Why do parents do it?

Question

Spike Milligan swore he knew a soldier called Private Parts but it was a joke. At school there really was a boy called Terry Bull. Parents must realise, surely?

Answer 1

I've often thought that there should be a clause in your birth certificate that gave you the right to change your name at age 21...my grandmother hated her name, my mother hated hers, I hated mine (and they were all different). Each of us was given a name that others found hard to pronounce/spell correctly. When in university I decided to go by my second name, there was a family crisis, and none of them seems capable of calling me by that name, which is after all on my birth certificate, right next to the one I hate. You'd think people would stop and consider how the kid is going to feel, instead of just hanging any old label on them for a "joke" or to be "cool" or because it's a name They like!

Answer 2

For the person above me -
Terry Bull, when said, sounds a bit like the word 'terrible'.

For the asker -
Sometimes parents don't realise it unitl the mistake is made. Terry Bull and Richard Head is really not that bad! In fact, if it's pronounced PROPERLY it sounds like any ordinary name. I think at your school some kids like to make fun of anything which is a little bit out of line, because that's the case in our class - they'll make fun of anything and everyone, and I really hate them for that. Some parents give birth to 'unwanted' children - and hate them all their life. They're hard to understand, some parents, and some never realise that they are making their child vulnerable by naming them one way or another. This is just my opinion though - don't know about the rest.
Hope this helped!
x

Answer 3

Some parents do it because the name sounds nice in their language/culture. I had a girl in my class at secondary school called Lassania, everyone just called her Lasagne. (She was from Pakistan by the way) It was quite sad really, she had learning disabilties and everyone picked on her even more because of that. At first she did try and tell people how to pronounce her name properly, but then she just gave up.

Answer 4

Some do, some don't. I know I spent a lot of time going through names before I gave my daughter hers, trying to see what horrible rhyme could be made out of it or if there was anything at all about the name that could get her picked on. I'm hoping I did alright for her.

Answer 5

Yeah I think sometimes parents just don't think - or don't go through all the permutations.

A friend of mine married a guy called Anthony Hill. When he was born Anthony usually got shortened to Tony - even Tony Hill sounds quite nice. How were they to know that in the intervening years he'd start to get called 'Ant'. Bless.

Answer 6

A guy I was at school with had the surname Dickie, his initials were P.P.
It was hilarious at the prize giving to hear that PP Dickie had won a prize, mostly by the parents present!

Answer 7

I knew a guy called Chris P Bacon - you have to assume the parents are having a laugh.

Answer 8

In elementary school my friend has a classmate named Lettuce (pronounced leh-toose) Head. Lettuce Head? The teacher called role and she pronounced it like the vegetable. Everyone laughed at the head of lettuce.

Answer 9

My best friends dad was named Harry Beard,I work at a day care and some of the names I cant even prononce

Answer 10

A very wealthy family, by the name of Hogg. Their daughter was named Ura Hogg.

Wonderful lady, deceased now.