a boy run by me at the store, and his grandmother saying, “Qualude, get over here!”. Also, I never really thought much of it, but my dad’s name is Bobby, and it’s not short for Robert.

    posted by Shandi on 6-28-2010 at 11:16 pm

  88. @Meleesssa:

    It’s such a problem that recently I got a loan at the bank where I’ve had checking and savings accounts for 15 years. The loan paperwork must have my first name on it. Ok, no problem. A couple of days later I went into the bank to withdraw money from my checking account and (this being a small town) I told them my name and when they tried to pull up my accounts (which for 15 years have been in the name Fran) they said I didn’t have one.

    Apparently, when I filled out the loan paperwork, their computer system matched up my SSN on the loan to my checking and savings account and oh so helpfully automatically CHANGED the name on my checking and savings account to my first name. I was not a happy camper. They said I’d have to now get my checks in my “new” name…

    Hence going to court to change it legally…very frustrating and expensive.

    posted by Fran on 6-28-2010 at 11:20 pm

  89. My mom thought naming me Catherine and not letting anyone call me Cathy would do the trick. But the thing is, people acquire nicknames over time. By high school, everyone knew me as Cat and I had to tell every prof through college that was my name. My business cards even say Cat. The only time my husband has ever called me Catherine was during our vows. I am still glad I have the full name Catherine – it looks so much better on the top of my resume!

    And here’s a wonky name for you: my sister is an elementary school teacher, and had a student named Abcde (pronounced Ab-sih-dee). Yes, it’s even on babynames.com now, which is downright scary.

    posted by Cat on 6-28-2010 at 11:25 pm

  90. I propose a limit on how many times a name can be given in one year. For example, I thought “good choice” when a friend named her daughter Ashley a few years ago. But that year every other daughter was named Ashley.

    posted by jim on 6-28-2010 at 11:30 pm

  91. There should be a rule for surnames. For example, no child should have to suffer through elementary school with the name “Roach.” I can’t even blame my parents for that one.

    posted by Roach on 6-28-2010 at 11:35 pm

  92. These aren’t the only countries… Argentina has a very strict list of “approved” names for babies as well.

    posted by Rachel O. on 6-28-2010 at 11:57 pm

  93. No weird names in my family, really. I have a sister named Leann (Lee-Ann) and another sister whose name is Katie. Not a diminutive of Katherine or Kathleen, just Katie.

    posted by AmyD on 6-29-2010 at 12:10 am

  94. My grandmother was named William Joseph, out of her mother’s wish for a son. She went by Billie Jo. Next came another daughter, Johnny Lou, and finally, Shirley. Shirley was a boy.

    I also went to school with a girl named Heaven LeAngel Lane.

    posted by oh, family on 6-29-2010 at 12:41 am

  95. I am a Katie, not a Katherine, who married a Danny, not a Daniel.

    posted by Katie on 6-29-2010 at 12:57 am

  96. Names are none of the government’s business, and often name standardization is an attempt to suppress minority ethnic groups and enforce social stereotypes. On the other hand, people should be nice to their kids and not give them names that will annoy them. My father spent much of his life being called by his initials (which is ok if you’re a Southerner) because it was better than “Gus”, and his first name not only was often mistaken for female but was also the name his father used. I’m happy to be named after my other grandfather. And my mother’s name is spelled with a less common choice, and is occasionally a man’s name (in the South.)

    I suppose that in an language where nouns have gender endings, it’s inconvenient to have a gender-neutral name, but especially with the Anglo and American tradition of using old family names as first names, Lee is a common first name, and it’s also common with Chinese immigrants.

    And “Bambi” is a bad name choice for so many reasons, one of which is that it was originally a male deer’s name….

    posted by Bill Stewart on 6-29-2010 at 1:22 am

  97. Well, we named our daughter Natasha, and we had every intention of calling her that… but we call her Tasha. She doesn’t answer to her name, she’s never heard it – she’s Deaf!

    I’ve seen these urban legend names… but I actually have seen, in person, people named King Kong, Gelati, Isis, and Precia and Callidora, Ruhermana, and Phoenix June.

    I have to agree with the comment that, when naming girls, try the following:
    1. Accepting her appt as Supreme Court Justice….
    2. Next up to twirl the pole is…

    posted by Mare on 6-29-2010 at 1:29 am

  98. @katie

    I had a friend who was named Mike, not Michael. It was very frustrating for him to be called Michael by fuddy duddy teachers who refused to nicknamificate to the point of being wrong.

    posted by Bakedpotatoes on 6-29-2010 at 1:42 am

  99. I don’t think the NZ information holds true, or at least people are rarely asked to consider changing their chosen baby names. Consider children at my school called Hopeless, Devil and Christmas as examples of names, that if the law was followed, would’ve been rejected.

    posted by GB on 6-29-2010 at 1:52 am

  100. I had a female student named Kirby once. She was just a white girl from the suburbs. She was a really pretty, creative girl and her full name was very catchy and suited her personality. I imagined her becoming a famous fashion designer or something.

    posted by t on 6-29-2010 at 2:19 am

  101. Some poor kids are saddled with morons for parents and thus moronic names. As far as psycho spellings…as the mother of a daughter whose name is ‘psychotically spelled’, some names just look better that way. The name is normal, though not very common, and the variation does not in any way make the name unreadable or harder to pronounce. The name’s own nickname appears on plenty of personalized pencils, thus easing my daughter’s burden a bit. I think anyone saddled with the name Jennifer (or our male counterparts Jason, Michael) should be allowed a little leeway when we name our kids. :)

    posted by 1ofamillionjennifers on 6-29-2010 at 3:26 am

  102. I know a kid named “Shithead” … his parents are idiots … they think it’s pronounced Shi-theed but the kid is going to need therapy.

    posted by tatgrrl on 6-29-2010 at 6:19 am

  103. @Apprpriate first name

    “IIRC, Iceland is moving to go away from patronymic names and starting to carry on family names.”

    No. Iceland is using its patro/matronymic system and there is no moving away from it.

    The few family names that are used get to live on but some of them die out as people opt to use patro/matronymic instead.

    posted by JBJ on 6-29-2010 at 6:38 am

  104. Actually, I like Jonzo’s opinion… baby names a litmus tests for idiotic parents.

    Hmmm… must rethink my whole opinion now.

    posted by TBV on 6-29-2010 at 8:30 am

  105. As someone with a “psycho-spelled” first name, let me tell you how irritating it is to have to constantly spell my name for people, and growing up I could never find pencils/keychains/etc. with my name. My parents have common names with different spellings, so they thought torturing my sister and me was a GREAT idea. I wish someone could take a time machine back to 1983 and tell my parents why giving me a cutesy, messed-up spelling of a common first name was a bad idea. (Krie is the nickname I gave myself in middle school.)

    posted by Krie on 6-29-2010 at 9:16 am

  106. My mother had students named Aqua, pronounced Uh-koo-uh, which is actually a legitimate African name, though typically spelled Akua. She also had a Strangé, which I thought was very sad.

