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In today’s world, we’ve grown used to hearing some pretty unusual names, especially with celebrities leading the way by naming their children things like Apple, Blue Ivy, and North.

However, these choices often pale in comparison to those shared on the subreddit ‘Tragedeigh’, where people reveal the most bizarre and creatively spelled names they’ve encountered. In one of their posts, we found some truly jaw-dropping examples. Check them out below and upvote the ones that surprised you the most!

#1

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were Vegan. "Vegan, come sit down and eat your burger." Actually heard this. They were eating McDonalds.

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#2

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were I used to work with a woman in her 30s named pebbles. customers would always ask, “is that your real name?” and she’d be like, “unfortunately.”.

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To understand why parents are choosing unconventional names for their children, Bored Panda got in touch with baby name blogger Abby Sandel.

In the US, Sandel observes that fewer children are receiving top-ranking names compared to fifty, twenty, or even ten years ago. She views this trend positively. “We’re less bound to traditions, freer to choose names that reflect our heritage, identities, and values, and just plain open to more creative names than in the past,” she explains.

This growing acceptance has paved the way for more unique options. “If we meet kids named River and Willow, we’re more open to choosing, say, Canyon and Marigold for our own kids,” Sandel notes. But not all modern names are as extreme. Nature-inspired, surname-style names like Wrenley, Oaklynn, and Wylder are particularly popular these days. However, in the quest for originality, parents sometimes end up with choices that sound quite similar. “Classrooms are filled with girls called Lily, Lilah, Lola, and Lyra. Four different names, but easily confused!”

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#4

Somewhere in the world there is a person named Delicious Bush. I engraved a corporate award for that person 25 years ago and never forgot the name.

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#5

Twins named Deevious and Keevious. Deevious in particular—both crooks but it feels like someone named Deevious was doomed from birth.

They were identical and at some point got identical tiger tattoos on their right arms so it was always fun figuring out which one you had and if the warrant was for him or his brother.

As far as I know Keevious is still around but Deevious tried to rob the wrong dude in midtown Atlanta a few years ago. Rest in Peecious.

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Evolutionary biologist Dr. Mitchel Newberry believes there is an evolutionary reason behind why parents opt for less typical names. In his research, he analyzed databases of names in the US over the last century and found that they go through what he describes as ‘boom and bust’ periods.

When a name becomes very popular, it often ends up being perceived as too common by new parents. Consequently, the more popular a name gets, the less likely future parents are to choose it. This phenomenon is known as negative frequency-dependent selection.

“If people are always thirsting after the newest thing, it creates a lot of new options,” says Dr. Newberry. “Every time a new name is created, it gets attention, allowing rarer names to become more common, leading to greater diversity in the population.”

#6

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were Jaythyn. Like you’re saying Jason, but with a lisp 🤣.

EvieBee12 , Vlada Karpovich/Pexels Report

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#8

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were Pistol, she’s a kid in my son’s class. Siblings include Remington and Colt.

erween84 , Yan Krukau/Pexels Report

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But while standout names like River and Wylder tend to be well-received, others raise quite a few eyebrows. God, Famous, Casanova, Elmo, and Vader are among the most eccentric baby names Sandel came across last year. “The line between strange-amazing-cool and strange-wait-what is pencil thin, shifts over time, and varies dramatically from person to person,” she writes on her blog.

“Assuming we choose unusual names with our eyes wide open, I think they can be great,” Sandel tells us. “Parents need to recognize that a really different name will require more frequent repetition and spelling, as well as questions. And even if you love that really different name, chances are someone in your life will not. That’s okay, but it’s best to be prepared that grandma might not like the idea of calling her grandchild Wonder, Givenchy, or Gnash.”

“Of course, your child might grow up and wish for a more conventional name,” she adds. “When in doubt, it’s better to name your child Wonder James than Wonder Givenchy. A little bit of balance can make a bold first name feel more wearable.” Ultimately, the decision is entirely in your hands.

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#9

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were An old school friend named their daughter something like Aevyrleighy (Everly) I know I've spelled that wrong, because no one is ever gonna spell that right. 


And my cousin's daughter's name is Emyhleigh (Emily). .

LadyBloo , olia danilevich/Pexels Report

#10

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were Felony. Poor kid.

