Sunday, March 23, 2008

Bad Baby Names I Have Found

I haven't had a chance to read Bad Baby Names: The Worst True Names Parents Saddled Their Kids With, and You Can Too! yet, but it looks like great fun. The authors of this book have combed the U.S. federal census records to find the absolute worst names parents have given their children. They found names like Fanny Pack, Fanny Whiffer, Post Office, Al Caholic, Anita Bath, and Amanda Hugginkiss.

I'd like to add my contribution to names in the census that I found to be rather interesting combinations. I hate to say these are bad names - the parents who picked these names must have liked them, but I wonder what the people who bore these names throughout their lives thought.

Weather seems to be a theme. I have found people named Frost Snow, Early Frost, Early Snow, Summer Snow, Summer Weathers, Stormy Winters & Sleet Rainey.

Perhaps these parents might have had grandiose plans for their children when they gave them the first name of King - I found children in the U.S. census called King John, King David, and King George.

These parents seem to be thinking about one thing when they gave their children names related to money: Dollar Quarter, Dollar Cash, Money Grant, Money Persons & Money None.

Some interesting names with a produce theme are Orange Field, Orange Woods, Orange Hill, Strawberry Field, & Lettuce House.

Perhaps these parents were thirsty when they named their children Pearley Waters, Dewey Waters, and Drink Perier.

And the person who would be great to have as a family member: Rich Cousin.

You can search the U.S. census online for free at Ancestry.com to find your own Bad Baby Names. See what you can find.

2 comments:

Matthew Rayback said...

These names are great! BTW, I'm the co-author of that book Bad Baby Names and thanks for commenting on it here. You should read it! (shameless self-promotion). If you and your readers want to know more, check out my blog at www.badbabynames.com. Thanks again.

Kathi said...

For those who what to read Matthew (Bad Baby Names's co-author) blog, the correct address is http://www.badbabynames.net/ (not .com)

I'm looking forward to reading the book. It looks like great fun.

Kathi