Let's talk urban legends...

[Icarus]

At dinner tonight my friends got talking--I don't remember how--about their moms, who are maternity nurses, and they both claimed their moms had had twins named Lemonjello and Oranjello delivered in their hospital. Now, I rolled my eyes, because I've heard this legend so.many.times that I really can't buy it. Not that I think my friends were making it up, but more of a friend-of-a-friend-of-my-mom-knows-a-guy affect. I was wondering, have there been any official, real documented cases of this actually happening? What about examples of real people bearing other urban-legend names?

[ClaudiaD]

I've heard that one a zillion times too, and I don't think it's ever been verified. The other one that keeps going around is about boy/girl twins named Male (pronounced Molly) and Female (pn FaMolly). The story usually goes that the mother thought the hospital staff had already named her babies when she saw Male and Female on their wristbands. Yeah, she could read, but didn't know what those two words meant :rolleyes:.

[KNY]

My best friend in high school told me the Lemonjello/Orangello one! She swore her mother's friend's friend (whatever) knew twins with that name. I thought that was rather cool, but since then have heard it so many times, it's obviously an urban legend.

I've also heard the one where the mother chooses some inappropriate medical term for the name, like Diarrhea or Chlamydia, because she saw the word at the hospital and didn't know what it meant but thought it was pretty.

[hillabeans]

Ok, I haven't heard that one, but my best friend's mom told me that she had a little girl in her church (she is a pastor's wife) named Velveeta. She asked her mother where she got the name, and the lady told her, "Like the cheese. I just think it's so pretty." :eyebrow:

[LaLaLalena]

I agree with thinking that they're not true. I've also heard of boys being names [edited by mod]head and it's pr shih-teed. Mhmm.

[madowenauntie]

I didn't know that was an Urban Legand. My DH's told me his mother was working at the hospital (she's a RN) when a lady named her baby Oranjello.. TOO FUNNY! :doh: I've even told other people that story thinking it really happened. :lol:

[RedJacks]

I agree with thinking that they're not true. I've also heard of boys being names [edited by mod]head and it's pr shih-teed. Mhmm.
My mom used to work in the insurance business, and she told me she came across that name in her paperwork... So I think it does happen. :shrug:

[Lindsaybear]

I agree with thinking that they're not true. I've also heard of boys being names edited by mod]head and it's pr shih-teed. Mhmm.

I went to school with a boy named this pronounced shi-theed. On the first day of school it was HILARIOUS to hear the teachers get to his name on the roll and go "Uh... uh..." and then try to call him by his long, complicated LN.

[WhenInRome]

These aren't really urban legends but.....

My mom is a high school teacher and one of her students had twin daughters and named them Lawasha and Ladrya.

And....one time when I was at Wal-Mart, this lady yelled at a little girl who was running around "Spatula, get over here before I whip you H-U-R-D". (She misspelled 'hard')

[snow]

http://www.snopes.com/racial/language/names.asp

Here's what snopes says (with a few citations of rare confirmation of names), and I agree with that POV. I think a lot of these urban legend names are deeply offensive.

[speechykeen]

Ditto snow, I also find these stories very racist/classist.

[IAmErica]

http://www.snopes.com/racial/language/names.asp

Here's what snopes says (with a few citations of rare confirmation of names), and I agree with that POV. I think a lot of these urban legend names are deeply offensive.

Yup, when I saw this thread this morning I wanted to put this link in b/c I have read the snopes article before, but I was in a hurry to get to work... Glad Snow found it to post... It's not that people don't give their kids questionable names sometimes, it's just that we shouldn't assume we know their reasons for doing it.

[ckevans]

I've been "doing names" for about 35 years now and I've heard the Orangejello and Lemonjello legend so many times I can't count them. And it's always claimed that they were born in a particular hospital or went to high school in a particular city, and it's never the same one. No one has ever sent me any confirmation that the twins really exist, though I keep asking for it. I'm pretty sure they are completely imaginary.

The "kernel of truth" in the Orangejello & Lemonjello legend is that there have been a few men named Orangelo in the past. (There are 3 in the Social Secruity Death Index.) However, the oldest one of those was born before the brand name "Jell-O" was invented, so it certainly isn't from that. It is likely a blend of Orange and Angelo (Orange was regularly given as a man's name in the USA in the 19th century, probably with reference to the Dutch royal family rather than to the fruit.)

Meanwhile, Lemongello is a real Italian surname. There is a singer named Peter Lemongello who got himself on the cover of Time or Newsweek back in the 1970s as an example of someone trying to promote himself by selling records on late night television. He still has an act at Branson, Missouri. It seems to me that the Orangejello and Lemonjello legend first appears about the time Peter Lemongello was having his 15 seconds of fame. Someone put together knowledge of the name Orangelo with Lemongello and came up with the story, I bet.

http://home.earthlink.net/~sdcrooner/lemngllo.html

The Female legend may come from the fact that there are kids listed in official state records as being named Male and Female on birth certificates. That's what some states use for a child who is stillborn and unnamed by the parents, or one where the parents have not chosen a name by the time the child leaves the hospital. Other states use "Baby" as the name in such a situation, which is why Baby turns up as a "popular name" on some of the lists put out by various states. But I have never been given proof that there is an actual adult woman who is still going by Female as her given name, and the legend never refers to a man called Male. So I think it's probably not true.

