What western names sound funny in other languages?

[JazzAnnNonMouse]

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

Heston means "to shit on" in Greek.

Bet Blumenthal would struggle to sell his meat fruit in Athens...

Ant and Dec mean Int and Dick in New Zealand.

Pippa means hand job in Italian

Sorry Blatherskite, I missed your post.

I have a Pippa and I think I vaguely knew about the Italian connection...I wanted Anna but was vetoe'd....will tell DH - do you think its too late to change it!! she is 15 months!!

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

It's shag in Swedish too

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

Siri means cock in the Georgian language.

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.

Ben means poo in Japanese.

Sheshelob Int and Dick

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

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).

Oh, thanks

Well this is enlightening

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.

I wish French parents would stop calling daughters Fanny.

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.

My DC have a second cousin called Fanny.

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

Gary can sound like the Japanese for diahorrea.

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.

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.

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!

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.