Having recently spent some time on baby naming message boards and having had the same reaction as you, I really appreciated your site. I even showed my husband some of the names in the hopes that he wouldn’t think the names I was suggesting were so strange (I like real zingers like Maxwell or Henry) It didn’t help. Anyway, here are a few odd-ball names I’ve seen. They are all people that either my husband or I have personally met so unless they gave a fake name I can attest that they are all real. Enjoy!

Years ago I worked at the credit desk of a retail chain. One of my duties was to take in credit card applications, so I saw some interesting names. The one that stands out the most was a young woman named Holly whose birthday was December 25th. A bit too cutesy for my taste, but not a terrible name in and of itself. But get this… her last name was Berry. Holly Berry, born on Christmas day. The kicker? Berry was her married name! It has been a few years and I have to admit her last name may have actually been Barry, but either way, if I were Mrs. Berry I would NOT have taken my husband’s name.

Part of that same job involved occasionally paging applicants back to the credit desk. There were a few people in the department who enjoyed trying to trick the switchboard operator into paging false, humorous names (a la Bart Simpson). One of their favorites was Phil McCracken… until one day we had a guy who really was named Phil McCracken. Of course the operator, now wise to the gag names, refused to page him.

This one falls under the heading of “A Perfectly Good Name But an Odd Choice Given the Circumstances”. I know a wonderful young woman named Emily. Her mother is Japanese. Emily’s family lived in Japan the first few years of her life, so she has close ties with that part of her heritage. She is currently spending a year there working as an English teacher. She recently sent us photos of her birthday party with her grandparents, aunts, etc. What did the cake say? “Happy Birthday Emiri”. It never occurred to me before, but let’s think about this. Emily is a fine name, but an odd choice for a girl of Japanese descent considering the English “L” sound doesn’t exist in the Japanese language. Why would someone give a child a name that is virtually unpronounceable to half her family? And, her sister’s name is Paula. They did it twice.

Maybe you can help me. I’ve always wondered… is Seren (yes, pronounced like the nerve gas) an actual name? I used to know a girl named Seren and thought it was one of the weirdest names I’d ever heard… until I found your site of course.

I know a woman named Jennifer Marie. Or at least she thought that was her name until one day she obtained a copy of her birth certificate. Turns out that legally her name is Jennifer Maire. Don’t you wish those birth certificate forms had a spell check?

My friend’s sister named her little girl Madysen. It is pronounced Madison, not ma-DICE-in, as any reasonable person would first guess. As if that weren’t bad enough, where do you suppose they live? Madison, WI. If ever there was a place that should be spared the scourge of the Madisons, you’d think it would be in a city of the same name. Apparently not. But people, please for the love of God, if you adore your city so much that you feel compelled to name your child after it, at least spell it right!!!

And finally, did you know there is a whole branch of caconomenology dedicated to Unfortunate Business Names? I’ll paraphrase a snippet of conversation my husband had when writing up a sale for a small contracting company.”Name?”” Goodeno. Wait, better put it under the business name. Goodeno Builders.””Goodeno? Could you spell that, please?””G-O-O-D-E-N-O-U-G-H” (insert my husband trying to suppress fits of hysterical laughter)I’m all for naming the family business after the family, but at some point common sense must prevail. Wouldn’t you love to write slogans for these guys? Good Enough Builders: When the best just isn’t necessary. Good Enough Builders: Half-assed is the only assed we know.

-Denise