    I went to school with a Diamond, Emerald, Bliss, Sequoia and twin boys named Martin Luther and Malcolm X.

    posted by Liz on 6-29-2010 at 9:23 am

  107. Also, I have seen so many bizarre names that makes me a little grateful that even though my first name has a messed-up spelling, it’s at least *based* on a common name. A few examples of names I have actually seen:

    -Courvoisier (a girl, BTW)
    -A set of twins named King and Queena
    -Cessna
    -Quorieh (a boy)
    -James Dean [last name]
    -Ryan Ryan (graduated from high school with him…that’s his first and last name, BTW)

    And a friend of mine works at our local welfare office…some of the names she sees are just awful. She had a set of druggie parents name one of their kids Stupid and the other kid’s name was a curse word. (The kids ended up being taken away from them, and I’m pretty sure they were given different names.) But the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) she’s seen came from a teen mom who was excited about the name she gave her little girl: VaGina (pronounced va-JEEN-ah).

    posted by Krie on 6-29-2010 at 9:29 am

  108. I knew someone named Mary Christmas a while back, but she used the name Mary Ann.

    posted by Mark on 6-29-2010 at 9:30 am

  109. Damn good article. I knew about the German law from having lived there, and it’s not surprising that other Northern European countries likewise have these laws.
    I hate to think that many decades from now, there will be a lot of of elderly people with very stupid names that probably sounded cute when they were little.

    posted by Michael on 6-29-2010 at 9:55 am

  110. i think i have a fairly common name but people insist on calling me “latisha” or spelling it with a capital T. it pisses me off because even after i correct then, they’ll do it again. i’m five seconds away from cursing the next person out who does it.

    anywho, i had a friend once who met a guy that had changed his name to “oraluser”

    posted by latasha on 6-29-2010 at 10:12 am

  111. I work in an ER and came across a chart with the first name ‘Aimeeh.’ I was nervous about how to pronounce it, but when I introduced myself to the parents they looked at the baby and said, “A name twin!!”

    posted by Amy on 6-29-2010 at 10:51 am

  112. The Chinese often give creative or unusual names to their children.

    My girlfriend, who grew up in the far north of mainland China, was born Siu-Je, meaning “excellent excellent”. When she was still a baby, her father changed her name to a different set of characters pronounced the same way that mean “excellent philosopher” (suggesting Maoist political philosophy). Since he was a government employee, this may have been a career move.

    Before a child went to school in those days, they were required to be able to write their name. In order to help get his children into school, her father changed her name again to Yi Ping, “Yi” meaning “one” written with one horizontal stroke. Her three brothers were also given new names including “Yi”.

    When she was twelve, she got an extremely bad infection. Her father had to move heaven and earth to avoid her leg being amputated and she almost died. During her recovery, her brother also died from illness.

    Her parents became superstitious and feared that having named all their children “one”-something, they would be left with only one child. So they told Yi Ping she had to pick a new name (her fourth). She picked Li-Ping, meaning “jasmine lotus.” A little ornate for the office, but perfect for a twelve-year-old girl.

    Anyway, just thought I’d throw that in.

    posted by Jack Neefus on 6-29-2010 at 11:06 am

  113. Let me just say that even if your parents are nice and spell your name the common way, you still have to spell it for everyone if there are alternative spellings. My name has shown up on invitations in more ways than I can count. It’s five simple letters, yet people add an e or an i in weird spots.

    As far as naming a child after a virtue, I think it’s a good idea. I went to school with a Joy and couldn’t help but smile every time I saw her.

    I too have a song for my married name. Yes, it’s “Here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson” – lots of fun but irritating if you’re having a bad day. :)

    posted by Kelly on 6-29-2010 at 12:14 pm

  114. Someone named their son Azay’briun. I saw it on some paperwork the other day. Horrible.

    posted by Nicole T. on 6-29-2010 at 12:21 pm

  115. I have an odd name, for living in the US but I’m told it’s quite popular overseas. People mispronounce it all the time, I have even ghad a sales person call me Banana! However when I started teaching their was a student with the same name but spelled Brynna. As if it isn’t hard enough with a strange name it was spelled different too. However as the year go one I’m finding out my mom was just way ahead of the trend. More and more girls are being given the name Brenna. And it was the same for my mom with her name Stephanie wasn’t a commone name at all in the 60s and 70s but when she had kids in the 80s there were a ton of little girls named Stephanie.

    posted by Brenna on 6-29-2010 at 12:46 pm

  116. Regarding German naming laws: You don’t have to be able to tell the gender by the first name, BUT if you choose a first name that could be used for both genders you have to give your child a gender-specific middle name.

    posted by AnnaB on 6-29-2010 at 1:04 pm

  117. my only rules are that the name must pass the ‘playground’ test, must have a meaning, no strange spellings or initials, and must grow w/ the child from infancy to elderly. can you imagine having a Grandma Fartisha?!? (i seriously had a customer w/ that name!) btw, i definitely feel for all the commonly-named – I’m a jennifer and out of 63 kids in my high school class, 5 of us were jennifers. i love my name now, but most people to this day call me by my surname (which i equally love!) oh, my brother is a michael. :)

    posted by jenn on 6-29-2010 at 1:05 pm

  118. What about name combinations? If your last name is Butt, should it be illegal to name your child “Harry”?

    posted by TheBear on 6-29-2010 at 1:07 pm

  119. Save the weird names for your pets, people. ;)

    posted by Anna on 6-29-2010 at 1:24 pm

  120. @Jonzo – I couldn’t disagree more. That is exactly why there should be standardization. Thankfully, my parents didn’t screw my name up too badly. I was able to fix it through marriage. Yes, it was an initial issue. But I am completely different than my family in education, socioeconomic standing, etc. Thankfully, I was afforded certain opportunities because my name didn’t stigmatize me as “lower class.”

    posted by Amanda on 6-29-2010 at 1:33 pm

  121. @TBV, I have a few more rules for consideration.

    1- No misspellings of other languages, i.e. Raina. “It means queen in Spanish.” No, it doesn’t. Reina is queen in Spanish.

    2- I’m totally with you on the diminutives, especially Russian diminutives. I’m looking at you, Natasha. Do you even know that your name is a diminutive? Yup, you should have been named Natalia.

    3- No place names.

    4- I completely agree with the person above who said they should limit the number of names in a year.

    5- Google a name before you apply it to your kid. It may mean something foul in another language or it may have been the name of a murderer during the 60′s.

    posted by Amanda on 6-29-2010 at 1:40 pm

  122. I have an “odd” name… as in, it’s French, and I’m not, and therefore no one can see to pronounce it. People see the name “Maryse” a thousand different ways: Mar-see, Maryssa, Maurice, I’ve heard them all. So when my cousin couldn’t say my name and turned “Ma-reese” into “Reese”, I haven’t turned back. The continuity thing is difficult though, a lot of the time people don’t know Maryse and Reese are the same person.

    I’ve heard of an Abcde (A-ba-ce-de) and twins named Pepper and Ryder. Ouch.

    posted by Reese on 6-29-2010 at 2:02 pm

  123. as one of 8 Becky’s, Rebecca’s, Becka’s, Bekah’s, and Becca’s in my graduating class…please refrain (for your child’s sake) from naming your child a super common name. This is on behalf of all Brittney’s, Ashleys, Jason’s and Joshua’s, lol. Even though I think Addison, Madison, Hailey, Caylee, Hayden, Jayden, Bayden, Caden, and all other similarly common names are beautiful in their own right it is confusing for the child and everyone else involved :) just my 2 cents, you dont have to listen.

    posted by Rebecca on 6-29-2010 at 3:25 pm

  124. My sister is has a pretty simple name but my dad thought that changing one letter would be an easy way to make it different. Now everytime she gives her name she has to point out it is Christene instead of ine. Not a big change but annoy to have to constantly tell people. Also, people think there is some kind of story behind having a slightly different name (btw there isn’t always).

    posted by Darlene on 6-29-2010 at 3:43 pm

  125. Ethnic and family names aside, my rule of thumb is that if a child is named such that I will not vote for them as president in the future due to their name, then it is an ignorant and limiting name.

    posted by cdk on 6-29-2010 at 3:54 pm

  126. I knew a man that named his twin boys Passion Pierre and Pleasure LaPrince. While working in a prison I came across several “Baby Boy”s 4 out of a 1000 seemed like a high percerntage.

    posted by pruzoo on 6-29-2010 at 4:05 pm

  127. Hi from Germany! :-)

    Just wanted to say, that it is not bad to have laws for naming. They just reject very extreme names and I think that’s good, so we don’t have Moxie Crimefighters, Pilot Inspectors or Bronx Mowglis ;-)

    Names which don’t tell you the gender are not forbidden, I think, that’s not completely clear in the article.
    But if you give a name which is for boys and girls, then you have to give your child a middle name, that ‘explains’ the gender.

