Iona Knipl

WE HAVE A WINNER in the Worst Bad Name Contest.

And after talking to the woman who has this name, I'm happy to report we have new anecdotal evidence to go with the psychological studies supporting the Boy Named Sue theory: good things can indeed come from a bad name.

The judges chose Iona Knipl because, in addition to being an embarrassing pun, it also set up an inevitable reply from people imagining they were being wittily original. I called up Miss Knipl and asked her how many times she had heard someone meet her and reply, "I own two."

"I got sick of hearing it, but what can you do?" Miss Knipl said. ...snip...

Miss Knipl shed the pun when she got married and began using her husband's last name. But, then, after they were divorced, she went back to her old name.

"In school, it bothered me, but now I think it's neat." she said. "It's different."

(from the New York Times, Tuesday April 8, 2008, pg. D8)