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funny names

Family

Woman with an unfortunate name is a warning for parents to consider before naming their kids

Evidently, this is a big problem.

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The recent trend of parents going out of their way to give their children unique names has brought up a lot of discussion on social media. Some of these names sound cute when a child is 5 years old. But will Caeleigh, Zoomer or Rhyedyr look like a serious adult on a job application in a few years?

A recent viral video on TikTok is a unique twist on the current discussion surrounding names. Samantha Hart has a name that doesn’t seem like it would draw any negative attention in professional circles. However, her parents didn’t consider email conventions when they named her back in the late ‘90s when email was new.

“My name is Samantha Hart,” the 27-year-old said. “Most companies use the email designation of first initial, last name, meaning my email would be shart.” For the uninitiated, a shart is an unintentional release when one thinks they only have gas.

The issue arose because Samantha has had two “professional” jobs in the past in which her name has been an issue. So, as she began a third job, she wondered how to approach the situation with a new employer.

@thesam_show
sorry if i talk about this problem too much but it is HAPPENING AGAIN!!

“At every single workplace, I have received an email from HR the week before I start letting me know that my name does not exactly fit the company email structure as they would intend and [asked] would I mind if they gave me a different structure for my email,” Hart said.

So she asked her 30,000 followers on TikTok if she should just "reach out, right off the bat" to her employer and ask for "something else" or wait for HR to react to her email situation. But most of the responses were from people who have been in the same embarrassing situation as Samantha and wished their parents had thought twice before naming them.

"Clittmann has entered the chat. Have been dealing with this since college," Chris.Littmann responded.

"As Swallo, I feel your pain," Samantha Wallo replied.

"My name is Sue Hartlove so my work emails are always shartlove," Sue added.

"I went to college w Tiffany Estes," Abby1233213 wrote.

"Rkelley has entered the chat," Rach commented.

"Worked with a guy named Sam Adcock," Lori added.

"My last name is Hartstein, and my mom’s personal email is ‘shartstein.’ People literally call her shart-stein," Lyss wrote.

"I used to work with a BAllsman," JenniferKerastas added.

"I worked with a Patrick Ecker at a previous job..." NoName wrote.

"Our high school used last name, first two letters of first name. My friend's email ended up being 'mountme,'" Averageldeal commented.

Andy Marks won the comment section with: "Always best to initiate the shart convo… wait too long and it tends to come out at the least opportune moment."

While the comments were dominated by people sharing their unfortunate email addresses, a few people in the IT field shared their advice for how Samantha should approach her new employer with her email issue. Most agreed that she should address the issue before it becomes a larger problem.

"As someone in IT—please reach out. When we have to rename a bunch of logins after someone starts it can cause headaches for everyone (inc you!)," Kelsey Lane wrote.

This article originally appeared on 10.13.23

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funny names

Family

Wife says husband's last name is so awful she can't give it to her kids. Is she right?

"I totally get we can’t shield kids from everything, and I understand the whole family ties thing, but c’mon."

via Ketut Subiyanto/Pexels

A wife pleads with her husband to change their child's name.

Even though it’s 2023 and schools are much more concerned with protecting children from bullying than in the past, parents still have to be aware that kids will be kids, and having a child with a funny name is bound to cause them trouble.

A mother on Reddit is concerned that her future children will have the unfortunate last name of “Butt,” so she asked people on the namenerds forum to help her convince her husband to name their child something different.

(Note: We’re assuming that the person who wrote the post is a woman because their husband is interested in perpetuating the family name, and if it were a same-sex relationship, a husband probably wouldn’t automatically make that assumption.)

"My husband’s last name is Butt. Can someone please help me illuminate to him why this last name is less than ideal,” she asked the forum. “I totally get we can’t shield kids from everything and I understand the whole family ties thing, but c'mon. Am I being unreasonable by suggesting our future kid either take my name, a hybrid, or a new one altogether?"

The posters on the forum overwhelmingly supported her.

"I can see hubby being a bit of a stickler because he wants to keep the family name, but I find it a bit baffling that he doesn’t get why it would be a concern,” Babelight wrote. “If you have to club him over the head with it, indicate that for children/young persons hearing the name, they would equate it to someone’s last name being ‘Pooh,’ ‘Vaginah’ or ‘Peenis/Peniss.’”

