The names our parents gave us.

Onyx8 · **#41** by **Onyx8** » Dec 14, 2014 6:07 am

johnbrandt wrote:John. About as basic as it gets.

Honestly because "there's always been a John Brandt". Usually with different middle names to differentiate them when a few are alive at the same time. My father was John Eric, his father was John Henry, his father was John Christian, and when you start getting back into the German times as far back as we can trace it's always been "Johannes" or "Johann". Our eldest son is Jonathan...first in a long time to break with the tradition I suppose. His sons really break it, with only John as a middle name.

I really can't understand parents who want to give their kids "unique" names they have made up out of, seemingly, pulling a bunch of scrabble letters out of a bag at random. You're just setting your kid up for a life of ridicule or continually having to sigh and spell their name for everyone they come across.

My son has a name that you would likely shake your head at. He has never been ridiculed for it and in fact very often has people mentioning that they like it, and rarely has to teach anyone to spell it. You, however will have to explain to people that your name is 'John' with an 'h' not 'Jon' like your son. Weird that.

Rachel Bronwyn · **#42** by **Rachel Bronwyn** » Dec 14, 2014 10:20 am

A name alone doesn't get you picked on. It might be something people use to pick on you but the fact some kids are assholes and choose to pick on other kids and aren't held responsible for their behavior has a lot more to do with being bullied than the name your parents gave you.

Scot Dutchy · **#43** by **Scot Dutchy** » Dec 14, 2014 12:22 pm

Rachel Bronwyn wrote:A name alone doesn't get you picked on. It might be something people use to pick on you but the fact some kids are assholes and choose to pick on other kids and aren't held responsible for their behavior has a lot more to do with being bullied than the name your parents gave you.

The wrong name is no help and has far more influence.

Onyx8 · **#44** by **Onyx8** » Dec 14, 2014 6:22 pm

What is a 'wrong' name?

Scot Dutchy · **#45** by **Scot Dutchy** » Dec 15, 2014 12:59 am

Ask any comedian.

Onyx8 · **#46** by **Onyx8** » Dec 15, 2014 1:39 am

You said it so I was asking you. Why would I ask someone else what you mean?

Scot Dutchy · **#47** by **Scot Dutchy** » Dec 15, 2014 1:42 am

Onyx8 wrote:You said it so I was asking you. Why would I ask someone else what you mean?

Plenty of examples have already been given for instance James Riddle. Obvious?

Onyx8 · **#48** by **Onyx8** » Dec 15, 2014 1:46 am

Scot Dutchy · **#49** by **Scot Dutchy** » Dec 15, 2014 1:59 am

Onyx8 · **#50** by **Onyx8** » Dec 15, 2014 2:48 am

Correct.

Varangian · **#51** by **Varangian** » Dec 15, 2014 7:35 am

Let my venture a guess: a "wrong" name is one that is uncool, lends itself to puns, or enough non-mainstream to provide an inroad for bullying and slurs. It all depends on the setting and people involved; a name that was perfectly OK in 1980 might be considered pretty dorky by some today.

Calilasseia · **#52** by **Calilasseia** » Dec 15, 2014 8:29 am

One sure fire test of a bad name ... it merely arouses a few lines of comment in newspapers when chosen by mega-rich celebrity parents for their sprogs, but results in any child thus named being driven to suicide upon attending an inner city comprehensive.

Nicko · **#53** by **Nicko** » Dec 15, 2014 10:45 am

Calilasseia wrote:One sure fire test of a bad name ... it merely arouses a few lines of comment in newspapers when chosen by mega-rich celebrity parents for their sprogs, but results in any child thus named being driven to suicide upon attending an inner city comprehensive.

What, like calling a boy - for example - "Tarquin"?

Meh.

If he can play footy, they'll call him, "Tarq the Shark" and he'll be a fucking legend. If he likes ballet, no name would deter them.

You can't "bullyproof" a kid by giving them a particular name. Even if you could find a name that was impossible for some little thug to make a retarded wordplay about before throwing a punch, the little thug has any number of things he could say instead.

Animavore · **#54** by **Animavore** » Dec 15, 2014 1:50 pm

I've found my name to be quite apt.

fluttermoth · **#55** by **fluttermoth** » Dec 20, 2014 2:41 pm

I met a lovely girl once whose name was 'Merlyn'. She liked it, but her poor brother got lumbered with 'Excalibur'. That's a bad name!

He'd changed it, as soon as he was able to, to.............Ken. And who could blame him?!

I named my middle son 'Rael', which I loved, as it was unusual but short and not too hard to spell (although some people though it was 'Real', as in 'Real Madrid' :roll:

), but he always hated it and has now changed it to 'Benedict'.

Scot Dutchy · **#56** by **Scot Dutchy** » Dec 20, 2014 2:47 pm

The Dutch name Anne always throws English speakers as it is a very common Frisian name for a boy.

I knew a Dutch man with the name Anne Aa. The Aa is a river.

Varangian · **#57** by **Varangian** » Dec 20, 2014 2:52 pm

fluttermoth wrote:I met a lovely girl once whose name was 'Merlyn'. She liked it, but her poor brother got lumbered with 'Excalibur'. That's a bad name!

He'd changed it, as soon as he was able to, to.............Ken. And who could blame him?!

Which is still sword-related, as one of the meanings of the Japanese word "ken" is "sword".

fluttermoth · **#58** by **fluttermoth** » Dec 21, 2014 11:27 am

Varangian wrote:
fluttermoth wrote:I met a lovely girl once whose name was 'Merlyn'. She liked it, but her poor brother got lumbered with 'Excalibur'. That's a bad name!

He'd changed it, as soon as he was able to, to.............Ken. And who could blame him?!

Which is still sword-related, as one of the meanings of the Japanese word "ken" is "sword".

Oh, I didn't know that! That's cool; maybe he picked it 'specially

kennyc · **#59** by **kennyc** » Dec 21, 2014 11:38 am

The Serpent wrote:
Nicko wrote:
You seem to have omitted the bit where you tell us all what this embarrassing name of yours actually is.

Fess up.

As for me, the fact that the usual contraction of my given name rhymes with two euphemisms for the male generative organ meant high school provided no end of poetic maestros who thought they were being novel. But it was high school, FFS. They'll find something, no matter what your name is.

It's the nicknames that have given me the most trouble. I don't know which was worse, "Rabbi" or "Aspro".

Like the Dog from Footrot Flats, my real name must never be uttered let alone revealed.

Well then, this thread just became useless.
:naughty:

kennyc · **#60** by **kennyc** » Dec 21, 2014 11:41 am

Varangian wrote:
fluttermoth wrote:I met a lovely girl once whose name was 'Merlyn'. She liked it, but her poor brother got lumbered with 'Excalibur'. That's a bad name!

He'd changed it, as soon as he was able to, to.............Ken. And who could blame him?!

Which is still sword-related, as one of the meanings of the Japanese word "ken" is "sword".

Hmmmm.....the things you learn....

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