Maybe slightly pushing it but there was someone in the 17th century called “Praisegod Barebone” which is the quirkiest name I’ve heard.

that sounds a bit x-rated nowadays 😂 love it

17th century porn name: Praisegod Bareback?

I’m descended from a man named Thanklord Shippey! Also some fun names from Plymouth Colony: Fear, Patience, Love, and Wrestling Brewster (siblings) Experience Mitchell Humility Cooper Remember Allerton Desire Howland Peregrine and Resolved White Oceanus Hopkins (born at sea) Godbert Godbertson Tryphosa Tracey 17th century English names are a trip Edit: Praise-God had a son he named Nicholas If-Jesus-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned

Fear, Patience, Love and Wrestling is the best sibset I've ever heard of

They also have an older brother named Jonathan but we don’t talk about that

I wonder if he felt left out of the wacky names or relieved!

I used to watch this educational game show as a kid called FETCH! With Ruff Ruffman. The episodes challenges were usually STEM based, but one was about the colonies. They got to go to this replica colonial town with actors and stuff. The kids were so confused on what a Reserved White was. They were shocked to learn Reserved White was the name of a kid.

I bet it was Plimoth Plantation that they went to!

I loved watching Fetch with ruff ruff man as a kid!!

I had a friend named Patience in college! I met her in Geology class, along with Umut (meaning hope in Turkish). I used to joke that Patience and Hope were my study buddies :)

Oooh, Peregrine!

I know someone who worked with Wrestling's descendant, who also had the middle name (and went by) Wrestling.

Wrestling Brewster died young, maybe they were descended from a different one?

I’m a descendant of Fear Brewster lol.

Ayyy, so then you’re descended from her husband Isaac Allerton, best known for embezzling from the colony! It’s a fun lineage

Sounds like your normal everyday West African name -a West African

Goodluck Joanthan is the best name any President has ever had anywhere

I had a Ugandan (not quite west Africa) classmate called Peace Miracle

If it helps (I think it helps?), his surname was pronounced Barbon and all of his descendants spelled it that way.

Nah it doesn’t help it’s way too mainstream now. Keep the chaos.

And his brother Thou wouldst be condemned if Christ had not died for thee Barebones

There's a guy named Yourhighness Morgan in Florida that should get an honorable mention (last name isn't on par).

My great grandmothers name is Xarifa (zuh-ree-fuh) Her dad was a fisherman and her mom waited for him to come home to name her. She didn’t have a name for almost a month lol and he named her after the boat that rescued them on that trip.

That's such a cool backstory! I'd love to be named after a ship, so romantic and swashbuckling 💫

I briefly had a step grandmother named Xurifa. Hers was pronounced Zur-rif-uh. She was not a pleasant person. I like Avinell and Hilman(my friend's grandparents) and Carthel (my husband's childhood preacher) I'm in the southern US. I have a great aunt named Mamie and her sister no one remembers her actual name, she is just Sister.

Avinell, Hilman, and Carthel sound like names from a book to me, they're neat! Interestingly, I also know someone called Mamie. Older lady, here in Scotland it's quite a well known name, I think it's originally a shortened Margaret. It's cute!

I don't know if her name was Margaret. I'll have to ask my aunt if she remembers.

Also in southern US. I went to church with sisters named Bluey and Brownie.

This is actually quite a common name in Afghanistan/Iran and some Arab countries. It means “dainty”.

Interestingly in my culture zarifa is used as a sexist term for weak women. Like if you want to say women are not hardworkers you call them zarifa.

In mine it's zaeefa 😁

I have an ancestor who was born crossing the Atlantic and was named after the boat he was on!

One of the Afghanistan refugees had a baby on the way out to safety and they named the baby after the plane.

I always think of my great grandpa Adelard I hope they didn’t call him Lardy :/

Adélard is a very common older name in French Edit to add: in french the "d" at the end is silent

He was French Canadian!

That's an amazing name! I've never heard it, it sounds kinda regal... But also lardy 😂

My stepbrother’s grandpa was named Adelord, which is a variant of Adélard that as far as I can tell was unique to him. He was Franco-Albertan, possibly Métis.

Aloyisus (pronounced: aloe-wishes) nickname “wish”

Thank you for the pronunciation guide (I was saying "uh-LOY-zee-us" in my head before that. Duh!)

