My grandmother had a close friend named Violet Pink White. I wouldn’t name my kid this sort of name, but always thought that particular one was rather charming.
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Funny story, I decided to name #4 after my grandma Anne (who went by Annie). When I told her (90 years old), that we were going to call her granddaughter Anna, she told me it was a horrible name, her name was actually Anna, and she changed it to Anne. Ancestry.com confirmed this, my grandmother (one of eight in a small jersey city apartment, before #1 Mary’s husband died so she moved back with her baby) changed her name for the census, Anna became Anne. No one in our family knew she was originally named Anna until I had my Anna.
I have encountered a person with one name. The person was from Indonesia, where giving someone one name is common (but not universal).
In the other direction, having four names (two given names and two surnames) is common in the Spanish speaking world.
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Note that names associated with a racial or ethnic group may result in the people being subject to discrimination on that basis in some contexts: Employers' Replies to Racial Names
My granddaughter is in a 1st grade class of 5 “flowers” …Violet, Rose, Lily, Clover and Daisy!
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My great grandmother was one of three stones - Opal, Pearl and Ruby. Haven’t known anyone with any of those names other than them.
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I haven’t heard of any kids named Opal or Pearl, but there are several elementary school age girls named Ruby in our small town.
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My dad had six given names (first name, five middle names), plus a surname. I got the impression that a long string of middle names was a common thing for European Jews in their social circle in that era? He had a long string of Hebrew names too.
Edited: Ooops, I miscounted / forgot one of my dad’s middle names. He actually had six middle names, plus a first and last name.
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My husband’s family had lots of old time names-- Edna, Louise, Thelma (two generations in the same household), Faye, Estelle. No wonder they all went by nicknames. it took me years to find out what his Aunt Sis’s real name was. Needless to say when we were considering family names we might want to bestow on our children, it wasn’t any of those.
I had 2 aunts named Ruby—one married into the family and one named by my grandmother (her mom).
I knew a guy in high school whose complete legal name was H A Smith. He always was asked repeatedly for his entire name and that was it. He was a nice guy but some forms don’t even let you proceed if your 1st name doesn’t have more than 1 letter.
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I know an Opal, age 8 and a Ruby, 14.
Yup. My SIL’s name is Arabic, first & last, and he is convinced that it was an issue earlier in his career. He is well established now and works for a company that actually embraces diversity (doesn’t just say that they do). He was adamant that his child would have a very “American” first name. He doesn’t have a middle name, by the way, because his culture doesn’t give children middle names (grandchild does, and it’s also an American name).
My mom’s favorite story from her nurses training days is the name a new mom chose for her baby: Urethra. The nurses explained what it meant, but the mom didn’t care - she thought it sounded beautiful. To each their own, I guess.
My youngest has one of these names. It’s funny b/c it’s a normal enough name but not one you ever hear in her generation. We actually never call her by her full name but by a common nickname for it. I was a little worried she would hate her name since she did not have a trendy name like many of her friends, but she actually loves it. The only downside is that her nickname has two spellings and for whatever reason, everyone tries to spell it the other way.
I grew up with a perfectly normal Irish name but it’s not very common. I never knew anyone my age with my name until I got to college! It’s not unusual and I’m sure everyone here has heard it, but just not a typical name. There is only one way to spell it but still, people always misspell it. As a result (and also having to always spell my very uncommon Italian maiden name), I gave my kids traditional, classic names. My oldest has a name that was extremely common as a middle name back in-the day but we don’t know anyone who has it as a first name in her generation.
My mom named my brother, born in 1964, something she thought was not common but became extremely common immediately. His two best friends in elem school had the same name. My husband, three years younger and who grew up on the opposite coast, has the same name! When I talk to my mom, we refer to them as “her”(brother/husband name) and “my” (brother/husband) first name. And I can’t tell you how many people we know around our age with the same name. So much for that!
The one thing I’ve never cared for is the trend to creatively spell a traditional name. Yes, I understand wanting to be different, but as someone who has always had to spell her first and last name, I did not want to saddle my kids with that unnecessarily. At the very least, if you are going to do that, then don’t get annoyed when people always spell the name incorrectly!
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The nursing story is an urban legend. I’ve heard it several times over the years, with a variety of different names, but all related to female anatomy.
My great grandfather’s name was General Francis Marion Last Name. He had a brother named (no title) George Washington Last Name. I went with some local coworkers to the genealogy center in SLC. I told one of them my great grandfather’s name and he exclaimed “your ggrandfather was General Francis Marion!” He was disappointed and amused when I said, no that’s his name, not his rank. When I did my search I found hundreds named after the swamp fox, but none except my gg that included the rank as part of the name.
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I was named after my mother, in the delivery room, much like Lorelei Gilmore, haha. Thinking about it 65 years later, I think my parents were counting on a boy, since their firstborn son was stillborn, and my older sister got the traditional “Mary” that Catholics went for at the time. Nobody I knew had my name.
I love my name, even when it was a “Big HotCanary” and “Little HotCanary” situation. Nowadays, people tell me, “I love that name!”
My husband wasn’t so thrilled with being named after his dad, and we chose a new name for my son, which turned out great. My husband’s name is perfectly normal and classic.
My daughter has been annoyed because there are a bazillion girls with her name, especially in her birth year. Well, I liked it, and it is classic, not just a trend.
I would never respond negatively to a name choice. How rude is that? Excited parents choosing a name (even if it’s one that’s hilarious) shouldn’t be criticized.
It’s either “I love it!” with all the effusive praise I can muster, or “Nice choice!” or something along those lines. No matter what, a child will grow into their name, and make it their own.,
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Lol, this is straight out of my childhood! My baby sister was named after mom because my parents could not agree on the name. Mom wanted a very old fashioned name but dad hated it. Dad said that he liked mom’s name a lot, so he named the sIs after mom. So we ended up with Big “Mary” and Little “Mary.” 
We told my folks we were thinking of naming S Arnold, after Arnold Palmer. Mom said, “No, that’s the name of the pig in Green Acres!”
We switched to another name that we didn’t share with anyone until after it was on the birth certificate. I prefer the name S got—it’s a classic name and I had no particular love for “Arnold,” and H was not too tied to it.
Did credit reporting companies and others think that he and his father are the same person?
I believe there have been Jr, III, etc since the beginning of time. My Dad was a Jr. No issues. Same with H’s dad.
I once had a friend in a family of 4. Dad/son had same name. But my friend, the D, had the female version of the name that sounded exactly the same. Mom was different, but began with the same letter. Try getting the right person on the phone there!
H once taught triplets that all had the same name. I believe the same middle as well. They were known as A1, A2, and A3. First letter plus number only.
My niece wants to name her son after her late dad. She asked all of us for permission, I suppose in part because he caused a lot of pain to his family and the rest of us, by extension. Told her she didn’t need my permission and that we’d love the little one for the person they are. She and her H are going to use the baby’s initials as a nickname.
My sons have somewhat traditional Jewish names. Didn’t announce their names til the bris. Their names don’t really lend themselves to nicknames. If we’d had a daughter, I wanted a first-middle-last that totalled 27 letters. H vetoed that because it wouldn’t fit on a credit card. (He’s so practical.) The girl’s name had many alternative nicknames, which we both liked. Would have used an alternative spelling, which is how my grandmother spelled her middle name.
My nephew and his wife are expecting boy #4. Two have uncommon Biblical names, the other two are named after baseball players. This family is totally into sports.
@choatiemom – my initials (before and after marriage) spell out a job, too. EVERYONE asked me if I was going to become one when I grew up!
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