    Greetings from Bavaria!

    posted by GermanGirl on 6-29-2010 at 4:41 pm

  128. I am from Portugal and we have all types of rules when it comes to baby naming.
    The government actually has an official list, which you can consult online and on paper in any Government’s register, with names that are and aren’t allowed. If the name’s in there it means at least someone has tried to give their kid that name.

    They are all for the very traditional names. You can’t have names with K, W and Y, because they are not part of the portuguese alphabet (for instance, you can only be called Cristina, not Christina or Kristina, even though they sound the same).
    You can’t have any so-called foreign names, even if they are similar to the portuguese version: for instance, you can only be called Tomás, not Tom or Thomas.
    And so on and so forth.

    I find one rule especially silly: if a historical figure’s name (a king queen, a famouse writer, a saint, etc) is to be used, it has very specific rules, for instance, you can only use it right before certain names (usually very classic ones) and you can’t have other names next to it, which may be seen as insulting.

    It’s all very complex! lol
    But the truth is that, everyone has pretty normal names, and kids are hardly ever picked on at school for such things.

    posted by Pippa on 6-29-2010 at 5:56 pm

  129. I gave each of my four children names I thought were a perfect balance of my own interests and theirs. Alexander (and yeah, we call him Alex), Chase (she is a girl), Zoey, and Addyson (also a girl). I grew to not really like Chase and she doesn’t either, but my main irritation….the younger two names! No, Zoey is not named after an orange muppet and we did not get the name from Seasame Street. Addyson is not named after a character on Grey’s Anatomy and BTW, she was born three tears before the show premiered.
    I firmly believe in the government stepping out of private decisions, but some guidance might be necessary. Case in point, my best friend knows a girl who named her child Strawberry Koolaid (no kidding, she has met the kiddo). Why? Because she liked Koolaid and thought Strawberry made it more feminine.

    posted by KD on 6-29-2010 at 8:11 pm

  130. Years ago, I saw an episode of Scrabble with a kid on it named, I crap you negative, Chucksteak. All one word. I thought “Man, your parents must have hated you.”

    Also years ago, I read the story of a kindergarten teacher in Southern California. On the first day of school, parents sent their kids to class with a card on a piece of yarn around their neck. On the front, they were to print their child’s first name. One year, a little boy showed up with his card reading “Fruit Stand”. This was the early 70′s, so the teachers were used to seeing kids of hippie parents names like Moonbeam, Peaceflower, Trippin’balls, whatever, but this one took the cake. Was he conceived at a fruit stand, or was that just where their LSD dealer worked? Now the teacher knew that come junior high, this kid was going to get his butt kicked every day, so she tried to make it as normal a day as possible. “Come here Fruit Stand.” “This is your desk, Fruit Stand.”
    “You’re a great kid, Fruit Stand.” And so on. Little Fruit Stand proved to be a very sweet, obedient kid, silly name aside.

    Well, at the end of the day, she took all the kids outside to go home. She flipped their cards over because that was where their bus stops were supposed to be written.

    On the back of Fruit Stand’s card was the word “Anthony”.

    No, it wasn’t me.

    posted by Anthony on 6-29-2010 at 9:11 pm

  131. The worst (/best) name I personally ever came across was this:

    SEXYFAVOUR

    And I swear on my life I’m not joking. That was this woman’s REAL NAME… Completely unbelievable.

    My own name, Hannah, is nice, but really overused. I was never the only Hannah in my class at school… When I was about 8, there was a girl- Hannah G, and I’m a Hannah B, so inevitably she became Hannah ‘Good’ and yup, I became Hannah ‘Bad’…..

    Kids, eh!? :)

    posted by Hannah on 6-29-2010 at 11:15 pm

  132. Haha, TBV, my stepbrother’s name is Sylvan. It’s gotten him through his eight years just fine, though I have to admit some of his best friends are called Nemo and Elvis (suck on that Germany and Sweden!).
    Anyway, just a story about naming laws abroad: About five years ago some family friends went to live in Austria for a year as the father is Austrian, and while they were they they welcomed their third child and first daughter. They chose the name Milou for her but it was turned down as it was not on the Austrian name registry. So they officially re-named her Pia, but this got tricky and frustrating as their youngest son’s name is Piper. When they came back to Australia they switched the baby’s name back to Milou so now she’s Milou Pia _______.

    posted by Sophia on 6-30-2010 at 5:27 am

  133. Well, this was very interesting blog-post.

    I was wondering how strict are these nordic government name-lists? Because in Finland we have a bit similar system, but it is nameday calendar. Every day is dedicated to name or group of names for instance 28.6 Leo, 29.6 Petri, Pekka etc. So, when choosing child’s name parents take their calendars out! :)

    It is possible to have name outside the calendar, but I think most names come from it. Also, if some name outside nameday calendar comes popular, for instance Veeti or Oona it can be added to it. But names are also dropped off, like Agabetus.

    Some magistrate rejected names what I’ve heard are Tarzan, Ridge and Brooke (about fifteen years ago Bold and Beautiful was popular tv- series in Finland)

    And in Finland people think it is very good thing to have quite strict name laws and we make fun of Americans who give to their children silly names. ;)

    posted by Taimi on 6-30-2010 at 5:42 am

  134. I simply can NOT stand parents who insist on naming their children horrid “unique” names just because that is the current trend. I immediately want to smack any parent upside the back of the head when they break one of these rules.

    1.Taking a normally beautiful and classic name and misspelling it. Eelyzabeth should stay Elizabeth darn it! I don’t mind commonly accepted alternative spellings. Madeline, Madaline for example doesn’t bother me.

    2.Hayden, Aiden, Jaden, Haley, Kayley, Jackson, Kason, etc…any name that has become so popular there will be more than 2 in each class room by the age of 6 drives me nuts. Just because a name is trendy doesn’t mean you have to join everyone else in using it.

    3. Obviously masculine names on girls, or obviously feminine names on boys. There are a few commonly accepted unisex names: Alexander/Alexandra for example. Carter, Casey, Parker, Skylar, Bailey, Riley…if you have to guess about the gender when you hear the name, it’s not a good choice. HINT:If someone has to ask the gender when they first hear the name…change it.

    4. Any obviously old fashioned name (even a family name) that will cause teasing because it’s so old fashioned. Walter, Oscar, Matilda, Hazel, etc. as a first name…come on. Keep the family names for middle names if you insist on using them.

    5. Hyphenated or otherwise punctuated names…there is NO reason for it!

    6. Naming children after super heroes, food brands, cars, or commonly used PET names…give the child a name they won’t immediately hate.

    7. Naming children after your favorite current celebrity or celeb baby. Hollywood is famous for outrageous scandals. Why name your child after someone who may or may not go totally nuts or do something completely illegal?

    8. Naming a child something that is really cute ONLY on someone under the age of 10, that will be totally horrible on any adult. Your cute little baby is going to be a real live grown up some day who has to live in the real world. If you wouldn’t want to be called that name as an adult, you’re child won’t like it either. Your child won’t be taken seriously either.

    9. Naming a child something only because a family member insisted you HAD to use it. You should name your child what you want…if you hate a name, so will your child.

    10. Parents who let the siblings name the new baby something silly. Just choose two or three decent names and let them choose one.

    posted by Kat on 6-30-2010 at 6:37 am

  135. Some additional notes on Germany:
    - Academic titles such as “Doctor” and “Professor” become part of the name

    - It is very difficult to change your name (unlike Anglo-Saxon countries where it is possible by deed poll). It is only allowed if it is damaging to your personal/professional life, for instance it is auto-approved for names like Hitler (*), Himmler, Göring, but apart from that, very very difficult.

