Category: Bad Baby Names

I went to Jr. High School with a girl named Sunshine Black. On all the role sheets she was listed as “Black, Sunshine”.

Also my best friend’s name is Elsa Pena Tovar. So initial-wise she can c hoose between E.T. and E.P.T.

-G

OK, I can’t top most of your names. But I really did meet an African couple, that thought to pick more “western” names for their kids before they moved to the USA. Their picks were “Bambi” and “Thumper”. “Bambi” I can see as a girls name (although the cartoon deer was a stag), but “Thumper”? It was a boy. Altho if he becomes a boxer, he’s got it made….

-Darrold

In my own family we are, in birth order.

Mona corinna charissma
Shenandoah Louise
Catlin aureliana
Reata ann
And
Till-Taylor Robert-George.

I left Amanda jaqueline off the list because some how she got lucky.

-Shena

I used to stop regularly at the same fast food restaurant on my way to rehearsals for various theatre productions. The same woman always worked the drive through and I finally had to ask her, “How do you pronounce your
name?”

“Treevy-AL,” she replied.

The spelling on her name tag was “Trivial.” Her parents named her “Insignificant.”

Then again, my parents chose to spell my name “Allen” (which is generally how it’s spelled with it is a last name) rather than the more common “Alan” ensuring that I will probably never find a souvenir coffee mug with my name
on it.

Then again, at least they didn’t come up with “Allyn” or something worse.

–Allen

Hi!

I worked with a supervisor in Augusta, Ga. whose name is spelled Antonwon, pronounced Antoine.

–P

I have very much enjoyed reading through the baby name site. I have a couple of comments:

1. While I am a goofy white guy, I have a name that sounds black. Prospective employers, girlfriends’ parents, etc. have all gone through this hem-haw well, could I see a picture song and dance, which is sometimes funny but most often just annoying. I find myself thinking, “They wouldn’t like me if I were black?” I’m confused, they are confused.

I knew of a woman in college named Terrell Jackson — people (teachers, etc) expected a big black man and got a very petite white woman. I don’t have a proposed rule — it’s just something to look out for.

2. Names that actually appear in your family are not somehow made OK. I have ancestors named Otis, Selton, Oscar, Cordell, Vivette, Bess, Lois, Myrtice. These are real names, just ugly ones (though Otis and Vivette have kind of won my heart . . . ). Will future generations look back and say: “I named her Madysin after her grandmother”?

3. My mother taught in the public schools, and the craziest name she reported was a little girl whose last name was Beloved — yes, you guessed it, first name Dear. Not Dearly, though — that would have made too much sense.

4. Don’t name girls after men. I’ve met a Garvisa, a Richenda and a Sparky (named after her father’s NICKNAME — he was an electrician).

Thank you for fighting the good fight against the tyranny of evil names!

-Carlton

After coming across you site I had to send you an email. As you can see from my student email address this is my real name. Wanna know something else? Guess what my other brothers names are? Mike and Lucky! Not rolling on the floor laughing yet? How about my dad’s name. . .Hung! I swear it’s all true.

-Happy Quatch

It’s true – his e-mail address is hquatch@(a college with e-mail addresses based on student names) Still working on confirming the rest of the family, though.

Karm L. Sunday (applied for a job in my office)
Daniel Daniel Daniel (went to school with my sister)
And the Derryberry cousins: Kerry, Larry, and Terry.

Gotta love stupid people.

-J.

My parents were unable to have children, so in the early 70’s they decided to adopt a child, which was myself.

My parents wanted a son as their first child, so they started to pick out names. My father, somehow convinced my mother on these three names: Rasputin, Osgood and Thaddeus. Not only was one of these going to be the first name, but then one of the other two would be the middle name. “Thaddeus Osgood! Let the playground beatings begin!”

Thankfully, I was seven months old and already responding to the orphange’s name, James. They told my parents that changing my name would be a bad idea and bad for me. I to this day thank those nameless social workers in the past who saved me. But not totally…. Anyhow, love the site!

-James Thaddeus

In conversation with a pleasant customer of mine, the subject of names came up. The customer’s name was Creed (not such a bad name). He said that his brother’s name was Precious Jewel.

After a surprised pause, I said “gee, did he have trouble with the kids on the playground?”

Creed said “Not after the first time.”

-Ann