Damien most feared name
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 pm by David FarrarDamien was actually my nickname amongst some of my friends at school.
Reuters reports on the ten most feared names:
1) Damien
2) Myra
3) Carrie
4) Rosemary
5) Judas
6) Adolf
7) Pandora
8) Regan
9) Samara
10) Boris
Myra is obviously about serial killer Myra Hindley. Carrie from the film of the same name and Rosemary from Rosemary’s Baby.
Judas needs no explanation, neother does Adolf or Pandora I would hope.
Regan stumped me for a second but that is the name of the character played by Linda Blair in the Exorcist. I rate the Exorcist as the most scary movie I’ve seen.
Samara is from the Ring, and Boris I presume is a reference to Boris Karloff not Boris Johnson!
Tags: names
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:05 pm
How the hell can a name be feared?
Vote:September 23rd, 2009 at 12:09 pm
You’re not up to date with the catalogue of woe that is Whale’s Stupid First Name Syndrome then?
[DPF: Yes they are great]
Vote:September 23rd, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Must explain why O’Connor lost West Coast/Tasman then.
Vote:September 23rd, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I agree Adolph needs no explanation, especially in good ole’ socialist New Zealand. Hell I’m staunch right and sometimes after reading nominister I need a cuppa tea and a lie down
Vote:September 23rd, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Is that not just a list of names that were in scary movies?
Vote:September 23rd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Obviously Helen only made the NZ list.
Vote:September 23rd, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Not enough real news stories to comment on today?
Vote:September 23rd, 2009 at 3:44 pm
What would have been the result if Mr and Mrs Hitler had named their bonny babe John? Or David?
Or the authors of the Bible decided Phil was a better monicker than Judas?
It’s odd how names do seem to, in some way, shape their owners’ personalities. I’ve never met an aggressive Nigel, for instance. Perhaps if Mr and Mrs Hitler had settled on Nigel, things might have taken a different turn.
Vote:September 23rd, 2009 at 4:09 pm
I think this list is a bit superficial (or the respondents are). As is the report – “Three quarters of respondents said they would avoid dating someone with the name Damien” – I would be counted in the three quarters if I was polled, but that wouldn’t mean much. I’m suspicious of how the names were selected – did respondents think of them themselves? Were they selected from a list?
Seems like a standard press release “news” item. All Google hits start with the exact same sentence. Free promotion and no substance.
Names do seem to matter though, they can have quite an effect. Sometimes language evolution can make a big difference within a lifetime, ask anyone called Gay.
Vote:September 23rd, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Damien the most feared name? …you have no idea how funny I find that! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Vote:September 23rd, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Perhaps the appearance of Boris on the list comes from Boris Yeltsin. It was pretty scary having a drunkard controlling 20,000 nuclear warheads.
Vote:September 23rd, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Samara?
Vote:September 23rd, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Or a unicorn riding doofus from Hawaii.
Vote:September 24th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I presume Damien is from “The Omen”. The original 2 films were pretty scary, I have to say.
Vote:September 24th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Damien would be from the 1976 movie The Omen. Damien is the offspring of Satan and destined to become the Antichrist. I’ve never seen the Omen but know this due to my knowledge of the fantastic British TV series “Only Fools and Horses” in which Del and Racquel have a son they call Damien after Rodney mockingly suggests the name after the Devil’s child in The Omen.
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