Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Holy Name Calling, Batman!

I was listening to the radio today and there was an item about a survey here in the UK which has thrown up some crazy baby names being given by parents these days.

We now apparently have living in the UK, several Gandalfs, Arsenals...and two Supermen.

Can you imagine going through childhood with the name Superman? Poor, poor kids. Those parents should be done for child abuse!

LabRat

Nicolas Cage named his kid Kal-El. Why not just permanently attach a "Kick me" sign to his back? If Cage wanted to pay homage to Superman, he could've just named the boy Clark. That would save his son much grief growing up.

I read an article about it this morning:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061117/lf_afp/afplifestylebritain_061117111622

Think about the kids named Gandalf! LOL

My cousin adopted 2 siblings. They were young enough that they re-named them. Couldn't figure out where the one name came from until my aunt talked to me (knew this trivia would come in handy one day!). The boy's name was Kalel! (He's now renamed after my mom's family name--a much better moniker to have!)

Jo

Thanks for the link, Jojo! I tried finding it earlier but couldn't track it down.

Grief! Sense of humour? That's one way of putting it, I guess. Though I doubt the kids in question will find it half as amusing somehow!

OTOH:

Who's been a busy boy, then?

Ouch. Course you tend to expect this kind of lunacy from celebs. It's kind of worrisome that it's spread to everyone else!


LabRat

Well, you know... Superman is a very normal name compared to some that I have read recently.

There's a couple in British Columbia (Canada... yes...) whose four kids are named:


Repent of Your Sins
Repent or Burn Forever
Messiah is Coming
Mashiah Hosannah


I'm NOT kidding. I can't find the article in English, but I know I have a bookmark to a page in French which states sources and things... on my other computer though. Anyway... suffice it to say, it's true.

That just brings to mind one website that truly makes you wonder about people: Bad baby names

My mom was a midwife and the top two of her "All-Time Worst Names of Babies I Delivered" list were Latrina John (toilet toilet?!) and
Crystal Shanda Leer (say it all together quickly). I currently have a student who is so embarrased by her last name (Dick) that she refuses to say it out loud. After calling her "Heather She Who Must Not Be Named" a few times, I've officially shortened it to "Heather Voldemort." She likes it!

Holy.... )

Wish I'd had a teacher like you, Groobie, to lessen the pain.


LabRat

Having a really common (first) name, I like the idea of unusual/rare names. Especially some ancient Greek names - many of them are really beautiful, though people usually blink upon hearing one. For example, my father is pretty amazed at having a student named 'Andromeda'. Personally, I wouldn't mind being named like that.
(But then again, I live in Greece and speak Greek, so there's a bit of a double-standard here )

Having said that, some words are just not meant to be names. Superman??? Good grief, people. I do support meaningful names (as opposed to jumbled strings of letters), but... really.

I'm currently perusing the link Karen left. There are a few names I actually like, based on spelling and sound, but some of them are... I'll spare you my bitter comments.

I mean, seriously:

"For the last 50 years, my family has been naming their children after Southwestern Ontario cities."

Why, oh WHY?

See ya,
AnnaBtG.

Unusual names I like. After all, one of my characters is named Zared (a real name - Biblical).

But you are right about naming a kid Superman.

I used to work in obstetrics. Two names that I came across - Heaven Lee and (kid you not) Blue Smurf.

You sound like a fun teacher, groobie!

Heheh! Weeiiird names. I would Never, NEVER name my son Superman! I mean, naming a stuffed animal "superman" would be ok (yes I do name them sometimes ) but a child?

What about calling your cats "Help" and "Fire" and go looking for them in the garden and yelling their names :rolleyes:

I guess I'm not totally innocent when it comes to unusual names. My daughter's first and third names are *very* uncommon, but at least no embarrassing.

Yeah, I've heard VERY weird names for children. There was a story a long time ago on TV in Brazil about this family with three children which had the following names (translated to English, but the words are still weird):

Xerox
Photocopy
Authenticated

Apparently, the mother worked in a copy center and LOVED those words.

Also, I once was in a hospital in Brazil and had a nurse call out a name that made me go "WHAT???". The first name of this little boy was "Walt Disney".

Weird, huh?

malu

Yes, I've met a Walt Disney, too.

What I've met so far:
Felix Henrich Napoleon
Philip Dagobert (Dagobert is the German name of Scrooge McDuck)
Felix Robert Denis (pronounced French - sounds like Robert DeNiro)

Been there...

I was born Anna Owen (yes, a boy's name but it was my great-great-grandmother's maiden name) Rottenberg. And it's pronounced just as it looks. I was so happy when I got to change my last name at age 14!!!

Years ago, I read an article about a couple who lived on the beach in Florida. They named their children Sandy, Rocky, Coral and Pebbles!!!

Try having the first name Darcy (which was somewhat meanly rhymed with "Parsley" in kindergarten), and the last name Smittenaar--which got mis-pronounced a LOT, not to mention changed to "spit an hour" by a few of the other kids when I was in third grade.

To top it off, my middle name is Ann, so my initials spell the word "sad" backwards.

Don't get me wrong, I like my half-Dutch heritage, but I can't WAIT to find a decent guy with a more common (at least here in the States) last name!