Why don't people change their unfortunate names?

Last names like Pigg, Thigpen, Hymen, Fagg, Buttigieg, Dong, Stankey, Lipschitz... My best friend in school was a chubby girl with the last name of 'Waddles' (she remains unmarried). As soon as I turned 18, I'd be at the courthouse getting that shit replaced with something nice.

Last names like Pigg, Thigpen, Hymen, Fagg, Buttigieg, Dong, Stankey, Lipschitz... My best friend in school was a chubby girl with the last name of 'Waddles' (she remains unmarried).

As soon as I turned 18, I'd be at the courthouse getting that shit replaced with something nice.

by Anonymousreply 97February 28, 2019 1:19 PM

So true. I know in my researches of a Bastard, Ghost, Sidebottom, Blood, Hatte, Looney, Death, Pile, Tooth, Trout, Coffin, Titt, Moth, Money, Bythesea and Godbehere.

Of course, some of these people tried different spelling to stop others tittering at them.

by Anonymousreply 1February 25, 2019 3:30 AM

Some people don’t hate their ancestors

by Anonymousreply 2February 25, 2019 3:32 AM

Back in the day, when I first heard the name “Lipschitz”, I didn’t believe it was a real name. My friend would prank people by calling people named Lipschitz and saying “if your lip shits, my anus talks”

by Anonymousreply 3February 25, 2019 3:33 AM

And then there's people named Hoare/Hore.

by Anonymousreply 4February 25, 2019 3:35 AM

The Roudybush(es) and Bushyheads of Kansas.

by Anonymousreply 5February 25, 2019 3:38 AM

I've wondered about kids with stupid first names- like abcde- do they have to wait until 18 to legally change their name? Or if they want to at like age ten if a judge would be understanding and let them get rid of it.

I know I would've wanted to get rid of that shit asap.

by Anonymousreply 6February 25, 2019 3:44 AM

R6 a while back, I remember a little girl in Hawaii named Talula Does The Hula was allowed by a judge to change her name.

by Anonymousreply 7February 25, 2019 3:50 AM

R6 I changed my stupid first name by Common Law decades ago. But I still haven't forgiven my parents for burdening me with it.

by Anonymousreply 8February 25, 2019 3:51 AM

Correction: I just looked it up, and the story I mentioned actually happened in New Zealand, and the little girl was named "Tallula Does The Hula From Hawaii."

Hope the judge also sentenced the parents to be executed by firing squad.

by Anonymousreply 9February 25, 2019 3:55 AM

Now that I am older and have put on some weight, especially midsection, I seriously regret that I never changed my name. Too late now.

by Anonymousreply 10February 25, 2019 4:21 AM

I had a teacher with the last name Shupenis. He went by 'Mr. Shu' but I never understood why he didn't change it. It must've been awful growing up with that name.

by Anonymousreply 11February 25, 2019 4:33 AM

"I've wondered about kids with stupid first names- like abcde- do they have to wait until 18 to legally change their name? Or if they want to at like age ten if a judge would be understanding and let them get rid of it."

People who don't like their first name can just go by a nickname. People with a shitty last name are STUCK.

by Anonymousreply 12February 25, 2019 4:36 AM

I've known people with the last names Hooker, Hung, and Dick

by Anonymousreply 13February 25, 2019 4:40 AM

A good question for Pete Buttigieg.

by Anonymousreply 14February 25, 2019 4:40 AM

The socialite Hogg sisters of Houston, Ima and Ura, bore their names with pride it seems

by Anonymousreply 15February 25, 2019 4:55 AM

Ima Hogg's only siblings were brothers—Ura was an urban legend that took on a life of its own. Somebody even started a rumor that she had a sister named Hoosa.

by Anonymousreply 18February 25, 2019 5:06 AM

R11 Couldn't he have changed the pronunciation to shoop ah nis?

by Anonymousreply 19February 25, 2019 5:17 AM

Had a HS classmate with the last name of Kuntz. His nickname was 'Ophelia.'

