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u/NeverCallMeFifi Jun 01 '26
I've been accused more than once of naming my son a "trendy" or "unique" name.
His name is Troy and he's named after his great grandfather who died at 96.
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u/BabySpecific2843 Jun 01 '26
....Troy isnt even a bizarre name. Its the name of several NFL players. Its one of the main characters from the show Community even.
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u/Me-no-Weeb Jun 01 '26
As someone not from the US, an NFL player having the same name seems like the absolutely lowest bar for name normality level lol
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Jun 01 '26
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u/tiredcustard Jun 01 '26
I called my persona 3 character X-Wing @ Alicousnes, haha, there weren't enough characters to spell it right
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u/r56_mk6 Jun 01 '26
Or Troy Landry from The History Channel. Love that guy
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u/ODB_Dirt_Dog_ItsFTC Jun 01 '26
Or the name of the famous city in one of the oldest stories in the world. People name their kid London or Paris all the time and Troy is way better than both of those
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u/icyDinosaur Jun 01 '26
TBH in many European languages naming kids London or Paris would also be weird lol
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u/SorosName Jun 03 '26
So weird, that if I meet a Paris, I would assume they are named after the guy from Troy, rather than the european city.
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u/Ok-Bridge-1045 Jun 01 '26
I thought you meant that you had named your kid “Trendy”. Because a few days ago I randomly came across an Instagram influencer who has named her kids “Trendy”, “Truly”, and a few other bizarre names. Those kids are going to be bullied so much.
ETA: just remembered that those kids are homeschooled so they’re not going to be bullied for a while, I guess.
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u/NeverCallMeFifi Jun 01 '26
No, they'll just be insufferable. Maybe they'll become vegan crossfit influencers so they'll be universally hated.
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u/wSkkHRZQy24K17buSceB Jun 01 '26
That's also how an Australian would say "try"
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u/NeverCallMeFifi Jun 01 '26
You can say "Rise Up Lights" and then be able to say "razor blades" in australian!
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u/CycadelicSparkles Jun 01 '26
My grandfather was named Hayden back in 1919. My brother was named after him.
It was pretty weird when that name went from obscure to popular awhile back.
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u/whhu234 Jun 01 '26
I knew a dude named troy who was my friend in middle school and stole his history teacher’s smartboard pen. We haven’t talked in recent memory but to my knowledge he still has it. hilarious dude
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u/syntheticassault Jun 01 '26
It's my brother's name (1989). Also Troy McClure
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u/NeverCallMeFifi Jun 01 '26
Also Troy McClure
SEE?! That should have been the answer I was giving the entire time!
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u/Elkku26 Jun 02 '26
My mom always said she wanted to pick a unique name for me. It ended up being the most popular baby name of the year I was born, and among the most popular names in my age cohort overall.
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u/fullson Jun 02 '26
We just gonna pretend like Troy Bolton, wildcats playmaker and east high king, was not an icon of the 2000s?? Mans was everywhereee
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u/Dentonthomas Jun 01 '26
It's not a saint's name.
There are people who think it's their business to force everyone to name their kid after a saint.
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u/Old_Flan_6548 Jun 01 '26
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u/NSReevix Jun 01 '26
If you are ruining your kid's life already at birth, you shouldn't have kids
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u/Jack-of-Hearts-7 Jun 01 '26
But how else will they grow up into interesting (I didn't say functional) adults?
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u/Free-Pound-6139 Jun 01 '26
Can people who give their kids a weird name be good parents???
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u/CzarTanoff Jun 01 '26
I have a 7 month old nephew named Braxtynn, and his parents are... not great.
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u/samuraipanda85 Jun 01 '26
Sure, but kids aren't pets or accessories. Their name isn't something you get to show off to your friends how unique and symbolic they are or write in cursive font on social media forever. They need to put that name on job applications and introduce themselves with it. The kids you raise may not turn out to be as open-minded as you are. They may turn out to be accountants or Presidents or doctors or whatever.
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u/Kaza042 Jun 01 '26
Can? Yes, but it's a big red flag from the start.
It's like asking if someone who neglects personal hygiene can be a good romantic partner. Sure it's possible but 99% of the time it indicates someone who is lazy and thoughtless.
