Kat Chow at NPR (and request for names)

October 7, 2017 • 10:45 am

You’re gonna get persiflage today as my neuronal activity has been diverted to a piece of writing which will provide an actual stipendiary emolument.

I was listening to National Public Radio news this morning, and I heard an item reported by someone who appeared to say, at the end, “This is Cat Chow reporting for NPR News.” I thought I’d heard wrong, but then thought, “No, it’s gotta be an Asian woman.” Sure enough, when I got back to a computer, I found Kat Chow!  Here she is:

Kat Chow. Photo by Ericka Cruz Guevarra/NPR

And a bio:

Kat Chow is a founding member of NPR’s Code Switch, an award-winning team that covers the complicated stories of race, ethnicity, and culture. She helps make new episodes for the Code Switch podcast, reports online features for Code Switch, and reports on-air pieces for NPR’s shows like Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Her work has led readers and listeners on explorations of the gendered and racialized double standards surrounding double-eyelid surgery, as well as the mysterious origins of a so-called “Oriental” riff – a word she’s also written a personal essay about. Much of her role revolves around finding new ways to build communities and tell stories, like @todayin1963 or #xculturelove.

I wonder how often people makes jokes about her name, just as I’ve often wondered how often New York Times reporter Gina Kolata gets jokes about drinks.

Here are some other mirth-inducing names I’ve come across in my life. The first one’s the best:

Dr. Harry Beaver, a gynecologist (of all things) in Northern Virginia who goes by “Harry”, not “Harold”. One of my friends was his patient. Can you imagine the jokes he had to hear from his colleagues? If you don’t believe the name, check the link.
Drs. Wolf and Mouser (the two vets in Virginia who ran a clinic where my family used to take its cats). I found Wolf’s obituary.
Ming Toy Epstein, the Chinese wife of a Jewish friend of my father.
Candy Cane (In my class at William and Mary)
Dreama Dawn Dean (a friend of one my college classmates)
Orbie R. Fleenor. On a road trip from Williamsburg, Virginia to Forth Worth, Texas, we saw this name on a billboard (I think he sold insurance). I also found his obituary.
Bayne Grubb (a friend of one of my college friends, Grubb came from Fries, Virginia)
China Alderman (another inhabitant of Fries; name pronounced “Chinee”; not Asian)
Pearl Ruby Diamond (found by a friend in the Richmond, Virginia phone book)
Queen Elizabeth Mozone (ditto)
Roosevelt McKnuckles (found by me in the Chicago phone book)
Bob Bugg, an entomology graduate student I knew at UC Davis

I’m sure the readers can come up with many more amusing names; put them below.

130 thoughts on “Kat Chow at NPR (and request for names)”

  4. I went to high school with Jack Spratt. Oh, and the inventor of the Lear Jet named his daughter Shanda (apparently at the urging of his own father, a one-time Vaudeville performer).

  6. Kat Chow is a great one. I’ve got scads. I’ve collected many over the years, but the name that immediately comes to mind here is well known as a peculiar name: Ima Hogg. I’d always thought there was a sister named Ura Hogg, but I find that’s incorrect https://tshaonline.org/publications/books/31531.

    I recall reading about a woman named Uremia. Here are some amusing ones http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/nominative-determinism-hilariously-inappropriate-names-time/

  9. Also, author of the great novel, Over the Cliff, by Ilene Dover. Sorry, not a real name.

  11. “Dr. Harry Beaver, a gynecologist…”

    That’s a true classic.

    I was looking at the bricks named for donors at a synagogue once, and one was named “Harry Sachs.”

    1. And I’ve always been fond of a certain actress’ name: Imogen Poots.

      Full name: Imogen Gay Poots.

      AKA “Imagine Gay Farts”

  15. The Car Guys on NPR always used to have fake names rolling as credits at the end of their show… the best one I remember is their Soccer Mom, Erasmus B. Dragon.

