Creative Baby Names Come With Unexpected Baggage: How Airline Upgrade Lists Could Embarrass Your Child – View from the Wing

Parents really need to think through all of the ways in which their children might be made fun of when coming up with names. This is easiest to do with common names – you probably heard all of the name-calling when >you were a child. It’s much harder with ‘original’ types of names. What are the nicknames? What do those names sound like, or rhyme with? Who else has that name?

You’re not going to come up with everything, because not everything has been created when they’re born. When I was six years old, the first-run syndication Great Space Coaster first aired and that show featured a puppet “Gary Gnu” a wildebeest TV-news anchor whose catchphrase was “No Gnews is Good Gnews with Gary Gnu.”

One thing that not enough parents consider when naming their child is how a name will appear on upgrade lists. What does the combination of first three letters of last name plus first initial do?

Unfortunate Namebyu/boburban4 inamericanairlines

Last names alone are harder to manage, but it’s worth considering just the first three letters of your last name – maybe it’s better to go with the mother’s name instead?

Well, that’s quite the combinationbyu/awaythrow6678 inunitedairlines

It’s not always just other passengers snickering to themselves, either! Southwest Airlines doesn’t have a first class, or lists for upgrade to premium seating (yet!) but one Southwest gate agent made fun of the name printed on a 5-year old girl’s boarding pass. The girl’s name was Abcde (pronounced “Ab-city”). According to the girl’s mother, “the gate agent started laughing, pointing at me and my daughter, talking to other employees.”

I’m going to take an unpopular position here though. I’m going to say that the mother did her child a disserving naming her Abcde, because it is completely foreseeable that the girl is going to draw unwanted attention for her name throughout her childhood. Don’t name your child “pee” or “poo,” either.