Picking out a baby name has got to be one of the hardest things parents have to go through – first of all it involves agreeing on something, and it involves a huge amount of pressure.
So, checking a name’s meaning is hardly ever on the agenda when it comes to picking the right name – especially if its a common one.
Here are some common names which actually have pretty unfortunate origins:
Girls
Courtney
Based on an old French word meaning ‘short nose.’
Giselle
This name comes from a practice in the early Middle ages where rival tribes would offer a person, often a child, to each other as a pledge of peace, and loosely translates to ‘hostage.’
Leah
Derived from the Hebrew word ‘weary.’
Molly
This name originated from the Gaelic name Maili, meaning ‘bitter.’
Portia
Comes from the Roman family name Porcius, meaning ‘pig.’
Boys
Cameron
Coming from the Gaelic name meaning ‘crooked nose.’
Campbell
Derived from the Scottish surname translating to ‘crooked mouth.’
Byron
From the Old English word byre meaning ‘of the cowshed.’
Caleb
A Hebrew name for ‘dog.’
Kennedy
This name comes from the Irish surname which means ‘misshapen head.’