The S----head one may actually be the one that could really be true. It's been explained that the Arabic male name Shahid sounds to Americans like the middle consonant is "th" in some Arabic dialects, and that's how that name could have been accidentally created. Some of the references to that name seem to be a tad more reputable than the other urban legend references I've seen. So I think there might be some real examples of that one. But it's still not completely proven -- I haven't really seen concrete evidence for it yet, just a more plausible explanation along with more people who claim to have actually met one themselves rather than just have heard about it from a friend.

[Jennifer]

Yes, I've heard O & L many times.. specifically when I ask for funny name stories. There is a paragraph about it in our upcoming book, exposing it for what it really is.. an urban myth.

[alleigh76]

With help from the Urban Legends page at NameNerds.com and MSN White Pages

There really is a:
Shanda Lear
Gerren Teed (in ID; but is it gare-en or jair-in?)
Robin Banks (83, actually)
Clark Barr
Candy Barr
Jack Frost (over 100)
Peter Rabbitt (2 in MO)
Leslie (Les) Behan (admittedly, she probably doesn't go by les, but the 'legend' actually said leslie, so...)
Anita Chance
Justin Case (67)
Ben Dover (30)
Thor Luther (sore loser with a lisp)
Teddy Behr
Jo King (100+)
Robin Hood (100+)
Crystal Ball
San(chez/doval/dra/dy/tana/etc.) Francisco
Holly Wood (100+)
Al Duerr (as in I'll do her)
Snow White
William Shakespeare (well, why not? there's an Anne Hatheway)
Sue Edge
Skip Church
Skye Blue
Dusty Rhoades/Rhoads
Hap Hazard (NY, and I bet that was intentional!)
Betty Boop
Strawberry Fields
Allison Wonderland
Ella Fant
Stormy Gale
Rusty Gunn
Tim Burr
Mark Kerr
Otto Graf
T Morrow (no confirmed To Morrow, but t'morrow is just as good/bad)
Shirley Wright
Precious Stone
Rick O'Shea
Clay(ton) Potts
Adam Baum
Gene Pool (also the name of the biology teacher on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
Brystol Myers
Royal King
Ivan Ho
Alice Carrier (as in a lice carrier)
Kara Vann (took me a second since I say car-uh instead of care-uh)
Penny Nichols

IMO, the majority of Urban Legends, as such, are offensive...in this case, the list I was taking it from was just a small paragraph e-mailed in, with the name highlighted. Some of them are definitely not true (the ln doesn't exist, at least not in the US phone book), but as to the female names, it's kind of hard to tell from the white pages. There were a surprising number, but a lot may be true but are listed under their husband's name.
Also, I sincerely believe that most of the parents knew what they were naming their kids...and in most cases it's kind of mean.

I know a girl whose mom named her Amanda Lynn because it made 'a mandolin'. :lol: Amanda thought it was funny...weird, but funny.

[Sobes]

Okay - not an urban legend, but still a good story.

Yearbook kids want random quotes in certain parts and are sending out surveys to the kids to get quotes - that way we can pick and choose if some quotes are lame or inappropriate.

One girl was reading some pretty mean/vulgar answers from one and another kid asks who wrote those. The girl looks and answers, "Pat McGroin - is that a sophomore?"

[Panya]

T Morrow (no confirmed To Morrow, but t'morrow is just as good/bad)
Rob Morrow's daughter is named Tu Morrow [because his wife's name is Debbon Ayer, they specifically chose a 'word name'].

[liren]

This is somewhat related-

There's a novel by Pedro Juan Soto, a Puerto-Rican author, called Usmaíl (published some 50 years ago.) It's the story of a boy whose mother is abandoned by his father when he found out she was pregnant. The father was a marine stationed where the mother lived. The father leaves and (I forget exactly how it goes) either he promises he'll write or gives her a phony address. The point is all through her pregnancy she goes to the post office (the US Mail) everyday sending him letters/waiting for his reply that never came. When the baby is born she names him what had become so familar to her, USMAIL, Usmaíl (pronounced "oohs-muh-EEHL".)

Now, that's what happens in the novel, but I've heard too many times of people who know people who know people who know a real life Usmaíl (named that either after the novel or the postal service.) I guess it's possible, but I'll have to see it to believe it.