    (*) Hah – who could have thought you could Godwin a thread like this :)

    posted by Godwin's Law on 6-30-2010 at 7:43 am

  136. This is what happens when you give up your self ownership.

    People that abide by these rules agree that the government owns them.
    Bunch of cattle.

    posted by Freeman on 6-30-2010 at 11:17 am

  137. I had a particularly cruel mother and aunt who named me “Nozer” on my birth certificate and then decided to teach me to spell it something completely different.
    But particularly disturbing is that I am Indian and therefore have brown skin. My wife (who is English) thinks it’s hilarious to introduce me as her “brown Nozer”

    posted by NMubian on 6-30-2010 at 12:04 pm

  138. I do not see any problems naming your child something with intents of calling them something else.

    My first daughters name will be Elizabeth , but will go by Ellie. I do not have the heart to name her Ellie because as she gets older she will be blessed with a name that sounds younger than she. At least with Elizabeth she can use that, Beth or Liz as more professional names, but if she chooses can still go by Ellie at home.

    But for uniqueness I am all for it. My name is Kasie (pronounced KC) and I would never change it. I grew up with about 6 other KC’s and most of them were Casey or Kacie (boys AND girls might I note) but I, and my teachers, could always identify which one I was just by the spelling. And I get compliments very often about its spelling. Why did my parents name me that with that spelling? Well in the mid eighties when I was born computers were getting big and as computer programmers they decided to give me the most easily typed version of the name, knowing I would type it upwards of 100K times. But I love it, even though I never got fancy pencils, key chains or anything. The only unfortunate thing about it is I was born and raised in Kansas City and played softball for 14 years (Casey at the bat? KC for Kansas City?)

    posted by Nevermetanother on 6-30-2010 at 2:11 pm

  139. Oh, and in high school a teacher of mine told us she was allowed to name her new baby sister. Say it out lound.

    Penny Anna Nickol

    posted by Nevermetanother on 6-30-2010 at 2:14 pm

  140. Jessica says “It did not help that she spoke Ebonics and probably was doped up after giving birth to her child.”

    I say, “Wow.” Judgemental much?

    posted by Sookie on 6-30-2010 at 3:02 pm

  141. Being German I made the experience that it is usually only Americans that are shocked by our intrusive government that dares to cut our freedom in such a way.

    What they don’t realize is that theses laws don’t affect about 99.9 % of all people. There are literally thousands and thousands of names to choose from and it is only the completely made up names or those chosen from movies/ books (Legolas for example)that might have to be approved. Even then it is usually not a problem if it follows the other guidelines (not the name of an object, gender specific etc). There is a woman here who got the name Skyline (yes, the English word) approved as a name for her daughter.

    When it comes to the fact that the gender has to be identified by the first name, the rules are strict but there is a loophole. No, you can’t call your daughter Robert or you son Jessica but there are a handful of gender neutral names (Kim, for example, can legally be given to a boy or a girl)that are accepted as long as you choose a non-ambiguous middle name. Matti’s parents would probably not have hada problem if they had just called him Matti David.

    Also, I have to correct you on the last part. German parents do not choose Maximilian, Alexander, Marie or Sophie because they want to avoid any hassle (as I said, that happens very rarely) these are simply the most popular names in Germany such as Michael, Jacob or Madison are for the US

    posted by Sue on 6-30-2010 at 4:22 pm

  142. I’ll never forget watching some TLC special where a child was named “Dasani.” I wanted a follow-up show to see if baby Aquafina ever debuted.

    And now I need to go thank my father; though he tortured my friends all throughout my childhood when they called and asked for “Liz” (which was an assumed nickname, not one my family or I ever chose), at least I wasn’t named Number 12 Bus Stop.

    posted by Elizabeth on 6-30-2010 at 7:40 pm

  143. In New Zealand there was also parents who were banned from naming their kid ‘Tallulah does the Hula from Hawaii’. True story.

    posted by Rachel on 6-30-2010 at 8:50 pm

  144. Wow!

    Choosing a name for your child should be a fun opportunity to express your love for them.

    I had no idea there were so many people out there offended by the choices I made!

    Gotta say I really don’t believe many of the crazy names people have posted. Especially when you can find them listed as an urban myth.

    Although I know this was supposed to be lighthearted, gotta say, came off more righteous and racist.

    We did a lot of research when it came to naming our children. They have names you have heard before, but are not boring, and we chose a slight variation in spelling.

    Haydon Oscar
    Madaline (pronounced just like it’s written)Kate

    Broke a lot of rules there!

    The only advice I give parents when choosing a name is please Google it.

    posted by LorrieLee on 6-30-2010 at 10:18 pm

  145. Oh, and here are some unusual names of kids I actually personally know:
    As previously mentioned, Nemo and Elvis
    Siblings Chevrolet (boy, nn Chevy), Elcamino (girl, nn Momo) and Rocket 88 Berry Lullaby (girl)
    Sequoia
    Heaven-Lee
    Ambrosia
    D’cota
    Sequani (boy)
    Three girls called Honey
    Pryncess
    Na-ah (Nadasha, of course)
    Linkin Jedi
    Velvet
    Ceejay Belle
    Zandalee (girl)
    Rogue (girl)
    Wilde Rose
    Sassafras (girl)
    Evoleht (girl, pronounced Ever-lay. It’s my personal “favourite”, it’s The Love backwards :S)
    Vesco
    Godwin
    Brother and sister Otis-Bean and Neko Fox
    Ksenia
    Several Diesels
    Jarvis Jello
    Anjoul (pronounced Angel)
    Two girls called Alaska
    Scully (boy)
    Frehza (pronounced Fraser)
    Onyx Carman (boy)
    Butch
    Siblings Lyyndon, Yyael and Rubyy
    Deveram (boy)
    Sisters Oceana and Orchard Rose
    Siblings Reef, Areia and Solana
    Ujuanay (pronounced like Eugenie)
    Brothers called Fox and Cougar
    A girl called Jett
    Tarot (boy)
    Aslan
    Dune (girl)
    Roadie (boy)
    Fig Ava (I can’t believe the parents actually did this, fingers crossed she’ll go by Ava)
    Sterling (boy)
    Vajtech (boy; it’s Russian because that’s where his father’s heritage is, but nevertheless, the English connotations are terrible)
    Meadow (girl)
    Nimue (traditionally pronounced NIM-oo-way, which I love (and, funnily enough, I also know a little girl called Nimowei, pronounced as Nimue should be pronounced), but this girl pronounces is Nim-YOO. I just can’t stand people pronouncing names wrong. Actually, she just goes by Nimue but her full name is Ivory Nimue Minthy Tea-Rose ______)
    Iskha (girl, pronounced ISH-kuh)
    Silkom (girl)
    Brother and sister Bear and Lotus
    Brother and sister Bede and Matisse

    My stepsister’s cousins are called Kazelle, Boonie (with a short ‘oo’, like in wool), Indigo (those three are all boys) and Ember (girl).

    posted by Sophia on 7-1-2010 at 8:39 am

  146. @Reese

    It was Sheppard and Pepper that were the twins. “Shep & Pep”
    Makes it even worse.

    and I love your name (s)! :)

    p.s. real name NOT apple

    posted by apple on 7-1-2010 at 9:56 am

  147. One use of a name per family per generation.
    In the hobby of genealogy, it is quite common to see 18th and 19th century families who, if an older child died, they would name a later child the same name.
    And, while it’s acceptable to “run” a name, Jr., III, IV, etc. with males; don’t name all the female cousins the same. My great great grandfather’s mother, sister, wife, mother-in-law, daughter and granddaughter were all Elizabeth.
    - – - – - – - – - -
    If your family immigrates to the US from Europe, don’t force us to wonder why your surnames are different by gender. Drop that Bulgarian “a” for females.
    - – - – - – - – - -
    And PLANETS! Who’s the literal wisea** who named the 7th planet? Can anyone ever say Uranus without laughing or feeling self-conscious?
    I once saw it used for a personalized license plate on a Saturn.

    posted by w w on 7-1-2010 at 10:23 am

  148. I do think that some of these laws are really good ideas. For example the ones about causing a future person distress etc. think about the names Apple and Kyd that celebrities decided on. That is just mean.

