Genuinely problematic names

This is nuts

There are so many names that for some would be unusable and for others would be fine , it’s all a matter of opinion.

You say Op , that Wayne Kerr , in your opinion, is fine but you already have people (including me) that say it’s really not fine.

@AuntDympna the Scottish pronunciation varies, in the area I grew up in we pronounced it 'jobby' so I don't think of that when I see the name 'joby' but in other areas it is pronounced with a long 'o' so I understand what @tabulahrasa means.

@Gingerkittykat Freud named the complex after Electra from Greek myth, essentially because he 'needed' a female version of the Oedipus Complex he'd already named. As another poster commented, a lot of figures in Greek myth have awful lives and/or deaths which people aren't aware of when they choose to use the name.

As is Jobby/Jobbie in a lot of Scottish accents, and even where it’s not, people would still double take because they’re familiar with it.

That’s why I’m saying, it’s absolutely problematic, not because you’re talking about some kids at school might make it into a thing - I mean, pretty much anyone Scottish would be going, um... what? ... at it as a name

Pretending that Wayne Kerr, or Joby sound rude is silly, you have to change the vowel. It's like reversing the letters. It's bullying to do that.

Wut??

You think Wayne Kerr is a perfectly useable name that will not pose the poor sod any problems? Sure. Drew Peacock is also a perfectly cool name. No issues there!

Others say it to rhyme with hobby.

The Indian name Joby is pronounced Joe-bee. Or at least it is with the people I know with that name.

Deliah is the 62nd most popular name in England and Wales! If it's genuinely problematic then at least she'll have company.

And I think this just shows that there isn't such a thing as 'genuinely problematic' or at least in the context on names people are actually considering using. I also don't think someone saying 'no, it's awful, think of Samson and Delilah' is bad advice. You ask about a name to get a view of what a cross section of people think of it honestly and anonymously. As a poster I think it's worthwhile saying Enola was the plane who dropped Hiroshima or Perrie from Little Mix called her son Axel. People can just disregard opinions that aren't important to them.

Randy is unusable in uk (imo) and prob quite dated in US

DH had a colleague who didn't understand the reaction he sometimes got from brits when he warmly greeted them 'Hi, I'm Randy'.

Some people might want to make out a serious case for including Delilah

In the bible she leads somebody on until she gets a secret from him, then uses it to get power over him and turns him over to his enemies who gouge his eyes out.

There's also the Tom Jones song where the woman is stabbed to death.

Pretending that Wayne Kerr, or Joby sound rude is silly, you have to change the vowel. It's like reversing the letters. It's bullying to do that

Nope, Joby/Jobby are pronounced identically.
It doesn’t sound rude, because it is just another word for faeces. Or stool. Or crap.

And it isn’t bullying. Basically everyone in Scotland would do a double take because for us Joby/Jobby means one thing and one thing only in Scots.

Here’s an explanation from a website all about Scots language

Jobby,, which is generally considered the polite word in Scots, is one of a number of words in the language equivalent to the English turd. However, it is also true that in North East Scots (or Doric) a jobby can also mean exactly that - a little job or task

Randy is unusable in uk (imo) and prob quite dated in US

Up thread someone said Abigail -which is a biblical name and means my father's joy not sure if it means other things in different languages

Lucifer wouldn't be a great baby name.

To be honest I'd also steer clear of Rudolph, although in a country where it was more common as a man's name rather than primarily a reindeer (with a side option on Rudolf Hess) it might be different.

You’re also kind of assuming that everyone who is naming a baby runs it past mumsnet first. In reality I think the minority do. So probably a bit pointless in the grand scheme.

Wayne Kerr is totally unusable!! Who ever would think that’s an ok combination? Maybe it’s just my accent (NZ English). But it totally doesn’t work and would lead to a lifetime of bullying - much more so than being called Myra or Percy

thing is OP, as well intentioned as I think you are, this thread will absolutely not become the reference resource you are hoping it will be, so you may as well stop policing it.

This thread will get lost into the back pages of the baby name section of MN within a matter of weeks, people won't be looking to it when thinking of naming their child.

It will also become outdated before too long, some of these references will become less relevant - you can already see a generational divide on the name Myra where older mothers are more resistant to use it, but younger ones are not put off by the murderer. In the same vein 10 years ago Alexa, Isis, and Siri would have been issue free, now they have connotations meaning people don't use them.

Some names are only an issue when used with a certain surname - Wendy, with almost any surname no problem at all, with House, best avoided. So you can't account for all combinations.

Finally, there is so much variation in what people think is and isn't acceptable, there are very few where it is outright, clear-cut unusable (Adolf being one of the only examples). Most names invite discussion where some people warn against and think no-way, but others proceed because they like the name and feel the negative reference isn't strong enough, like Donald. There is no absolute answer, so you are not going to be able to create a list of names which are too problematic to use.

"Diseases like Addison's are literally named after people, not the other way around."

Similarly, Enola was a name prior to it being the name of the plane. Myra was the name prior to Myra Hindley´s crimes. You´re not being consistent with your logic.

For example, I would be REALLY concerned about naming my child Addison, and then finding out it is a disease, or naming my child something which sounded like something hideously embarrassing and which they´d be mocked, laughed at, and bullied for (like Wayne Kerr or Joby). To ME, these would be genuinely problematic names. Enola, on the other hand, less so, in my personal opinion. And yes, I know all about Hiroshima as a keen historian. To me, though, this strikes me as less of an issue. Enola was simply the name of the plane. Yes, it dropped the bomb, but it was not the name of the bomb! Many planes and ships that were involved in horrible events had names! Why is ONLY Enola a problem in your opinion?

Similarly, we can see that this is all subjective when we consider the name Myra, which is a so controversial on this board, with some people claiming it is without a doubt unusable due to Myra Hindley, and others saying that they didn´t make this connection at all.

So you´re basically contradicting yourself here. You´ve written this entire post explaining your own opinion, but stating it like it´s fact - and then said that your entire aim is "figuring out what is a real problem, and what is just personal taste."

It´s ALL personal taste. It´s ALL opinion. Some opinions may be more common, but that doesn´t make them fact.

Gosh, this thread is such a dictatorship!

OP I think you are being unrealistic about how people are going to behave on a public thread!