There is a lot of weight resting on the name you give a child. When they’re younger, it could morph into a nickname, for better or worse. As they grow older, it needs to be something they can pin to their achievements with pride. As adults, we need something memorable and with gravitas. But, one woman really screwed the pooch, and named her kid after a gross fungal infection.
I have to admit, there are some words that, if they didn’t already have a horrible meaning, would make for a nice name. Take Chalmidyia, for instance. It’s actually quite a nice name. But the connotations ruin it.
But a woman has named her daughter after a fungal infection, fully aware of the meaning. I don’t think her daughter will be all too pleased when she grows up. And, it was her wisecracking uncle who was to blame.
While the mother of the badly named child struggled with a name for her impending baby, the uncle came up with some joke names to lighten the mood. Both the girl’s mother and uncle work in hospitals, so the names were themed.
The uncle explained his list in a Reddit post. “I gave her a list of (obviously) joke baby names. We have a really close relationship, and it was in line with both our senses of humor,” he began. “She’s a nurse, and I’m a biology student, so all the names were medications, infections, unpleasant animals, etcetera, that all sound like lovely girls’ names out of context.”
He never expected her to pick one from the list. Who names their kid Viagra?
Mom Knowingly Names Her Kid After Infection
From the list, she chose to name her kid Malassezia, which is a fungal skin infection. Both the mother of the child and the uncle suffer from it, although it is rare. It is also inherited, too, so at some point, it’s likely the kid will suffer from its namesake.
Despite it being a literal infection, the mother decided that the kid’s name stands. “I pointed it out to her, and she said that yes, she knew what it meant, and she knew my list was intended to be a joke, but she just really liked the way it sounded.”
The father apparently doesn’t know what it means. I don’t expect he will be overjoyed when he finds out either.