She was forbidden by her family to be with the one she loved because he was a Montague.

Thus, through the pen of William Shakespeare, the Bard, the lovely Juliet spoke the now famous words, "What is in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet."

Of course, Juliette was speaking of her beloved Romeo. Now there's a name. It's associated with romance. When someone is smooth with the ladies, we call him a "Romeo." I actually know a guy named Romeo. His dad's name was also Romeo.

Some names are peculiar and stand out. However, if your name is particularly strange, it's extremely difficult to go into one of those bric-and-brac stores and find a keychain that bears your moniker. Dennis is kind of common, but I had to go through life with people calling me "Dennis the Menace." My son's name is Rory. I'm going to have to go to an engraver if I want to put his name on a keychain.

My daughter's name is Kathleen. A popular name. It means "pure." Rory means "king," in its Irish derivation.

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In German it means "red." My name, "Dennis" comes from the Latin, meaning, "lover of fine wine." In Greek, Dionysus was the God of wine. Wine bucket, in other words.

What is it with names in the last 25 years? When I was a kid, everyone had a plain, old, boring name. If I look at my yearbook I see names like Peter, Dan, Mike, Claire, Alice, Jeanine and Gloria. But I did graduate from high school with a beautiful Canadian girl named, Gaetane. She traces her name back to France. Gaete was the family name to a group of nobles. But other than that, none of us had particularly unusual names. I work with Chris, Dave, Tom, Mike, Sue, Kathy, Rachel and Nancye. OK, Nancye Tuttle puts an "e" at the end of her first name for no apparent reason, but it's still Nancye. It's not Skye or Wisdom or Destiny. Those aren't names. You can't get those on a keychain. And that should be the rule.

Some parents are just not thinking. How do you name your precious newborn Whisper or Holiday? That poor kid is going to be saddled with that for the rest of his or her life.

And why? Because the parents wanted to be cute. I'm sure it all stems from the entertainment world. Actor Jason Lee has a son named Pilot. Middle name? Inspektor. John Mellencamp burdened his baby with the name, Speck. Demi Moore -- which is a strange name in and by itself -- had three children with actor Bruce Willis. The youngest daughter is Tellulah. That's normal compare to her siblings, Rumer and Scout. The parents must be fans of Fleetwood Mac and Tonto's horse.

The late Frank Zappa went completely off the wall. His oldest daughter is named Moon Unit. Then comes Dweezil and Ahmet. The youngest is Diva Muffin. Frank wanted to name her Squeech, but his wife, Gail, put her foot down.

I know a lovely young lady named Secret. I've heard of parents who've given their kids names like Precious or Dream. I know a couple whose last name is Carrier. They named their son Trey. Trey Carrier. He'll grow up to be a busboy.

Some parents name their kids after what they want them to be. Remember former New England Patriot safety Lawyer Malloy? Does he have brothers named Doctor and Banker? You've heard the names April, May and June. You don't see too many Octobers. Parents name their kids after birds -- Robin, Raven, Crane or Phoenix. They name them after places -- Jamaica, China, Paris and London.

"Hi, this is my daughter, Anchorage."

Mercedes has become a popular name. An appropriate middle name would be Diesel. And what is with the name Lloyd? Why two LLs? Is that to help us pronounce it? And don't even get me started on athletes' names. LeBron? Jamarcus?

Parents have been giving their kids Biblical names as long as the Bible has been around. I wonder if Old Testament parents were thinking, "Hey, that would be a great Bible name someday," There's Caleb, Gabriel, Rebecca, Noah, Jeremiah and Isaiah, who picked out a doozy of a name for his firstborn. Actually, it was the Lord who told Isaiah what to name his son. The boy's name was Mahershalalhashbaz. Try getting that on a keychain.

To commment, e-mail dshaughnessey@lowellsun.com or go to www.thevalleydispatch.com.