Strange Names
Comments: 41
A few years ago in Japan a couple tried to name their son Akuma. They were, if I remember correctly, not permitted to do so; Akuma means “devil,” and a court decided that this was an inappropriate name. I can’t remember their reasons for wanting to do this.
BoingBoing.net has a story today about similar goings on in New Zealand where a recent attempt to name a child after a motorcycle gang has drawn some attention.
Unacceptable names an ‘emotional abuse’ of children
By Rebecca WalshSatchel and Bechet, Sage Moon Blood, Starlite Melody, Zaedea 21a Fotherby and Triple M Rogue.
While most parents are more likely to choose Olivia and Hannah, Samuel or Matthew for their offspring, it seems movie stars and rock legends do not have the monopoly on bizarre names.
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Posted to Oh, the Humanity • 2002.09.23 (Mon) • 14:02
Comments
Posted by ryan 2002.09.23, 17:14
These events do seem to have been cropping up quite a bit lately. I don’t know if you saw the story that was on CNN quite a bit about 2 weeks ago. A Turkish couple in Germany wanted to name their baby ‘Osama bin Laden’. German law, however, prohibits offensive names - such as ‘Hitler’ - and the couple have thus far being unable to go ahead with the name.
CNN has the story here: http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/09/05/germany.osama/
Posted by jh 2002.09.23, 22:36
I think I saw a headline for that story but didn’t read it. Thanks for the link.
What really freaks me out about the whole strange name thing is the objectification of the child. The parents seem to think (at least in my uninformed interpretation) that the child is some sort of board onto which they can just staple their allegiances or a particular political belief or, hell, their choice of outlaw motorcycle gang.
Hearing stories like this immediately makes me question the parents’ fitness; wouldn’t you want the best for your child, to give him or her every chance they can get in life regardless of whether you think Osama bin laden is great or whatever? I mean, surely you’d realise that this is going to cause some, um… awkwardness as the child grows up and that, despite the strength of your convictions, your son or daughter may not be the most suitable advertisement for them.
Or am I just old-fashioned…?
Posted by garret 2002.09.28, 11:08
picking up a foster child with my parents, years ago, i encountered a young, borderline-illiterate teenage mother. she was so delighted with her child’s name! imagine, the nurses had picked it for her, without even asking!
the name?
“FEH-mah-lee. isn’t it beautiful?”
i looked on the baby’s pink nametag.
one word was on it.
it said ‘female.’
true story.
Posted by Aneile 2002.12.25, 02:37
My friend knows some one called ‘Dwain Pipe’ Poor kid!!! Then of course theres a whole familly of people dweezil and moonraker, I couldn’t resist coming up with the name orbiting satalite and my friends mum came up with lunar module!
Posted by Sara Adams 2003.02.16, 08:49
Some parents do some things that are very unkind to there children and don’t think anything of it.
Posted by Ammonia 2003.04.25, 19:54
As soon as i’m legal age i plan to change my name to ‘Ammonia Elektrika.’ I think it’s a really neat name and i wanted to know what other people thought.
Posted by Heidi 2003.05.21, 07:03
My mom is a preschool teacher and she had these twins one time and their names were Orangejello and lemonjello. I felt so sorry for those kids. It wasn’t pronounced Orange Jello, it was or ang ello and la mong ello.
Posted by anonymous 2003.08.13, 07:58
i heard about a guy who’s name was Ben Dover. what a name to have. imagine a girl walking up to you and asking you your name and you said ben dover
Posted by anonymous 2003.08.13, 08:01
This is another strange name. There’s a girl who goes to my friend’s school and her name was Aqua Finna. I think she should hook up with Ben Dover
Posted by Anonymous 2003.10.10, 10:45
There is a town planner who works in the same office as my wife his name is Richard (dick) Head poor fellow!!!
