Names You Will NEVER Give Your Children

[cygnus]

I always wondered how Peggy came from Margaret. Isn't Peggy's birth name Margaret Gail Fleming? I'm not a fan of the name Margaret. A friend at work named his daughter Margaret Helene. Loved the Helene part, the Marg part not so much. When I hear the name Margaret, I picture some obnoxious straight A ten year old tattling on her classmates.

When my best friend had a daughter six years ago, I was honored to be the godparent. Not so honored to be given the task of naming her. My tastes run off-center and yet traditional. I submitted ten names, and they fell in love with Lilian Grace, and so it was. I knew they couldn't handle Athena, Aurora or Atalanta. hehe Well they had another daughter last year, and guess who they came to. But with a mature name such as Lilian, they couldn't possibly name the next daughter Debbie or Britney or whatever. Against my better judgement I proposed Vivien Hope. Another winner for them, except I was feeling like I was naming those two spinsters from the Waltons. The girls are nick'd Lily and Viv. Could be worse. But I feel somewhat responsible for the grandma-ing of names in the new century.

I think Margaret is a lovely name- and (like Elizabeth) there are many options for nicknames.

Lots of "traditional" English names have nicknames and shorts that are somewhat puzzling, but they probably came about because the names were so common that variations were used to differentiate all the Marys, Annes, Catherines and such.

Thus we get Margaret- Meg- Peg; Mary- Molly- Polly; Anne- Nan- Nancy; Edward- Ed- Ted; Christopher- Kester- Kit and lots more. Many are surprise that "Polly" comes from "Mary", but it does! Name origins are are fascinating things!

Another name that surprises people is that "Daisy" can come from "Margaret"! Margaret in French is" Marguerite", which is a large kind of daisy. It was often given as a nickname in families with lots of Margarets. Of course it is also a flower name in its own right, but still- interesting.

[loulou]

I went to school with a Raymond Brayman and a girl named Orleana who was the school slut so everybody called her Whoreleana instead.

Yes, one should always be careful with fancy names, as you never know how the kid turns out.

You call your boy Savage, and you're hoping a for a handsome guy that cleans up very nicely. But what if he grows to have stinky pits, weak teeth, and no talent for combing?

[Alex Forrest]

I'm sort of going off on a tangent, but have any of you talked to your parents about what you would have been named if you were born the opposite sex?

I only bring this up because my parents would never agree on a name. When my mom first got pregnant my parents agreed that if it was a girl, my mom would have full rights to the name. If it was a boy, he'd be Thurston Howell IV. So she named her first Jennifer Lynn, the most common combination of names in the 70s. A couple of miscarriages later, I show up in the oven, and would not be denied. My dad did not like the name Jennifer Lynn,ever, and he called rights on the name if it was a girl. He proposed Tovah Belle. In 1972. Not 1872. And the bizarre part is that my mother is of Jewish lineage and my WASPy dad made her convert to Christianity before he'd introduce her to his family. And then he picks TOVAH? Anyway, I was born and it was a bad delivery, a c-section followed by an emergency hysterectomy. I was in the NICU for a month and everyday my mom was there for 18 hours, my dad too concerned about not concerning his family was hardly there. She chose my name, not Thurston Howell IV, she told me, because she was in shock that my dad gave consent to remove her uterus (she understands it was to save her life, but still she didn't make the decision). So all bets were off. She signed the birth certificate when my dad wasn't there, and I am 'Alex Forrest' the first. My mom also said there was no way she'd sign off on any Tovah Belle. She liked the name Stephanie Dawn and she was angry enough to do whatever she wanted.

Just an interesting recollection. I like the name Tovah Belle, not so inspired by Stephanie Dawn.

Anyone else have a story about what your parents might have named you?

[Jenny]

If it was a boy, he'd be Thurston Howell IV.

Is your father Jim Backus?

[gkelly]

If I had been a boy, I would have been named Jeffrey Louis.

[attyfan]

If I had been a boy, I would have been named "David Emil"; Emil for my mom's grandfather, who died while she was carrying me, but David because (a) "Emil" was too German and (b) dad liked Bible names. Since I wasn't a boy, mom wanted to name me "Emily", and dad held out for "Esther" (first initial). They flipped a coin; dad won.

[Alex Forrest]

Is your father Jim Backus?

Haha, close. Thanks for getting the reference. My real name is not Alex Forrest the first either.

[kosjenka]

My parents couldn't agree on my name, so my brother named me after his kindergarten girlfriend. He was 4.

[JeffClair1979]

If I had been a boy, I would have been named Jeffrey Louis.

I could think of worst first names

[PDilemma]

Anyone else have a story about what your parents might have named you?

Nothing about opposite gender, but my mom loved two girls names that she had to give up because they would have been absolutely awful with our last name. She also inadvertently stole her sister's two favorite names. My older brother has my aunt's favorite boy name and I have her favorite girl name. Her son is younger than my brother and three weeks older than me. Had he been a girl, I would have a different name. Her daughter is five years younger than me.

[misskarne]

I seem to recall my parents mentioning that I might have been "Jacob", which would have been interesting because the only Jacobs I've met since have all been horrible troublemakers!

My brother is Dale, which Dad swears up and down has nothing to do with Dale Earnhardt Sr.

