If you're not a white Brit - what names in your culture make you go "holy C**p what were they thinking!"?

[lambbone]

I am a white Brit, so I get all the threads on here which basically go "you can't call your DD Magenta Pixie what if she wants to be a High Court judge"

I work in a massive school which is only about 1/4 white Brit so there is a terrific array of names - none of which convey any message to me other than being the child's name.

Perhaps it is only us class obsessed Brits who read messages into name choice?

So - are there names in your culture make people go Or

We know a (poor) French Connor. His mother is very strict that it be pronounced Conn-ORRRRE (like Eleonore but emphasis on the last syllable). They are not French - they emigrated or I suspect they would have chosen something else.

All boys in my DH's family, including my DH and DS have Marie as a MN.

Genevieve in France has some interesting connotations. Anything anglophone is terribly fashionable in some parts of society and likely to be horrible mangled. Others go for very staid or Catholic names (we know a Baptistine).

I'm Portuguese and we have loads of Jesus (both for males as first names and for females as a middle name).

Extremely posh boys with "Maria" as a middle name (Joao Maria / Afonso Maria).

DH was brought up in Kenya. They had a gardener (quite a young boy I think) who wanted to pick an English name - DH's dad had to persuade him that "Coca Cola" and "Dolphin" weren't generally used as boys' names in the UK.

Liara are you Brazilian?

Loads of misspelt English names in Brazil - I met a Djane.

MaRyzerection - am at the Mary thing - I never knew that and my (Irish) dad's middle name was Mary! He changed it to Joseph in his 20s though.

My son was supposed to be a Connor.....until we moved to a Francophone country during my pregnancy. Quickly figured out he would be called "Canard" (duck) by his peers until he was about 10 and would be called "Bastard" for the rest of his life....needless to say we chose a different name....

I had a Nigerian teacher at my high school called Love Chilli or Mr Chilli. He was a wonderful and very popular teacher. There was also a Mrs Dickie who's Christian name was Fanny!

Poppy - no, not brazilian - but nearby.

msrisotto Spanish DH and we live in Spain, know 2 Inmaculada Concepción's both are in their 60's. It seems popular for the older generation.

Some names just don't go well over countries. Like how Noah is super popular in the UK. In Spain Noa is a similarly popular name for girls pn exactly the same way. A friend who lives here wanted to call her DS Noah until her DH (Spanish) pointed out it would be like calling your boy Daisy or something like that if you lived in the UK and as they are planning on living here for good then it was a definite no and would have been cruel. They did choose another name.

french.about.com/od/vocabulary/g/connard.htm

( the d is silent so it's pronounced 'conarr'

Not quite the same thing, but I used to go out with an Indian lad... he was called Raju... his sister was called Anusha, and his other sister was called, erm... Sharon... Always found it quite funny!

I'm white but married into an Indian family. Even MIL snickers at Indian names like Shital and Shatis.

Some names just don't translate well into another language, do they?

Ha, they do sound a bit like "other things"

I have German cousins called Brigitta, known as Gitty & Anke (pronounced as in Banker). Not surprisingly these are not names you generally come across in the UK

Belen wouldn't work in UK - sounds too much like "bell end"!

Irish background. There are some awful Irish names.

Gobnait made me giggle. Dont like the religious ones (Assumpta, Immaculata, Concepta). Dymphna. Most have died out now, though.

I dont like faux Irish names, either (Erin, Shannon, Caitlin pronounced Kate-lynn) or weird versions of Irish names used by non-Irish people (Shavonne, Rosheen, Shinade etc).

Malachy was popular in Ireland a few years back. I like the biblical Malachi, but Malachy just makes me think of a cheeky little Dublin gobshite.

GrassIsSinging - I was going to say Dymphna, that was the name of my Maths teacher at secondary school.

And speaking of misspelled "Irish" names, I came across an actress recently called Shivorne.

What about Dorcas. It's facing extinction apparently. Can't think why.

I also know a Dympna, Elkie and Beulah. All white british girls. They just sound silly to me.

I knew a Howard cox. Ok if ur English and pronounce the "ow". With a NI accent it's virtually a single syllable word!!!

My uncle has the middle name Marian - yes, Ireland 1954.

I went to university with a guy called Blessing - he was lovely though.

I know a dorcas.

MsRisotto- the Immaculate Conception is not the same as the Virgin Birth! It is a title for Mary, because she was born without the stain of Original Sin.