Author Archives: notwithoutmyhandbag

My (relative) named her daughter Sydnei, pronounced “Sidney”. looks like it should be pronounced “Sid nay” or “Sid nee i”.

-L.

My best friend’s archnemisis in high school was named, no lie, Quishona (Kwee-shon-ah). To me this name sounds like an illness involving gross body noises. (Oh excuse me, that’s just my Quishona raging today)

There was another girl unfortunately named Chiquita. Every time I saw this girl all I could see was her in a grass skirt with fruit on her head.

-S

Everyone in my family has “family names” that have been passed down generation to generation, and they are all pretty unique. My name is Menden (nickname for Mendenhall), and I have cousins named Tate, Callie (nickname for Callahan) and Cabell (pronounced with a short “a”, like Cah-ble). Poor Cabell…his last name is Gobble, pronounced Go-ble. Cabell Gobble. Thought you might like that one.

– Menden Poole

At my family reunions, there’s: the twins, Aelon and Aemon (a woman and a man, respectively), Clifford, Garrison, and Serafina.

Unrelated: One of my (aquaintances) is named Hrothgar.

-R.

Here are my name anecdotes:
– Friend of a friend in Littleton, CO named Butterscotch.
– Husband went to college (Letourneau University in TX) with Crystal Glass and Anita Glass.
– And last but not least, another Harry—My friend (claims) he heard his pastor say one Sunday, “It’s so nice to see Nancy and Carol coming in with Harry Buttz.” Apparently Harry was an usher that day.

I tried to do my bit (honest I did) by telling my good friend not to name her daughter Haley under any circumstances. I explained to her that even though she had her heart set on it, so did every other mother born
between 1970 and 1978. I told her there were scores of little Haleys and Hailees and Hailleys running rampant. To my great relief, she took my advice. She didn’t name her daughter Haley. (wait for it)

She named her Madison.

AAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

-J.

I went to high school and college with a girl whose last name was Saeman, pronounced “Sea-men.” One of her brothers was named Richard, and you guessed it — he went by Dick. Dick Saeman. Heh.

I don’t recall ever hearing that he was teased, but I can’t believe that he escaped high school and the Army unscathed in that regard.

– Lisa

Love your website! I am a nurse at a pediatrician’s office, if you really want some names I have loads, my pet names to hate are:

Elery (girl)
Princess
Steffannyie
Emmaleigha
and various over-voweled names such as Acacaia, and Eleccyia (alicia is how it is pronounced)
Blade (boy) (he already has a pierced ear at about 6 months of age)

let me know if you want anymore!

– Mary Emily (i had no identity issues ever about my name, plan to do the same for my children)

Hi! I just wanted to share a FEW names that I have come across teaching in an inner-city school: (there are too many lovely ones to list!)

Freshala (prounounced like it looks fresh-ala)
LaChoice
Reassured
Shylexis
Shu’Miracle
Cordauris (pronounced Cor-dare-e-us)
Zacaria (pronounced Za-car-e-ay)
Marshavia
Jah’Kourtnei
Char’karious
Kendre(ken-dray)
Jarious
Ardarius
Elvisha(el-vee-sha)
Tiszarria (Ta-za-re-ay)
Shamaria(Sha-ma-re-ay)

Enjoy, these names are really horrible!!!!

-W

My mother, god bless, had me on a misty morning. Can you guess where this is going? Yes, she thought the description of the whether and time of day would be a good name for me. It gets better. She also wanted Rainy Day. Why yes, she was drugged at the time.

My godmother wanted to name me “Jessie.” My father, in his adventure of naming his kid a unique name, chose Jessica. Yes, Jessica. One of the most popular names of the year (’81). Now my mother, miffed I wasn’t gonna be a nice little description, said I’d have the middle name of Joyce. Joyce, her best friend who committed suicide only 4 months before, became my name. So I went from Misty Morning to Rainy Day to Jessica Joyce in a matter of hours.

Lesson to all this? Think ahead when naming your kid. Be unique but take into account initials and pop culture. My initials were JJ. Think back to the 70s and you’ll see why I cringe.

-Jessica

I’m an incurable fan of your site, and I just saw some naming gems in the wonderful world of television. I was watching (God help me) the “Get Packing” dating show on the Travel Channel. The male contestants were named Izik (pronounced like Isaac) and Maitland (as in “Land of the Potential Better Halves”). These guys are in their twenties, so I guess someone was ahead of their time with the bizarre spelling fad. Ick.

-Shannon