Kate Matsuda · 6 answers · 1y

What's in a name? I mean we know parents giving their daughter the name of a state, like e.g. Dakota, or like a season e.g. Summer, or like many other things or items. While that seems a custom would you join in and name your daughter like the state of Sierra Leone(Mountain Lion), or the city Frankfurt(Furt of the Free)? Or like the season Carnival? Or like a utility? e.g. toilet brush? I mean I would not be surprised parents doing really shit stuff and naming their child OnionPressCharly. But what does drive parents to such extremes? Or is it only me? BTW. This is a long question and can only be seen when you allowed long questions in your settings. You're officially now a member of the elite!! ;)

A name is a choice. A choice that can persist through one's whole life. I'd have to ask what do names mean to every parent who names their child, and what has driven them to choose certain names. However, when thinking about weird names, I believe we have to ask ourselves if "normal" names are really normal.

For example, Peter is a normal name, even though it literally means rock. The Portuguese form of this name is Pedro, and if you change one vowel at the end, it now spells literally rock.

Now, think about when that name was invented. People used rocks a lot more often than today. It was an useful utility, so it might have been considered weird at the time. Yet that name persists in use until today, with many people choosing that name because of a certain person mentioned in the Bible.

We also have to talk about languages. Peter isn't literally rock, it just means that in another language. And in Portuguese, even if it's very close to rock, I must admit that it simply feels natural and normal to call someone "Pedro". So, theoretically, a beautiful name in English might be a weird name in another language, and a beautiful name in another language might mean something weird in English.

Anyways, as I said, names can persist through one's whole life. And at the end of the day, weird names are still weird. I've recently seen someone called "Photocopy" (in Portuguese) on TV (again), so at best weird names can give you some fame, which could be the parents' intention. At worst, it might ruin someone's life. But hey, you can always change it.

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