155+ Names That Mean Trouble

Letha is taken from Lethe, the mythological River of Oblivion. Letha now sounds as if it's missing a first syllable.

Kessie is cute but slight.

Hope is one meaning of the name Amil, which sounds similar to the German Emil; it can also mean unattainable in the sense of being so exalted as in royalty as to be out of reach. While Amil may not be familiar in the Western world, it's accessible and appealing.

More than 300 babies have been named Shooter in the US since 2002, which, depending on who you ask, is arguably about 300 too many. One of the violent names for boys that have gained traction in recent years, the most optimistic view perhaps is that parents were thinking about sports or honoring a family connection to the militiary when choosing this name.

While patriot Thomas Paine is a worthy honoree, the mere association with the word 'pain' knocks this name out of bounds.

This aggressive baby boy name has been sitting at the bottom of the charts since 2008.

An interesting figure from Greek mythology -- an Amazon queen who fought for Troy in the Trojan War -- but no figure could be interesting enough to make that five-syllable mouthful usable today. Stick with Penelope or, if that's too popular for your taste, try Thessaly.

A biblical name -- he was the father of Abraham -- but the father's name is much less appealing than the son's, in both sound and meaning.

Whiskey was the name of the badass girlfriend character in Glass Onion, played by Madelyn Cline. Naming your child after any kind of alcoholic drink is not recommended.

Tavora is an attractive option, based on the name of a mountain in northern Israel. But the meaning of Tavora and brother name Tavor is less than optimal.

Extremely rare yet with an on trend sound, although the meaning may put parents off.

As Huxley and Huck become more popular and accepted, so does Hux, either as a full name or a diminutive.

Caliber belongs to the class of tough boy names — along with Shooter, Wesson, and Trigger — that are given to a small but notable number of boys each year. We generally discourage parents from using such violence-promoting names — there are better routes to the nickname Cal.

Lilting African name that translates perfectly into other cultures.

Invidia's meaning isn't very pleasant — as a Roman goddess, she was the personification of envy. However, Invidia has the sounds of an attractive name, not unlike Olivia.

Atropos is one of the three Fates of Greek Mythology. She and her sisters determined life from birth to death—Atropos determined how one would die and would cut the thread of life. Her Roman equivalent is Morta.

Azubah is one of those unique baby names from the Bible that is both uncommon and usable, especially given that trendy letter Z in the middle. Azubah's sad meaning may be a strike against it. There were two figures named Azubah in the Bible, one the wife of Caleb and the other the mother of Jehoshaphat (as in Jumping).

We hesitate to call Bandit an occupational name, any more than Rogue or Vandal are occupational names, yet its use by one of the bandmembers of My Chemical Romance (for his daughter: we're thinking only Gerard Way could pull that off) undoubtedly owes a debt to occupational cousins from Pilot to Parker.

Mythological princess who killed her kids. Eternal no-no.

Grit became a buzzword in the 2010s, thanks to both the 2010 film True Grit and psychologist Angela Duckworth's 2016 book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perserverance. The book, based on Duckworth's research, attributes success to grittiness. Clearly, the message stuck with parents, as Grit debuted as a name for boys in 2021.