    But as for gender specific names what about names that have changed genders? Shannon, Kelly, and many other Celtic boys’ names originally have changed to girls names. Or what about Pierceson? that’s my son’s name, is it technically a middle or last name? Also for the Tylers, Madisons etc, again… These names have changed places. They are no longer considered a last name, and in fact are not commonplace last names anymore. What about Miller? I know Miller as a first and last name. It’s something that you have to be careful with and consider the time frame. You can’t say that just because once in time a name was a first/last/boys/girls name that it remains so. Time changes everything.

    posted by tessa on 7-1-2010 at 11:27 am

  149. For what it’s worth… I’m one of the million, billion Jennifers that goes by Jen. Not only do I not mind my most common name, I love it and embrace it. I found my “uniqueness” in many other ways than having it forced upon me.

    I like the way you think TBV. I couldn’t agree with you more on any of your points. There is something nice about tradition, sometimes.

    posted by Jen on 7-1-2010 at 11:13 pm

  150. My first name is Perry. Seems like such a simple, happy sounding name, yes?

    No.

    1) It’s a gender-neutral name. I have met nearly as many women as men named Perry.

    2) It’s out of common usage–and it had been for about 30 years when I was born.

    3) I was named for my grandfather, who died before I was born. Thankfully, since computers were not as pervasive as they are now, I never got any of his mail.

    4) No, I’ve never heard any Perry White (the editor of the Daily Planet in the “Superman” comics) or Perry Como (late jazz/standards singer) jokes. Bring ‘em on! (On a serious note, I actually have never had anyone compare me to Perry Farrell of the rock band Jane’s Addiction or Perry Cox, the doctor from “Scrubs.” Whew.)

    5) Funnily enough, most of the people who nickname “Pear Tree” are surprised to find out that my name actually means that in French (I prefer the Welsh form, “Wanderer,” even though the French meaning is more likely, since I’m 1/16 French and 0/16 Welsh.)

    6) Living in the U.S. with names that come from two completely different nationalities (French and German) used to be much harder. Yay, diversity!

    7) I wish I had been named for my father, Franklin, but he didn’t believe in “juniors.” So I’m technically a II, or as I like to say, a 2.0. (Of course, most products don’t get really good until revision 3 or 4, so…)

    8) I tried to go by my confirmation name (Christopher) in high school, but as often happens, my best friends refused to accept it, or to call me by my middle name, as I asked for a short while.

    9) I didn’t have to use my last name until 8th grade, and even then only because our teachers’ style rules changed.

    10) (Wow, this list got long!) Typical roll call in my classes:
    Chris…Jennifer…Stacy…Stacie…Elizabeth…Chris…Chris…Chris…Asier…Julian…Chris…Chris…Perry…

    11) Attention, parents who wish to give their children the following names:

    a) Kayla/Mikayla/Kayleigh/etc.
    b) Madison/Maddison/Madicyn/etc.
    c) Brittany/Britney/Brittanie/etc.
    d) Parker

    The human race has reached its quota. We have enough. Thank you for your support.

    12) Attention, parents who wish to give their children the following names:

    a) Any product or service name
    b) Kiley/Kileigh
    c) Any abstract concept (Destiny, Faith, etc.)
    d) Anything ending in an “i”
    e) Any celebrity name

    If your child becomes an exotic dancer or adult film star, it’s not society’s fault.

    13) Attention, parents who wish to give their children the following names:

    a) Melvin or Melville (even if Moby Dick was a great book)
    b) Edgar
    c) Herman
    d) Herb
    e) Edwina
    f) Gertrude
    g) Chester
    h) Bernice
    i) Bertha
    j) Perry

    Be ready to receive letters from your children’s school administrators apologizing for your children being stuffed into lockers. They are not allowed to blame you publicly, but privately, they do. They’re right.

    14) (yep, still going!) Attention, parents who wish to give their children the following names:

    a) Any body part
    b) Any plant name, but especially “Ficus”
    c) Any mineral name
    d) Any name of a geographical feature, particularly bodies of water
    e) Any unit of measurement
    f) ESPECIALLY any name of an animal

    …have you considered adoption or sterilization (preferably before pregnancy)?

    15) As mentioned in previous comments, see the film “Idiocracy.” Write down the names you hear in that film and do not apply them to anything, but especially offspring.

    16) Attention, parents who wish to give their children the following names:
    a) Any famous historical figure

    The best your child could hope for is to become the title character in a blaxploitation film, and that’s if you have a common last name (This summer…Isaiah Mustafa* IS Socrates Jones! He’s got a new philosophy–of kicking your butt!).

    17) Attention, parents who wish to give their children the following names:
    a) Any political statement couched in a contrived proper name

    You are a waste of skin and organs.

    *Isaiah Mustafa is the actor who appears in the Old Spice “Smell like a Man” spots saying “I’m on a horse” or “I’m on a Harley.” I would be honored to have him play me in the action film based on my name, but he’d have to gain 50 pounds, lose about 6 inches of height, and wear lots of pale makeup.

    posted by P.F. Bruns on 7-2-2010 at 10:53 am

  151. I’m black and my parents gave me an ethnic name (Shaneisha; I insist on Neisha). What I find happens most is people judging me before meeting me and expecting me to be some stereotype and I’m not. I can’t tell you how many times someone introduced themselves with “Whaddup, homegirl? What’s poppin?” for me to reply “How are you?”. I feel sorry for them and their ignorance.
    I named my son after my father (Rupert Jeremiah Bryan II). Many people (even the doctors in the delivery room, believe it or not) tease me and him already because his name is “weird” (Really?). There was a guy with his kid whose name was Markelle (I’m only spelling it like it sounds) and asked what my boy’s name was. When I told him he asked, “What kinda name is that?” I replied, “The name of the gentleman who will eventually represent your little Markelle in court.”

    posted by Neisha on 7-2-2010 at 1:33 pm

  152. I absolutely hate surnames for first names. There are two prominent business men from my small town and here’s what they named their children…

    Parker, Jackson, Spencer, Smith & Collins. Smith and Collins are little girls!

    I hate it even more when people take regular names and either spell or pronounce them crazy. I personally know a girl named Marcia (pronounced MAR-SEE), and a guy named Lemon (pronounced LEE-MUN).

    posted by BamaLady on 7-3-2010 at 12:37 pm

  153. oh, let’s just face it: names ARE culturally important and can/do indicate how traditional or ignorant are one’s family.

    in the US, we have a very wide variety of names – from the stuffy traditional to the very exotic – due to the mixed bag of cultures here. perfectly acceptable and interesting in my mind.

    i do, however, have a particular hatred of:

    1) stupendously horrific invented ‘LaKweesha’ names

    2) ‘cutesy’ spellings or deliberate misspelling, especially those with an ‘i’ instead of ‘y’ (Pegi, Marci, Kathi)

    3) nick names as the given first name; Sandy, Bobby, Johnny, Willy

    i named my son Christopher Michael – and his paternal grandmother was horrified. “He’ll never be able to spell it!” (she named all her kids nicknames)

    What kind of kid doesn’t learn to spell his or her own name, even if it were 99 letters long? such low expectations.