by Anonymousreply 20February 25, 2019 5:56 AM

R19 He pronounced it shoe-pen-ihs, but we all called him shoe penis

He was a dick so I didn't feel too badly about it.

by Anonymousreply 21February 25, 2019 5:57 AM

I knew a girl with the last name Aase-hole

by Anonymousreply 22February 25, 2019 5:59 AM

I shared an office with someone whose last name was Hogg and also knew a guy whose last name was Mudde. In NZ, there is a famous professor name Robert Beaglehole. And there are cute last names there like Snowball and Honeybun. Really!

by Anonymousreply 23February 25, 2019 6:17 AM

my uncle's name is Richard Wort, and yes, he calls himself Dick, I have no idea why you would do that to yourself. I had a friend at school whose surname was Faggoter, her father was a priest, Pastor Faggoter, apparently it was German, At least my friend, a girl, got married and got rid of it, she has a brother who kept it.

by Anonymousreply 24February 25, 2019 7:27 AM

Has anyone noticed that people don't pronounce "pianist" the way we used to, such that it sounded like "penis." Now it's "pee-AN-ist." A metoo-ism?

by Anonymousreply 25February 25, 2019 7:31 AM

R25 I recently heard someone pronounce the name of the planet Uranus as uri-NUSS.

by Anonymousreply 26February 25, 2019 7:54 AM

Tora Hymen is an old school friend of mine.

She's a scream!

by Anonymousreply 27February 25, 2019 8:21 AM

R24, I used to work with a guy named Dick Payne. Not kidding. Like you, I wondered why he just didn’t go by Rick or Rich or Richard or Richie. Nope. Dick.

Maybe it was preemptive?

by Anonymousreply 28February 25, 2019 9:35 AM

I WAS BORN A CUMDIDDLE AND I WILL DIE A CUMDIDDLE

by Anonymousreply 29February 25, 2019 9:42 AM

A girl a few grades above me at school was called Candida Chicken.....what cruel parents. My grandmother had a friend called Gay Pigeon. My second cousin is called Miles Long

by Anonymousreply 31February 25, 2019 10:00 AM

I went to school with a kid whose last name was Pee.

by Anonymousreply 34February 25, 2019 2:06 PM

My friend works for an airline and they used to keep a book of real silly names behind the counter at the airport he worked at.

He's had a Catholic priest called Christmas fly with him.

by Anonymousreply 35February 25, 2019 2:09 PM

Lesboetha Von Snatchmound

by Anonymousreply 38February 25, 2019 2:24 PM

Went to school with several Hoggs and a Roach. Worked with a Badcock. Family friends had the surname Smellie, though they changed it to Smillie later on.

by Anonymousreply 39February 25, 2019 2:24 PM

Mrs Fallice was my second grade teacher. Everyone pronounced it as phallus. I had no idea what a phallus was so I was puzzled when adults laughed at her name. My mother would say things like, "Surely that's not the right pronunciation. Please call her Mrs Falleese."

My uncle had a lot of fun with it, asking if her maiden name was Johnson, or if she had a brother named Dick, laughing at my cluelessness.

by Anonymousreply 40February 25, 2019 2:41 PM

Because of the large Mennonite community in my home town there were a lot of Finks.

by Anonymousreply 41February 25, 2019 3:38 PM

Dr. Richard Stiff is an OB-GYN in Missouri.

by Anonymousreply 42February 25, 2019 4:00 PM

Some names don't become "unfortunate" until circumstances change ... for example, "Hooker" was a perfectly respectable name until the word became associated with prostitution. Similarly, surnames that are shared with infamous people (e.g., Manson, Hitler, Trump) were not an issue until they acquired a negative connotation.

by Anonymousreply 43February 25, 2019 4:16 PM

Waddles is kind of cute...

by Anonymousreply 44February 26, 2019 5:30 AM

[quote]Family friends had the surname Smellie, though they changed it to Smillie later on.