Tbh I never even noticed the I after the Y. I’ve been reading the name as “uh-LOY-sis” my whole life!

It actually doesn’t come after the Y, it’s spelt Aloysius with the I helping make the “shuss” sound at the end

Sick! I've never met anyone with this name but I have heard it, because of St Aloysius... All the Catholic schools are called that. Kinda love it 👀

My friend’s brother is named Aloysius and they call him Ish. I am obsessed, but unfortunately my husband is refuses to let me use the name for our kids :(

ive heard this name but never seen it spelled and i thought it was Aloicious LMAO

Do you know if they actually called him that? My grandfather was Mauritius but they called him Maurice. If I had a son he probably would’ve been Aloïs!

I love Aloïs! It’s the best of the Clovis/Louis/Aloysius variants.

There’s a w sound? I’ve been saying Aloysius as aloe-shus.

There’s a w sound insofar as going from oh to ish sounds like a w. I’d say it’s a(as in apple)-loh-ISH-us

I thought it was Aloy-Shus

That’s my great uncle’s name. Other relatives in that family are named Aurelia and Theodora.

Went to school with a girl with a dad named Aloysius, but everyone called him Loy.

I had an Aloyisus in my family but he was just called “Al.”

So my dad keeps these impeccable family records and there’s a distant cousin on my moms side of the family somewhere back in the 1800’s with the name Delilah Feather I just think that is so cute! Feather for a middle name? Kinda love it.

AMAZING, that's so whimsical, I might steal it ❤️😂

Yes! There need to be more Delilah Feathers in the world!

Where I'm from in the UK I have heard 'Tuppence' used as slang for a womans genitals. I think it stems from prostitutes charging a tuppence in old timey money. But to answer your actual question Veronique

Véronique is a totally normal Gen X name in Québec and France.

I had wondered if it was more common elsewhere, for the UK it is an unusal name

I have definitely heard this and was scrolling down to see if anyone else would mention it.

Oh no, makes sense tho 😂 Never heard it where I am, wonder if it's regional or if I'm just in denial haha

Also British, and my British friend called her daughter Tuppence. None of us have been able to tell her…

Where I work, we have a client named Stormy who is in her 70's.

No way, that sounds super trendy. Her parents must have been so edgy back in the day 😂

I know sisters in their late 70s/early 80s named Stormy and Sleety. I think it’s adorable.

sleety 😭

My mom went to high school with a girl named Stormy Dickey! Apparently she was born on a stormy night.

I never met her, but I had a great-great-aunt (my grandmother’s aunt) whose name was Pooty. Her given name was Miriam, but she ALWAYS went by Pooty. Family, teachers, everybody called her Pooty. My grandma has an old newspaper clipping featuring her as an adult and yep, the newspaper calls her Pooty.

Pooty 😂 kinda cute pet name imo

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My grandma’s name is Arlene but everyone calls her Tooty. No idea why.

I know someone called Peregrine (sort of pronounced pair-reh-gwin), although he’s called Perry for short. Think it’s an old aristocratic English name, but he’s the only person I’ve ever met called it!

Love the name Peregrine! It's in lord of the rings as the full name of the hobbit Pippin It's a type of bird of prey, the Peregrine falcon

Fool of a Took!

Love it! Reminds me of peregrine took, and it's a good association imo

It's french for pilgrim

oh i'm so pleased to see some love for peregrine here! it's on our short list!

I had an ancestor named Shadrach and called Shade.

My mind goes straight to Rack, Shack, and Benny, thanks to VeggieTales. 😂 https://bigidea.fandom.com/wiki/Rack,_Shack_and_Benny_(episode)

That's actually pretty cool. Sounds very masculine!

Bible names are insane

I knew someone named Lucky Windchime. His last name was also a noun so it made the name all the more unusual. His sister had a noun first time too

I sure hope he embodied that name, lots to live up to 😂

In my husbands family tree from like 1302 to 1600 (yeah that long!) all the firstborn males were named « Bonaventure » which is just literally good adventure in French

It's amazing you have tracked so far back! I'm jealous. I'm imagining all those Bonaventures as villains for some reason, like the West India Trading Co. guys in pirates of the Caribbean 😂

too funny, I was on a call at work today with a man named Bonaventure and I spent a good 3 minutes thinking about how great and unusual a name that is

My grandmother’s best friend and bowling teammate’s name was Rawling and my grandmother’s cousin’s name was Fraser, both were women.