Posted by Anonymous 2003.10.17, 08:32
There was a woman at my church who named her children Kosmo Kramer, and Lee Preson. Hey, Seinfield was big at the time and apparently so were press on nails. Oh, and how about this name Turner Brown (say it fast enough and it sounds like Turn Around)
Posted by Jacob 2003.11.28, 14:01
I heard of this name once: William Arame. Say it fast enough and it should sound like a question you’ve heard before (HINT: Get down on one knee)
Posted by Mike 2004.02.13, 00:16
My uncle has an intresting name, Jihad. He goes through hell when he tries to travel. I find it very funny.
Posted by Brazilian Guy 2004.03.03, 07:56
My uncle went to school with a boy called ‘Wallace o Cavaleiro das Rosas’ (‘Wallace the Knight of the Roses’).
Posted by Aja 2004.04.04, 11:32
my name is Aja… i love my name — its original in soo many different ways. More and more around the world you hear of kids with the different names.. yes i admit it would suck if your name was Ben Dover or some other strange name like that. My name is pronounced (A-sha) like the continet Asia. In class, when we have subsitutes my name is understood as Aha or AJ.. its neat to have a name that stands out in a crowded classroom that everyone at least turns their head to hear it once more. Aja is my name and i am sooo very proud of it.
Posted by feeling stupid 2004.04.05, 01:24
I feel dumber for having read this stupid page!!
Posted by Christine 2004.05.20, 07:04
I work in an emergency room and we had a 14 year old girl brought in whose first name was Clitoris. I’ve also seen the names Shithead (pronounced with a soft “th” sound and Cash B. Green.
Posted by Alex 2004.06.11, 20:03
There is a young man that graduated LaGrange High School named Shithead (say it SHUH THEED)
to confirm: LaGrange High School 3420 Louisiana Ave Lake Charles Louisiana 70605 (337) 562-9438
Posted by Lori 2004.07.29, 02:18
In El Paso, Texas there is a proctologist’s office located next to the dental office of a Seymore Ash… DDS
Posted by mark 2004.11.16, 21:39
I work with a guy last name Gothard, pronouced Got-hard
guess what his parents named him?
you got it Richard.
Posted by sheena 2004.11.25, 04:04
In an inner city chicago neighborhood, a young illiterate mother gave birth to a happy baby boy. When asked to pick a name for the child, she looked up at the wall and saw a beautiful name which of course, she couldn’t read and decided it was PERFECT! That name was pronounced “NAS-MOKING” or Nosmoking. true story, poor kid.
Posted by Bruno 2004.12.17, 21:30
Hi fellas’ The reason why I’m writing this is just ‘cuz I read this entire page and I really really admire some of the names that I found in here. A few years ago I was walking down the street and a woman said (what I heard) “fuck” which as ya’ll know it’s not very common. I found out that she was calling her son’s name … how weird is that?
Posted by numberrrr 2005.01.03, 05:41
Has anyone ever heard of children being named after numbers? like 12345 or even license plate numbers with letters too?
Posted by cipi 2005.04.06, 21:55
I had a classmate named Paris Paris. It’s really stupid and strange. How desperate can you be to name your child Paris Paris when you are living in Romania?
Posted by Steph 2005.06.14, 22:54
I went to school with a girl named Amy Butts.
My dad works with a guy named Zubair (pronounced Zoo-BARE ) Butts.
Posted by Kalyn 2005.07.07, 21:55
Well, I can’t find it now but before I came across a website that said something about a couple who tried to name their child like, Nicole or something normal. But they weren’t able to do it because they wanted it spell like: Asjhfasjdf9eur09823942kjhljhjlhf8 Something along those lines…
I was like WOW.
Posted by Billy 2005.08.17, 12:44
I had to ring in on this. Two names. The first one can be looked up on line. There is a doctor in Tulsa Named Dick Glick . If that wasn’t bad enough his middle name is “Les” so they call him Dick Les Glick. The other was a guy I sold some items to, his name was Harry Crank.