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by Anonymousreply 45February 26, 2019 5:43 AM

Oh, man. I went to school in a small New England town with a Shupenis family. Seriously unforch.

by Anonymousreply 46February 26, 2019 6:07 AM

I used to work in a large call center, where we phoned people for a variety of surveys. One of the surveys was of ob/gyn's, and there was both a "Dr Love" and a "Dr O".

by Anonymousreply 47February 26, 2019 8:59 AM

Not really "unfortunate" but I once worked a temp job scanning mortgage documents, and there was paperwork under the name Rhett Butler.

by Anonymousreply 48February 26, 2019 1:27 PM

A local dentist was Dr. Freeze.

by Anonymousreply 49February 26, 2019 1:33 PM

I had an internist named Dr. Colon, which he pronounced Cuh-LONN.

by Anonymousreply 51February 26, 2019 2:06 PM

Fortunately, both Tim and Sam were always Bottoms

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by Anonymousreply 52February 26, 2019 4:43 PM

I went to grade and middle school with the Butts siblings.

by Anonymousreply 53February 26, 2019 11:30 PM

My mother sees an optometrist called Dr Seawright. Not an unfortunate name but ironic.

by Anonymousreply 54February 27, 2019 11:18 AM

R53 i did too. The poor girl was named Candy Butts. What a horrible name.

Were you from MA by any chance?

by Anonymousreply 55February 27, 2019 4:00 PM

Junior high school PE teacher named Mr. Vallsack. Not positive on the spelling, though.

by Anonymousreply 57February 27, 2019 4:52 PM

Worked with a guy whose surname was Pozgay

by Anonymousreply 58February 27, 2019 4:54 PM

Anyone remember John Big Booty?

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by Anonymousreply 59February 27, 2019 5:35 PM

I knew a Robin Hood (female)

by Anonymousreply 60February 27, 2019 5:38 PM

I know an ella fonte Elephant in spanish and it fits lol

by Anonymousreply 61February 27, 2019 5:53 PM

I also knew a girl named Robin Hood at my high school. Also there was a Yvonne Butts.

Not a real person, but the lead male character in Puccini's La Fanciulla del West is named Dick Johnson.

by Anonymousreply 62February 27, 2019 7:05 PM

[quote]I had an internist named Dr. Colon, which he pronounced Cuh-LONN.

Colón is Christopher Columbus's surname (in Spanish.)

by Anonymousreply 63February 27, 2019 7:37 PM

When can I change my name at last?

by Anonymousreply 64February 27, 2019 7:42 PM

There were THREE Harry Dicks in my hometown's white pages, and you'd better believe we crank called all of them.

by Anonymousreply 65February 27, 2019 7:50 PM

The girl I knew Mari Aase-Hole had a brother Harry!

by Anonymousreply 66February 27, 2019 7:53 PM

And a little sister Lucie Aase-Hole

by Anonymousreply 67February 27, 2019 7:53 PM

Maybe it becomes a part of their identity growing up? lack of imagination or pursuance to change it? they like being laughed at or the attention it brings? All of the the above?

by Anonymousreply 68February 27, 2019 7:55 PM

My elementary school librarian’s last name was “Raper”, and yes, it was pronounced how you think. We were so young that nobody knew it was funny or strange

by Anonymousreply 69February 27, 2019 7:59 PM

I worked for an investment firm, and we had a client named Minnie Dick. There was also Dick Fister and Horscht Schmidt. I kid you not.

by Anonymousreply 70February 27, 2019 8:03 PM

There was a teacher in my brother's high school named Miss Fuchs. Of course she pronounced it FOOKS.

by Anonymousreply 72February 27, 2019 8:08 PM

There was a U. S. Congressman from NH named . . .

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by Anonymousreply 73February 27, 2019 8:13 PM

"There was a teacher in my brother's high school named Miss Fuchs. Of course she pronounced it FOOKS."

I know someone with the same last name who pronounced it Fyoosh

by Anonymousreply 74February 27, 2019 8:15 PM

There was a medical practice in my town which employed two doctors : a Dr. Precious and a Dr. Lovely.

by Anonymousreply 76February 28, 2019 12:35 AM

Near Paris, Texas, decades ago, we drove past election signs for "Bubba Rape for Sheriff." As I recall, he won.

