Has your family name ever been a source of embarrassment for you? If so, was your situation as bad as these people we’re going to talk about?

Have a look at these people on Quora discussing the origins of, and embarrassment caused by, their names.

Bhoot

When your name also means “ghost”, it could be a great conversation starter. Says Mayank, the possessor of this apparitional surname: “My last name has often helped me diffuse tense situations. One of my interviewers was in a grumpy mood - the previous interviewee had pissed him off. One look at his bloodshot face was enough to form beads of sweat on my already silly face. No sooner did I sit down on the chair warmed by the previous interviewee, I blurted out, ‘My surname is Bhoot.’ He stared at me for a moment or two, but then started laughing. His mood lightened and we spent half the interview discussing the origins of my surname. That might be my only panicked response that went in my favor.” [Link]

Tatti

Well, shit, Abhijeet. [Link]

Boob

What do you do with a name like that? Says Mayank, the owner of this mammatus name, sit back and think of what your future kids would be called. “Once me and a bunch of friends stayed up all night trying to decide what names could be coupled with my surname for my children. We came up with some pretty funny ones like - Shekhar Boob (Shake-her Boob), Vishal Boob (Vishal meaning big in Hindi), Seema Boob (With a bit of swag-‘See-mah Boob’), etc.” [Link]

Ganjoo

The name is based on the Kashmiri nomenclature of adding “oo” to a family’s profession. So the keeper of a ganj – treasury – becomes ganjoo, which also translates to “baldie”. Himanish, who is follicularly challenged in his DP, says that while he had some hard time in school, the name acquired an altogether different meaning in engineering college. He says, “Most of these enlightened souls have also fathomed the origins of this: I remain perpetually high on “ganja” (weed).” [Link]

Doctor

Says Apoorva on the origin of his surname: “My family had 'Doctoria’ as our surname. My Grandfather used to stay in Gujarat. One day he got job in railways and had to shift to Bombay (Mumbai). The place that he came from was a very small village called Bharuch (now a junction). So he thought while he was staying in Bombay, he had to change his surname. He felt that his surname was too down market and had lower standards. So to achieve a high status in the Society he struck off the letters 'i’ & 'a’ and hence shortening it to Doctor. But he didn’t realized that how would his sons and grandsons would have to face the community?” [Link]

Bonda

The owner of this lip-smacking surname, Tejaswi says: “My last name is a south Indian dish which is a fried form of flour mixed with onion and chilli. It can also be made with potato mixed in flour and fried in oil. In Telugu, tender coconut is also called a bonda. Bonda in general represents something round and with a general implication of fatness. I am skinny and it always comes as a surprise to people when my name precedes me.” [Link]

Jawa

The downside to name like that is not just having to endure wink-wink references to software programming, but also this every time you use Chrome:

[Link]

Ghanta

This highly versatile name could acquire many meanings, most notably “bell”, “penis”, and “bugger-all”. But it could get trickier: “The worst was when my girl friend showed my FB profile to bunch of her north Indian friends,” says Naveen Kumar. [Link]

Jee

When your name is Jee, things get tough when a film like Ram Lakhan comes out. Everyone starts singing “Ay jee, oh jee” to mock you. But that’s not all. Says Anisha of her name: “My surname, pronounced “G” was the most fundamental constant in Physics, and I felt I could never forgive Newton for what he did to me. 25 other alphabets and he had to choose the one alphabet that drove me insane. I remember one occasion where a teacher in my class asked, ‘Can anyone tell me the value of G?’ and someone actually said ‘52 Kgs’.” [Link]

Gadi

His name literally means “vehicle”, and Vijit didn’t like it as a kid but started loving it eventually. “Always better to have something unique,” he says. [Link]

Lund

Then there’s this poor lady whose family name is mistaken for the Hindi slang for penis. It’s actually pronounced “loond”, but try explaining that to classroom bullies who are going to have a field day. [Link]

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(Gifs via Giphy and FuckYeahBollywood)