[PDilemma]

I seem to recall my parents mentioning that I might have been "Jacob", which would have been interesting because the only Jacobs I've met since have all been horrible troublemakers!

Nearly every Jacob I taught was blond and a sweetheart. No idea why.

On the other hand, I had multiple boys named Christian who were all completely awful. I found that ironic.

[snoopysnake]

I don't actually think they will be given any time soon- if they are- it will be for the same reason as the others- parents like the sound of them and don't care for (or know) the meaning. And I do see Janitor as a boy's name, but then you never know do you? ....

Hmmm...I never made the connection to "janitor," but a lot of people pronounce my name, Janet, as Janit. I have even seen a dictionary that says the second syllable of Janet is pronounced, "it." As far as I am concerned, however, Janet should be pronounced with a short "a" and a short "e." There are various Boston-area accents, one of which pronounces many short "a" words with a very long "e" instead. For instance, the little lamb was lost by Meeeeeeeery, the girl from Green Gables would be Eeeeeeeeeeeeun, and nuns were Keeeeeeeath-lic. Quite a few classmates on the playground would say my name as Jeeeeeeeeeean-it.

What always has surprised me is when people from the USA pronounce Janet the same as Jeannette. Doesn't happen often, but it still puzzles me. Wonder if they accent the second syllable of "planet?" What happens much more often is that people will call me Janice instead of Janet, even some people who knew me fairly well. This has been going on my entire life. Anyone else named Janet that I've asked has encountered the same thing. I actually mentioned this once to someone named Janice and she said that people call her Janet by mistake. We can't win!

[Moto Guzzi]

My daughter is named Margaret. We never call her that. We actually named her Maggie but put Margaret on the birth certificate so she had some choices later in life if she decided Maggie wasn't a serious enough name.

My sister is Margaret Ann but goes by Margie. When we were kids, our older brothers would call her Maggie because she hated the name and would go into a rage. I would call her Maggoty Ann (she also hated Raggedy Ann dolls) and our younger brother shortened it to Maggot. Some of her coworkers call her Marge, another name she depises. They ignored her numerous requests to not call her that so now she doesn't respond when they call her Marge.

[somechick]

Hmmm...I never made the connection to "janitor," but a lot of people pronounce my name, Janet, as Janit. I have even seen a dictionary that says the second syllable of Janet is pronounced, "it." As far as I am concerned, however, Janet should be pronounced with a short "a" and a short "e." There are various Boston-area accents, one of which pronounces many short "a" words with a very long "e" instead. For instance, the little lamb was lost by Meeeeeeeery, the girl from Green Gables would be Eeeeeeeeeeeeun, and nuns were Keeeeeeeath-lic. Quite a few classmates on the playground would say my name as Jeeeeeeeeeean-it.

What always has surprised me is when people from the USA pronounce Janet the same as Jeannette. Doesn't happen often, but it still puzzles me. Wonder if they accent the second syllable of "planet?" What happens much more often is that people will call me Janice instead of Janet, even some people who knew me fairly well. This has been going on my entire life. Anyone else named Janet that I've asked has encountered the same thing. I actually mentioned this once to someone named Janice and she said that people call her Janet by mistake. We can't win!

My name is also Janet and I get the "Jeannette" all the time too. I chalk it up to most people are stupid and too self-absorbed to care about trying to say it correctly. But then, I would much rather get the Jeannette than the oh so original, "oooh, Janet Jackson" (as if they are the first to ever utter this) or "dammit, Janet" crap.

On the awful names discussions, I went to high school with a girl named Little Parsley. Little was not a nickname, that was her legal name. And I work with a woman whose grand-daughter is named Desire--not Desiree', but Desire. She is almost too embarrassed to tell people the name she hates it so much...lol.

[Marco]

The other day at the gym I was served by this pretty lady named Wonderful.

[Karina1974]

Nearly every Jacob I taught was blond and a sweetheart. No idea why.

My oldest nephew Jacob is... blonde, blue-eyed and a brain just like my brother. He'll probably inherit my brother's height as well - 6'4".

[my little pony]

i read it yesterday and i'm still chuckling to myself over little parsley

[MacMadame]

I chalk it up to most people are stupid and too self-absorbed to care about trying to say it correctly.

This basically. Combine that with people who speak English as a foreign language and it's a been a donkey's age since someone spelled or pronounced my name correctly.

[Scrufflet]

My name is also Janet and I get the "Jeannette" all the time too. I chalk it up to most people are stupid and too self-absorbed to care about trying to say it correctly. But then, I would much rather get the Jeannette than the oh so original, "oooh, Janet Jackson" (as if they are the first to ever utter this) or "dammit, Janet" crap.

On the awful names discussions, I went to high school with a girl named Little Parsley. Little was not a nickname, that was her legal name. And I work with a woman whose grand-daughter is named Desire--not Desiree', but Desire. She is almost too embarrassed to tell people the name she hates it so much...lol.

More on the Jeannette theme. This was my aunt's name and yet my dad always pronounced it Jen-ATT. No idea why! He was the only one in the family who did.
When I was in high school, a student from an eastern country enrolled, name of Kotex. If this isn't registering with you, think Tampax! The name got changed very quickly.