Crazy-Excitement-684: I met a newborn with the name. Her parents were step siblings and thought they were immensely clever.

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#11

Revenge, Chaos, Ransom, and Rage. Not related but I was their teacher (different years.) Always made me scratch my head and feel bad.

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#12

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were Felatia. She worked with my sister at a pizza place. I was dumbfounded when I read her nametag.

ProgrammerWarm3495 , Mizuno K/Pexels Report

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#13

Ya’Majesty. Most entitled person I ever met.

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CD King
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Do they live in a castle? Cause if they do then the name is fine

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#14

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were I've worked with a Justin Case, and an electrical engineer whose surname was Sparks.

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Kimberly Ianaro (Kim)
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

An old money family named their son Richard Breath. His parents them nicknamed him - D**k. Not Rick. He's an elected official in my town. Met him in a bar. They said meet D**k Breath . I lost it cause I heard dickbreath! 30 years ago. I'm still laughing E

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#15

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were Escherichia - this could conceivably be a girl's name, but it's what the E. in E. Coli stands for. The couple that named their daughter this were biology teachers. She'd be about 16 now.

No-Test6158 , Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels Report

#16

Not in “real life,” but while doing family history research, I found a woman in my family with the name Heterogenous Clementine. Nicknamed Hettie Clemmie.

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Maggie Fulton
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had an aunt named Forest Fern. Not kidding. She went by Pete. Still not kidding.

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#17

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were A male co-worker named Sugarplum Fruitcake. The name fits him well though.

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glowworm2
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That sounds like the name of either a drag queen or a gay stripper/porn star.

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#18

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were I went to elementary school with a girl named Quinnzola. My friend said it sounds like a cooking oil lol.

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#19

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were Someone in my town is named Knickolle.

Sound it out. It’s the same name as mine (except mine is the usual spelling) and it took me a good 30 sec to realize that.

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#21

My dad approved name changes as part of his job. He had someone come in to change his name to Pythagymus Toadstool.

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#22

Mine won't be the worst but it triggered me with the hyphen. Jake-ub. I cannot unsee it. It haunts me.

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LB
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also DnD material, local half-orc blacksmith obviously

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#23

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were Smurfette.

jillrootrn11 , Diego F. Parra/Pexels Report

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glowworm2
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Don't name your kid after the first female Smurf in the village.

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#25

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were Jacsun. Just... Why? It was on his name plate outside his office.

hmishima , Sora Shimazaki/Pexels Report

#28

I was doing voter registration and I met a guy named T. His first name was the letter T and his last name was unremarkable. He showed me his ID, he was very proud of this fact.

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Nannychachi
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My paternal grandmother had a brother named A. That was it. Last name Taylor.

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#32

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were Geccika -_-. Her parents actually chose that, it wasn't some edgy teenage desire to be yooneek.

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#34

LaSagna. She was married to one of my forklift drivers. I thought he was kidding,until she brought him lunch one day.

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#40

Fence. I went to school with a guy named Fence.

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#41

There was a girl at my work named Ambiyen. No idea what her parents were thinking.

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Bec
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There is a pretty funny SNL skit where a family claims the d**g company is stealing their names to come up with new d**g names

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#42

Expensive. A woman named her baby girl this. Truly WTF.

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#44

Capers. His last name was weird too. Word beginning with A that means “crooked or in disarray.” Ends with W and sound like “ask you.” (Trying not to doxx.)

I also once rode a Greyhound bus with a little girl named Kiwi Strawberry NormalLastName. I know because her mom full-named her when she was misbehaving.

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Patrick H
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So far, NormalLastName might be the oddest one in this list.

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#47

Bridalveil. It was about 15-20 years ago. I saw her ID and that was her actual, legal name. Pronounced exactly like it sounds: bridal veil 👰.

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#48

Book. I’m not joking, that was his given name.

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Patrick H
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's not that crazy considering that Booker is an established first name, and surely, some of them prolly get called Book, for short.

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#49

Freya Andrikitis Zork and her brother Noah Zork. Say his name out loud a couple of times.

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#51

Clamesha

She was 100% white. I grew up in Oakland. It's what you think.

She was very sweet, she made it out of the hood, she became a biologist and changed her name.