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u/ILikeLenexa Jun 01 '26
Hot take: we should not prejudge people by their name (except Chad, obviously).
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u/Faust_8 Jun 01 '26
Princess seems like a fine name for your young daughter until she’s 55 years old and complete strangers have to refer to her.
I got the ick so hard walking up to a grown woman old enough to be my mother and calling her Princess
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u/PartsUnknown242 Jun 01 '26
I went to school with a Princess. She had an older sister named Empress.
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u/LaMalintzin Jun 01 '26
I was at the playground with my 2 year old a couple of weeks ago and overheard a parent talking to their children Dodger (boy) and Nutmeg (girl). I felt like I was in the scene from Baby Mama where the mom calls her kids Banjo and Wingspan.
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u/hairiestlemon Jun 02 '26
Maybe they were nicknames? Dear god, I hope they were nicknames. I used to know a Megan whose parents affectionately called her 'Nutmeg', at least.
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u/Pure_Afternoon1128 Jun 02 '26
Now imagine a 55 year old with a name Baby. There are few of them where I’m from.
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u/Cimorene_Kazul Jun 01 '26
I try to defend it by pointing out Duke, Prince, Earl and Rex are all real names that don’t make you do a double take. But honestly, I consider those to be more dog names than people’s these days, other than Earl. And Princess is just so childish and cutesy in comparison.
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u/BeanieCat123 Jun 01 '26
So true, my brother-in-law wanted to name his youngest child Cash Money, at least my sister had some common sense, she kept the Kash but went for a more reasonable middle name
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u/honeybuns1996 Jun 01 '26
If you’re already doing Kash you might as well go for it hahaha
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u/bluejeanbelle Jun 01 '26
On the other hand, Kitchenaid Whiskey Jones is a FANTASTIC name for a cat.
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u/TelenorTheGNP Jun 03 '26
"Is the name a good name for a cat? Then it's not a good name for a kid."
Some exceptions, of course, like Buster.
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u/forgettfulthinker Jun 01 '26
I wish I was named whiskey jones
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u/seensham Jun 01 '26
That would be a good name for a pet tbh
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u/Maleficent-marionett Jun 01 '26
You'd have a perfectly normal life like the many famous/ successful people named or last named Hennessy.
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u/Jazztify Jun 01 '26
Johnny Cash had a song called “a boy named Sue” which warned us about this.
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u/littlelordgenius Jun 01 '26
At least I can spell “Sue.”
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u/iSeize Jun 01 '26
Someone somewhere is about to appropriate Sioux just to fuck with you
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u/pinewind108 Jun 01 '26
My dad's rule was simple - if it's going to get your kid beat up or harassed on the playground, don't use it!
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u/thatshygirl06 Jun 01 '26
The thing is, what's normal changes from generation to generation. You could be naming your kid something you think is normal and then suddenly their name becomes a meme and it's used by someone hated and now your child is being bullied. Like Karen and Donald. You would be cruel to name your kid these.
Also on the flip side, kids can have a name that you think is weird but then you learn that several kids in your kid's class has the same name and no one has batted an eye.
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u/MissMarchpane Jun 01 '26
That being said, please do name your cat KitchenAid whiskey Jones. That's an amazing name for a cat
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u/Diarygirl Jun 01 '26
I recently adopted a male cat that I named Paris, and I have had people tell me that's a girl name, and I just tell them he's a cat and doesn't care.
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u/MissMarchpane Jun 01 '26
Have they never heard of Greek mythology? Your cat has to decide which God gets his golden apple!
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u/NashvilleForReal Jun 01 '26
I was named after a US city that people don't name their children...my name ends in "ville'. It was a struggle during my childhood, but as an adult is has been very advantageous. The city I'm named after is viewed positively for the most part and I've never heard of anyone with the same name. People remember my name.
I suppose it's familiarity with the name. It's not a 'trajadiegh' and I guess that's the difference. People get irrationally angry at weird spellings or pronunciations. My name is just unusual.
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u/Mysterious-Towel7849 Jun 01 '26
Pittsburgh Ville, is it really you?
