I can't tell you how often I've heard guys who wanted their kid to be able to say truthfully 'Danger is my middle name.' But their wives absolutely refused.
Michael Sherrod, author of the book "Bad Baby Names" as quoted in "A Boy Named Sue, and a Theory of Names" in this morning's New York Times.
Sherrod and co-author Matthew Rayback combed census records for bad baby names and found these among others: Emma Royd, Post Office, King Arthur, Helen Troy, and Ima Hooker.
(Apologies: No links 'til later. Posting by cameraphone. Outbound to L.A.)
Update: Linked.
2 comments:
Much consideration went into my son's full name as well as his initials, as I grew up with having to hear "PP" through high school.
Yes... some scars never disappear.
I initially wanted Zachary's middle name to be Isaac, thinking that it wouldn't be too bad to be nicknamed, "The Zipper" or "Zip."
That didn't work out. His middle name is Lyndon, a name I got from the lousy film, Barry Lyndon — I just liked the name. Only years later, it occurred to me that someone might think he was named after our thirty-sixth president. A friend, however, who at the time Zach was born was writing her name as Lynda (legally, it was spelled with an I), thought she was being honoured. I had to set her straight.
Oh... and Zachary at one point had ZippyZip (or some variation) as an online screen name. Go figure.
patrick this had me rolling when I rec'd it via handheld -- what feels like *weeks* ago, but was less than a week.
it's nearly impossible to negotiate blogger comments when I'm on the road (the captcha throws things) so it's taking me this long to reply -- thanks, man. this was the best.
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