Tag Archives: letters

I actually had a child named “O’Vari” in one of my music classes. Pronounced Oh-VAHRY, but invariably, every person who looked at the name would call it as “Ovary”. I wish that kid luck when she makes it to 5th grade health and they go through the reproductive system.

A few others-

Demonica (Anyone know a priest who does Exorcisms?)

Curley (if you name your child after one of the three stooges, what do you expect? An academic genius?)

-D.

Okay, I have quite a few bad examples here, so try to bear up without laughing yourself sick.

1. My suitemate here at university has a cousin, the child of hippie parents, according to her, whose name is Star of Peace. Star of Peace O'(Irish name).

2. When my grandmother was born, both of her parents had only very recently immigrated to the US from Greece, and did not speak English very well- my great-grandmother, not at all. They had previously decided to name their new baby Aurelia Marie.

The nurse asked my great-grandfather what my future grandmother’s name was. I can only imagine that she didn’t understand his thick accent, because until she was in her fifties, my grandmother’s legal name was “Mary Apple Dritsas.”

3. Same family, different generation: I had a great-great aunt Melpomaene. She was named after the Muse of Tragedy. That’s so upbeat!

Hope these amuse you, even if they’re not site fodder!

-Anna

Okay, I’m one of those kids born in the 70’s that got the lovely name of “Jennifer” along with about a million others. I didn’t really appreciate having a bunch of other Jenny’s in my class, so I went with unique names for my 2 kids, which you have poked fun at here on your site.

My daughter is Siera Nicole. I liked the name Siera for years before I had her. I chose that particular spelling, though, because I wasn’t really naming her after SOMETHING, I just wanted it to be her name, not something else, such as: a mountain range or desert or GMC truck (Sierra), an Oldsmobile (Ciera), or a Spanish word meaning close (Cierra). After she was born a perfume also came out (Ciara). My husband picked my son’s name, Tristen J. Tristen *did* come from the movie, Legends of the Fall, but he just thought it was a really cool name, as did I. I realize that it is classically spelled Tristan, but Chris (my husband) preferred it with the “e” rather than the “a.”

But the real reason I’m writing is to tell you about a couple {I knew}. His name was Charles (but for some reason apparently his family & friends called him “Tony”) and her name was Rischilde. Now her name was pronounced like “Rochelle.” She said that she was named after her father Richard… ??? So, anyway, they were having a baby, I think it was like their 3rd or 4th. The baby was born & Rischilde wanted to name it after herself & Charlie. They named that poor, poor baby girl Tonschilde (tone-shell). I sincerely believe that has got to be one of the most awful names I’ve ever come across.

-J.

1. UCLA has a “University Research Library” It used to be named after a professor at the school but students refused to use the library when it was named after him. His name was Hugh G Dick. Seriously, there is a plaque dedicating the library to him inside the foyer.

2. My friend worked with an African-American woman whose name was Neerly (last name). She met and married a man whose last name was White. Her married name…Neerly White.

I love your website, keep up the good work!

-Julie

Many educators and school districts and states are suing, or plan to sue the federal government over the No Child Left Behind act. Among those at the vanguard, Coachella Valley, Calif. schools superintendent Foch Pensis. He goes by the nickname “Tut.”

Please don’t use any identifying info for me, but I know of a little girl around 5 yrs old running around Eaton, OH (near Dayton) named… Cherrybomb America (last name). Her father has literally gotten into physical fights defending the name.

“At 5:44 a.m., Sheena (last name) of the City of Poughkeepsie gave birth to the first baby of the year at Vassar Brothers Medical Center. Nevaeh Heavenlee (last name) weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches. The newborn’s father is Antoine (last name) of the City of Poughkeepsie.” (from the Poughkeepsie Journal, Poughkeepsie, NY)

Oh the pain… As someone who has grown up hating the utter lack of imagination that went into my naming, I suddenly feel so much better.

Thanks for letting me share!

-Jennifer

When my son was born January 2006 at Rush Presbytarian St. Lukes Hospital in Chicago, there were twins named Thunder and Lightning.

-G.

I noticed on your baby names site (which is hilarious, BTW) that you had the quote, ‘what do you think of Wren for a girl?’. My cousin and his girlfriend called their son Wren (he’s about 2 years old now). When my grandmother rang my mother to tell her about the new baby, apparently she was too embarrassed to tell her the name until prompted several times.

-C.

I’m a big fan of the television show Stargate: SG-1, which recently launched an equally good spinoff, Stargate: Atlantis. I happened to notice the name of one talented young actor on the new show: Rainbow Sun Francks.

I think Mr. Francks is very brave for embarking on a Hollywood career with that name…

Sincerely,
Kara