Ailaena Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Journi (yes, Journey with an "i") Forgot about this one! Saw it as Jurnee... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 We used to have neighbors with three young daughters. The girls were named Queen, Princess, and Diamond. I knew a little boy whose first and middle names were Asterisk Diamondrim. Actually, they still are his names, I found him on FB recently. :D I wouldn't have chosen it, but I'm glad he embraced it. Create spellings were mentioned. One of the oddest I've ever seen was Yly -- instead of Eli. I remember when Hannah was one of the most hideous names ever (early 80s). It always amused me to see how that name did a complete 180. Same with Georgia, but to a lesser extreme. If I had another girl, Georgia would make my short list now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 We're considering Sebastian. Caleb Sebastian came to mind earlier. I love Sebastian:) in fact, I named our son Maximillian Sebastian Charles! Caleb Sebastian is sweet... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I don't want to say their real names, but I know a very nice family with children who are all named after states or countries, except that the first letter of each state is not what it normally is. I don't even know if their intention was to name the kids after the places or if it's a coincidence. Imagine something like Barolina, Birginia, Banada, and Bexico. You don't get the full impact unless you know all of their names. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I remember when Hannah was one of the most hideous names ever (early 80s). Weird. According to whom? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto10blessings Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I don't want to say their real names, but I know a very nice family with children who are all named after states or countries, except that the first letter of each state is not what it normally is. I don't even know if their intention was to name the kids after the places or if it's a coincidence. Imagine something like Barolina, Birginia, Banada, and Bexico. You don't get the full impact unless you know all of their names.Well, it's not as bad as tequila? I guess? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I've also never understood the location name thing - Dakota - also a state... Brooklyn? Madison (Wisconsin??) I know the latter is very popular now, but when I first heard it, I was like ??? Same with Chelsea. I think there are nicer, hipper Chelseas in England and NYC, but the one in my state is kind of an armpit of a place, and it's what I thought of first - why name a kid that? Yeah, I'm completely used to it now... :lol: That's interesting: when I heard of people in the US being named 'Madison' I thought of it as a surname-transfer rather than a place-transfer. I don't really understand surname-transfer names, unless it's a family surname or you are honouring someone special to you, but I always assume that place-transfer names must mean something to the parents. You don't get them much in the UK, except when they are exotic (Brooklyn!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I have an aunt in England named Anice. We thought for years it was pronounced An iss, like the spice, but it's A-niece. (She's Dad's half sister, whom he did not know about til he was about 50 or so.) The spice is often pronounced A-niece here - it's the French pronunciation. I'm 52 and that's how I pronounce it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 We're considering Sebastian. Caleb Sebastian came to mind earlier. Sebastian is pretty popular here - shortened to Seb, often. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kaity Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I've also never understood the location name thing - Dakota - also a state... Brooklyn? Madison (Wisconsin??) I know the latter is very popular now, but when I first heard it, I was like ??? Same with Chelsea. I think there are nicer, hipper Chelseas in England and NYC, but the one in my state is kind of an armpit of a place, and it's what I thought of first - why name a kid that? Yeah, I'm completely used to it now... :lol: When I hear place names used as given names, I always think of the scene from Forrest Gump, in Vietnam - "There was Dallas, from Phoenix. Cleveland, he was from Detroit. And Tex was... well I don't remember where Tex came from." I actually really like some place names, but I just can't do it. Dh did come pretty close to talking me into Denver though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 The weird thing in australia is most major places are named after people so if you used a place name it would be a name anyway, like Adelaide, Sydney, Victoria, Darwin etc. Spencer makes me think of thermal underwear too. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 Isn't there a character in Criminal Minds named that? I think a friend of mine posts fan pictures of that actor all the time. I would assume the mom was a fan. YES! Spencer Reid, played by Matthew Gray Gubler. I have several friends with boys named Spencer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Wasn't there a recent situation where the parents named their boy Adolph Hitler Lastname... because they were KKK members, or neo-Nazis, or something like that? It was fairly recent, as I recall. They first made the news a few years ago with the birthday cake incident. Allof their children are named after famous Nazi members. Names are interesting. There are plenty of names that I think are strange and I wouldn't use them. The great thing about names is that don't have to use a name I don't like. Unusual names that I have known: I