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Does it make anyone else think of Camels

No thanks. I much prefer Calliope or Camille.

Terrible

I prefer Jane. Calamity is a thoroughly unsuitable life sentence.

Amity is so much better!

I bet they were named that because of the 1953 Calamity Jane movie. It wasn't a kind nickname to begin with, even if we spin it to be about overcoming hardship, and I wouldn't name a kid after her. I would compare it with girl names like Rowdy, Vanity, and Beretta nowadays, although it's more like naming a kid Tragic. Callie is an ok NN, at least.

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I don't think it works very well for a fictional character unless a connection to Calamity Jane is intended; it'd be kind of like randomly naming a character Beyoncé or Caligula.

This message was edited 4/25/2023, 8:24 AM

It's a terrible name. No better than naming someone Disaster or Tragedy.
If your info is accurate, I suspect those girls were named by parents who didn't know what the word meant and who saw it via movie or TV depictions of the Old West figure Calamity Jane. (The real Calamity Jane was named Martha; supposedly friends nicknamed her Calamity because she always seemed to find or cause trouble. She was aware of her own legend and promoted herself with with that nickname.)
Also, the Calamity Jane association is the only association of it as a quasi-name.