[DeNaJa]

When I was in the hospital with my 2nd child, a nurse came in to tell me she was glad I had used a "normal" spelling. She went on to say a woman who had just been discharged had a son and named him "Syphilis"... pronounced "Si-phallus" (because emphasising PHALLUS makes being named after an STD soooo much better!). Poor kid! So last week I was discussing baby names with a nurse at my OB's and mentioned the "Syphilis" thing. She said, "Oh, once there was a woman who had twins and named them Syphilis and Gonorrhea because she saw it on a pamphlet in the waiting room and thought those names sounded pretty." I hope SOMEONE told her what those names meant before she commited to them on the birth certificates!

My Mom always talked about a boy in her class named "Peter Super", who on charts was "Super, Peter"...hilarious for that decade! And a brother sister team with the last name "Trees". She was none other than "Mary Christmas Trees" and her brother was "Douglas Fir Trees".

I went to school with a guy named Stormy, have met a girl named Thunder, and my friend's family has a wild collection including "Refurred" (sorta like the refried beans) and Grigsby. She knows a girl named "Feather Lightfoot" too (which I actually think is pretty and feminine).

There is an eye doctor in my area who advertises in the Yellow Pages and his name is Harold Ballitch. The 1st time I saw one of his "eye charts" with his name on it, I thought it was a joke...but it is NO JOKE. The only thing that could possibly make it more humiliating is if he were a proctologist or urologist.