    posted by Eileen on 7-3-2010 at 5:14 pm

  154. I’ve noticed on here that some people are lying about “personally knowing someone named…”, for example Shi’thead. I’ve heard that one a million times. I’m telling the truth though when I say I met a woman named Aquanette and another named Elvis. I work in the medical field and I’ve heard some doozies. My all time favorite was a sweet and funny lady named Ella Pazella.

    posted by BamaLady on 7-3-2010 at 10:31 pm

  155. my mom and i both have strange names, deva (her) and dara (me). i’ve never met anyone who has either of our names but they’re mispronounced so often that its annoying. (dev-ah like devon and dar-ah like laura)

    posted by dh71 on 7-4-2010 at 11:52 am

  156. My last name is Flowers, and my favorite girl name was April, but I couldn’t do that to her (April Flowers) and we went instead with “Mary”, and privately in our household she was referred to as “Marigold”.

    posted by Stephen Flowers on 7-5-2010 at 3:41 am

  157. yeah i think there really needs to be some naming regulations.

    exhibit A: a student I had named asshole (pronounced ash-ol-ay)- cleary cruel

    exhibit B: this students younger brother who was named shithead (pronounced shi-heed)

    that really is not ok.

    posted by cam on 7-5-2010 at 1:49 pm

  158. Wow! Very, veeerryyyy interesting!

    @tycho – Same here! I’m Chinese, btw, and all my brothers and male cousins have names that start with “Wei”

    I hate it when people purposely butcher up good names (traditional or otherwise)–I’m talking to you, Haelee, Taylyr, Aymie, Bryjytte. And also, I think this generation has enough Hayleys (however you spell it), Taylors (ditto), Tylers, Kaylas, Kylas, Kyles, Britneys, and so forth.

    As for ethnic names…I think most are acceptable. I have an Irish friend whose name is Maire (moyra) and has siblings called Roisin (rohsheen), Aine (anya) and Aodhen-sp? (aidan). Sometimes it’s just how names are spelled in a certain culture. I did, however, see a girl whose mom twisted a traditional Irish name and named her Cha’Vaughn.

    The pop “singer” Ke$ha (yes, people, that’s a dollar sign and it’s pronounced keh-shuh) who sings about feeling like P. Diddy is probably going to start a trend of symbols in names. God have mercy on us all. O_O

    posted by Jane on 7-5-2010 at 5:56 pm

  159. I am a big fan of the mental floss blogs and enjoy perusing them from time to time, but I never thought that reading one would make me second guess the name I gave my child. I’ve always liked the name Avery, and I wanted to give tribute to my grandmother Rose. So I have beautiful Avery Rose. I had never put together Avery Rose sounded like the Poison song! I will now think of this everytime I say my child’s name. I guess for my next child I should definatly run it past a few more people.

    posted by Erin on 7-5-2010 at 9:44 pm

  160. While I’m not against creative names(Angelo and Rinoa are on my list), I think there should be some limitation- not much, but enough to stop cruel stuff.
    [sarcasm] But not letting you name your kid “OmgIgottapoopoo” is harsh regulation of our freedom of speech. [/sarcasm]
    The only thing I don’t like about my name is that it’s open to a lot of pronunciations/ shortened versions. In an average day I’m referred to as “Bree-anna” “Bree-onna” “Bri-Bri” and “Bri.” I even had a couple teachers call me by my middle name.

    posted by Brianna on 7-6-2010 at 4:48 am

  161. Oh, and folks, *look up the spelling* of any “pretty” names you do decide upon! I once knew a poor, darling little girl named Selest. Why, yes, now that you mention it, her family *did* live in a trailer!

    posted by Eric on 7-6-2010 at 8:15 am

  162. Great article but I thought it was funny not to see a segment on Balinese naming conventions because it is so exceptionally unique. This was one of the most fascinating things that I learned about Balinese culture.. was that for the most part, only 4 names are used and repeated based on whether you are the 1st born, 2nd born, 3rd, 4th, and then the naming starts over again. There is also a prefix that acknowledges which gender you are that is a part of everyones name. And they don’t take their father’s last names.. they end up with a unique and personal last name.. Fascinating!

    For better detail.. check out these articles:

    http://everything2.com/title/Balinese+child-naming+conventions

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balinese_name

    posted by holly on 7-6-2010 at 11:25 am

  163. My mother wanted to name me something different, and chose Kylie, because it was original, Australian (means “boomerang in an Aboriginal language), and also reflected our Scottish Gaelic ancestry (feminine for Kyle). Then along came the pop singer Kylie Minogue, and Kylie became one of the most popular names in Australia! It died out again, and my name is now a time-stamp of being a child of the 80s here in Aus. I wanted to name my child something different and I also wanted to choose a Scottish Gaelic name for my son. I chose Lachlan. (For you Americans, that’s pronounced LOCK-lin.) At the time, none of my friends were parents and I didn’t know it was the second most popular boys name in Australia! Now, in every class, there are always 2-3 Lachlans! I’m horrified to have chosen a trendy name, but simply had no idea! I would never name another baby without checking out its popularity first! Speaking of weird spellings- there was a girl at my workplace with Phelissitie (Pronounced Felicity), and in New Zealand a couple wanted to name their son 4real, and weren’t allowed to use a number in the name, so they eventually went with Superman.

    posted by Kylie on 7-6-2010 at 12:31 pm

  164. Oh yes, and Mikayla should be Michaela. Why don’t people know that?

    posted by Kylie on 7-6-2010 at 12:33 pm

  165. I completely agree with the poster who said that strict rules for baby names enforce gender stereotypes and downplay the presence of minorities. Not on purpose – I don’t believe in conspiracies – but that is what it does.

    Several posters have complained about abstract names such as “Destiny”, “Faith”, “Grace”, etc…. these are common names in English-speaking Africa, as common as Michael and James are in the US. As are days-of-the-week names, like Sunday, Tuesday, Friday, etc. During my 5 years in Nigeria I think I met every day except for Saturday. Too many syllables?

    All this to say, who is a WASP to decide what is good for someone else’s child? One of the great things about America is that we absorb many different cultures, who will name their children things that may not be familiar to you. Why is that a bad thing? Don’t judge! The melting pot is what makes our country unique.

    posted by Jan on 7-6-2010 at 1:51 pm

  166. I personally agree with some creativity, simply because there are too many John Smiths and Tom Wilsons out there. However, parents should be counseled to use some wisdom in naming their children with the future in mind. This point is very similar to the point that numerous job application advisory articles make about the email that is used when applying for a job. For example, is not a professional email account. Similarly, parents should stay away from names that are likely to turn off the person in charge of hiring your child in the future. The truth is, those names are most often annoying, not intriguing.

    On another note, don’t name your child so that he/she goes by the middle name. As one who suffers from this mistake, parents may have good intentions, but it just complicates life.

    posted by Travis on 7-8-2010 at 9:51 am

  167. I’m french and same here ….you can’t for example give to your children name with english orthography ….The name has to be spell in French ( for example Stacy has to become Stessy in france)

    posted by Amy on 7-8-2010 at 2:43 pm

  168. I don’t like my name – I feel like it really is outdated, but considering what I could have ended up with, I am not going to complain.

    While I have never taught a child named Shithead, I did have a boy whose middle name was Anguish. I assumed his mother had a very difficult labor.

    At the same school, I taught a girl whose first name was 29 (yes, twenty-nine) letters long. She went by Cheddy (pronounced Sheddy).

    A few years later, I moved to a school with a significant Asian population. Everyone loved it when Phuk T. was called to the office, and yes, it really was pronounced that way.

    I also managed to severely tick off a girl whose name was Sunye… You know, Sunny? You can probably guess what I thought it was, and the kid looked at me like *I* was the one who was retarded. Uh, no kid – your mama couldn’t spell, and that is no way my fault.