worked with a woman named Tootie. Friends of our got the idea from Seinfeld. They didn't use seven. They went with Maddenly. If my first had been a girl we were strongly considering Finnualla. We got a fair amount of hate on that from everyone. My MIL also hates the name we gave him. Madison - I love the name and always think of the President. Not the city or the avenue. I also love Phineas and Ferb. I know a lot of Spencer's and always think of the TV show Spenser for hire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Several of the names mentioned on this thread are urban legends. See Laura Wattenberg's blog, or Snopes. Our city and county are popular first name choices, but one worries about eventual confusion on passports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I know an adult with the same first name and last name. Unmarried woman, so it was a deliberate choice by parents. I met a girl named Zephaniah once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Weird. According to whom? (Re the name Hannah, which I called "hideous" before its popularity rise in the 80s) "Hideous" was my opinion. But since you asked, I googled. In the 1960s, Hannah fell within ten spots of the names Alfreda, Charles (girl!), and Joseph (girl!), Eula, Retha. The rest of those never rose much in popularity. On another note, here's a fun little chart from Mental Floss, Least Popular American BAby Names in Early Records. Names, along with these name threads, fascinate me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Several of the names mentioned on this thread are urban legends. See Laura Wattenberg's blog, or Snopes. Our city and county are popular first name choices, but one worries about eventual confusion on passports. I'm not looking further, but Snopes is wrong on this count. Snopes: Was there ever a mother so stupid as to name her kid Eczema without realizing what the name meant? Probably not. Here are a few examples of children named Eczema. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 The spice is often pronounced A-niece here - it's the French pronunciation. I'm 52 and that's how I pronounce it. Didn't know it was a French pronunciation--it's the way many in Hawaii say it. It wasn't a common word to me, until I met dh. His family makes their traditional Christmas cookies with anise extract instead of the lemon in the recipe. And his family pronounces it ann-iss. So then that's the pronunciation I adopted. And it's the pronunciation in American dictionaries. But I'm glad to know the reason I grew up hearing it pronounced differently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Madison grew in popularity after the Darryl Hannah and Tom Hanks movie Splash was released. The mermaid called herself Madison after Madison Ave. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I have a relative who says she named her daughter after what she was drinking. Almost all names sound ok to me, really. I have an unusual name and so do both my daughters, but I never liked that... the idea that the name was a joke. I have an aunt named Joke. Of course, that's in NL, and it's not a joke. http://www.babynamespedia.com/meaning/Joke I have another aunt named Els (also in NL), although I think the name on her birth certificate is Elisabeth or Elizabeth or something. I have sons though, so I couldn't name them for my aunts (well, I *could*, but that'd be cruel and unusual). So, I gave them Russian names, as a joke because the immigration officer in TX asked if The Netherlands is north of Russia. Well, that, and because we liked the names. Neither my wife nor I have any Russian ancestors as far as we know, and NL is pretty far to the west of Russia. Also, I know of some people recently who named their baby daughter after the word Heaven, backwards: "Neveah." That just seems corny to me! I know a girl named that, and it bothers me, because Heaven backwards would be Nevaeh, not Neveah. ETA: The J in Joke is pronounced like a Y in English, so it's like Yoh-kuh (the link doesn't give the proper Dutch pronunciation). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 There was an actual child poisoned by Halloween candy. What made it an urban legend was everyone being two degrees of separation from candy-poisoning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Create spellings were mentioned. One of the oddest I've ever seen was Yly -- instead of Eli. I read that as Wiley. :p 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I know a girl named that, and it bothers me, because Heaven backwards would be Nevaeh, not Neveah. Oh, you're right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Oh, you're right! I made that point earlier in the thread. Neveah is haeven spelled backward, and that's how a lot of people (mis)spell it when they choose the name, which makes no sense if "it's heaven spelled backward" is the basis of choosing the name. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I went to school with an Apricot Almond. It was a bit surprising even in 1970s California. ;) I also went to school with an Amanita. I think it's a beautiful name, even if it is a type of poisonous mushroom. I'll refrain from commenting too much on names since it's so personal, but some of these listed are truly bizarre. I'm surprised they were even allowed. Some countries consider offensive names (Aryan?! Seriously?) to be a form of child cruelty. I'm not sure I disagree. We know an Amanita! I agree that it's a beautiful name (and there's something about its sound that fits her beautiful, cheerful personality perfectly.) I like classic names with traditional spellings, but part of me also likes more unusual names. I draw the line at Aryan (although I like Erin a lot), and I knew someone who named her child Lucifer, nickname Luc. I thought that was a bit much to saddle a child with such a connotation. Probably wouldn't go for Adolf or Judas either. Funny, though: One of our boys is Benjamin. It wasn't even on our list and took five days for us to choose, but when we hit upon it, it was instantly his name, no question. So a few months after he was born, I read an article that talked about how some Italian group was wanting to remove the association with Mussolini and was paying families to name their sons Benito. So I suppose beauty is all in the eye of the beholder. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnwife Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 We're considering Sebastian. Caleb Sebastian came to mind earlier. Oh, please do it. (FWIW, Caleb is one of my favorite names for boys ever. But it sounds terrible with our last name. And Sebastian was always a guilty pleasure name for me, ever since falling in love with the Spanish pronunciation. And the stories of St. Sebastian are awesome. I about fell out of my chair when DH suggested it after our youngest was born.) ETA: Weird. A paragraph disappeared. It was about urban legends and names. La-a is among them. Some others mentioned in the thread are discussed here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 We know an Amanita! I agree that it's a beautiful name (and there's something about its sound that fits her beautiful, cheerful personality perfectly.) . Wouldn't that be a weird coincidence if it's the same?! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Wouldn't that be a weird coincidence if it's the same?! That would be funny! Ours says she grew up on a commune; she's probably in her mid-20s to mid-30s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 That would be funny! Ours says she grew up on a commune; she's probably in her mid-20s to mid-30s. Ah, then nope. The one I knew would be a good decade or two older. :) Nothing like thinking about hallucegenic mushrooms when picking baby names, though! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 ETA: Weird. A paragraph disappeared. It was about urban legends and names. La-a is among them. Some others mentioned in the thread are discussed here. Yeah, this is the Snopes article I mentioned a few posts up. They're wrong, actually, I already found several people named Eczema (also referenced in that post). What surprised me more than the name Eczema is that Snopes was wrong on something so easily verified. I would've thought their research would be better than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Yeah, this is the Snopes article I mentioned a few posts up. They're wrong, actually, I already found several people named Eczema (also referenced in that post). What surprised me more than the name Eczema is that Snopes was wrong on something so easily verified. I would've thought their research would be better than that. Outside reserchers have found snopes to be wrong more than 50% of the time. Obviously you have to choose who you're going to believe, but my own research has shown snopes to be a complete joke. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnwife Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Yeah, this is the Snopes article I mentioned a few posts up. They're wrong, actually, I already found several people named Eczema (also referenced in that post). What surprised me more than the name Eczema is that Snopes was wrong on something so easily verified. I would've thought their research would be better than that. Outside reserchers have found snopes to be wrong more than 50% of the time. Obviously you have to choose who you're going to believe, but my own research has shown snopes to be a complete joke. You are right...snopes is often wrong. However, you could also go to the SSA list of names and search for some of the names mentioned in this thread. I just did one of them. It wasn't found in the top 1000 names for any year from 1900 and after. I don't know how to search their "beyond the top 1000 list" or I'd check that too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 My nephew was named after my dog. It is a name that many people as well as dogs have (not Jake, but like that), and I think it is a great name, but I have a hard time thinking about my nephew without imagining fur and a long tail. When he bit his K teacher, I thought that might be because he was named after a dog. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 You are right...snopes is often wrong. However, you could also go to the SSA list of names and search for some of the names mentioned in this thread. I just did one of them. It wasn't found in the top 1000 names for any year from 1900 and after. I don't know how to search their "beyond the top 1000 list" or I'd check that too. That only means they aren't popular. Example: In 1990, Louise was #998. I'm doubting many of the names here are that common. It doesn't mean that no one used the name. Look at the link I provided above re Eczema. I found a lot of Vaginas on there, several thousand Spurgeons (which made the top SSA 1000 name list a lot in the early 1900s), a handful of Amanitas, many Urines, and even some Gothams. AND one Orangejello, which makes me smile. Thanks for the Snopes reliability tip. While I knew they were not politically unbiased, I had always thought it was at least accurate. I'm puzzled as to why Spencer is getting several mentions here. I've always liked the boy name Colin but was leery of how others might pronounce -- or mispronounce--it, especially with Colin Powell's pronunciation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purpleowl Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 If you go here, you can download the lists of all names that were given to 5 or more babies in a given year. Each year is its own txt file. You can open each one with something like Notepad and search within it. I'm not interested in searching from 1880-2014 for snopes-y names, but that's how you do it, if anyone feels so inclined. ;) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 If you go here, you can download the lists of all names that were given to 5 or more babies in a given year. Each year is its own txt file. You can open each one with something like Notepad and search within it. I'm not interested in searching from 1880-2014 for snopes-y names, but that's how you do it, if anyone feels so inclined. ;) Sooooo tempting!!!!! I enjoy looking at odd things like this. