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Help'Cruel and unusual'
What would you define as a cruel or unusual name.
I'm having a bit of an argument with some others on a forum about whether names like Egbert and Ethelred are 'cruel and unusual' punishments for children in this day and age.
I can't say I like either name, but I really don't think that either could be labeled 'cruel'.
What do you think.
I'm having a bit of an argument with some others on a forum about whether names like Egbert and Ethelred are 'cruel and unusual' punishments for children in this day and age.
I can't say I like either name, but I really don't think that either could be labeled 'cruel'.
What do you think.
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
Not many names are cruel, both those certainly are.
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Egbert, with a possible nickname Egg, I would consider cruel because... well, Egg. But Ethelred, while odd, isn't "cruel." Real people go by Ethel.
Names I would consider "cruel" today:
Gay / Gaye / Gaylord
Dick / Dickie
Lagina (rotate that L 45 degrees...)
Guido (outside of Italy)
Jerk (outside of Sweden - though it might not even work there anymore)
Titty
Ulick
Beulah
Anemone
Fester
Puck
Happy (as a legal name)
Shaniqua (racists ruined this one)
Agape (in an Anglophone country)
Alease
Columbine (in the U.S. post-1999)
Pastor
Alexus / Lexus (some car names work... but not this one)
Blossom / Flower
Nest
Delight
Ebenezer (Scrooge)
Sherlock (Holmes)
Polycarp
Richmal
A side note: I actually really do like the name Yorick, but I'm afraid that it could potentially fall into this category. Would "Hamlet" jokes follow a Yorick wherever he went?
Names I would consider "cruel" today:
Gay / Gaye / Gaylord
Dick / Dickie
Lagina (rotate that L 45 degrees...)
Guido (outside of Italy)
Jerk (outside of Sweden - though it might not even work there anymore)
Titty
Ulick
Beulah
Anemone
Fester
Puck
Happy (as a legal name)
Shaniqua (racists ruined this one)
Agape (in an Anglophone country)
Alease
Columbine (in the U.S. post-1999)
Pastor
Alexus / Lexus (some car names work... but not this one)
Blossom / Flower
Nest
Delight
Ebenezer (Scrooge)
Sherlock (Holmes)
Polycarp
Richmal
A side note: I actually really do like the name Yorick, but I'm afraid that it could potentially fall into this category. Would "Hamlet" jokes follow a Yorick wherever he went?
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Jerk and Jerker still work in Sweden but I don't think anyone actually use it for their sons anymore.
Jerk and Jerker are pronounced something like yairk and yairk-ehr but since most non-Scandinavians don't know that it's internationally a pretty bad name.
I had a teacher named Jerker when I was in high school. One of the best teachers I've ever had. Makes me think Jerker isn't that bad.
I also had a teacher named Tutti (here it's like the English Titti). It was her full name. I remember we thought it was a weird and funny name and poor Tutti, it was not easy being named Tutti and teaching eleven-year-olds.
Jerk and Jerker are pronounced something like yairk and yairk-ehr but since most non-Scandinavians don't know that it's internationally a pretty bad name.
I had a teacher named Jerker when I was in high school. One of the best teachers I've ever had. Makes me think Jerker isn't that bad.
I also had a teacher named Tutti (here it's like the English Titti). It was her full name. I remember we thought it was a weird and funny name and poor Tutti, it was not easy being named Tutti and teaching eleven-year-olds.
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Oh man Shaniqua. I just used it as an example of an African-American name in the Writing Room. I honestly did not know that it was considered that stereotypical and had so much negative connotation attached to it. I was just trying to think of an African-American name that most people would be familiar with. So many of them are unique or very unusual, but I thought it would defeat my purpose to cite one that wasn't familiar to most people.
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Egbert is pretty bad, I'd hate to be an Egbert.
Ethelred, not so bad. Nicely Middle-ages. I'd accept to be an Ethelred with reasonably good grace.
Ethelred, not so bad. Nicely Middle-ages. I'd accept to be an Ethelred with reasonably good grace.
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I agree with you. Cruel to me would be a bad word name with obviously negative connotations. To be honest it can't be 100% predicted how kids or teens will react to names. As a child I probably wouldn't have cared if there was an Egbert or Ethelred in my class. There are probably many who think my favourites are insane, but they're perfectly normal to me and others.
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w/reference to Mareasi's June 15th post on Ethel
It might be easier to determine whether a name is "unusual" by popularity standards--even if partially inaccurate, than whether or not a name is "cruel". If name givers (parents or guardians) truly like a name I hope that it would be endeared upon the child. Unusual names can be blessings in disguise--and often are; perhaps the same is true for cruel names, but the transition from curse to blessing would occur less frequently???
I would not be quick to use either name for a person, but I actually see possibilities with Ethelred due my response on Mareasi's June 15th post on Ethel--and the other variations the name Ethel brings.
It might be easier to determine whether a name is "unusual" by popularity standards--even if partially inaccurate, than whether or not a name is "cruel". If name givers (parents or guardians) truly like a name I hope that it would be endeared upon the child. Unusual names can be blessings in disguise--and often are; perhaps the same is true for cruel names, but the transition from curse to blessing would occur less frequently???
I would not be quick to use either name for a person, but I actually see possibilities with Ethelred due my response on Mareasi's June 15th post on Ethel--and the other variations the name Ethel brings.
This message was edited 6/27/2017, 6:49 PM
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I wouldn't label either of those cruel. Not anything I'd ever consider, true, but not cruel.
However, I've had a customer who named her daughter Clamydia. Not spelled the same as the STD, but pronounced the same. Now that's cruel.
However, I've had a customer who named her daughter Clamydia. Not spelled the same as the STD, but pronounced the same. Now that's cruel.
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Cruel and unusual would be something which actually has a derogatory or ridiculous connotation, which, as ugly as they are, isn't the case for Eggbert and Ethelred.
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