Names: My newspaper column -- this week featuring poles, baskets, and manga

[Ormond]

In this thread because it fits: the most unfortunate names in Britain.

A lot of the examples of women with such combinations received them because of who they married, not because of their parents.

Some of them also are only "bad" in some parts of the English speaking world because of particular accents. Most Americans and Canadians would have to think a lot longer to figure out what is "wrong" with Jenny Taylor than most people in England and Australia would.

I think in everyday life a lot of these would also go unnoticed most of the time because the name would have a different stress pattern than the phrase in most sentences. You really have to be looking for it to confuse "Terry Bull" with "terrible".

And I think it's perfectly logical that the woman named Rose Bush hasn't had many problems with it; a combination like that where a phrase with a positive meaning is created isn't normally going to lead to major teasing.

[Starkess]

I was a NAB, which I suppose is relatively neutral. I did date a guy in high school who was a G, and I definitely thought about that (NAG). Now I'm NAH, which I suppose is a bit negative, but in a cool way, right? I'm gonna live til I'm old! Nah. Nevermind, I'm dying young for reasons other than my initials!

[Ormond]

Here's today's column, which several people on this forum helped me with. Special thanks to Dante Gabriel for his willingness to be quoted as a game designer. :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100309/LIVING/703099960

[Angalin]

At first I read "Raiden" as "Raidne", and wondered if the board had started a new naming trend. ;)

Ormond, have you graduated to a picture as well as a byline? Nice! I like the photo. :)

[Ormond]

At first I read "Raiden" as "Raidne", and wondered if the board had started a new naming trend. ;)

Ormond, have you graduated to a picture as well as a byline? Nice! I like the photo. :)

The photo has been in the actual newspaper next to the column ever since the beginning. I don't know why they put it in the online version this time. Perhaps none of the video game companies would give them permission to use a picture of one of the characters.

[DanteGabriel]

Sweet!

Also, Ormond, I didn't see the earlier column about the name "Precious" until yesterday... That's my mother's name. Her parents named her that because she was born while her family was hiding in the hills from the Japanese and they didn't think she'd survive. The name is not too far afield from her sisters though: their names are Grace and Mercy.

[potsherds]

The photo has been in the actual newspaper next to the column ever since the beginning. I don't know why they put it in the online version this time. Perhaps none of the video game companies would give them permission to use a picture of one of the characters.

Nifty article. :D

Might I say Ormond, you're one handsome gent. :)

And Dante, get me a job will ya? I wanna move to Boston. I'll be the coffee runner! I'll be some lowly Ivy to a Tribune's Topher Brink!

I can program in C/C++... :frown5: Pleeeeease?

Someone back east save me from this Rocky Mountain redneck hellhole. *begs*

[Xray the Enforcer]

Awesome column, Ormond. :)

[Ormond]

Nifty article. :D

Might I say Ormond, you're one handsome gent. :)

Thank you.

Now if you could only convince some gay men of that. :)

[mcbigski]

Ormond,

Been watching Ken Burns's Civil War documentary. I was wondering, if you haven't addressed this in your column already, about the choosing of last names by emancipated slaves. Specifically, I was wondering how many blacks named 'Brown' might have been named after John Brown as opposed to just picking a name descriptive of their appearance. If you haven't done a column on surnames from emancipated slaves, would that be a good topic for you?

[Ormond]

Here is today's column. My maternal grandmother's name was Eugenia, but I didn't have room to mention that. :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100323/LIVING/703239981#cleveland-evans-name-eugenie-is-under-used

How freed slaves picked surnames would be a great topic, but I'd have to do a lot more research on it before I'm ready to write that one.

[Ormond]

Here's today's column. This is the third time in a row I've gotten my idea for the column simply by Googling the date it would appear and seeing what comes up.:)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100406/LIVING/704069941#cleveland-evans-shiloh-has-its-roots-in-war-and-peace

[Angalin]

Ormond, I just spotted this column about 2009 baby names in Quebec. I think Lea must actually be Léa. Do names in Quebec trend differently than everywhere else? Are there big regional differences in name choice? I only remember discussions of socioeconomic factors.

[Ormond]

Ormond, I just spotted this column about 2009 baby names in Quebec. I think Lea must actually be Léa. Do names in Quebec trend differently than everywhere else? Are there big regional differences in name choice? I only remember discussions of socioeconomic factors.

There are of course differences in name choice in different cultures. Quebec's name choices aren't going to be exactly the same as the rest of Canada's, or the same as France's. But in today's wired and videoized world, fashions can sometimes travel from one place to another fairly quickly. Léa has been quite common in France lately as well as Quebec.

[Galactus]

Eugene is a nice name. Of course, swedish pronounces it differently (eu-schen, although that's wrong too, unfortunatley I'm not too good with phoneitc symbols to represent the pronounccation :P) rather than "eu-gene")

[Datepalm]

Eugene is a nice name.

For who? It sounds simultaneously very stuffy and kind of sissy to me. Is it one of those old fashioned names that have come full circle and are now in fashion again?

[Ormond]

Here's the latest. I sure don't know why my picture is on it this week. You'd think they would have had several choices for something more fetching. :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100420/LIVING/704209963#cleveland-evans-model-blonde-put-elle-on-name-charts

[Starkess]

I really like the name Elle! Very interesting.

[Angalin]

Elle "The Body" Macpherson is a legend. Good choice, Ormond. :)

[HT Reddy]

Here is today's column. My maternal grandmother's name was Eugenia, but I didn't have room to mention that. :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100323/LIVING/703239981#cleveland-evans-name-eugenie-is-under-used

Eugene always has unfortunate connotations of eugenics to me :(