        1. And there was the Diaz family – the proctologist Cameron Diaz, the jerk Royal Pain Diaz, and several others; the Russian chauffeur Pickup Andropov; and many many more. Car Talk would have been worth it for the last couple of minutes alone, but the rest was always fun.

  16. Zoltan Ovary was an immunologist. There used to be a lawyer in New Jersey with a name like I. M. Zamost.

  18. I had a friend whose parents changed the family name to Thomas when they moved to NZ from Asia so they would fit it better. They also gave the kids new first names.

    He became John. John Thomas.

    I had a colleague whose surname was Haugh, pronounced “hore”. She exacerbated the problem for her daughter by naming her Crystal.

    There’s an All Black with the surname Woodcock, first name Tony. I actually never thought about it because it’s a bird, but my mother gets the giggles every time she hears it. I’ve always wondered if, like many huge men, he gets the nickname Tiny.

    My best friend’s mother at high school had a very proper English aunt surnamed Ramsbottom, which is quite common. Many English families with that suffix on their name have changed it to Bothan in the past. One example is the famous crickter Ian Botham. I had to sit through Christmas dinner once saying “Mrs Ramsbottom” whenever I wanted to speak to her.

    I used to work in a hospital, and some parents gave their kids terrible names. Here, it’s possible for the government to intervene and refuse to give a child a particular name if they consider it would constitute child abuse. They stop names like Satan, Devil, Bitch, Whore, Viagra, Valium etc (yes, people try to call their kids such things). But obviously they can’t take advantage of such a power, so some weird names still get through. I’ve see V8, Benson and Hedges for twins (a brand of cigarettes in NZ) and many more.

    Another place I worked a couple came in to give us their new names, which they’d had changed by Deed Poll. Samson and Delilah.

    I lived with a guy who didn’t like his surname and had changed it as soon as he was old enough. I won’t tell you his original name, because he never told anyone, but he chose Stevens to replace it because of the TV show Bewitched.

    1. My middle name is Thomas. My son in law is Chinese and his name is Jian, which almost sounds like John. He tolerates our butchering of the pronunciation.

  19. Several years ago, I decided my porno actor name would be Peter Principal (spelled with “al” instead of “le” on purpose)

    A couple of weeks ago, I thought I should change it to Ken Abyss (Say it fast several times)

      1. At the risk of doxxing myself, my real life address is:

        XXXX Interstate 69
        Houston, Texas 770XX

    1. There was a sitcom producer in the 70s named Bud Wiser. I remember seeing his name at the end of One Day At A Time shows

  22. Dr Coffin operated on my grandfather, I was once referred to the gynecologist Dr. Clapp, and my friend had a root canal done by Dr Paine. All in Burlington, VT.

  23. I once knew a girl named Anna Nass. Ananas means pineapple in German.
    During a student job I came across the name Hermine Herminne.

    Makes you wonder WTF were the parents thinking, most likely: How can I embarras my children the most.

    2. Makes you wonder WTF were the parents thinking, most likely: How can I embarras my children the most.

      My question exactly. At work, we just hired a young man, family name of Jamison. So, what did his parents name him? Why, “Jesse,” of course…

      My wife has a friend named Crystal Bell.

    3. If one is going to venture into fruits and the like, I recently learned that “avocado” comes from the Nahuatl and means “tree testicles” so whenever you say avocado, remember what you’re saying. And guacamole means “testicle sauce”.

  24. I only notice them when they relate to the perosn’s profession. Ethologists often seem to have good ones, like a guy whose last name was van Honk, who studies male aggression, and a Prof Dr. Trillmich who studies bird song — in German ‘trillieren’ is birdsong, and ‘mich’ is the accusative of me.

    There are of course plenty of these in German. The guy who painted a famous pic of Goethe was called Tischbein — table leg.

    The absolute worst German name I’ve ever come across is Nonnenmacher — literally nun-maker. What would you do if your daughter brought someone with that name home?

