155+ Names That Mean Trouble

Another bad boy occupational name, joining Bandit, Rogue, and Gunner. The Vandals were a tribe that swept through Europe and North Africa in the sixth century and sacked Rome. Their name is thought to spring from the Germanic word for wandering, but has come to mean senseless destruction. We really don't want to sit in on your parent-teacher conferences.

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

Its most famous bearer was Prince Osman the First, founder of the Ottoman Empire, the third caliph of the Muslims, and a companion and son-in-law of Muhammad. Osman is sometimes written as Usman.

Used as a first name for a handful of girls every year, Joplin could be seen as a distant cousin of other -lin names, like Caitlin, Brooklyn and Braelynn. We think it works even better as a musical middle name possibility for fans of Janis... or Scott. Both great connections — albeit very different from one another.

One of the first authentically Slavic names many Americans heard (but couldn't pronounce), via 1960s to 70s former presidential advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski. Even after all these years, it is still problematic internationally, but well-used and familiar in its native Poland.

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.

Spelling it with a K doesn't do much to separate Kaliber from Caliber's violent image.

New, fast, cool, and chosen by director Robert Rodriguez, whose other sons are Rebel, Rocket, and Rogue, all somewhat risky options.

While still rare, this compound name for boys jumped nearly 3000 places in rank last year, perhaps thanks to its cowboy-core vibe and its bad boy image.

The evocative name of one of our most beautiful national parks -- yes, but also the bombastic cartoon character, Yosemite Sam.

Ephai may have a sad meaning but it's an interesting Biblical alternative to such widely-used names as Eli and Elijah.

Tuff, a corruption of "tough," has been given to approximately 50 baby boys each year for the past few years. Tough, on the other hand, has never charted as a baby name.

Cutter was an old-fashioned term for a tailor or barber that was eventually adopted as a surname. That gives it more legitimacy than many of the other aggressive boy names — Striker, Shooter, Breaker, et al. — but Cutter remains equally threatening.

Debuted in 2020, when it was used for six baby boys. All the same, gambling isn't an appropriate theme for a baby name.

It doesn't matter if Savage is a surname on your family tree — it's a highly controversial choice for a first name with connections to racism and colonialism. Despite this, over a dozen sets of parents named their sons Savage in a recent year.

Rarely used biblical choice -- he's a son of Jacob -- with a bit of a white-bearded image.

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

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.

Roulette debuted as an American baby name in 2023, when it was given to five baby girls. While Roulette's sounds are very on-trend — the "rou" found in names like Ruby and Cruz, and the "ette" ending of Colette and Juliette — we don't recommend using gambling-related names for babies.

Fogarty has the Old Fogey problem.