Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Just don't call me late for dinner


Picking someone's name - it's been many years since I was directly involved.

I think we did OK, but I do wonder what some people were thinking (or drinking) when they came up with their child's name.

For example, Mr. & Mrs. Fields shouldn't think of Daisy for their daughter. Would a Mr. & Mrs. Banks consider naming their child Robin? I hope not.

Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune recently wrote a column on names based on the baseball team, Cubs. If you're not familiar with the Chicago Cubs and their fans then you'll need some background before her column makes much sense. It now has been over a century since the Cubs won a World Series. Here's a site to fill you in on the Cubs - Just One Bad Century.

What do the Cubs have to do with naming children?

Two recent stories come to mind:
1. The subject of Mary's column was a fake birth announcement placed in the Chicago Tribune by the owners of Just One Bad Century site. It was both a joke and a promotional thing. The child was named Waitle Nex Yeare.



2. There's a controversial player on the Cubs roster named Milton Bradley.

(still want more background - here's a post on Cubs and lawyers from Sept. 2008)

Funny names - As most of you know, if you can think of it, then it's probably on the internet. So in a few microseconds I was looking through the wikipedia page on unusual personal names. (BTW, did you know wiki is a Hawaiian word for fast?)

On that wikipedia page you'll learn of:
  • Wrigley Fields, named for the baseball field Wrigley Field.
  • Gwyneth Paltrow's baby girl named Apple Blythe Alison Martin. (she'll never have a good orchard)
  • A teenager changed his name to Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spiderman Batman Wolverine Hulk And The Flash Combined.

So time ago in my career I worked with Irish and British developers. I remember being puzzled when an Irish engineer I was working with here in the States broke out laughing while reading our plant's phone directory. He turned to me and asked, "Is this a real person or a mistake?"
I looked and said, "Well I know Randy Darling, he works on the blah, blah ..."

Now I know that you better check other countries' slang words before naming your child.

Well do you think this guy's moniker is going help him find a good job?

Robin A Clown linkedin page


10 comments:

Lisa said...

According to Norwegian site VG Nett, bus driver Andreas Jankov has formally changed his name to Julius Andreas Gimli Arn MacGyver Chewbacka Highlander Elessar-Jankov. "I wanted to show that it is possible to be serious and at the same time take the name you like," said the film enthusiast.

Naming children is a serious matter and in my case, we had to appease the tribal council :)

Thank you for sharing about Wiki, my favorite.

Fantastic Forrest said...

Too funny.

I went to school with a girl named "Mylene Dick" - WTH were her parents thinking? I mean, really?

I love the kid with the superhero name and the film buff's name. Cool!

yorksnbeans said...

Sometimes parents can go too far....
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,479904,00.html

Bill Lisleman said...

@ocean girl - chewbacka came home with my daughter once - what a nutter

@FF - yeah really, well maybe if Dick was their last name they refused to think of the slang. thanks for sharing

@ yorksnbeans - thanks for that link -
"...that he named his son after Adolf Hitler because he liked it and 'no one else in the world would have that name.'"
DOES HE KNOW WHY THAT MIGHT BE??? How do you stop weirdos from having kids?

Claudya Martinez said...

Randy Darling is pretty funny. If I ever have boys I'm going to name them Abacus and Garbanzo.

Joyce said...

Very cute. I'm glad my parents went for a traditional when it came to me. lol...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. To answer your question- Yes we do have a Culvers. I like both Sonic and Culvers when we go for the fast food thing. If you have one nearby give it a try. Enjoy! xoxo

Bill Lisleman said...

@unknown Mami - cool beans but don't count me on the abacus.

@joyce - thanks, always good to have a new visitor.

Fantastic Forrest said...

One of my friends told me she has a friend named Christian Blood.

People are weird.

Bill Lisleman said...

@FF - please don't say his nickname was Red. thanks

lisleman said...

@FF - please don't say his nickname was Red. thanks

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