    2. And a barber around the corner from me is called Klingbeil — Ax blade. I#m not a customer. In my street there’s also Steuerwald (literally tax-forest), who’s an accountant.

  26. And don’t forget Senior United States District Judge Richard Kopf, who is not often called Dick.

  27. Dr. Bonebrake, a rheumatologist I used to see in Madison WI.
    My childhood dentist was Dr. Meisles.
    In gradeschool I knew a girl whose last name was Penix. I don’t remember her first name. Miss Oklahoma 2000 was Amanda Penix, so maybe it’s not that uncommon.

    1. OMG! I was going to cite Dr. Bonebrake! When I lived in Minneapolis, my ex-mother-in-law or somebody said he was a chiropractor!

  28. There was a website, in German, that collected such names and verified them. Among them such gems as an actual psychotherapist named Gisela von Hinten (Gisela from Behind). Who led a seminar on ethics at the university Munich? That was one Prof. Angstwurm and Prof. Unschuld (Fearworm & Innocence). There‘s also a doctor with the curious double name, Dr. Annemarie Gnändiger-Mezger (Dr. Merciful—Butcher), and endless more.

    Finally, I dare you to not laugh…

    https://youtu.be/LCVuarcvJWU

  32. We should not forget Johnny Carson’s girl friend back in high school, Gina Statutory. She went to Lincoln high and all the guys called her Miss Lincoln because all the boys took a shot at her in the balcony.

    1. I imagine that these people could change their names if they really objected to the jokes. For instance, Ms. Chow could call herself Katherine or Katie, or people could use a middle name.

      I once new a big lug named Bill; for some reason, he showed me his driver’s license and I saw his name was actually “H. William.” I asked what the “H” stood for, and he mumbled “Hillary.” He was a big, tough guy, so I don’t imagine anyone called him that. More than once.

    2. I imagine that these people could change their names if they really objected to the jokes. For instance, Ms. Chow could call herself Katherine or Katie, or people could use a middle name.

      I once new a big lug named Bill; for some reason, he showed me his driver’s license and I saw his name was actually “H. William.” I asked what the “H” stood for, and he mumbled “Hillary.” He was a big, tough guy, so I don’t imagine anyone called him that. More than once.

    3. I imagine that these people could change their names if they really objected to the jokes. For instance, Ms. Chow could call herself Katherine or Katie, or people could use a middle name.

      I once new a big lug named Bill; for some reason, he showed me his driver’s license and I saw his name was actually “H. William.” I asked what the “H” stood for, and he mumbled “Hillary.” He was a big, tough guy, so I don’t imagine anyone called him that. More than once.

  34. In the phone book when I was growing up in the Midwest in the 1970s, there was a “Charlie DeToona” O_O

  35. In high school, graduating class of 1976 (THAT’s the spirit!), there was this African American guy named “Tootie Edwards”. It wasn’t until I saw his name in the yearbook that I realized his REAL name was “Molester” O_O

    I can only imagine the thought process: “It’s like a combination of ‘Morris’ and ‘Lester’ – it’s *perfect*!!”

  37. I saw a list of unusual names on a post at utility closet blog: Here’s the intro paragraph and the link:

    Yet more unusual names of real people. Most of these are from the collection of Leland Hilligoss of the St. Louis Public Library, via Paul Dickson, A Collector’s Compendium of Rare and Unusual, Bold and Beautiful, Odd and Whimsical Names (1986). “As far as can be determined, all of the names are real and almost all were collected in North America and the British Isles”:
    https://www.futilitycloset.com/2011/10/18/roll-call-5/

  39. Our high school choir teacher was Helen Hollar – if you want to learn to sing, go to ….. 🙂

    Also, home town had a family named Hay, and their boys were Timothy, Clover and Alfalfa.

    Another family named their boys Peach and Orange, for no apparent reason since their last name was Stiver.