Other posters noted that her opinion is just as valid as her husband’s when naming their child.

"You are absolutely not being unreasonable. Your husband's last name is objectively pretty awful, and of course, you don't want your child to have it. Also, even if it wasn't that bad, you would be still entitled to at least suggest that your child takes your last name since you are also going to be their parent,” SwordfishBrilliant 40 wrote. “Also, he needs to think about his child, let's be honest, their life is going to be a lot easier with a ‘normal’/not bad’ last name."

Having a last name like Butt opens a child up to being bullied, which can lead to feelings of rejection, exclusion, isolation, diminished self-esteem and long-term mental health struggles, including depression and anxiety.

"I knew a kid named Zack Butt. Teased relentlessly. At every age," Kwam26 confirmed.

There is also the practical problem of living in a digital world where algorithms often filter out names deemed offensive. This issue is known as the “Scunthorpe problem.” Back in the late ‘90s, people from the town of Scunthorpe in the UK couldn’t sign up on AOL because a filter blocked out the name due to the offensive term that sits in the middle of it.

The husband is proud of his family heritage and, possibly, of having learned to live with a name that would make most people chuckle. But it’s also understandable that his wife has a real problem bringing a child up in this world with a name that will make them the butt of jokes throughout their lives.

One wonders why this wasn’t discussed before the couple got married.

This article originally appeared on 9.5.23

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parenting

Family

Bride-to-be shares the tongue-twisting reason why she may not take her fiancé's last name

Saying her new name makes you sound like Elmer Fudd.

via Monstera Production/Pexels and Wikipedia

Elmer Fudd and a confused young woman.

Studies show that in opposite-sex couples, fewer younger women are choosing to take their husbands’ last names. According to Pew Research, 20% of women ages 18 to 49 say they kept their last name, compared with 9% of those ages 50 and older.

A TikTok user named Angie proposed a new approach to married names in a world where men and women are becoming more equal. She suggests that couples choose the “cooler” name.

A user named Kristen responded with a unique dilemma. She’s getting married next year and although her husband’s name is cooler, it doesn’t work with her first name.

@kdent27
#stitch with @angie or is it 10x cooler??

"So, I'm getting married next year, and my current last name is Dent,” Kristen says in the video with over 6 million views. “Which I think is a fine last name. Like, no complaints. My fiancé's last name is McCuistion, which I think is cooler than Dent. The problem is my first name is Kristen, so I will be Kristen McCuistion. And I don't think that's quite as cool."

It’s hard to say Kristen McCuistion without smiling, but it makes you sound slightly like Elmer Fudd when you say it. "It's witawally fine," MissLaurenTaylor jokes in the comments. "I think you just go by Kwisten," Goldendoodlehater added.

Some people thought the name was amazing.

"Please PLEASE go by Kristen McQuisten. It will bring me so much joy to know that name exists somewhere out in the world," Lady Katherine wrote.

Ultimately, Kristen says she wants to embrace her unique luck in the marriage lottery because the name brings a smile to people’s faces. "Our families have always had fun with my future name, so I always just accepted taking his last name,” Kristen told Newsweek. “I used to worry about having to introduce myself to people and being laughed at, but now I see it as a good icebreaker and laugh for new people that I meet."

From Your Site Articles

funny names

funny names

Woman with an unfortunate name is a warning for parents to consider before naming their kids

Evidently, this is a big problem.

The issue arose because Samantha has had two “professional” jobs in the past in which her name has been an issue. So, as she began a third job, she wondered how to approach the situation with a new employer.

"My name is Sue Hartlove so my work emails are always shartlove," Sue added.

Andy Marks won the comment section with: "Always best to initiate the shart convo… wait too long and it tends to come out at the least opportune moment."

Wife says husband's last name is so awful she can't give it to her kids. Is she right?

"I totally get we can’t shield kids from everything, and I understand the whole family ties thing, but c’mon."

Bride-to-be shares the tongue-twisting reason why she may not take her fiancé's last name

Saying her new name makes you sound like Elmer Fudd.

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