Names and Nonsense

So we all know someone who knows someone whose kid went to school with a kid who had a friend who's twin cousins were named Lemonjello and Orangejello. Or a girl named Female. Or Gonorrhea. At the recommendation of a friend, I've added the ubiquitous "name" question into the mix.

What's the strangest or most unique baby name you've ever heard?

I polled a LOT of nurses for this one- and I wanted names that someone has actually had contact with, not the mysterious kid named Lucifer. Only problem is that it's often so busy on the unit that it's hard to remember what sex our patient's baby is, much less what the baby's name is going to be. I worked today and took care of 3 separate patients and couldn't tell you one baby name. As for working yesterday? Fuhgeddaboutit.

So when you get one of those really off-the-wall names, it's not only memorable, but word makes its way from one side of the labor unit to the other. Many of the nurses said a lot of the same names, in fact- three of the top 5 names were mentioned by every nurse I surveyed. Feast your eyes on the 5 most unique baby names as determined by my fellow nurses:

-Abcde (It's pronounced "absidy")

-Rooster

-Chlamydia (As in the STD. May also answer to "Clap")

-Stargazer

-Nevaeh. Lets stop here for a second. This weed of a name has to be the most popular and off-the-wall name for the 17 & under clan. Phonetically, it makes no sense. Nevaeh = Na-vay-ah just like 1+1=5. Now, I know what you're gonna say: But Hollie!! - It's Heaven spelled backwards! That's just so unique! Yeah, and last year it was #25 on the Social Security Administration's list of most popular baby names. So not only is this a ridiculous and mispronounced name, it's also not at all unique. If you like the name Heaven, just name your baby Heaven. Am I the only one who think this name is absolutely asinine?

And we can't look at the most unique names without also visiting the most common names! Just like with every other question, I asked around first and came to a consensus. I had a considerable list and pared it down to just a few. Check out the 5 most popular boy and/or girl names as determined by the able-bodied ladies I work with.

-Isabella... Or anything with the "Bella" suffix. Thanks Twilight. Now every first grade class is going to have at least 4 girls named Bella for the next few years.

-Ava

-"Jr" I don't know if it's just a local or cultural thing, but here in Corpus Christi, it is extremely popular to name your son after his father. Here's a conversation with a dad regarding his pride & joy:

Me: So what's your son's name going to be?

Dad: He's gon' have my name.

Me: Oh, so he'll be a junior??

Dad: Well he's gon' be number four.

Me: Wow! A Fourth!

(a few moments pass)

Dad: Well, actually we gon' name him after my dad.

Hm. Howabout that.

-Aiden (or any of it's counterparts. IE: Brayden, Caiden, Jayden, Hayden)

-"Biblical/old" names. Like Noah, Jeremiah, Hannah, Elijah, Levi, etc. I had a patient once who named her kiddo Jeddidiah, which is unique enough as it is. And then I found out that they were huge Star Wars fans and were planning to call their baby Jedi.

Awesome.