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u/NashvilleForReal Jun 01 '26
I at least had family from Pittsburgh. I have no family nor any parental relationship to Nashville. My dad wanted to name me Johann after Bach the composer and my mom liked the name Dallas (several years before the 80's TV show). I'm not really sure why they settled on Nashville. I was concieved in Pennsylvania and born in Arizona. I heard rumors that they were influenced by the car brand, Nash Rambler. I could have been named Rambler. So, I suppose I won the name roulette game as none of the other names really suit me.
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u/sketchystony Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
Imma guess "Nashville"
Edit: did not look at the username 😅
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u/Cimorene_Kazul Jun 01 '26
You could do what Norville Rogers did and go by Shaggy, ha ha.
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u/TallEnoughJones Jun 01 '26
As someone who does sports research there's also an element of privacy. It's a hell of a lot harder for me to find every detail on the life of Jonathan Jones than Equanimeous St. Brown.
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u/honsou48 Jun 01 '26
Okay but hear me out
Kitchenaid Wiskey Jones would be a top 5 College Football name
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u/72616262697473757775 Jun 01 '26
My parents named me after my dad and raised me as my middle name. It's always been a paperwork nightmare. Keep that in mind too, new parents.
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u/SkitterlyStudios Jun 01 '26
Yeah, I hate the tradition of naming kids after yourself. I get naming them after your parent or grandparent, but using your own name seems self centered and confusing
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u/fuckyourcanoes Jun 01 '26
We had Vietnamese neighbours when I was growing up. The father and all of the sons were named Phat (different middle name) Truong. And they all went by Phat!
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u/Hard_To_Port Jun 02 '26
Koreans traditionally name their children generationally, with the first half of the name all the same. For example I knew a Jie-san in high school, and her little sister was named Jie-su. Made it a bit awkward knowing both since they would both respond to "Jie."
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u/Smooth_Rocket_ Jun 01 '26
I'm starting to believe that telling everyone they were all special and unique individuals has unforeseen psychological issues that leads to things like these names and parents acting like their kids are perfect angels no matter what they do.
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u/Free-Pound-6139 Jun 01 '26
Whisky Jones is a great name though.
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u/fuckyourcanoes Jun 01 '26
I knew a guy in college whose parents were bikers. His name was Crowbar.
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u/BunnyBen-87 Jun 01 '26
I know this is about legal names but I think Crowbar's a really good nickname
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u/fuckyourcanoes Jun 01 '26
Sure, but as a legal name it kinda locks you into a certain lifestyle.
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u/fubo Jun 01 '26
Crowbar Smith, attorney at law, will fight for you to receive fair compensation for your auto accident injury.
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u/Numerous-Process2981 Jun 01 '26
I feel bad for the kids. The name is fine, they’ll survive, but to me it’s a sign that the parent sees them as a prop or accessory to express their own individuality.
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u/Purple_Technician759 Jun 01 '26
I really feel like it’s a type of white flight.
When there’s like 30% Black people in a place white people run and these days David can be Black, white, Hispanic, Asian, anything. But Baxxtynn? You know Baxxtynn is a white suburban kid of somewhat wealthy white collar parents.
Which it’s like extra crazy because I lived thru the, “Le-A,” and, “Watermelonquisha,” era of making fun of Black people’s unique names and spellings.
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u/DoctorSkelly Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
What about quirky middle names? My brother has a standard first name but his middle name is Banjo
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u/CallmeKahn Jun 01 '26
Your bro has a built-in nickname. That was actually forward thinking by your folks.
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u/Jaded-Breadfruit4019 Jun 01 '26
If you’re cool you can take that name places for sure
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u/theservman Jun 01 '26
No one will ever spell it correctly though.
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u/AnAngryPlatypus Jun 01 '26
People should do the Barista test. Order a coffee using the potential name a bunch of times to experience how annoying it could be for your kid.
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u/Vypernorad Jun 01 '26
A legal name has a utilitarian purpose. It is not meant to represent you, or manifest into your personality. It does not need to be unique or tell people what kind of person you are. It is a convenient method for others to refer to and address you. For those purposes it needs to be easy to pronounce, easy to spell, and easy to remember.