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#52

Kaskette (like casket).

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#53

Calligraphy! They called her Callie.

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V
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At least this one is a real word, spelled correctly and with no negative connotations...

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#54

There's a game warden on some reality show whose name is Kqyn. That's Quinn.

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#55

Tarantjulia.

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#56

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were Metallica for a tiny newborn boy and Bocefus for a beautiful little 6 year old girl.

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tresgatos72
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I met someone back in the 80's whose mom was a hippie and named all her kids after their dads' favorite rock groups. His name was Steppenwolf Zeppelin (he went by Wolf), his sister was Creedence Clearwater, and his brother was Jefferson Floyd. Yes, they all had different dads.

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#57

LeStat. Yes the poor kid was named after the Anne Rice character. I worked at a daycare at 19 he was 2 and in my group.

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#58

Dymphony. Which I’ve just had to type multiple times because my phone really wants to correct to Symphony.

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#59

PreslieyKa'ilauni (yes, two capital letters with no space).

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#60

Rottwilla. Like the dog.

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#61

Email. I wish I was kidding.

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Rusty
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is one of the names that might be an older perfectly normal name from a non-english speaking country.

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#62

Wedocktober - spelled exactly like that. Her parents wanted to name her after The Red October but English was not their first language and they spelled it wrong.

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#63

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were Boot 😭.

Thermitegrenade: I knew a Boot! I think it was a nickname though..overall he was pretty nice, several years older than me when I was a kid..nobody picked on him as far as I know, about the name.

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#64

Tinkerbell.

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Zena
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I saw a cashier at the grocery store named Thumbelina. A perfectly lovely woman, but whatever your image of Thumbelina might be, this woman was not it.

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#65

Dude named "Jumbly". Not a nickname - his actual given name.

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#67

50 Names People Once Encountered And Couldn’t Forget Because Of How “Yooneek” They Were Elexus, Pronounced Alexis.

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Patrick H
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meh. This isn't that bad. It's pronounceable without having to really think about it.

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#68

Bimmy.

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Legendbird
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4 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

https://www.reddit.com/r/thomastheplankengine/comments/10abq6g/i_had_a_dream_where_the_word_pizza_was_abruptly/

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#69

Keiahlee (pronounced Kee-ah-lee), from my primary school. As far as I can tell (with my seconds long google search) they’re the only one on the planet given that name.

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#70

Loeyza (Louisa).

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#71

Blue Swan.

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Miss Tinker
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ok, my last name is Swan. Years ago my mum told me that if I was a boy she had planned to call me Hunter (a common name in Australia). It took her a while to realise that would not have been a good idea (hunt a swan!). 😅

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#72

Comfort. Like???

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#73

A couple we met on our honeymoon had a little baby girl about a year after. They named that little girl Saylor James. Saylor James. Like Popeye’s little nephew or something. I can’t get over it.

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#74

Roam Wolf. First name. In two parts. Parents must be soooo hip and outdoorsy.

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tresgatos72
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I saw Blaize Jaguar and Orion Spydyr on my roll sheet a few years back. Not related, both nerdy white kids. Yikes.

#75

Love, peace and hope. Sisters close in age, and I will say Love is a POS always involved in drama haha.

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Cassandra McTaggart
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Terry Pratchet had a joke about B********y Carter and his sisters Chastity and Hope. The family wasn't too well educated (they're a Lancre family) and the parents got a bit confused with trying to name the boys with virtues. All of their children were diametrically opposed to the names personality-wise. B********y was very kind to animals, Hope was suicidal, and Chastity was a woman of negotiable affection.

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#76

Christmas. Native American.

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Tropical Tarot
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The character Chrissy Snow on the old TV show Three's Company was named Christmas Snow

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#77

Braian. Like Brian.

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Bec
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had some relatives who lost a college aged son, Brian, in a tragic accident. At their daughter's wedding, they included him as an honorary groomsmen but the program had a typo of Brain - oof!

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#79

Next door neighbors named their son “Penny”……..

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#80

Tavoryeah or Sinjin.

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Cassandra McTaggart
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh Sinjin is evil. Bad enough that St. John is pronounced that way (common middle name in England. Less common first name). Sounds like they were trying and failing to be posh.

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