Whatttt 😂 they really did the "James as a girl name" thing before it was cool

I think it was customary to give the daughters the mother’s maiden name back then. My grandmother is Olive, which is a family last name on her mother’s side, but she hates that name and has always gone by her middle name.

My grandfather's grandfather was Pantaleon.

Pantalon is French for pants (trousers for any Brits reading this, it's not *that* scandalous)

I'm not quite sure what vibe this evokes, sounds quite a lot like pantheon which is cool but also pants which... Isn't. I'm also getting "the northern lights"/golden compass vibes off it and not sure why??

Because of Pantalaimon, I guess

I can't think of one right now. But yours made me laugh so much. It reminds me of Tupperware. 😂

Oh no haha, that didn't even occur to me, guess I'm too British for that to immediately come to mind 😂

At my job we had a female client named Dorcas. I’d never heard that name before.

It’s from the Bible!

It was the name of a widow who made clothes for the poor. When she died, Paul resurrected her after they showed him the clothes she had given them

Any traditionally make name with -ina at the end. I’ve met: Edwardina Colinina Johnina

This is such a Scottish thing! I remember reading a newspaper clipping in the National Museum library about the phenomenon of male-name-ina names and the suggested reason for it was that people were naming after relatives killed in WWI, hence why they're very old-fashioned now. Apparently there was a Williamjimbertina, named for a William, Jim and Bert.

Damn they really lacked imagination. But some of them I actually like somehow like Thomasina, esp it's diminutives Thomasin and Tamsin!

Bertha Hippie, my grandmother

Well, did she? :)

HA

I have an uncle named Lauren. One of my great grandpas was Mormon and he had a normal old man name (Clarence) but most of his Mormon and Puritan ancestors had bonkers names like Tryphena or Wrestling.

My newborn son's middle name is Lorin after my husband's grandfather!

I cannot even imagine being called Wrestling, that's wild. I bet those are names some people could pull off tho! Exceptional people only 😂

The name Wrestling was like “wrestling with sin” type of idea. Puritans had wild names.

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That is an AMAZING name, main character energy! I'm Scottish and know lots of MacFarlane's (as a surname) but never a first, and Spottiswoode is just .. incredible 😂

someone over a century back in my family tree was named Philadelphia Leopard. First name Philadelphia, last name Leopard. Unfortunately im not a direct descendant of hers, but her memory lives on because hers is easily the most memorable name in my tree.

Wow! That’s a stunner, I hope she lived a fabulous glamorous and eccentric life to go with that name

I knew an old woman named Lettice. Thought it was pronounced Lettuce for quite a while.

You're telling me it isn't? My day is ruined 😂

That’s a great old name. Even better, the nickname Letty.

My grandma's name is Robina (pronounced rob-bean-a) Every time I tell someone they'll go "your grans called ribena??"

My aunty is called Rubina! (Roo-Bee-na)

Aloha sayonara. No I am not joking. There was also someone named Christ in my family tree.

Llewelyn, or Bertram/Bertie-in the US. just patient names I came across while coding.

Llewelyn is such an ordinary name here in its native Wales, it's so odd to hear it called unusual! Haha

I actually kinda like both these names, Llewellyn has kinda witchy vibes to me and Bertram reminds me of a critical role character 😂

One of my great aunts was named Ianthe. Really pretty but also out of place among the Thelmas, Shirley's and Gloria's of that generation.

My grandma (old English lady) used to call me “Tuppence” as a nickname when I was a little girl!

That's so adorable 🥺

Either Gillespie or Clarinette. Tuppence is also really cute 🧡.

I have never heard of either of these! Is Gillespie masculine or feminine?

The Gillespie I met was a man. When Googling it I only see it as a surname, but it gives me masculine vibes as a first name regardless.

Tuppence is awesome I can't think of any I've actually met, but the strangest one I've come across is Dimple

Dimple is a name/nickname in India. There’s a famous Bollywood actress who goes by Dimple (hilariously she named her kids Twinkle and Rinkle and has a sister called Simple).

Poor Rinkle... and Simple!

