[scoundrel]

I quite like the Greek Orthodox rule, in which a child bears the name of a saint in that faith. I wouldn't follow it, not being Greek Orthodox by faith myself, but I like the way it prevents idiot parents calling their kids names I wouldn't give to my pet cat.

Barack is not a silly name if you are of Kenyan ancestry. I think it would be silly if I myself had a son and called him Barack; it wasn't much used as a name in Yorkshire. In one of the Herriot books, the author expressed dry humour but also compassion for the Skelton brothers, Marmaduke, Sebastian and Alonzo, saddled with pretentious names due to the snobbery of their would-be social climber mother.

If we really want to mock Democrats for their names, I would start with Lyndon Baines Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson (her real names were Claudia Alta) and Little Beagle Johnson, their pet dog.