  40. Mr. Pisipati, an Italian researcher I knew years ago.

    Bert Buggs, fellow chess club member in high school.

    Bitsie Bacon, seen on local real estate open house signs.

  41. Legal cases can produce some good ones especially as ‘v’ is read as ‘and’ as in Glasscock v Balls.

  42. There was an administrator at my college, named Stu Orefice. He was part of dining services, very large and very nice.

  43. And yet another urologist who specialized in vasectomies (in Rochester, NY): Dr. Stopp.

  45. One of the donors memorialized on the wall at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine: Jack Himoff.

    Also, I knew of a young lady in the Labor and Delivery Department at Jacobi Hospital who named her new daughter Chalmydia (she had heard the word and thought it sounded very pretty…which it does, unless you know of the disease to which it refers).

  46. In grad school we tried to think of author pairings that were as excellent as the 1950s Fatt and Katz papers, on the physiology of the motor endplate. Westward and Ho, etc. Potential postdoctoral stints and collaborations were suggested.

  47. Some interesting names are generated in the South Pacific where the cultural differences are very evident.
    Two I have heard are ‘Telephone Box’ and ‘Behind the Victory theatre’, the latter being apparently where he/she was conceived.

  49. A work colleague (many years ago) changed his name officially to ‘The Bean’. Whenever he answered the phone he would say ‘Bean here’.

  50. History offers us Pleasant Hackleman, a Union general who died at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, and Praise-God Barebone, a 15th Century English preacher.

    1. He was married for 20+ years to Geraldine Page, and their mail box said “Torn Page”.

      His real name is Elmore Rual Torn Jr.

  52. An in-law works in NYC public schools and had a student named Ya Highness.

    I know people who had a son and a daughter. The kids are named Sam and Ella.

    A friend and his wife had a daughter they named Hallelujah. When they subsequently had a son, I suggested they name him Jesus.

    1. At least people didn’t confuse his first and last names, something that is the story of my life.

  54. … my neuronal activity has been diverted to a piece of writing which will provide an actual stipendiary emolument.

    Samuel Johnson said “[n]o man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.”

    Doc Johnson wouldn’t’ve been much for bl*gg*ng, I suppose.

  55. Candy Cane (In my class at William and Mary)

    I caught her act at a burlesque show once.

  56. Worked with a woman called Ann Page, that also being an A&P grocery house brand. She recounted a few occasions where she was accused of using a pseudonym, and was happy to adopt her husband’s last name.

  57. We had a classmate in high school named Pierce Archer, and there is a technician at a local computer store named Colin Daley.

  58. There is a very respectable firm of funeral directors in the town where I live called Wake & Paine.

  59. My favourite unusual name is Honeysuckle Weeks, a wonderful actress on the inimitable series, Foyle’s War.

    I also like Uriah Heeth (the rock band) and the funny name of an old family acquaintance, Grosseth Preddy.

    3. Think that’s Uriah “Heep,” same as the Dickens character in David Copperfield. 🙂

  60. In my hometown Dr. Pulley was the dentist. A Mr. Woods ran the lumber company. And two guys, Morris-Crates, ran a funeral parlor.

  61. One of my fellow grad students was Alex Mackerell. His advisor was collaborating with an MD named Hawley. Unfortunately a Hawley Mackerell paper (which would have been Hawley, Mackerell and Pietruszko) was never forthcoming.

    And the ones that I remember from a file I kept of such things, that I can’t find now:

    Then while looking up a paper back in the bound hardcopy days, I came across one by Samuel J Pancake. I turned to show another fellow grad student but stopped short when I realized he was Jerry Bagel.

    Another one, I believe in J Biol Chem, was by Edgar Outhouse.

    And a paper whose conclusions I was instantly skeptical of was by Fu Li Yu.

    But the alltime prizewinner is one in Biopolymers by Torkel Weis-Fogh with middle author Foch F Yew.

