As we mined the annals of baby-naming history, the floodgates opened with names that sound unusual to most people’s ears. Throughout time and throughout the world, parents have picked out handles that sometimes border on insane.

For some reason, there was a particularly huge trend in the 1930s when it seemed liked parents just went with whatever. We know history repeated itself quite often in decades after that with the off-the-wall monikers, but it started somewhere.

And the trend continues. Don’t hate the messenger today as you comb through this list of wild, original, and um. . .imaginative names. You might even learn to appreciate the one you have.

  1. Author

    A lovely occupation but also a male name nearly a century ago.

  2. Judge

    This name was extremely popular in the early 1900s and may experience a revival due to hipsters. The actor who goes by “Judge” Reinhold was given it as a nickname.

  3. Zebra

    A British couple named their child this in 1875, but we had to toss it in for fun. Their last name? Lynes.

  4. Ya’Hansum Guy

    A baby born in Indiana was given this name in 2015. Don’t believe us? Read about the billboard here.

  5. Marijuana

    Well. . .it does mean Mary Jane in Spanish. But this little girl was also given Pepsi as a middle name. When a Wisconsin journalist profiled her as an adult, he learned she is a teacher with a master’s degree and has never smoked her namesake.

  6. Abcde

    Pronounced “ab-sid-ee”. You may know someone who knows someone who knows someone with this name.

  7. Stiffany

    All you can do is giggle at this one. Try not to.

  8. Fellony/Phellony

    You’ve got the male version spelled with an “F” and its feminine counterpart with a lovely “Ph”. Sometimes you will see it spelled “Felanie”. That’s all we’ve got to say about this one.

  9. Clitis

    Funny story here. A pair of French parents named their son after an actor they love: Clint Eastwood. They thought his name was Clitis Wood. Ladies might not be a fan of this one though.

  10. Sadman

    Now, names ending with “man” are not uncommon, but we wonder if this child will be a shining, gloomy example of everything his name means.

  11. Twinkle Twinkie Twilight

    An Amber alert was issued for this precious baby girl back in 2015. She was found safe and sound.

  12. Dimple

    In 1915, there were quite a few little girls named Dimple in the US.

  13. Xaos

    Pronounced “chaos”.

  14. Alucard

    Mwwhahaa haaaa! If that went over your head, read it backwards.

  15. Sing Praises

    This girl’s name has a Puritanical ring to it, like the brothers Farewell and Die-Well Sykes from the 1800s. But someone named their daughter this in the past decade.

  16. Merlin

    The fictional wizard’s name Merlin actually found favor during the Great Depression. It went from being ranked below 1,000 to somewhere in the top 300. Go figure.

  17. Window

    And you thought Apple was strange. There were a couple of babies born with this name in the 1950s.

  18. Diva Thin Muffin

    Daughter of celebrity musician Frank Zappa and sister to Moon Unit.

  19. Bunny

    For a boy.

Have you met someone with who’s given their child an “unfortunate” name? Which of these names do you think is the worst?

Sources:

Reddit

Slate

RealClear

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