EXPLAINED: Funny weird names - The Real Truth

Bored Panda reached out to Ruth Zschoche, sci-fi author, artist and the creator behind the Facebook group “That name isn't a tragedeigh, it's a murghdyrr” to find out more about the community as well as her insights into the crazy names that get shared on there.

The idea for this miscellaneous group was born during the pandemic when Ruth turned to Facebook to be more connected to others in times of isolation. She went on joke groups, local and fan-based groups, shaming groups and other communities to distract herself.

When Ruth gave birth to a baby, she was active in a couple of mom and pregnancy groups and had to go through the baby naming process. She said to us previously that the group started on a whim from a funny tagline and it took off like crazy.

“We have over 75 thousand members now. It has been nuts,” Ruth told us. Today, she manages several hundred posts a day. “I wish I was getting paid for it,” she added.

The community has a lot of discussions that arise that are only peripherally name related, and that takes perhaps the most energy to manage, Ruth argues. “But they are, some of them, important discussions. The challenge is to make sure everyone (within reason) can share opinions on topics while being decent and polite to each other. These include race, gender, politics, religion, parenting, and cultural differences.”

Ruth believes that “any conversation can be held productively between people who differ on topics as long as people are able to see each other as real people with humanity, rather than just vestiges of a political stance they detest.”

Moreover, the group has seen more people sharing their own stories with naming their children or being named themselves. “We also have more people sharing anonymously from workplaces such as amusement parks, hospitals, schools, etc.”

Meanwhile, in terms of the names themselves, Ruth said that she has noticed more and more examples of names that are based on words that are not traditionally used as names. “Recent examples I have seen include Ridge, Rustler, Richochet, Umbrella, Tangerine, Pistol, Shield, Skylight… you get the point.”

When asked why people are so fascinated with all the crazy names, Ruth says that it has to do with the fact that naming is power. “Naming is identity. Naming places stickers of the world and history over the essence of folks before they are even born.”

“I also think that there is some truth to saying that people like being the observers of the strange and other, like seeing someone do a crazy stunt or watching a variety show. You want to admire the shenanigans and wince at the same time,” she added.

Meanwhile, Ruth argues that people are also aware that what is “normal” is changing over time. “Things we see as tragedies now may be the Jennifer and Henry of tomorrow. This shift, like any generational shift, is fought against and marveled at. Judged and admired for the audacity. It will be interesting to see, in perhaps 20 years, what this generation of children think about their own names. What will be the tragedies of their parental generation? Will names come full circle or will they get even more wild?” the creator of the group wondered.

Having seen so many names so far, Ruth shared some insights on how NOT to name a baby.

“Top (though not all) tips to avoid being on this group:

• Do not respell common names in ways that violate how letters and phonics work in the English language. Recent examples – Graiesonn, Tammiey;
• Do not make body parts a segment of your respelled name. Recent examples – Tiphiknee, Toenee;
• Do not place apostrophes in your name if at all possible. Recent examples (also good for example, J’uelz Maxwell and J’uwelz Max.”

Moreover, Ruth’s advice is to not use a word that has a tragic meaning or context, unless the word is already in cultural use as a name. “Recent example – Macksim,” she noted. Another thing to avoid while naming a baby is to “not make matchy-matchy twin names, or have siblings who all share the same first syllable. Recent examples – siblings Jaden, Jaed, Jaidlynn, and Jadee.”

Ruth’s advice for a baby name is “to not replace vowels with y’s just because you can. Recent examples – Reyly, Brynzlee.” She added a couple more tips on how not to name a baby:

“Don’t add 'lyn' or 'lynn' to random words or names that really could do without. Recent examples – Jimmelynn, Wormlyn;

• Do not create your baby name by mashing your name with your partner’s name. Recent example – Christephany;
• Do not use names from a fandom that are not really names (often they aren’t for good reason). Recent examples – Caleighsi, Cruella.”

For those wondering if there’s an end to just how many crazy names can exist out there, Ruth believes there’s no end to inspiration.

“Ever hear the saying that given enough time, even a monkey can type out Shakespeare? Well, given enough time, an infinite number of names can exist. With a huge variation of how the letters in the English language can be rearranged to make names, if there is no limit on how many names or how long the names, the number of options are, in fact, infinite,” she explained.

Ruth continued: “And this is the true inspiration for the group – the endless variety of how humans imagine themselves and envision identities for their children,” she said and added that she finds it fascinating.

At the moment, Ruth said that she’s “working on a project that explores classic words that are not traditionally used as names, but are fascinating for their meaning and history. They offer uniqueness that doesn’t require the respelling of existing names, or the complete fabrication of new ones. And interestingly, this exploration also garners a majority of names that are, in essence, nongendered definition-wise.”

The creator noted that some people have already started to explore this trend, but she thinks it can be taken much further. Ruth shares some of the names from this project, and some of the more wild names from the Facebook group, with commentary, on the Twitter account @NameMurghdyrrs so be sure to check it out!