We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to share the unusual backstory of how they were named, and they came through with some real doozies:
1. "I’m named Macy because my mom went into labor at Macy’s."
2. "My mom was a huge Disney fan and wanted her first girl to have a princess's name. My dad, however, hated Disney and refused. So my mom suggested 'Aurora' and my dad — unaware that was the name of sleeping beauty — agreed."
3. "My parents literally opened a dictionary, saw the word 'fin,' thought it was cool, and just made up the name Phinita. What?"
4. "My mom had me when she was 16, and named me Rayden after a character in her favorite video game, Mortal Kombat."
5. "When my mom was 15 she watched The Exorcist and loved the name Regan. She decided her firstborn daughter would be named Regan, so I was named after a possessed little girl."
6. "My parents told my brothers they were going to name me Justin and my oldest brother, who was 10 at the time, had a meltdown, screaming, 'I refuse to have a brother named Justin!' He didn’t let up until they agreed to name me Jason instead."
7. "I'm named after some lady named Joli who helped my dad over the phone with some insurance changes. Shout out to Joli at State Farm for the unique name."
8. My parents are both lawyers so I was named Miranda after the Miranda rights — you know, what police officers read to detainees being arrested: 'You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you...'"
9. "My mom named me after Merry Christmas because I was born in December and she was high on the epidural. But she flipped it and named me Christina Marie."
10. "My parents were sure they were having a boy, and decided to name the baby after my dad, David. Cut to the day of labor and my dad didn't get the junior he was expecting. So, with no back up, they slapped an 'a' at the end of my dad's name and Davida was the result."
11. "My mom was a bit new-agey in the '80s and went to get her 'past lives' read by a medium who claimed to be channeling the spirit of a long-dead Tibetan monk. The 'spirit' told her that her soul had once belonged to a priestess in the lost city of Atlantis named Alaia. My mother liked it so much she made it my middle name."
12. "My parents were set on naming me Alexandra when my mom had a vivid dream where I came to her and said, 'That’s not my name. My name is Julia.' My mom woke up, unnerved, so to feel better she turned on the 'Beatles block' on the radio. The first song to play was 'Julia' from the White Album. My mom considered it fate and named me Julia."
13. "My parents drove by Kacey’s Fine Furniture and were like, 'Hmm, Kacey.' So here I am."
14. "My daughter looked a little like a cartoon duck in her first sonogram picture, so we nicknamed her ducky. Later, while looking for names, we found that Della was Donald Duck’s sister (and Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s mom). We instantly knew that Della would be her name."
15. "I was named after Kira in The Dark Crystal. So basically...I was named after a muppet."
16. "My mom cheated on the man she was married to and got pregnant with me. The man she was married to wanted to name me Matilda, but when I was born he realized I wasn't his kid and left. When they brought the paperwork in for my birth certificate, my mom couldn't think of anything so she saw a calendar and named me April."
17. "My dad named me, his first born daughter, after his favorite porn star, Kaitlyn Ashley. My younger sister is also named after a porn star: Sarah Brooke."
18. "I was named after a drag queen who was my mom's best friend in high school. He did drag professionally in the '80s and was runner-up for Miss Gay America so many times they called him the Susan Lucci of drag! His stage name was Rachel Masters, and my mom loved the name Rachel and wanted to name me after him. I loved him dearly — here's a picture of me, Miss Rachel, and my mom."
19. "My grandfather was a scientist, so when my dad was born all his friends said that a scientist's son should have a scientific name. They decided on the name Ampere after the unit of electricity, which later got shortened to Ampa."
20. "I’m named Acadia after Acadia National Park where I was conceived...on top of a mountain."
21. "My mom was going to name me Shelby until the O.J. Simpson trial was happening and she saw his daughter's name was Sidney. So, I’m named after O.J.'s daughter, and honestly I’m grateful."
22. "My parents were going to name me Amber Lynn, but my grandmother saw a billboard advertising a strip club on the way to the hospital that read: 'Come see the beautiful Amber Lynn!' Therefore, my parents had to change my name hours before my birth to Amanda LeAnn.”
23. "My dad wanted to name me Julia but my mom did not. Luckily, my mom’s nurse had just gone to see a Julia Roberts movie where she played a woman by the name of Vivian...and that’s the story of how I got named after a hooker."
24. My mom and her friend Lauren got super stoned on the beach and promised each other that one day they would name their daughters after each other. That's how I was named Lauren."
25. "I was named after an ex-girlfriend of my dad. My mom was aware of this and totally fine with it (the ex is a family friend). In fact, my little sister is named after another ex!"
26. "I’m Native American, so my first name, Tonigia, is Paiute for Blossom. It sounds pretty until you find out that I was named after my dad’s favorite TV show."
27. "My name is Shelby — after my dad’s Dodge Shelby two-seater that he had to sell when I was born because there wasn’t room for a car seat."
Submissions have been edited for length and clarity.