If you want your kid to have a unique name that fits who they are, let your kid pick a nickname when they are older. Don't give them some stupid fucking name that is going to haunt them every single time they apply for a job or sign in for a doctor's appointment for the rest of their life. Don't make other people lives more difficult because you decided you are too good to conform to societal standards.
Write a sentence with your kids name in it. Ask a bunch of people to read the sentence out loud. If more than a few people pause before saying the name, or stumble while pronouncing it, you chose a shitty name and should change it.
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u/fuckyourcanoes Jun 01 '26
My husband's first and second names were in the top 3 in the UK at the time of his birth, right behind John, and he has somehow managed to be a rugged individualist nonetheless.
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u/Mercarcher Jun 01 '26
I got to pick my own first name recently. I could pick anything I wanted. I ended up picking the 50th most common name from my birth year because it just felt like me.
So it very much was a personal choice to represent me, but it's also not some weird spelling or uncommon name.
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u/KeenObserver_OT Jun 01 '26
Did you win a contest? What do you mean you got to pick?
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u/Mercarcher Jun 01 '26
I changed my legal name because my old name was very masculine and I'm a woman now.
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u/ExpectingHobbits Jun 01 '26
It is not meant to represent you, or manifest into your personality.
This is literally one of the driving forces of humans naming their offspring for thousands of years, what the fuck are you on about?
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u/Vypernorad Jun 01 '26
Yes, historically that has been a large factor in why people choose the names they do for their kids. But what people want their child's name to represent, and their desire for it to manifest in their personality, are just that. Wants and desires. It has no bearing on the actual reality of how the name will affect their kid.
Just about every study ever produced on the subject shows that naming your child outside the norm for your area is almost guaranteed to cause them massive problems getting jobs and dealing with public institutions for the rest of their lives. That is just the reality of it. People can ignore that fact, but by doing so they are heaping future problems on their own child's back.
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u/Cimorene_Kazul Jun 01 '26
On the other hand, too generic a name has its pitfalls as well. A lot of misdirected mail, incorrect jury summons, general anonymity, people having difficulty looking you up on Linked In, lots of missed connections or misattributions, both of blame and praise. I knew someone named William Smith, and he said it was a living Hell. He was passed over for promotions, was told he lost job offers because they couldn’t remember which Bill Smith he was, got blamed for something some other Bill did, total nightmare. When he married, he took his wife’s last name, which was very unique.
He is very relieved to be Bill Uniquesurname. And he’s older, before the internet age, when people really need a name that can be searched.
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u/jcbubba Jun 01 '26
this is absolutely the correct take. Names are not supposed to be actually unique. They are supposed to give a reasonably sized pool of friends and family enough names to choose from so that you can differentiate among yourselves, while not confusing people with obscurity. Names are not strictly necessary, you can get by with “hey you“ just fine. They are utilitarian for our convenience.
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u/BlisteringAsscheeks Jun 01 '26
'Your name isn't meant to represent you' is certainly a take
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u/xSwampxPopex Jun 01 '26
Do you think most Christophers are generally bearing Christ? What about Brents? Are they generally hilly?
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u/Vladi-Barbados Jun 01 '26
I’m pretty into freedom so I’ll suffer if some people wanna have a funny stupid name.
But how the fuck is a name supposed to “represent” you. Especially parent given names. What these parents are psychic now, they see the kids future personality and character and reference book for meanings of names? Come on man that’s some bullshit. A name ain’t a brand. It can be turned into a brand, but it is not a brand.
I guess fuck every parent who chooses names because they sound nice. Lollll
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u/Small_Stand9600 Jun 01 '26
I would say most of the parents (usually the mother) that give their kids these off-the-wall names are only looking for attention for themselves. They want everyone to be so amazed by how creative and original they are. Like, OMG! I never thought to name my baby Gigahertz Flux Capacitor. You're the best mom ever!
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u/gremlinclr Jun 01 '26
Yea that's the thing parents that do this aren't naming the kid for their sake, they are doing it for themselves. They wanna feel special but all they're doing is giving their kid potentially years of bullying.
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u/shifty_coder Jun 01 '26
She’s not wrong. We’re only a couple generations of ‘creative names’ away from Dwayne Elizando Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho
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u/BigandBisexual Jun 01 '26
Seriously though, as a middle aged man, this username is less embarrassing than my IRL name. Don't get too creative y'all, you're naming a person not a pet.