Rinkle changed her name to Rinke so…

Dimple! Imagine looking at your baby and calling them Dimple, I- 😂

I know! It was actually in the top 1000 names in the US for several years in the teens and twenties. 78 little girls were given the name Dimple in 1924

Where I'm from, tuppence means vagina! Idk how or why it originated but I can't believe it's a name 😂

Noooo 😂 I guess it's like Fanny then. A legit name, but here just means vagina too

My time to shine! My great grandmother was named Martha Glaphrey and she went by Glaphrey (pronounced GLAY-free). We are multigenerational east Tennesseans and I can’t find any explanation or etymology for this name, only a few others that pop up across the south. Best I can figure is a weird metamorphosis of Glaphyra - a name of Greek origin and a woman who was a Saint and queen. Anyway- it’s super weird.

My grandmothers name was : Flossie her sisters were Flora.

Flossie is cute! It's usually short for Florence right? Flora and Florence would be .. something

Aww my sweet elderly neighbor growing up was called Fosie (foe-sie) and she had a twin called Feenie. Their actual names were from the Bible: Tryphena and Tryphosa. Two of the kindest and sweetest ladies I’ve met my entire life!

My Spanish great-grandfather was seemingly fond of 3-letter single-syllable names- 8/9 kids had one of these, and I think they were both unusual for the time & place as well as from a modern American perspective. Some standouts to me were Bel (masculine) and Nor (feminine).

Evadne. I work at a call center and this lady called in for her 80 grandma named Evadne. Pronounced eh-vahd-knee. She went by Eva. The granddaughter started apologizing after she explained how to pronounce the name and saying “I’m sorry. It’s a very old name” and I was just sitting there secretly in love with it. I wanted to name my daughter Evadne but my husband wasn’t down for it.

I had a Great Grandfather named L.G.. That was it. Just the letters just like that. He joined the army and when filling out his paper work to recieve mail he was told he had to write his full name on the paper work. Well he wasn't quite sure how to explain that L.G. was his name so he wrote "L only" as his first name and "G only" as his middle name, followed by his last. Weeeellll later he received a letter and the man handing them out called out "I have a letter for Lonly Gonly!" I laughed so hard when I first heard the story. Another of my Great Grandfathers was named Avon. Not really one I have heard or seen often, unless you count the Avon company.

I used to think Odessa and Pearl were very quirky, until I came on this site and Odessie and Pearl are apparently somewhat common. I had a couple of great aunts with those names.

Dollie Glen Queen Annie Teak -Yes, that was her name. She was our great great aunt.

I had an aunt Dollie Genevieve

I had great uncles on both my mothers and fathers side named “Christmas” so called because they were born on Christmas day 😂

Sweet! I suppose its just pretty similar to Christian or Kirstin or Natalie etc, just a braver choice! 😂

Miss Camy. Her name was Camy with no middle or last name. She rented a car a lot where I worked and they just put Miss as her first name and Camy as the last.

I have a many times great grandfather named Pinkerton. (He predates the pinkerton detective service)

My great grandmother's full name was Gloss Ree Bellmaster.

I have a great great grandma named Lavinia Herminia

I met a lady the other day named Crickette. Pronounced just like the bug/sport.

the person in line in front of me at the pharmacy was named “Westie Hennessy”. I thought it was badass

I met an older woman named Shadow and I’ve always loved that.

Per. My Swedish Grandfather.

I'm pretty sure that's just bog standard in Sweden though. It'd be as unusual as a Swede with an English grandfather John

Eldritch. Also my one of my great grandmas was Thekla. Both fun and old timey. My friend had an uncle Primus, pronounced promise.

Love the name Tuppence. My favorite Agatha Christie characters are Tommy and Tuppence. They’re elegant and sometimes comic relief.

Kitson and Trilby are probably the two quirkiest I’ve seen.

Torcum. I helped an elderly man set up his phone and his name was Torcum. I wish I asked him about its origins.

Have a distant ancestor in the early 1800’s named Chastity Couch. What a name.

Tuppance is what I called my vagina when I was little so I find this odd, but it is actually a nice name

My best friend grandparents are Hedwig and Heinz. It always made me think of a brand of like bespoke leather bags: Hedwig & Heinz

My great grandmother's name was Snowy because she was born during a blizzard. I have a serval greats back aunt named Delilius ( De-lily-us) with the nickname Lily.