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: But I must convince myself I have something better to do! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 When I was teaching in a very Latino area, I had a student named Areola. I know it was spelled differently but that is how it was pronounced. I just couldn't do it. I asked her privately if I could call her Ari or something similar and once she knew what it meant, she agreed to change it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Well, it's not as bad as tequila? I guess? It would have to be Bequila, and the other kids named Badeira, Bhiskey, and Bodka. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 So people don't trust Snopes but they trust a PP's unsourced claim that over half of what they post is incorrect? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 So people don't trust Snopes but they trust a PP's unsourced claim that over half of what they post is incorrect? Well, I'm always right so that helps. ;) I don't expect people to just believe me and I didn't name a source because I learned this years ago, but I do think it's worth calling them into question. Everyone just trusts them blindly and I've had several people reference them in an argument which I find obnoxious because I think they're total hacks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Forgot about this one! Saw it as Jurnee... There's a gymnast in our area named Jurnee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Remember on Seinfeld when George wanted to name his baby Seven? We knew a Seven. When the name came home I thought someone had left the T out of Steven. Nope. Worst name had to be Hrmny, a little girl in dd's preschool. Pronounced Harmony. Why? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Spencer.My ds, LOL I forgot- kids that my kids were on teams or in school with through the years Rigel Agamemnon Zen ( boy) Whisper and Treasure (sisters) Meadow, Timber, Forrest and Oshion- sibs 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicMom Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 That only means they aren't popular. Example: In 1990, Louise was #998. I'm doubting many of the names here are that common. It doesn't mean that no one used the name. Look at the link I provided above re Eczema. I found a lot of Vaginas on there, several thousand Spurgeons (which made the top SSA 1000 name list a lot in the early 1900s), a handful of Amanitas, many Urines, and even some Gothams. AND one Orangejello, which makes me smile. Thanks for the Snopes reliability tip. While I knew they were not politically unbiased, I had always thought it was at least accurate. I'm puzzled as to why Spencer is getting several mentions here. I've always liked the boy name Colin but was leery of how others might pronounce -- or mispronounce--it, especially with Colin Powell's pronunciation. I had a boss once with the spelling Colin but pronounced Colon. I couldn't figure out why he didn't change the pronounciation as an adult. In general I doubted his judgement anyway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I had a boss once with the spelling Colin but pronounced Colon. I couldn't figure out why he didn't change the pronounciation as an adult. In general I doubted his judgement anyway. COE-lon or COH-lin? The latter is standard British pronunciation. Colin Powell's name was originally pronounced COH-lin by his immigrant parents, but he changed it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicMom Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 COH-lon, like the bodily organ. Most people initially pronounced it Cow-lan which is how the name Colin is generally pronounced here, but he always corrected them. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 COH-Iin, like the bodily organ. Most people initially pronounced it Cow-lan which is how the name Colin is generally pronounced here, but he always corrected them. But that's how Colin is mostly pronounced in the Commonwealth: COH-lin (the vowels in cot and tin). The bodily organ is pronounced COE-lon ( the vowels in toe and gone). Maybe his parents came from overseas. FWIW, I don't care how other people pronounce my name. Here I am demonstrating: http://vocaroo.com/i/s1cy5rWBDeM4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicMom Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I made a typo; it was the -Lon ending. I fixed it :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hkpiano Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Baby names of a few of my friends: Darth Luke Linq (pronounced Link) Laexin (pronounced like Lake+sin) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hkpiano Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 A neighbor girl growing up was named Tyranny. I remember my dad asking, "Don't her parents know what that word means?" 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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