I went to school with Nancy Dump and her siblings.

by Anonymousreply 77February 28, 2019 12:47 AM

Poor, unfortunate souls. I just don't know what I'd do if I had an humiliating, socially unacceptable name.

by Anonymousreply 78February 28, 2019 1:14 AM

My name is the eternal unchangeable proof of my parent's love for me.

by Anonymousreply 79February 28, 2019 1:17 AM

When my aunt started having trouble with her hearing, she went to an ENT whose name was Dr Holler.

There was also a Dr DeKay here, unfortunately he was a family doctor not a dentist.

by Anonymousreply 80February 28, 2019 1:23 AM

For many years, the last name in the Manhattan telephone book was something to the effect of Zzzherobrouvskiskiskiia, M. I called her once and was promptly rebuffed.

by Anonymousreply 81February 28, 2019 1:27 AM

I saw a campaign sign in Illinois for a woman named "Phyllisteen."

by Anonymousreply 82February 28, 2019 1:36 AM

There was a guy at university with the surname Death. People would try and say it “Deeth,” “Dearth”,”De’ath,” whatever and he would politely explain it was “Death”, pronounced how it looked. Made more amusing when he completed his PhD.

I also once met someone from Scotland with the family name “Twatt.”

by Anonymousreply 83February 28, 2019 1:44 AM

I hope the Twatt you knew didn't have the first name "Ima"

by Anonymousreply 84February 28, 2019 2:00 AM

No, but it began with A. A Twatt.

by Anonymousreply 85February 28, 2019 2:13 AM

I agree. At a minimum I would have changed my name to my mother's maiden name.

by Anonymousreply 86February 28, 2019 2:16 AM

[QUOTE] "There was a teacher in my brother's high school named Miss Fuchs. Of course she pronounced it FOOKS." I know someone with the same last name who pronounced it Fyoosh.

I would say Fewks if I met someone with that surname.

by Anonymousreply 87February 28, 2019 2:21 AM

Fuchs is German and means fox. It's pronounced fooks, with a short oo.

by Anonymousreply 88February 28, 2019 4:17 AM

I’ve met a Fuchs who simply said “pronounced Fox” and made everyone’s life easier

by Anonymousreply 89February 28, 2019 4:24 AM

An old friend used to see a rheumatologist, Dr Miracle.

by Anonymousreply 90February 28, 2019 4:50 AM

I went to college in Texas and had a classmate with the last name of Rape (he had some little kids at the time). I saw later in the alumni news that he had changed his last name, but it was at least 10+ years. I never understood what took him so long.

My lawyer way back when belonged to the firm of Long, Dick and Seaman.

by Anonymousreply 91February 28, 2019 4:57 AM

R91 you’ve reminded me that I had some dealings with a woman with the surname “Raper.” That was apparently her married name, so that means she’d chosen to take the husband’s name even though it was that, and there’s a Mr Raper out there too. I mean, it’s not “Rapist”, but prettt sure I would change it.

by Anonymousreply 92February 28, 2019 5:04 AM

Here in NC during the elections last year there was a guy named Raper going for county sheriff.

It was a little uncomfortable seeing all the signs around with 'Kevin Raper for Sheriff' written on them. Of course, 'Raper' was the biggest word on the sign.

Sheriff Raper isn't a good look.

by Anonymousreply 93February 28, 2019 5:24 AM

Anastasia Beaverhasen is a perfectly fine name.

by Anonymousreply 94February 28, 2019 5:45 AM

After someone has lived with their name doe so many years, he/she may have learned to live with their name and not care about changing it. Just like people accept their body type, hair, financial status, living situation, some people accept their name and come to like it, accept it or don't see anything wrong with it.

by Anonymousreply 95February 28, 2019 5:49 AM

R94 Not as fine and upstanding as my friend Helen Van Patterson Patton.

by Anonymousreply 97February 28, 2019 1:19 PM

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