Twinkle Ling: Most unforgettable Hong Kong names
TheBabyWebsite.com reveals their survey on the 'most unfortunate' baby names, none of which can compare to Hong Kong's
You never know, Singapore's Batman could be the most popular kid in school.TheBabyWebsite.com searched through online telephone records for the 'most unfortunate' British and American names. Poor souls were named Stan Still, Mary Christmas, Paige Turner, Chris Cross, Barry Cade, and one Dr. Payne. Celebrities also name their babies by references ranging from the biblical to pop, like Gwyneth Paltrow's kids Apple and Moses, Jason Lee's son Pilot Inspektor, and Nicholas Cage's son Kal-El Coppola -- Kal-el is Superman’s original Kryptonian name.
Here in Hong Kong, the name game is a classic result of meaning warped in translation. Hands up those of you who’ve come across a person named Creamie, Pinky or Sincere. How about Thermometer, Cactus or Tomorrow?
“Asians in general are not aware of the customs of English name-giving or the meanings of the names outside their own countries. So they may think that 'smile' is a common name when actually it isn’t,” says Bethany Matta, a native English teacher in a Hong Kong public school who has come across her fair share of odd English names in Hong Kong.
Some of her favorite include Pizza, Boaz and Hummer. Here’s a list of names that made us do a double take:Fanny Gu, Twinkle Ling, Summer Fan, Morning Sun, Calorie Ng (a personal trainer), Steel and Brick (not brothers, but co-workers in a restaurant -- I’m sure they are the, ahem, pillars of the business) … and then there’s the ever popular Yo Yo, Bo Bo, Coco, Gogo and Goldilocks.
What's your favorite funny name?