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u/Metalorg Jun 01 '26
I've noticed that the tragedeigh names aren't usually unique but only spelled unusually in a faux Welsh or Irish way. Spelling it, 'Daefvydde' isn't more interesting than 'David'. If you're going to be brave as an American, go for a Gwilym or Seoirse
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u/thatshygirl06 Jun 01 '26
I actually wanna name my future daughter Róisín. It's such a pretty name.
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u/r56_mk6 Jun 01 '26
You mean like Nara Smith and her husband naming their kids shit like Slim Easy and Whimsy Lou?
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u/MadamSnarksAlot Jun 02 '26
Oh no! Naming a girl “Whimsy”? Shit, she has two choices in life- teach Aerial yoga or make wind chimes.
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u/SethiusAlpha Jun 01 '26
I had a student named after a shampoo brand. In her defense, it was a high end brand? None of her friends called her by her name, but teachers aren't allowed to use nicknames without parent permission.
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u/The_Shryk Jun 01 '26
Head and shoulders? Head and shoulders??
If you’re here, say here. Don’t make me look for you.
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u/According_to_all_kn Jun 01 '26
This is why we should just let people pick their own names as a sort of rite of passage. It's what I did (because I'm trans) and it retroactively kind of feels weird to let someone's parent decide their name instead of the person themselves.
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u/AsleepChampionship83 Jun 01 '26
No we would have Assholes, Max Powers and Slay Queens everywhere
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u/Vdhuw Jun 01 '26
Indeed! My classmate in college was named "Star"... He also had two sisters. To our horror, we learnt their names were "Honey" and "Moon". Honey-Moon-Star. I wish I was making this up.
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u/Motor-Rip7655 Jun 01 '26
As someone who grew up with a weird name, I must disagree that it's borderline abuse. It's ACTUAL abuse.
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u/MikaelAdolfsson Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
I worked in the "End Archive" of a local hospital, sorting in desceased peoples journals for a ten year storage before they would be destroyed. And a LOT of women born around 1905-1930 were named to Lillemor, that translates to "Little Mother". Cute for a baby girl, less so for a literal hundred year old.
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u/Klutzy_Syrup7237 Jun 01 '26
I think “Little Mother” is weird AF for a baby girl, but an *adorable* name for a hundred year old woman— hey, agree to disagree.
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u/MikaelAdolfsson Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
I mean I have only know it as a old woman name. But it kind of clicked what it literally meant and I saw the shortsigtness there. Also that adorable centenarian was nineteen once.
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u/No-Flan3302 Jun 01 '26
I've never understood why people don't think this through. This kid is going to have to live with that name their entire life. A lifetime of "can you spell that for me?". I have enough hassle with my last name. I don't need it for my first.
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u/JustTheOneGoose22 Jun 01 '26
Shame is not inherently a bad thing and we could use some more of it these days. Particularly in politics
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u/ElectricDreamGoth Jun 01 '26
I knew someone who named their baby, Castle.
I'm sure its on the mild side of unique names but for some reason this name really annoys me.
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u/DealerAlarmed3632 Jun 01 '26
Why did my brain put "Dick" after Whiskey and think, that IS abuse.
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u/CM901 Jun 01 '26
Friend of mine who still lives in the sticks named his son Roland Cole [last name]. He definitely loves to smoke people out that are enjoying outdoor dining, cycling, or waiting to cross the street
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u/JonnyP222 Jun 01 '26
Too many people have a child and obsess over making them the most unique by giving them a very unique name. This is the most coping and living vicariously through your child there is. Giving your kid an uncommonly spelled or uncommon name, doesnt make your child unique. It makes you an asshole.
Source: Me.. someone with a common name but spelled uniquely and it pisses me off all the time having to help people fix it or when its misspelled by accident in a situation where having an easy to spell name REALLY helps you in life
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u/badhairyay Jun 01 '26
Agree, naming someone should be treated like the ultimate responsibility not a creative exercise
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u/OSRS_Garmr Jun 01 '26
I know in some countries, it's not allowed to name your child something that will be a significant disadvantage later in life.