How important is a name? In my opinion - very!
I'm talking about parents - when naming their
children - should consider - not only the fact
that the child will have to live with that
name for quite some time (until they choose to
change it by deed poll), but also they need to
consider the effect the given name is going to have in
combination with the surname. Some funny examples
that have occurred in the past have been:

Ima Hogg.

Zoe Bowie.

Jack Frost.

Barkus Crapp.

Dick Dodge.

Randy Bottom.

Hung Low

Ima Belcher.

Aleaki Fawcett.

Anyway, you get the idea.

Your experiences and thoughts please?
(The funnier the better).

These have I known (or known of):

'Dwayne Pipe'

'Mayhem'

'Ned Kelly'

Oh yeah, and "Pauline Cat" (that was a married name, and so, self-inflicted).

Not quite on topic, but a thought bubble I once had. There was an English soccer player called Graham Tidy and an Italian called Lionel Messi.

I couldn't wait for the time during play when the commentator observed, "Messi's just been cleaned up by Tidy", but it never happened. Damn. That would have been a goodun.

Then there are the well known people in the media etc whose names aptly describe what they do, perhaps?

Cardinal Sin,
Justin Stock, (Former?) Victorian Shareholders Association spokesman
Peter Brain, economist.

I remember way back in days of Bank Tellers calling out customer names, they used to call out the Inital plus the Surname.

A certain Miss Ruth Sole appreciated the quick thinking of a certain teller in breaking from that convention.

Carmen Cohen.

Her mother called her Carmen. Her father called her Cohen. She didn't know if she was Carmen or Cohen.

We know that many common English surnames come from the professions that the plebs have engaged in throughout the centuries.

Cooper, Smith, Carpenter, Mason, Fletcher, Taylor are some of the common ones.

But what on earth inspired "Sidebottom"?

Now at rest in the Dunkield cemetry at the foot of the Grampians lies my mother's Sunday School teacher, one Miss Ophelia Dicky.

Never married.

I was dithering around recently researching some family connections. While I was trawling through the register of the Edinburgh Academy, I noticed they at one time employed someone by the name of the Rev. Sheepshanks - I wonder where a name like that would come from.

Frank Zappa named his children Moon Unit and Dweezil - I'm pretty sure they kept their names when they grew up.

Byron Bay is full of names like -
"Moonbeam," "Jade," "Tiger-Lily,"
"Skye,"
then there's weird name spellings of
ordinary names like "Christopher,"
to "Kristofer," and "Lisa," to
"Lyzah," and so on.

Ethnic names should also be carefully chosen -
especially if the child will continue to live
in Australia. I don't know about other
nationalities but Lithuanian Christian names
can give any Aussie kid the horrors (Thank
God my parents were sane). How'd you like to
be tagged with names like:

Boys names:

1) Vytautas,

2) Gediminas.

3) Algimantas.

4) Giedrius.

5) Romualdas.

6) Bronius.

7) Raimondas.

8) Gintaras.

And these are the short ones.

Girl's names:

1) Ruta.

2) Rasa.

3) Birute.

4) Nijole.

5) Aldona.

6) Danguole.

7) Danute.

8) Grazina.

Why can't people just be more considerate - when
choosing a name for their child. My girlfriend
who's of Celtic ancestry chose "Gwilymn," instead of
William for her son's name. He was not a happy chappie
growing up. But now he's used to it.

I've come across a few more while scrolling the web:

1) Paige Turner

2) Marshall Law

3) Earl E. Bird

4) Amanda Lynn (a mandolin)

5) Beau Tye

6) Beau Archer

7) Ali Katt

8) Al Bino

I wonder what other misunderstanding there
are especially for different name meanings
in different languages? That we may not be
aware of.

Lol Foxy!
The funny names I have come across include ones where their names seem to suit their chosen professions:

Doctor Waters- bladder specialist (urologist)

Doctor Kermode- bowel surgeon. (used to get really angry if we pronounced his name as 'commode'!)

Doctor Butcher (and sons)- a family of general surgeons! (I kid you not -the patients always thought I was joking!)

Mrs. Crapper- aged carer (incontinent patients)

Wouldn't you consider another profession if you had these names?

Dear Suze,

I would definitely change my name -
who on earth would go to a dentist
by the name of - Dr. Lar G. Paine?

Or a funeral director by the name of
Phuc Yu?

Or a librarian named - Paige Turner?
(hers isn't too bad).

Or a music teacher - Amanda Lynn (a mandolin)?

Got any more?