HOUSTON, TX-- 'Twas ole Bill Shakespeare who proclaimed, "A rose by any other name would surely smell as sweet."
But what about babies? Americans love the names Noah and Emma, but are there any baby names people avoid like the plague?
Now we don't mean "Hester" or "Ichabod"-- old school stuff -- we mean once acceptable names that history has ruined.
How about Homer? Mr. "Doh!!" has pretty much turned that one to toast.
What about Isis? It used to be a powerful moniker. Then those chumps in the Middle East kinda' cut the head off of it. With 'Isis' on your passport, don't expect any quick trips through the airport... ever!
Have you met any O.J.s (as in Simpson) or Adolfs (as in Hitler) recently? We haven't either. Those two pretty much killed the names off single-handedly.
Then there's Atticus, once a cool name from "To Kill a Mockingbird." But the prequel/sequel "Go Set a Watchman" revealed Atticus to be a card-carrying KKK member.
Note to Atticus: skip that next NAACP meeting.
Caitlyn was once a sweet Irish name. Now it's got a little extra something attached to it. Try being a teenage girl named Caitlyn today and not getting asked if you used to be a man. Thanks Mrs. Jenner!
It's sort of like "Katrina" a decade ago when that storm blew through. Houstonian Katrina Glenn says it was no fun for her.
"I did get jokes like, 'I know you're a whirlwind! Are you gonna bring a hurricane over here, too?'... I even got the nickname KaFEMA-- Katrina and FEMA put together," she said. Hilarious...NOT!
Katrina says she actually told some New Orleans evacuees her name was Marie. That's her middle name, but now she's back to Katrina 24/7.
"I love my name. I'm not the hurricane that happened. I'm Katrina, the person," she said.
That must be the answer: taking pride in whoever you are.
Hey! It worked for the First Lady of Texas, Miss Ima Hogg. Next to her, you Kanyes, Osamas and Isises should be as happy as pigs in slop.
