NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY, NAMES

Did you know that the late rhythm and blues singer , Marvin Gaye, legally changed the spelling of his surname "Gay" to "Gaye" because he was so sensitive about its sexual connotation? It is alleged that Gay was teased as a child because of his surname and he hated it so much that it caused him to modified it, especially as his father, the Reverend Gaye, was reputed to be a crossdresser.

I have found two surnames which have sexual connotations, and no disrespect intended, but if I dated men with these names I would have a serious problem with taking on these names if we were to enter into matrimony.

Check these out:













What sort of images/thoughts come to your mind when you hear of Sincock? And what about T. Hooker? I cannot write here what images and thoughts the word Sincock conjures up in my mind; and a hooker, for God sake is a prostitute!

Now how did these two words come into use as surnames?

A check with genealogy.com and britishsurnames.co.uk indicates that the surname "Sincock" is of western European origin and that quite a number of them migrated to the United States of America. A meaning for the word though was not offered. The following notations were available for "Hooker" on http://www.etymonline.com/ -

"prostitute," often traced to the disreputable morals of the Army of the Potomac (American Civil War) under the tenure of Gen. "Fighting Joe" Hooker (1863), and the word probably was popularized by this association at that time. But it is said to have been in use in North Carolina c.1845 ("If he comes by way of Norfolk he will find any number of pretty Hookers in the Brick row not far from French's hotel."). One theory traces it to Corlear's Hook, a disreputable section of New York City. Perhaps related to hooker "thief, pickpocket" (1567), but most likely an allusion to prostitutes hooking or snaring clients. Hook in the figurative sense of "that by which anyone is attracted or caught" is recorded from 1430; and hook (v.) in the figurative sense of "catch hold of and draw in" is attested from 1577; in reference to "fishing" for a husband or a wife, it was in common use from c.1800. All of which makes the modern sense seem a natural step. The family name Hooker (attested from c.975 C.E.) would mean "maker of hooks," or else refer to an agricultural laborer who used a hook (cf. O.E. weodhoc "weed-hook").