    It is very frustrating to be presented with a multitude of made-up names with jacked up spellings. I do the best that I can, but it really is hard to be polite when I get hostility from a child just because I don’t realize that Ashley is pronounced “Heather” or some such.

    Anyone who says that the US should not have some sort of guidelines when it comes to children’s names should read the book Freakonomics. Turn to the section where the statistics indicate a strong correlation between the weirdness of a first name and the likelihood that a child will spend time in prison.

    Please, people, show some sense. I also strongly disagree with the poster above that said that the parents have to live with the name choice just as much as the child does. Until the parents have to answer something like “Ticonderoga”, “Dysheiki”, or “Horace” day in and day out, that’s not even remotely fair to say.

    posted by Mary on 7-8-2010 at 6:43 pm

  169. Jan–well said, thank you. There seem to be a lot of judgy WASPs hanging out here right now. I believe that parents should absolutely show respect when naming their children, and consider that their kids will someday be adults with lives of their own. However, I don’t go for all the nitpicking rules, such as the ‘no nicknames’ one. Why not name your child what you expect them to be called? It can be a huge hassle for a child, trying to convince people to call them the name they prefer, instead of the one that’s officially theirs.

    posted by Kessie on 7-15-2010 at 3:32 am

  170. Some favorites I’ve encountered:
    La-a or Le-a (pronounced Ladasha. “Why’s everybody call my baby Leah? Jeez!”)
    Latrina (That’s just cruel)

    Is it important to have rules? If you’re being respectful to your children, then the rules shouldn’t even be needed because something good will come about.

    Oh, my only rule? Let’s be respectful to teachers with our spellings. If you have a foreign or traditional name and a teacher can’t spell or say it that’s one thing, but if you’re making things up to be trendy or cute or unique and it leads your child to have their name butchered for eternity, that’s not fair.

    posted by Laura on 7-26-2010 at 10:50 am

  171. My name is fairly common, but not to the point where I have ever had to be referred to as Paige M. or something like that, and it is spelled correctly (although I do still see people write my name out as Page…). It’s one of the rare names where I end up having to add a syllable to get a nickname (Paigey).

    But, in school the whole sharing a name with an inanimate object got kind of irritating. You have no idea how many times I would look up automatically when a teacher said “Now turn to page… 54″ or “Page 62 is where the chapter we will be reading begins”. It was a bit annoying, but I got used to it eventually. I still deal with the bad book related puns on a daily basis though…

    But I think that names are a personal decision and should remain that way, unless there are extreme circumstances. The child will always have the opportunity to change it when they get old enough.

    posted by Paige on 7-27-2010 at 3:45 am

  172. My wife and I had a fun time trying to name our two girls and came up with a few rules for the names.

    1. Short names, because the longer they are, usually the wierder they get.
    2. Had to sound similar in both English and Spanish. Bilingual house so…
    3. Had to be something orignal
    4. But not retarded.

    So my oldest is Dilana Alyze (pronounced da-lana a-lee-zee)
    and Alena Sebella (pronounced a-len-a)

    posted by Matt on 7-27-2010 at 12:43 pm

  173. My name is Marcie, pronounced Marcee. It is not Marsha, Maurice, Maria, or what is your proper name. I had a teacher who took me to the principal for lying to her about my name. Boy did my mom rip her a new one!

    posted by Marcie on 7-27-2010 at 1:10 pm

  174. My second cousins have rather unusual names, they are:

    Ryvre Rain (pronounced River, and he’s a boy)
    Willow Sage and
    Ember Rune

    Their parents are mot definatly hippies, but their names are not nearly as unique, Michele and Dale

    posted by Emily on 9-1-2010 at 1:35 am

  175. ok here what i have to say
    my name is savannah its an ok name but is getting more popular my sisters name is Delaney and thats a last name for Irish people so really there is no need for my sister to not be aloud the name Delaney it it a beautiful name

    posted by Savannah on 9-13-2010 at 6:53 pm

  176. I’ve been working in social services for over 25 years so you can imagine what names I’ve encountered. Whenever new medical products came out, we would have a betting pool of who would get a client who gave their child that name ! So we’ve had our Viagra’s and Advair’s,and Dramadine’s ( because she thought it was a Greek name !) amongst the Tyisha’s, Taneisha’s, Kiesha’s, Nyisha’s, Q’eisha’s, etc.! I love America !

    posted by Nappy on 9-15-2010 at 12:47 pm

  177. My cousin’s friend’s given name is Kenny. I have a 2-year-old second cousin who was meant to be named Cydney/Cidney, her mom misspelled it on the form and now she is Cindy.

    posted by Jessica on 9-24-2010 at 5:41 pm

  178. These postings are so funny! I’ll add to the mix….
    My oldest brother went to school with a girl named Michael. There is a boy in my son’s elementary school named Meredith. I never could figure out how “Saoirse” is pronounces “Seer-sha”. In my son’s class is a Jade, Jada, Jadelyn, Jalen, Janyah and Je-Naya. And some of those are boys! I get a headache trying to keep up with who is who! I couldn’t even IMAGINE being a teacher in today’s America!!
    I am all for different but not to the point that everybody has the same name just spelled differently! I thought I was being “different” naming my kids….Jonathan wasn’t a name I heard alot in my area. There are 5 of them in his school! Ryan is my younger one and I also didn’t hear that one too often. Turns out someone 3 houses away from me has a Ryan & there are tons of them in his school!!
    Oh…also, my sister-in-law is a nurse in an inner-city hospital. One of her patients had twin boys & they were early. She had no idea for names & was joking around with some of the nurses. She being black, they teased about dark colored things. She eventually named her kids Bosco & Ovaltine! This is the story she tells us. She said she was friends with the woman so I will take her word for it but I’m not so sure after all the fake names going around!

    posted by JnRsmom on 11-2-2010 at 12:55 pm

  179. I gave my chidren unusual, but carefully considered names, we looked at possible nicknames, initials, spellings and pronunciation. we checked the flow of all of the names together and we thought about what the meanings were, if it was conducive to the traits we wanted our children to have. both of my children have three middle names, two personal, and another is my surname.

    Willard Jean Arlo

    Willard- Teutonic- Bold and Resolute.
    Jean- French- Form of John- named for a deceased family friend and paternal great-grandfather.
    Arlo- Barberry Tree.

    Eevi Wynter Varin

    Eevi- Hebrew- Giver of Life.
    Wynter – Born in Winter
    Varin – Hindi- Rain God. also an amalgamation of the main sounds in the names of both grandmothers, especially cherished now I’ve lost my mother.

    To me the most important thing is that when people meet my children they are meeting two polite, intelligent well-adjusted little people. A name is a label, it should be personal and there is no way David or Michael or Sarah would suit them at all.

