The Strange Name Movie Page #2

It's something you

had to face as a kid

when you wanted

desperately to fit in.

An unusual name can

make you stronger.

It can help you develop

a sense of humor.

But make no mistake,

your name can influence

your personality

and affect

the course of your life.

- I have spent

the last decade studying

and writing about names.

I look at how we choose names,

how we perceive them,

and how name trends

change over time.

When people ask me

what I do,

and I say I'm

a baby name expert,

there's always this

moment of confusion.

What could there possibly

be to be expert about?

Names are just names.

But then, as soon as you

get talking on the subject,

everyone has

a thousand stories.

Everyone has

a thousand opinions.

And everybody realizes

that their name,

and the names of

everyone they know

send enormous

signals to the world.

- I was just Jeff, right?

Until I went out into the

real world after high school,

and college, et cetera,

and met other people that,

I became Studley.

And there was some pressure

to live up to a name

that just immediately has

that type of reaction.

Well, he's gotta be

6'5, 225 pounds,

and perfectly built.

Somehow, you had to live up

to some of that, all right?

And so I always tried

to take care of myself,

and maybe stay in shape,

or stay well-read,

or be interesting.

Not be disappointing

when people meet Studley.

- [Narrator] At worst,

a name like Studley

might set up unrealistic

expectations.

But in a world all but overrun

with bullies and dimwits,

your name can make you

the object of contempt,

derision, or worse.

- My name is Richard,

and the last name is Gay.

That's spelled G-A-Y.

You know, when I was a kid,

being gay, homosexual,

wasn't as accepted

as it is today.

Living with that name

today is different

than it was when I was a kid.

You know, I'd get taunted and

sometimes physically accosted.

You know, I can remember

females, you know,

kinda whacking me around

a little bit here and there.

So I received a lot of

ridicule from other kids.

- Most kids can't

handle being bullied.

It would be a very

rare child who could do it,

mostly because they generally

identify with the thing

they're being bullied about.

So they don't have

any perspective on it.

- [Richard] You're gay.

He's gay, or

something like that.

I'm not gay.

I'm straight.

I was bullied because

of my last name,

and it just didn't make

me feel good at all.

It made me feel bad.

All the other kids keep

telling me that I'm gay.

My mother used to say,

"Well, tell them

that you are gay.

"Tell 'em that you're

a very happy person."

I'd say, "Okay, Ma."

- So if a child

is being bullied,

it can really impact

the way they view themselves.

It could impact their

level of motivation,

and compounded over time,

it could really lead

to other issues.

- [Richard] At some

points in my life,

I did try to overcompensate

my masculine

traits, so to speak.

My bravado.

I am an alcoholic.

I'm in recovery.

I've been sober for

a long time now.

People talk about, you know,

what their childhood was like

and feeling different.

And putting alcohol in

your system is a way

to relieve those fears and

make you feel like you fit in.

- If they start

making fun of you,

you can just say I don't

have to take it personally

'cause it's not who I am.

Try to witness the name and

not identify with the name.

- You know, having

the last name Gay

has definitely

affected who I am.

- [Narrator] Being mocked

because of your name

can do a number on

your self-esteem.

For some,

an effective strategy

is to roll with the punches

and counterattack with humor.

- So my name is Nardizzi,

and it's not quite as unique

as some of these names,

but I had issues with

my name at school.

The teasing that

I remember is basically

just simply asking me why

I was dizzy all the time.

This kid over here is dizzy.

Spin him around.

He's dizzy.

I just wish knowing now

what I know about humor

that I had more of a,

some wit to fire

back at these punks.

These people that torment you,

they'll leave you alone

once you hit 'em

with a few zingers.

I'm a real stickler

for fresh milk.

My fantasy is to

suck a cow's udder

during a solar eclipse.

As a comedian,

I have to use

humor all the time.

Like I said,

I don't get heckled very often,

but I gotta be able to talk

about myself

and make fun of myself

and people are

laughing at me.

And I think it's great that

these people, you know,

they're not

professional comedians.

They're not writers,

but they're sensing as well

that they're in situations.

This guy's bustin' my balls,

or this guy's

just a douche,

and I need humor here

'cause if I get

pissed and walk out,

I'm in the company

of my co-workers,

or what have you,

so you gotta use humor and make

the best of that situation.

- My name is Al Dente.

When I get pasta,

it's always al dente.

I was named after

my grandfather,

who passed just

before I was born.

His name was

Albert James Dente.

I know after he passed,

a bill collector

called my grandmother

and asked if Peg Dente was home,

and she said, "Oh, yeah.

"Well, I'm Peg Dente."

And then the guy thought

he was very clever and said,

"Oh, who's your

husband, Al Dente?"

And he got a chuckle out of it,

and she said, "Well, yes.

"Actually he was Al Dente

and he just passed."

- My name is Barb Dwyer,

and I'm a real estate agent.

And I remember the day.

I was sitting there

at the lunch table,

and with people.

I had no idea who they were.

Sat down, introduced

myself as Barb Dwyer,

and the whole place cracked up.

And I says,

"What's so funny?

"It's my name."

And they said,

"Barbed wire,

like the fence?"

And I got it.

I was 13 before I realized

my name was a little unusual.

- There are certain names

that are kind of a gimmick.

Whether it's the first

and last name matching,

like Philip Philips or forming

a phrase like Shanda Leer.

A lot of people say, "How

could the parents do that?"

But to those parents,

often it's, "How

can I not do that?"

That one name is different

from every other name that

I could give my child.

It stands out in a way

that no other could.

- I've certainly got

enough falling tree jokes

in my time.

Someone would

say, "Oh, Tim Burr.

"Tim-ber."

I don't think my mother

had any negative intent.

[laughter]

- I worked with a young lady,

who happened to be in

our wedding party also.

And she said to me one day

when I was pregnant with him,

"If you have a boy, you

should name him Timothy."

And I kind of looked at her,

and you know,

didn't make much of it.

She said, "Then you could

go out and yell Tim Burr."

And I thought, "Well,

that's kinda cute."

So I told his dad about it,

and there you go.

[laughs]

- When I was a kid,

my mother used to yell from home

to find where we were,

'cause back in those days,

kids still could be anywhere

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