(The mom in the following post complained, wanting it removed. She complained I was violating her copyright, which I disagree with – it’s fair use if it’s for critique. I even offered to put her individual copyright on the post. She complained to my hosting company instead, so to prevent any further problems, this one is no longer a direct quote; I’m paraphrasing.)

I didn’t enjoy the bad baby names pages because the first one I saw was D’Artagnan, which is the name of my son. His nickname is “Tag,” so we don’t think the name’s difficult pronunciation is an issue. Most children seem not to notice his unique name, but adults can be rude. When I was a child, many other children had the same name as me, which I didn’t like. I accept not everyone likes my choices of names, but I am upset when I think they are being rude.

My children’s names are Bayne, Quillon, Griffon, and D’Artagnan.

Now I have to interject that it is interesting to hear from someone whose kid’s name (or rather, whose naming of their kid) I’ve poked fun at. And I’m interested to hear further reasons from this writer why she went so far as to give her kids names so different they will never, ever meet anyone with the same name, ever, let alone have to suffer through being Quillon G.

Seriously, if you’re out there, I really want to know how you found these names, what the other candidates were, and how your family and others react to them. What sort of things do they do that are mean, and did you anticipate this, or were you caught off guard?

‘Cause I know I’m just continuing the cycle of meanness, but they sound like houses from Hogwarts to me.

And on the topic of being a Jane R., I once had a class in which there were two Dianas (including me), two Dianes, a Deena, a Dana and a Diandra, out of a class of 30. Seeing as this was gym class, though, I loved it, because it made it hard to keep track of us, so I could disappear for an hour and avoid yet another lifeless game of softball without getting in trouble.