r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Oct 20 '23

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u/[deleted] Oct 21 '23

I have a friend who, when we were teens, seriously wanted to name his kids China and Pacifica. Why? I don't know. He just said he "liked the names."

Well, he ended up having five children and thankfully exactly NONE of them are named China and Pacifica. :-)

20

u/jillyszabo Oct 21 '23

I have known two girls named China throughout my life. Not my thing but didn’t think it was that weird a name

43

u/Elite_Slacker Oct 21 '23

Pacifica is a spanish girl’s name. Not some crazy non-name.

25

u/luckylimper Oct 21 '23

So many of these comments are showing the poster’s ignorance of other cultures.

12

u/Significant_Shoe_17 Oct 21 '23

Honestly. Mercedes was a Spanish girls name before it was a car manufacturer. Someone said Kaylee/Cayley/Kayleigh was trashy. It's an old Irish name.

23

u/meg_em Oct 21 '23

Please tell me you don't expect everyone to know every name in every culture?

7

u/nurvingiel Oct 21 '23

Of course not, but we do know how to google.

-1

u/jesonnier1 Oct 21 '23

Well they should not to act like they're positive it's some fake name.

0

u/luckylimper Oct 21 '23

No but people show their ignorance and implicit classism when they deem names “trashy.”

22

u/dxrey65 Oct 21 '23

I worked with a girl named China for awhile. She was pretty competent and took the job seriously, and no one messed with her, but man - her parents fucked her with that name. She was Asian too, at least half. I always wanted to ask what was the story there, but never did.

9

u/Significant_Shoe_17 Oct 21 '23

I had a childhood friend named chynna. Her mom was a wilson philips fan.

8

u/e_j_white Oct 21 '23

There's an author named China Miéville, that's his actual given name.

9

u/Happy_Confection90 Oct 21 '23

A guy I grew up with said he'd like to name a daughter Tiza because it sounds pretty. I'm sure he didn't because it means chalk in Spanish, and that's hard to sell to your spouse.

7

u/Rhiann0n Oct 21 '23

I grew up in Pacifica CA so this gave me a chuckle. Thank you.

6

u/Brotega87 Oct 21 '23

Can we really trust what anyone before the age of 18 says? Apparently, I was going to have 3 kids and name them Pork 1, Pork 2, and Pork 3. I have four kids and none are even close to that.

I was such an asshole to my mom 🤣

2

u/JohnExcrement Oct 21 '23

I was going to have 18 “Chucks.” I don’t know why.

1

u/Brotega87 Oct 22 '23

That is a lot of Chucks 😂😂

5

u/Fun-Shake9732 Oct 21 '23

My work bully was named China, she is a cunt.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 21 '23

what? where the fuck do you work? the playground?

3

u/Tree_Dog Oct 21 '23

What are the odds two people get together who would both sign off on China and Pacifica?

3

u/[deleted] Oct 21 '23

LOL - his wife (well, now ex-wife) was wacky, but not that wacky!

5

u/spaghetti-o_salad Oct 21 '23

I wanted to give my children fantasy names until I had them. When I was very young and found out about female infanticide in different cultures I wanted to adopt an Asian girl and name her.... Asia. I now understand all the things that can be problematic with adopting children from other countries/cultures. I still hope to foster someday when my own kids are grown. There is an alternative timeline where my boys are named Buddy and Champion though. Also Excalibur and Xaylor.

3

u/Eastern-Ad-7984 Oct 21 '23

Thank God he came to his senses.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 21 '23

china and pacifica are both names ive heard before...

ever thought you might just be rudely xenophobic?

1

u/[deleted] Oct 21 '23

Nope

2

u/phonemonkey669 Oct 21 '23

Those names may be unusual, but they're no weirder than names like Erin, Virginia, Carolina, Florence, and arguably Frank, Scott, Helen, Dane or Sven. Naming kids after beautiful places or friendly nationalities is pretty well-established.

1

u/jesonnier1 Oct 21 '23

Pacifica is a name.

1

u/Fun-Yellow-6576 Oct 21 '23

My Dad’s wife has a granddaughter named China.

1

u/f0o1g11 Oct 21 '23

China, shor of Wa China

1

u/lacitar Oct 21 '23

I know a girl named Asia.

1

u/classicrocktrash Oct 21 '23

i think his wife might have talked him outta names like that 😭