Redditors Share Seemingly Normal Names That Are the Most Unfortunate in Other Languages

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Sep 11, 2023 8:00 PM EDT

Names can be tricky things. They are one of the first metrics that other people use to judge us, and it's not like we needed any more reasons for that to happen. As if there wasn't enough responsibility placed on parents, choosing what to name a kid can really make or break how they experience life. What's even worse is that however normal the eventual choice might seem, there's a chance that it could mean something goofy in another language.

This has been the subject of a recent Reddit thread in which people shared all the different names that came across in unfortunate ways to non-natives. As it turns out, there are numerous examples of these even just within different dialects of English. It really seems like no name is truly safe, and that even those with supposedly 'sensible' names could turn themselves into a laughing stock halfway across the world. 

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  • 01
    Font - r/tragedeigh u/Secret_Cloud1299 • 2d English names that are tragedeighs in other languages? general discussion There are quite a few recent posts about non-Anglo names being mistaken for tragedeighs by people who refuse to acknowledge any non-Anglo names. There is also a recent post about a Tragedeigh Laim who's name means glue in German. Is there other examples of English names (Tragedeigh or not) that have unfortunate meaning/can be considered Tragedeigh in other languages?
    via Secret_Cloud1299
  • 02
    Font - The only example I can think of is JJ in Chinese. JJ is not a Tragedeigh as such, but it looks exactly like the word TT which is the Chinese translation of Tin Tin. The English letter J is also a euphemism for male genitalia because of its shape. Edit to add: Since we have talked about a few opposite ones. There's an opposite one in Cantonese. is a good name for fortune and wealth. This is the word you use to describe someone who's won the lottery. In English it's spelt "Fat"
    via Secret_Cloud1299
  • 03
    Rectangle - MaikeHF 2d 417 ↓ Tish would be awkward in Germany because it's like the word for table (Tisch) with a c missing. Pronounced exactly the same. Misty is another one. Mist is the German word for manure.
    via MaikeHF
  • 04
    Font - TraditionContent9818 2d Kayla (in greek it sort of means sexual arousal) ... 276 velvetelevator 1d 分 122 凸 In Hindi it means banana (I've heard, I don't speak it). dreamcadets 1d Kind of, but it's said more like "kēhla" 475 +
    via TraditionContent9818
  • 05
    Organism - Neither_Classic_1609 1d 4274 ↓ I remember watching some American show years ago and a guy on there was named Kip. Which literally means chicken in Dutch. GE T-mixslo 1d Kip also means statue in Slovenian ... ↑ 30 +
    via Neither_Classic_1609
  • 06
    Human body - maaaaaaaaaaaaads 2d 189 ↓ "Beurk" in French means "gross" so when I had a coworker whose first name was Burke I told him to go by his middle name when traveling there lol.
    via maaaaaaaaaaaaads
  • 07
    Font - Amougi 1d Rhonda --> without H: ronda 4134 134 it means ugly in hungarian, we write
    via Amougi
  • 08
    Font - ORR that_1_with_the_cats 1d 4113 ↓ When the Fantastic beasts first came out, a lot of Slavs found the name "Credence" funny, because in Czech, Slovak and Polish (perhaps other languages as well, these the ones where I'm sure about the meaning) it means "cupboard". In Czech, the word is also a bit dated, which makes it even funnier - it's something our grandmas would use.
    via that_1_with_the_cats
  • 09
    Human body - PeeingOnABeesNut 1d 4 73 凸 Laura is very close to the word dick in Hindi/Urdu. Makes it funnier in a german accent too. ...
    via PeeingOnABeesNut
  • 10
    Smile - corgi_crazy 1d Mona means female ape in Spanish. G 462 Status-9417 1d 36 In some Italian dialects (northeast) Mona can mean either vagina or idiot/dickhead. ...
    via corgi_crazy
  • 11
    Font - _roofiemonster_ 1d 460 Dzsenifer and Dzsesszika(Jennifer and Jessica) in Hungarian. It is by law that names should be written as they are pronounced, so we get these abominations. Rhonda is pronounced the same as 'ronda' which means ugly. There is a serbian guy called Flakon Geci whose name translates to 'bottle of cum' in Hungarian.
    via _roofiemonster_
  • 12
    Font - Lara-_ 1d 101 + My old teacher's name was "Fokje", it's a dutch name, and yes it does sound like fu
    via Lara-_
  • 13
    Font - _nothing_but_trouble 2d 4 73 ↓ I find Kaya a weird name because it's a slang word for marijuana. I don't know if it's English but in German-speaking Switzerland it's not so uncommon for girls. chattymaquette 2d 28 In Brasil a lot of people refer to weed as kaya as well ...
    via _nothing_but_trouble
  • 14
    Font - Real-Geologist7781 1d 427 ↓ I know of one the other way round: There was a Dutch politician, I think in the EU parliament, with a totally normal Dutch name : Tiny ("teeny") Kok...yup. ...
    via Real-Geologist7781
  • 15
    Rectangle - fluffy_mc_fluff 1d 50 I once watched an american show where a guy was called Pickel. That's pimple in german. No idea how common that name is.
    via fluffy_mc_fluff
  • 16
    Rectangle - enilix 1d Kit means "whale" in Serbo-Croatian. ... 24 Also, "peder" is a very rude slur for a gay man here, while in Scandinavian countries, Peder is a perfectly fine male name.
    via enilix
  • 17
    Font - punkpearlspoetry 1d. ↑ 16 ↓ Never understood how the names Dick and Guy are not completely hilarious tragedeighs in English? Why does everyone just go along with it? .. crazycatlady331 1d. 11凸 The name Dick fell off the charts. The youngest famous person named Dick I can think of is former VP Dick Cheney, who is either in his late 70s or early 80s. Most of the other famous Dicks I can think of (Nixon, Clark, Van Dyke) are dead. Dick was a nickname for Richard. Younger dudes name Richard a
    via punkpearlspoetry
  • 18
    Font - thegracelessdark 1d G Ana is japanese for 'hole' which is a bit... euphemistic ... 11凸
    via thegracelessdark
  • 19
    Font - OkGazelle1093 1d ← 45+ The name Randy is common in North America, but means aroused in the U.K. I know someone who went there for a visit and it was awkward introducing himself.
    via OkGazelle1093

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languages baby names surname language different languages names reddit thread Reddit naming business name funny culture
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