Reader comments
Doug Robinson: What's in a Nayme? Weirdness

No "ette" for me | 7:58 a.m. May 5, 2009

I find it interesting that in Utah we often add "ette" to the father's name in order to name a daughter - Donette, Lynnette, Glennette. I pitty the girl whose father is named David or Stanley.

observer | 8:53 a.m. May 5, 2009

Absolutely great! Thanks for the column.

Katelinn Eldredge | 9:05 a.m. May 5, 2009

I was being wierd and was looking my name up on google and came across your article and I have to say I totally agree! My name is Katelinn, not spelled a common way and I get asked atleast 3 times a day how to spell my name. Sometimes people think it's pronounced inncorrectly. I get what your saying.

Comments continue below

But you forgot | 10:27 a.m. May 5, 2009

Dweezil and Moon Zappa.

My sister named two of her kids Zian and Zander. Not sure where those came from.

I'll stick with Forrest and Savannah.

Old McDonald | 10:38 a.m. May 5, 2009

At our house we call those silly names "Old McDonald" names. It seems parents get carried away with the vowels--as in "e i e i o....." Why saddle kids with names that may prevent people from taking them seriously as adults? Would you trust a doctor named Fifi or a mechanic named Jerumieigh?

Wow | 10:57 a.m. May 5, 2009

That "Hey Doug" guy sure is upset. Must have hit a nerve or something. Probably has a goofy name to get so worked up over an article with a ring of truth. Or is it trooth?

Great article | 11:20 a.m. May 5, 2009

When we were expecting our first, I told my wife if it was a boy, I wanted to name him Zachary, but spell it Xacquery just to make life interesting. I figured it was just a preemptive strike for all the late nights, wrecked cars, etc. Must be why we've only had daughters!

Guilty as charged | 11:21 a.m. May 5, 2009

When naming my daughter I took a perfectly good and common name and added a silent "h" at the end to be unique. When on vacation I can find every sort of souvenir with the my other three childrens name on it - but not hers.

I ain't spellin' it | 11:36 a.m. May 5, 2009

Here hear!

Sherie | 1:50 p.m. May 5, 2009

If you think those names are bad, try mine! Pick a spelling, you have 24 options:
Sherie, Sheri, Shery, Sherrie, Sherri, Sherry, Sharie, Shari, Shary, Sharrie, Sharri, Sharry, Cherie, Cheri, Chery, Cherrie, Cherri, Cherry, Charie, Chari, Chary, Charrie, Charri, Charry

Michael | 2:16 p.m. May 5, 2009

My first name was the most popular boy's name from the 50's to the late 90's (when it was finally surpassed by Jacob).

Yet, with millions upon millions of us "Michaels" running around, you would be surprised just how many people CAN'T SPELL IT.

Admittedly, it's not an intuitive spelling, but come on, people, there are MILLIONS of us!

When people can't even spell the most common name, how can they be expected to keep up with all those odd anomalies?

We named our son Seth, and he can spell it just fine at three years old!

But if you think Doug's examples are weird, check out this site: wesclark - dot - com/ubn/

Oy!

ABCD | 10:35 a.m. May 6, 2009

Hey Dug, how do you spell Larry, Larrie, Laree?? You seem to use that name alot in your columns.

daveescaped | 6:19 p.m. May 19, 2009

I don't know if it is a Utah thing of a Mormon thing but I have never seen such odd names as I have found among Utahns and Mormons. Sure in Detroit (where I grew up) we had our share of Utpal's, Sameer's Mohamed's and other ethnic names. But those are common names within a culture. Why folks feel the need to saddle their kids with odd names I don't know. It's selfish to make your kids the object of ridicule for your own satisfaction. And it's more than a little bit immature. I'm not saying that you can't take some liberty, but just make sure it IS an actual name. Call me a snob but when I run in to someone names Mychal (girl) or Jaedon I just think their parents are likely undereducated or middle-class and trying to move upward via their kids name.

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