[cinerdy]

The S----head one may actually be the one that could really be true. It's been explained that the Arabic male name Shahid sounds to Americans like the middle consonant is "th" in some Arabic dialects, and that's how that name could have been accidentally created. Some of the references to that name seem to be a tad more reputable than the other urban legend references I've seen. So I think there might be some real examples of that one. But it's still not completely proven -- I haven't really seen concrete evidence for it yet, just a more plausible explanation along with more people who claim to have actually met one themselves rather than just have heard about it from a friend.

There is also an Indian boys' name A****. DH and I would joke that we should use it since that was likely going to be our kid's first word, anyway. It's pronounced AH-SHEET but, well, if you wanted to bully this kid, what would YOU call him?

[queenb]

There people in town with the last name of Popp. Their daughter's name is Lolly = Lolly Popp.

[speechykeen]

Holly! :rofl:

Aaron graduated high school with a guy named Harry Keyster. And a friend of mine from high school had the last name Day, and her birthday is April 1st. She tells me that her mom briefly considered naming her April Fools Day so her name would be her birthday, but decided against it. :haha:

[Panya]

A family friend's daughter is named Pepper Ann Sult -- I used to play with her when we were little...:)

[PrincessL23]

Yup, I've heard the L & O twin story from my cousin, who claims they were born at the hospital he worked at in the Peace Corps. :lol:

[stolen]

:waving:I met a girl in key west who was named Kissame Assti ......thats the closest i got :)

[Chele312]

My dad went to college with Donald Duck :)

[Zabbie]

My mum's osteopath told her a few months ago that that morning he had treated the local registrar who told him that a woman had recently tried to register the name Chlamydia for her daughter and he had to politely dissuade her! I presume this is true rather than an urban myth, but who knows.

A few years ago my Sri Lankan friend and colleague had a little baby girl and her father rang me at work to tell me that they were going to call her Chenille, partly after my friend's brother Neil who had tragically died during her pregnancy, and partly after a cousin whose name began with Sh, following a Sri Lankan tradition of making names by combining other names. They'd seen the word chenille and thought it would be a good spelling of the name they had created. I was a little surprised that they were giving her the same name as a type of fabric, but felt that there are far worse things to be named after, so I didn't say anything. However, as I made an announcement to colleagues in our half-french company, all the french people reacted with horror...apparently chenille means 'hairy caterpillar' in French (which is why the name was given to the fabric as it has rows of fluff). I had to ring the father back and tactfully tell him that the name might cause amusement if she met any French people. They decided to call her Chenni (pronounced SHEN-nee) instead.

[Jennifer]

I worked with an attorney named Yuk Law. But he went by Chuck (for obvious reasons). I always thought that was extremely funny...

[from out some valley]

My mom works at a PT office and one of her co-workers brought her mom in to be introduced... they asked what her name was and she said Topsy. She said that when she was born, her mother wanted to name her Evelyn but her father wanted to name her Mary-Katherine after his two grandmothers who his wife had hated, and when the birth certificate was filed he'd written on it "Mary-Katherine".

I guess her mom was having none of that, and she said "Fine, I'll call her Topsy - I am not calling my daughter Mary-Katherine".

The kicker is that their last name was Turvey, so she was Topsy Turvey growing up. (She married and gave up her last name, but still goes by Topsy). True story.

The one I'm not so sure is true is that at a local hospital, a young woman came in to have a baby, she was on Welfare and it was her sixth child. It was a girl, and she was having trouble coming up with a name. Apparently one of the delivery nurses had delivered several of her other children (for free, because of Welfare) and was fed up. So she suggested the name "Placenta".

The woman loved it, surprisingly, but FORTUNATELY for the baby, someone stopped her and explained what exactly a placenta was before she wrote it on the birth certificate.

My mom told me that story, and we always joke that if I ever have twins I should name them Placenta and Placebo.

[josiegirl]

My SIL has a girl in her first grade class named: Holly Hobby.

[lacascada]

I don't know if any of those are true. I work in a hospital and have heard those, but never actually seen someone with any of those names. My friend swears she knew a TwinA and TwinB (pronounced Tawana and Tawan-buh), but she didn't produce proof. Of course, in her story (which sounded credible), the mom know completely well what she was doing, but just thought it was clever and cute.

I have seen some doozies, but I suspect those common ones are urban legends.

[lacascada]

Ones I;ve actually seen:

Scientific Mapp (Mapp was his last name)
Souvenir
Infinite Cox (Again, Cox was the last name)
Twin boys named Elijah and Elisha (latter pronounced like Elijah, not El-ee-sha, as I would pronounce it)

They;re not as crazy as the urban legends, but they;re still fun.

[lacascada]

Oh, and I knew a Bunny Doody. Doody was her married name. Her license plate read Howdy.

[lacascada]

Oh, and a Ben Dover, but he went by Benji for obvious reasons.

[lacascada]

And I did meet someone who wanted to name her daughter Chlamydia, but someone convinced her not to.

That's all, I can confirm some of those as non-urban legends.