    And when you talk of ‘psycho spelling’ you must remember that people who aren’t the parents can be idiots. my mother’s name was Virginia, relatively normal right? – if someone misspells that they REALLY misspell it!

    posted by Melanie on 1-8-2011 at 5:36 am

  180. My mom’s given name is Judith but she’s always gone by Judy, and my dad’s given name is Gregory but he’s always gone by Greg. Thus me (Chelsea) and my younger sister (Shelby) – names that you can’t shorten. Yeah, a few people will call me Chels occasionally, but that doesn’t really count.
    BUT my middle name is Kristian (Christian but with a K) because my parents wanted my initials to be different. CKS, not CCS. But come to think of it my sister is SKS, so whatever. Firstborn triumphs!

    posted by Chelsea on 1-12-2011 at 12:11 am

  181. @gina…thanks for posting my children’s names: synjyn…jynsyn…kynnydy…zyhyn…lol…

    @catherine…zyhyn is pronounced phonetically like “mt. zion” from the Bible…

    posted by Seresaa on 8-8-2011 at 3:06 pm

  182. I like odd names. I also like odd spellings of common names. Names like Michael have hundreds of different spellings because different countries would change them to suit their speech. Miguel. Maikel. Makayla (yep, it’s a varient of Michael). Michelle. Chelle. Michaelangelo. Michiel. Miha. Mihail. Mijo. Mikhail. Over one hundred more. Eric, Erich, Erik. I do agree some spellings are just done to be ridiculous, but others can help tell people about where your family came from. It can be fun to fool around with spelling a little. Look at the name Rachael. It has similar elements to Michael. No, they don’t rhyme, but they are spelt in similar ways. Why shouldn’t I name my daughter Rahail? Should we yell at Miguels and tell them they’re spelling their name stupidly, and make them all Michaels? Why can’t it be Kymberly instead of Kimberly?
    My name is Mercedes. Yes like the car. I have been called Mercedes Benz, Benzi, BMW, Cadillac, and have been advised to date a boy named Ben. The spelling of may name has been tortured. Mersadies. Mercadies. Merceides. Merceidies. Mersedes. Others. If I had been a boy, my name would have been Random Chase. That’s my little brother’s name. He’s been called Dumbo, Ran, and Dum. My half brother’s name is River, though I haven’t heard of any reports of teasing.
    People forget my name refers to the virgin Mary and is Spanish because a German car company was named that. But I love it, and I wouldn’t be called anything else. My dad refers to me as Sadies, but my friends all call me Mercedes, except for one who calls me Mercy. I get called Makenzie a lot by teachers and parents. I still don’t care. Mercedes is a beautiful name. I would die if I was one of five or more people with the same name in a population of one hundred. I have three Nicholas’s in my class, four Chelsea’s, two Emily’s, and several other repeat names, in a class of one-oh-six. If I included other grade levels, the number of repeat names would be enormous. It’s nice to not need to specify myself as being as Mercedes G.
    Okay, I rambled a lot and I’m sure it doesn’t all make sense. Just remember, close-minded folks, that different countries have different language structures and will spell a common name differently. Remember the English name Eric comes from old Norse Eirikr. Don’t yell at Eirikr, you’re the one spelling the name stupidly.

    posted by Mercedes Wren on 1-7-2012 at 6:02 pm

  183. @ TBV – as the mother of “Atley Hayden Snyder” I take great pride in my son’s name – the ancient English name “Atley” (man of the meadow) and after his great-grandfather “Hayden”, followed by his surname. As you can arbitrarily decide what is a dumb name, I can arbitrarily decide what to name my son. As did your parents.

    posted by Tracie on 1-13-2012 at 3:19 pm

  184. I knew people who had the last name of sexfinger. Id take a crazy first name over that last name anyday!!!

    posted by B on 1-14-2012 at 1:23 pm

  185. One foreign surname that never fails to make me chuckle is “Lipshitz”. I first ran across it in an almanac listing of celebrity birth names! Goes to show there are surnames that don’t translate well into english.

    Regarding naming guidelines, I especially liked Adam’s two key rules:

    1. Whatever names you are considering, run it by your friends and family to try to come up with as many variations your child will suffer through.

    2. When naming a female child, use the name in the following sentence:
    “OK fellas, next up on the main stage…”

    As good advice as any I have read regarding this issue!! I’ll add a third that should apply to celebrities offspring:

    3. As a child of a famous person, he or she will already be drawing plenty of unwanted attention. Why add to it by giving that child a “weirda**” name?! If anything, a celebrity child should have as normal and non-attention getting a name as possible (names like Fifi-Trixibelle and Mirabella Bunny will not likely acheive this end, LOL!).

    posted by Tboneator on 1-14-2012 at 10:11 pm

  186. In my first year teaching high school in southern Texas I had Elmo, Charles Brown, Ceasar, and Jesus in the same class. I have to admit it made roll call fun. Sometimes it is not so much the individual names, but the combination.

    posted by amy on 1-14-2012 at 11:55 pm

  187. So when does Anderson Cooper have to turn his around first-name-first?

    posted by John David Galt on 1-15-2012 at 12:26 am

  188. Something I was surprised to see no one mention…

    Here in the Deep South it is quite common to give first-born children (if they are girls instead of boys) their mother’s maiden name as a first name. Hence Spencer Lucky and Vesta Brown, both adult women I know. I’ve also met a girl named Gordon.

    Another Southern naming tradition–Sister for a girl. I’ve known at least two Sisters, though they were neither sisters (African American) nor sisters (female siblings of each other).

    Names, just like any other words in the English language, change over time. Names we think of as exclusively female today were once exclusively male: Ashley, Leslie/Lesley, Brittany/Brittney. Gender neutral names like Madison, Jordan, and Morgan may simply be making the transition from one gender to the next.

    My vote for weirdest names? Anthony and Re-Anthony, brothers my mother taught (and, yes, I’ve met them–they really exist). That and the family where every male (including brothers) is named Gary Carter, no middle name, no junior/II/the third, etc.

    posted by Brandy on 1-15-2012 at 1:24 am

  189. I have twin niece and nephew. Darian and Nathan. When they were born the hospital brought in the circumsision form for my sister I’m law to sign for Darian, who is a girl.

    posted by beth on 1-15-2012 at 2:36 am

  190. My basic rule of thumb is that you can name your child anything you want, as long as your child has the right to any nickname they want, and you will call them by that nickname.

    My second (personal) rule of thumb is that if I want to give my child a name that could possibly draw unwanted attention to my child (like Samwise, or Obi-wan, or Hamburger), then make it a middle name. That way, my child can keep it private if he/she doesn’t want to use it.

    posted by Sir Read-a-Lot on 1-15-2012 at 3:17 am

  191. Not naming your kids after a place name could be difficult, especially in Canada. In Toronto there are lots of streets with names like Jane, John, Peter, Beverly, Stephanie, Perl, Augusta, etc… Not to mention St. George, St Andrew, etc… You can drive down Martin St. to get to Margaret St. in the town of Milton. There’s little Amelia St. in Victoria, BC Or Jasper Ct. in Devon, Alberta. And there’s a Jasper St in St. John’s, Newfoundland, not too far from Russell St. and with a Virginia Lake close by.

    Also, while forbidding first names that are also last names sounds like a good idea. In practice, it’s impractical. Names like Lee, Kelly, Jordan, Mason, Martin, Clark, Lewis, Allen, Scott, Mitchell, Stewart, Howard, Ross, Alexander, Henry, Gordon, Rose, Spencer, Barry/Berry, Ray, Elliot, Austin, Ryan, George, Kim, Dean, Douglas, Terry, Daniel, Todd, Francis, Joseph, Paul, Simon, Allison, Kirk, Kirby, Charles, Bruce, Vincent, James, May, etc. are all popular as last names as well as first.

    Oh, btw, mentalfloss.com is a trademark owned by Felix Dennis and the article was written by David K. Israel. Both men have first names that can be used as last names (see funny man Larry David & athlete Allyson Felix). And both have first names that are places! (Felix in Spain & the ancient city of David in Israel).

    posted by Lee Kim on 1-15-2012 at 10:04 am

  192. FWIW I have 3 first names and 2 last names. They are Kenneth, Alan, and David in no particular order. Even after 70+ years I still get annoyed by getting addressed as Mr Kenneth. This happens quite often in spite of the fact that I write my surname in all caps. Google gives 25 hits for my complete name, Been Verified gives 100 for first & last name only.

    posted by Ken on 1-15-2012 at 1:19 pm

  193. The rule I think of is, “They’re going to put that name on a resume some day”. So I plan on naming a daughter Elizabeth and calling her Libby.

    posted by Megan on 1-15-2012 at 5:23 pm

  194. I have 4 names, 2 middles and all first names. FTW!

    Holy cow these comments exploded!

    Good call on the name topic. Everyone has one…

    posted by David on 1-16-2012 at 1:08 am

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