    Except for Hawley, searches will turn up all of these…

    1. The “Hawley, Mackerell” reminds me of a (fictitious) law firm, “Dewey, Cheetam and Howe”.

  62. Oh, and a friend in the UK had a friend named Swadell. He married a girl named Maycock (the A is silent). They briefly considered hyphenating their names.

  63. The proof reader for my thesis wondered if I was trying to prank her when she got to the part where I cited “Koch, Kunz and Reuter”, who often co-authored together.

  64. A birth notice in my local newspaper several years ago. Born to Lisa Hill and Harold Rose — “Arayah Sunshine Ona Rose-Hill”. I wonder how she’s doing.

  66. There’s a urologist in town who’s known for vasectomies with the (actual, self-fulfilling) name Richard Chopp.

  67. I remember hearing about a couple of new parents, surnamed ‘Peacock’, who’d got in the papers for naming their child ‘Drew’ and realising three or four months into the luckless sod’s life that they’d made a bit of a mistake.

    I also cut out and kept a story from the Guardian about a Gabonese leader who both had a funny name(funny in a slightly dodgy, un-PC way), and a funny appearance.

    I think the article might have been from when he died, and the same picture was used as is used in the following obit. from the Telegraph:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/5478816/Omar-Bongo.html

    The world should have known more about Omar Bongo.

    1. Ha! I once arrived in Gabon (to fly to Sao Tome for field work) just as President Bongo flew in and took a helicopter to his Presidential palace (a block from our hotel). He was accompanied, I’m told, by a guard of French mercenaries, as he wouldn’t trust his own countrymen to guard him.

  68. I’ve heard of a Dr. Doctor (Donald Doctor, as it happens), and a Dr. Deep (gyno, of course), and have personally seen ads for a dentist named Anthony J. Puller.

    Who says a family name can’t influence someone’s future?

    1. Coyne Laundromat
      Coyne’s Stamps & Coins
      Coyne’s Home Wishing Wells

      Casa deCoyne: Self-serve ceviche dispensers in train and bus stations around Chicago; Also see our “Flip-a=Coyne” day-old selections.

      Coyne’s Editorial Protection… “We coyne’d that first!”
      ===
      http://www.jokebuddha.com/Coin

  71. And of couse the classic:

    “What about you? Do you find it… wisible… when I say the name… ‘Biggus’…’Dickus’? He has a wife, you know. You know what she’s called? She’s called… ‘Incontinentia’. ‘Incontinentia Buttocks’.”

  73. Here in Russia, we have a rather common family name Vagin (I happen to have one friend by this name). Consequently, the female variation of this name is Vagina. I’ve seen photos of this name on the doctor’s door.

    The letter “g” is pronounced as in “dog”, not as in “gin”, and the stress is on the first syllable, but the spelling is identical.

  74. My humble contributions:
    I met a girl named Sarah Nading at music camp.
    My husband went to school with Tannis Ball.
    I heard of a gynaecologist in Harley St. named Dr. Stud.

  75. Once had to deal with an IRS agent, T.S. Kovell. Everyone agreed that he LIKED his first two initials.

  77. There are a couple of ex football (soccer) players in the UK with the surname Neville. Their father’s name was Neville Neville.

    I used to work with a guy called Bob Mycock – after introducing himself he’d say it was his name, not an instruction.

    My wife’s father wanted to name her Valentina (she was born on Valentine’s day) – that would have given her the initials VD.

  78. Like Andy Lowry above, my wife went to school with a Justin Case, as well as a Kim May.

    My housemate’s grandfather was a dentist who was friends with two surgeons. The three of them were Drs. Payne, Savage, and Butcher. He went to school with a Doug Wells.

    The Houston phonebook in the 80s had some names that were probably fake: Heller Highwater and James Tiberius Kirk.

    I went to college with a Constance Slaughter, and once worked with Anita House.

    Then there are the bad email addresses. I worked with a Paul Enos (penos) and a Seth Hitchings (shitchin).

Comments are closed.