Would this be too cruel?

juneafternoon · Feb 10, 2008

I was thinking of character names last night and I came up with "Mona Rhea". Incidentally, this sounds a lot like a certain STD.

Would it be too cruel/weird to name a character this and then blame it on strange parents?

Or this could be a name that she makes up with a friends just for fun...

*ahem*

veinglory · Feb 10, 2008

I know of people who were given pretty unusual actual names. One was called Oliver Coffee.

Marian Perera · Feb 10, 2008

I've heard of a Korean doctor whose name is Ok Soon.

mikeland · Feb 10, 2008

The joke/cruelty may not come through on the page in this case. The way I would read the name -- Moh-nah Ray -- doesn't actually rhyme with an STD. I assume you would say it Mah-nah Ray-ah? Or am I missing the venereal disease in question.

Feel free to file my comment under "not helpful."

Chasing the Horizon · Feb 10, 2008

I read it Mohna Ray too and was kind of wondering what the problem was. As for 'weird' character names, I have one character who changed his last name to Roach because he's obsessed with cockroaches. Of course, he's a pretty weird guy.

juneafternoon · Feb 10, 2008

I had a friend whose last name was Rhea and it was pronounced 'ree-ah' not 'ray'. So think 'moh-nah ree-ah'.

Judg · Feb 10, 2008

I read it Ray-ah also and immediately thought of another unfortunate condition.

If I were you, I wouldn't use it unless dealing with her name and the various plays people make on it was going to be an important part of the story. Otherwise, it will just be a distraction.

WendyNYC · Feb 10, 2008

Yes, it actually did make me think of gonorrhea. How about Dinah Rhea? Even better. I don't think it would be weird to use, but it's not...pretty. If that's what you are going for. But I suppose everyone could just call her Mona.

Brighid · Feb 10, 2008

I think it depends on the story and how you introduce the name. It could provide a moment of comic relief in an otherwise serious story. It's not like you have to use her full name every time she's mentioned.

Maryn · Feb 10, 2008

I think it's going to be hard to explain pronunciation Ree-ah to the reader while still retaining any comedic touch.

I'm not a fan of funny names. I'm with movie critic Roger Ebert, whose Law of Funny Names says that the funnier a name is supposed to be, the less amusing it actually is (and the worse the movie is).

Maryn, who doesn't have trouble picking names

Matera the Mad · Feb 10, 2008

Mona Rhea took a pee-ah? Rhyming is a popular form of cruelty, and a handy way to illustrate pronunciation.

One persons STD is another person's WTF.

megan_d · Feb 10, 2008

I know a guy called Chris Bliss...

Red-Green · Feb 10, 2008

Cruel names fall under the "truth is stranger than fiction" heading. I mean, there's the famous Texas oil heiress, Ima Hogg. I went to school with a girl named Portia Carr, and I had an international student in my class once named Shithead Ammad, pronounced shith-eed. I suggested he change the spelling of his name.

benbradley · Feb 10, 2008

I vaguely recall a Norman Norman (or something like that) at my high school.

And recently I heard of a woman with the name.... <drum roll, please> ...

Virgina.

donroc · Feb 10, 2008

In grad school we used to create names for our amusement such as the Roman empress Frigida Neurosa non Copulata. And I used to call Joe Gallo, an English major friend, Gallus Prolixus. Pages could be filled.

Also, Ima Hogg's sister was named Eura.

Atlantis · Feb 10, 2008

I once knew a little boy called Fartie.

jenstrikesagain · Feb 10, 2008

I worked on a case once that involved a "Sherman Thurman", and there was a guy in my high school named "Oliver Kloshoff" (pronounced "Clothes off").

Hopcus · Feb 11, 2008

My best friend dated a guy named Vern Effenberger (like F-in-burger). When he first introduced himself I thought he was kidding.

Hapax Legomenon · Feb 11, 2008

I just saw a clinic today with the sign, Dr. Kofkoff, M. D.

It was good for a good laugh.

maestrowork · Feb 11, 2008

IP Daily marries Dinah Rhea.

PattiTheWicked · Feb 11, 2008

We have a urologist here in town named Dr. Balczak. It's pronounced -- I kid you not -- like "ballcheck".

Chase · Feb 11, 2008

There's a very old joke about going with the Rhea sisters, Gonda and Dia.

The proctologist in Havre, Montana, is Dr. Bendo. Local kids constantly add the letters v-e-r to his name.

Bufty · Feb 12, 2008

Rick O'Shea.

Shadow_Ferret · Feb 12, 2008

Chase said:
The proctologist in Havre, Montana, is Dr. Bendo. Local kids constantly add the letters v-e-r to his name.

Leno was doing his Headlines segment and he had a picture of this proctologist holding those long tube things (makes me shudder just thinking about it).

The doctor's name was Anil Ram.

Prawn · Feb 12, 2008

PattiTheWicked said:
We have a urologist here in town named Dr. Balczak. It's pronounced -- I kid you not -- like "ballcheck".

Wouldn't it be worse if it were pronounced "ball sack"?

My wife's gynecologist is named....wait for it...

Dr. McCraken

Would this be too cruel?

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