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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

What western names sound funny in other languages?

55 replies

JazzAnnNonMouse · 10/07/2013 20:21

So inspired by ufuk thread - what names in our language actually sound funny in other languages?

OP posts:

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Original poster

JazzAnnNonMouse · 13/07/2013 20:12

I'm loving these!

OP posts:

Pizdets · 13/07/2013 17:47

Luke means onion in Russian. Drove my friend mad ans he ended up changing his name while he lived in Moscow!

telsa · 13/07/2013 10:27

Arschtritt is not that far from Astrid.

Alisvolatpropiis · 13/07/2013 09:20

ch1134

But in Welsh Rhian means great goddess. Language is a funny thing innit.

themaltesecat · 13/07/2013 08:53

My friend Paul gets a few smirks in Russia. It sounds to them like "pol", which means floor or sex. (The Russian for Paul is Pavel, or Pasha for short.)

Off-topic: It appears to some of them quite ridiculous that many Westerners borrow not full Russian names for their kids, but the diminutives / nicknames, such as Tanya (from Tatiana) or Nastasha (from Nataliya) or Sasha (from Aleksandr). It would be a like a normal/posh Russian family calling their beloved firstname "Shazza" or "Dave" on the birth certificate. :)

ch1134 · 13/07/2013 08:04

I always think the name Rhian sounds a bit odd as in French 'rien' means 'nothing'.
Also, Lola is short for Delores, which means pain in Spanish.

NotMyChashkaChai · 12/07/2013 22:25

Lindsay sounds like the word for contact lenses in Russian. I had a friend named Lindsay who studied in Russia and the Russians always had problems with her name until she hit on the idea of introducing herself as "my name is lindsay, like..." and then she would mime putting a contract lense in her eye. No problems from then on!

Alisvolatpropiis · 12/07/2013 22:15

Arbitratry

My friend who speaks Arabic told me the same re Nick and even neck in some UK accents. Can't remember what it sounds like for Arabic speakers though.

cuillereasoupe · 12/07/2013 21:56

Astrid means arse kick (as opposed to kick arse) in German

Eh? No it doesn't. The German for arse is Arsch.

Nick sounds like "fuck" in French.

ArbitraryUsername · 12/07/2013 09:47

Apparently Nik is problematic in Arabic, according to my sister (who speaks Arabic)

Gary can sound like the Japanese for diahorrea.

Bonsoir · 12/07/2013 09:35

My DC have a second cousin called Fanny.

ZZZenagain · 12/07/2013 09:33

Yes, my dd has a friend called Fanny. The family are all musicians so I assumed it was because of Fanny Mendelsson. It is unfortunate. Didn't realise it was a popular name in France.

Bonsoir · 12/07/2013 09:27

I wish French parents would stop calling daughters Fanny.

ZZZenagain · 12/07/2013 09:24

They speak Tagalog in the Philippines. (I only know this because our church sometimes has shared Festivals with a Philippino church).

Greek is full of pitfalls! OMG at Pippa, it really doesn't travel well.

crazyhamsterdisguisedasapanda · 12/07/2013 09:19

Well this is enlightening

BewitchedBotheredandBewildered · 12/07/2013 09:19

Oh, thanks

ByHecuba · 12/07/2013 09:14

I had no idea about Ben. I'm guessing Ben10 has another name in Japan then?Otherwise it would sound like a horrific premise for a cartoon:D

Bewitched- they speak it in the Philippines!

I was really laughing at littlepea's story. I bet the blokes got comedy mileage out of that for years (saddos).

BewitchedBotheredandBewildered · 12/07/2013 01:32

Sheshelob Int and Dick

ByHecuba I fear I may regret asking, where do they speak Tagalog?

Sunnysummer · 12/07/2013 01:18

Ben means poo in Japanese.

znaika · 11/07/2013 21:40

This reply has been deleted

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littlepeas · 11/07/2013 21:08

When I was a student i had a waitressing job at TGI Fridays and one night a table of Greek business men sniggered at me an awful lot. They told me I should use my full name of Philippa as it is a strong Greek name that means 'the woman who loves horses'. I thought that they thought 'lover of horses' was funny, but years later a new acquaintence who was half Greek gleefully informed me that Pippa means blow job.

Alisvolatpropiis · 11/07/2013 19:54

Siri means cock in the Georgian language.

AllegraLilac · 11/07/2013 16:32

Do let us know what your DH says when you tell him froggers!

Blatherskite · 11/07/2013 14:40

It's shag in Swedish too

Blatherskite · 11/07/2013 14:37

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news froggers but I'm sure there was a thread on here a while ago where we discovered that Pippa means something rude in many, many languages.

You'll be fine as long as she never leaves the UK

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