Names That Don't Work in Other Countries / Cultures...Just for Fun

[35andThriving]

I was just wondering what perfectly ordinary names wouldn't work in other parts of the world.

I have heard that the name Penelope has the Spanish word for penis in it, and Pippa is rude in several countries.

It just made me think there must be other examples and that it could be an interesting topic for a thread.

Jude is not really a name here either. Judah maybe. As someone already said, yes it is a name, it's the name of one of the apostles, brother of James, also Jude law?

And if you are RC you will have come accross it.

Who mentioned 'Fanny', as well as the English conotation it means 'water' in Bengali.

It's not just people's names that do not always travel, I have stayed in a place called, Bad Hotel.

Oh yeh Jude Law I forgot about him.

There are also apostles in the Anglican branch of Christianity ya know...

Was Bad Hotel in Baden Baden?

The word PANTEBOY looks proper dodgy to an English speaker. ...but it's Rendezvous in Greek..

Some names I have come accross in Turkey:
Dildo and Nigar for a girl. Tuna for a boy.

The trend for spelling Mason with an extra i (Maison) doesn’t travel well.

Ben in Japanese is kind of the equivalent of poo. Not super rude but hilarious if you're a male teacher called Ben with hundreds of young students. Big Ben is also a hilarious name for a clock...oh dear. Plus lots of names just lose something in translation...you may call me jacket

The only way Elspeth could possibly sounds like ‘she farts’ in French would be if someone omitted the ‘s’ and couldn’t pronounce their ‘th’.

Well, quite. French people would say the "th" as "t".

All I know is that she told me she was made fun of in France a lot - haven't checked with a French person!

Perfectly normal Dutch names:
Floor, Lot, Job, Mark, Joke, Tiny, Harm

What's wrong with Mark? The rest are funny, though

Ben in Japanese is kind of the equivalent of poo. Not super rude but hilarious if you're a male teacher called Ben with hundreds of young students.

There's a famous Thai chef known as Poo. It's a nickname, but it was originally short for "Chompoo" (rose apple), so I assume it was meant affectionately. She clearly embraces its 'other' funny meaning in English - hence the title of her book

www.amazon.co.uk/Cooking-Poo-Saiyuud-Diwong/dp/0977507076?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Elle and Ella mean 'she' in French and Spanish.

The French name Aurélie often sounds like 'orally' when English people say it.

I also hear that German skier Fanny Chmelar wasn't particularly amused when somebody showed her THAT clip from The Chase! To be fair, it wasn't just her first name that nearly killed Brad....

There was another question on The Chase where they asked about a commentator's quote about Nick Faldo and his caddie, Fanny Sunneson: "Some weeks Nick likes to use Fanny; other weeks he prefers to do it by himself."

Perfectly normal Dutch names:
... Mark

Mark? What a strange name, never heard that before. Thank god its never used in England hey

😂

Randy! Works in the u.s not so much over here. Many years ago I had to recruit someone over from America called Randy Stains it did make us chuckle.

@whatausername millie specifically means a female chav in NI - I never think it's weird to hear of people called it though, it's been a name longer than a slang term surely

In Portuguese
Tia - aunt
Nora - daughter in law
Cara - face
Molly - same pronunciation as "mole", meaning "soft".
Allison - used for boys
Linda - beautiful. It's asking for a bully to call you "ugly Linda".

Ben means excrement in Japanese
Morgan doesn't work in Germany as morgen is morning

St Jude was actually the other apostle called Judas, there were two. I think he might have been Judas Thaddeus (as opposed to Iscariot). He had to have a re-branding by the Church because no one wanted to pray to a St Judas.

So, in that instance, Jude is short for Judas.

I love the name Thaddeus. I could have had Thaddeus Jude Surname

Rana is Spanish for “frog”.

Mara means “death” in Sanskrit.

I always think Rhianne must sound strange to Frecmnch people. (Rien = nothing).

Or even French people

Years ago we got talking to some locals in Egypt and met a pair of brothers who were called Willie and Hymen

Odd doesn't get used much outside of Norway.

And I know a couple of Spanish Jorge's who have decided to become George on moving to the UK

If Ben means Poo, they must love Big Ben

Thanks for joining in, everybody.