Daddy's Girl

When it comes to ridiculous names, I consider JonBenét a classic. The missing space, the superfluous accent, the overall silliness. It's the kind of name dreamed up by people who would enter a little girl in beauty pageants. (In case you spent the mid-'90s comatose, the ill-fated JonBenét Patricia Ramsey was named for her parents, John Bennett and Patricia "Patsy*" Ramsey.)

The Ramseys weren't the only ones to concoct an unfortunate name from egotism and questionable taste. On HGTV the other day, a sweet young girl was introduced as QueJohna Jones. Her mother's name was Que, so one assumes the father's was John. He was out of the picture, but there was a new beau, leaving open the possibility of future QueBabies.

*Whenever I come across that word, I'm transported to childhood, when my grandmother would occasionally declare, "I'm not your patsy!"