It's a shame, isn't it, when someone calls a baby by the name of someone you don't like. Some names have nasty assocations that it's hard to see past. You can get over a John or a Steve or a Mary or an Elizabeth, as they're so common. It's when it's slightly unusual that you never forget.
I've just heard news of a Madeleine, and the McCanns aside, it's the name of the worst boss I ever had, a panicky point-scorer with hairy legs and no sense of humour who made my life a misery. I don't like the name.
Other names that chill me to the bone:
Kelvin - Besides being a ghastly name in itself, it was attached to a pale-grey-suited, ginger-mulletted, soul-slippered bore who wanted to be my friend when I temped at an insurance company in the summer of '85 for about five minutes. He kept popping round with his record collection. I had to move to get away from him.
Lorraine - Another old boss, but she didn't go by this name, she had a silly, 1970s diminutive, and she was a monster. A terrible name that's not lasted the distance
Jilly - Silly
Dick - What's in a name? Strawbs-loving Oddbod lookalike who practically taped my conversations to get me into trouble.
Jeff - Curly-locked flatmate from Hell.
Luke - See above
Rory - Morrisseyesqe weed who couldn't wait to find fault with me - then had the gall to contact me through Friends Reunited like we were ever pals. Short shrift was forthcoming.
Pippa - Ugh.
Lee - The cause of much misery.
Jamie - No name for a grown man. See also Robin, Crispin.
Don't call your children these names.