Posted by sArAh iS ThE BeSt 2005.08.27, 11:13
i was thinking of naming my children cash, kierra but you have to pronounce the i. i named my horse starlight short for melody of the starlight …… HoW CoOl
Posted by sArAH Is tHe bESt 2005.08.27, 11:20
I NO SOME 1 WHO NAMED THERE CHILD RIVER AND THE OTHER ONE LEAF HONEST TO GOD THEY DID AND THEN THIS OTHER CHIK LIKED THE NAME LEAF BUT SHE WANTED TO BE ORIGINAL SO SSHE NAMED HER SON GRASS NE WAY ON THE WEEKEND I WAS AT A PARTY WITH HIM AND THE COPS BROKE IT UP AND ASKED FOR ALL OF OPUR NAMES AND WHEN HE SAID GRASS THEY DIDNT BELIVE HIM AND THEY TOOK HIM TO THE STATION FOR BEING A SMART ASS AND RESISTENCE TO POLICE QUESTIONIN G AND WHRN THEY GOT 2 THE STATION THEY LOOKIED HIM UP ON THE SCANNER AND GAVE HIM A GREAT BIG APOLOGY AND A RIDE HOME!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Stopsz 2005.08.27, 22:34
A hungarian girl was named Hervadt Virág, which means Withered Flower.
Posted by mcgill 2005.08.30, 21:25
Why the court should have restricted them from doing so?
Posted by Amber 2005.11.01, 03:38
Well at my school ther is this girl called amritpal kour sidhu but everyone calls her amrit and when i moved to the school i go to now i use to call her annie (even though that dosent sound anything like her name) because i couldnt remember her name.she use to get quite affended but we are like good friends now!
its funny aint it!
Posted by Chelsea 2005.11.20, 07:13
I know a little girl whose name is Montana. She has a brother named River. And i think a sister named Katana.
Posted by monica 2006.02.18, 12:16
in the laporte ,in. phone book there is a listing for a richard,richard, richards! that is just sick! poor guy!
Posted by Laura 2006.05.20, 23:46
I think naming your kids tose kinds of names is just wrong. At my school their used to be this guy named Ilik Butt. It was pronounced (I lick butt) How gross is that. His little sisters were named Yulik Butt (you lick butt) and Golik Butt (go lick butt) How gross is that?
Posted by Saravana 2006.06.05, 05:25
I used to work with a lady called Crystal Ball. It always sounded funny hearing it over the P.A system. She later got married and was then Crystal McCangus. My mother went to school with two girls, one called Henrietta Bird, the other called Wiggy Morgan. In case anyone is interested, my name, Saravana, means “One born into the pool of Divine Essence”
Posted by Ovania 2006.07.28, 14:54
My mother decided to name me after one of my creole great-aunts. My name is Ovania. Many people don’t pronounce it right .My baby nefew says : “Bainya”…Also ,when I was a kid, my classmates would call me “Pennsylvania” or “Transylvania” or “Lavania”..It was horrible. I would always end up telling people my name was Ashley or Mary-kate, just so they wouldn’t ridicule me…
Posted by Marlana 2006.12.28, 02:55
Well my name is Marlana. I really didn’t mind it or find it un-normal until about middle school. It’s very uncommon (unless you watch the soap opera “days of our lives”) …. and one day we were all spelling our names backwards and well Just Look @ my name… mine turned out to be ANALRAM …I’m still tormented about it =(
Posted by Craig 2007.03.18, 09:42
A local Deputy Sheriff, named Ronald McDonald, was sent to handle a burglary whose victim was named Sherlock Holmes. Also, local brothers named Atomic and Nuclear Green have spent time in the jail.
Posted by Zoe 2007.04.12, 11:03
My father tells me plenty of strange names that people name their children. There was one named Apple. Another named Google. And strangest of all, one named “Abcde”, pronounced as [Ab-soh-day].
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