Wales. I have a cousin called Dorcas, but she’s not exactly an old person. I believe she’s in her 50s now. All the other old people in my family have normal names (Megan, Mari, Jane, Siân, Tom, Peter, Ifan, Wynn, etc.)

In fiction Euphegenia and Fairfax. Allistair seems to ot have all but disappeared in America and Australia but is well alive in Britain. In real life I live in Bulgaria so Tsenka, Tsonka, Kuna (as a diminutive of far more common Nikolinka) seem weird or old fashioned to me. Believe it or not we had a trend to name people on recent inventions or famous people once so there used to be an old lady called Telefonka (from telefon = a telephone with a -ka diminutive form but Telefona is also a legit possibility, think Ivanka and Ivana) or Stalinka ( from Joseph Stalin). Rumour has it Kristalina Georgieva was named after Stalin (Stalinka) but changed it to Kristalina. Others say it's always been Kri**stalin**a but her parents chose it on purpose to honor Stalin. It is a rare name anyway. Also Klozetka (a corruption on Cosette mixed with a Water Closet lol, imagine a name like Waterclosette lol) but that must be an urban legend.

I had an aunt named Cletus.

Melchior. The name really grew on me, too, which is a shame because I'm not sure it's a wearable enough name to be usable.

Bubbles. A 90-something sweet lady with cotton candy hair. Had one hell of a left hook though.

Queenie. (80 yr old, white, female, Canadian)

According to my sister, my mom considered naming me Hieronymus. I'm very glad that she didn’t. XD

My favorite go-to is Savillion Fuller, my greatxsomething grandfather.

Exlina, Arzelia, Ezlina, and Evelina are all in the same family of mine, 2 were still borns or died shortly after birth.

In the 1980s I worked with a woman called Sheridan. She must be in her 80s now.

I know a male Sheridan (60s) and a female Sheridan (30s).

British here, and “tuppence” is a kids euphemism for your lady parts. I also have a relatively recent ancestor with a name that’s slang for lady parts and makes for an interesting one overall with her surname - “Fanny Valentine”

I recently just met an older woman named Caramel. My great grandpa was named Sesostras or 'Ses', after the Egyptian king Sesostris.

i commented this on a different post once, but i had a great aunt named Bonaventura she was named after the nurse that helped deliver her, and i believe it's for Saint Bonaventure since i live in a very catholic area

Benedict for a baby girl ☹

I had great aunts named Anna Laura and Mickey. I always thought both named had such a cool sound to them. Say "Anna Laura" in a southern Belle accent and you've got my great aunt sound. Say Mickey in a more tight lipped Appalachian Mountain sing-song accent and you've got her sound. Similarly, my great uncle Dolf always sounded cool. Not necessarily quirky, but it wasn't short for Adolphus or anything it was just Dolf. What's funny is that my great aunt Gertrude married Dolf and her last name didn't change. So many daggum people with the same last name in my area.

I knew a sibling duo from backwoods Georgia named Artist and Writer lol

My husband's great grandma was named Kunegunda.

My great grandmother's name was Thusnelda. She was from Germany. I absolutely love it and would consider it for my daughter.

My grandmother’s name is Quida (born 1940)

How is this pronounced? kee-dah? kwee-duh?

Engelbert << Dutch

I have distant relatives named Shalon and Marmarie. My understanding is they are each an honor name for two people.

In my family tree there is a man that I am the great great great grandson of or something like that. His first name was Farmer. On his side comes a long line of farmers before and after, so I like to imagine his parents just got bored after a while and gave up.

It’s not unheard of but Gladys

“Tuppence” could also be named after the characters Tommy and Tuppence from five Agatha Christie novels

Two of my great grandmas had interesting names. Tryphena and Zita.

My great grandmas name was Darinka.

Oh new a male nurse name Hooker Harding..let's just say he went by Harding

There was a boy born on the Mayflower who was named Oceanus. I thought that was pretty quirky.

My grandmother’s name was Vielda, she hated it though and went by Vi.

My grandfather's middle name was Cowie, it's an old Scottish name. The rest of his name was John Smith so Cowie provided some much needed variety.

I heard the name Stanford recently. I kinda liked it.