Genuinely problematic names

[AuntDympna]

Starting this thread for names which are genuinely problematic.
The purpose is, a quick reference for people to check is the name they are thinking of on the list, and also as a reference for justifiable reasons to advise against using a name.
To be included, there needs to already be a thread on the name, where the case against it was made clearly.

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'.

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.

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

@WallaceinAnderland

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

Which is exactly how some Scots say “Jobby”

Others say it to rhyme with hobby.

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!

@WallaceinAnderland

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

Yep, to rhyme with Toby is how I’ve understood it to be pronounced.

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

Thanks for all the replies. Bringing this thread back as another "let's laugh at some names" thread appeared briefly before the moderators took it down.
I think it's worth having a discussion about what would be a reasonable objection, the difference between personal feelings about a name and objective concerns. To make a summary, I've come up with this groups. There are some countries which have lists of banned names, or banned classes of name, and I've used these too.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naming_law

I don't think any of these reasons rules a name out completely, just that it's realistic to have a conversation about it.

1. Names which look or sound like words that mean excrement, private parts, or sexual acts, either the given name, eg "Joby", "Fanny" or in combination with the surname eg "Mike Hunt", "Wayne Kerr".

1. Names that have become closely associated with a notorious criminal person, act, or catastrophe. This can be just the given name where the name is uncommon or became so as a result of the notorious person eg "Adolf" (Hitler), "Myra" (Hindley), or given name plus surname for very common names.

1. Names that are titles, or which look or sound like titles, such as "Prince", "Sir", "Queen", "Skipper", "Boss".

These are the top three categories on banned name lists.

Others that might be worth considering, but are much more of a judgement call are:

1. Names that sound like or look like God, Jesus, Allah and similar. This very much depends on the religion and the name, for example Jesus being very common in some countries.

1. Names that are terms of endearment eg "Honey", "Darling", "Sweetheart".

1. Names that have become tainted by association with the words of a popular story or song - this is really complicated and specific and may have time-limits on it, but "Roxanne" and "Delilah" both come to mind.

1. Names spelled with punctuation or numbers, where the punctuation and numbers aren't part of a spelling system, eg the name "*" (pronounced "Asterisk") or "7 of 9" (needs to be spelt "Seven of Nine" and is the name of a popular fictional character in the TV series Star Trek).

@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.

@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.

@Laureatus yes, I think that comes under number 6. It's such a great name though aside from that.

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.

@Vapeyvapevape I changed my mind. My post from 2 Dec includes all names that sound like rude words, in any accent.
The thread is intended to be the antidote to thoughtless comments about names. Some of us have suffered severe name regret due to friends or family jeering and sneering because they think a name is unsophisticated or pretentious.
It's more about the way we talk about names than coming up with a list, although examples help.

Having spent the past 10 minutes muttering “Peony’s, Peony’s” and not got anywhere near “penis”, I’m adding Peony to my list of potential names

I think another category is names that sound like a common word / pronoun in a language that your child will use.

I've worked with someone called "Yu" and we ended up often referring to him by his name + surname to avoid confusion.

Similarly, I have a relative called "Anna," which is fine in English but causes difficulties for my Arabic speaking in-laws as "Ana" means "I".

Obviously you can't comb through every language in the world for potential issues and both of these examples are ones that couldn't have been foreseen. But I think if you know that your children are likely to speak a certain language that it's a good idea to check for potential issues with your choice of name!

I worked with an Adolf. He was German and born a few years after WWII ended.

When he introduced himself there was an enormous clatter as assembled jaws hit the ground - and then total silence.

What on Earth were his parents thinking?

@InvisibleDragon that's a good point.

I think discussion of names prior to naming a baby is primarily about the child who has to wear it, and secondarily about avoiding the name regret described above. You can’t have name regret until you’ve committed. I personally think it’s cruel not to point these things out to people before they have committed - again, primarily for the child. Soon-to-be parents can then do with that info what they want, deciding which associations are relevant and irrelevant to them.

I’ll add that there’s never any need for nastiness and there are ways of saying things. But an adult is equipped to deal with a momentary pang of hurt feelings over criticism of their prospective name choice and get over it. A child is not equipped to deal with a lifetime of raised eyebrows, stifled or overt giggles, teasing and potential actual bullying.

It depends on accent, as well. A perfectly acceptable name might not work in a different part of the country.

A girl named Sian started school up here (Scotland) . Locally Sian would be pronounced Shaan. She pronounced her name Sharn. Sharn is farmyard manure. Kids were going home and telling their parents that there was new girl called Sharn. Parents were contacting the teacher to ask what the new girl's name really was.

She had to be coached to pronounce her name as it is normally pronounced up here, because pronouncing it Sharn was just awful. It wasn't even as though she was being bullied - people were just asking her to repeat her name, or spell it out, because they were incredulous when they heard it the way she said it.

But Sian is a perfectly good name.

Srettel that is very useful but you are going to have to explain again the difference between Sharn and Shaan. In SE England those two spellings would get said the same. Was the girl saying her name with an r?

The way she was saying it sounded like Sharn. The way Sian is pronounced here doesn't sound like Sharn.

She and her parents and siblings had to learn to pronounce her name differently, because it just doesn't work here the way they pronounced it.

It wasn't a bullying issue, even well-meaning adults couldn't figure out why her name was "farmyard manure." It had to spelled out for people to realise her name was Sian.

This is a bit of an odd thread! It's all very subjective. Why are you linking other threads?
I dont think you're going to get the kind of thread you're hoping for op.

In addition to names to avoid, there’s also names to be mindful of. Like Pippa - it’s a lovely name but I’m aware it is slang for penis in some European languages (or at least Italian). Not a name that travels well. Now, if you’re a British family with no overseas relatives - fine. If you’re a family who live more internationally, you might at least want to be aware of that before making your choice.

@AlphabetAerobics

I worked with an Adolf. He was German and born a few years after WWII ended.

When he introduced himself there was an enormous clatter as assembled jaws hit the ground - and then total silence.

What on Earth were his parents thinking?

Probably that he would never go to work at a place full of arseholes?

What an awful way to treat someone for something he hasn't even done.