The story behind Lucas Mencia's name

Carlos Mencia stopped by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night and shared how he and his wife Amy chose their son’s name — Lucas Pablo, 3 months  — and what his dad cannot call the baby. The comedian says he and Amy were worried about what to name their son because she is white, leading Jay to say, "Well, that’s a big problem." Carlos responds,

Well it is cause my entire family is like Alberto, Joaquin, Roberto and you’re gonna be the only to give them -

"Ashley," Jay interjects.

Carlos says,

Exactly! Like I just wanted to name my son Cody just hear my dad go, ‘Cody?’ (in a thick Spanish accent)

He says they finally settled on Luke because it’s a "good biblical name." However, his father was slightly confused when he was told what his grandson’s name will be.

He goes (again in a thick Spanish accent), ‘Luke? Like you’re looking for something?’ And I’m like, ‘No, dude, LUKE, not LOOK.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, Luke is look. And I’m looking and then there is your son Luke.’ So we had to go with Lucas, but I call him Luke. But my dad still calls him Lucas cause I don’t let my dad call my son Luke cause then he goes, ‘Look at your son! Look at Luke!’

If your family is multiracial/cultural, did you have name issues as well?

Comments

Roise on March 29th, 2007

My parents had a little bit of a problem naming me. My dad is from Ireland, and all of his family is Scot-Irish, so I have a very common Irish last name. My mom is from the Philippines, where there’s a heavy Spanish influence, so she and her family have Spanish names. My dad wanted to name me Lolita Raquel, after my mom and grandmother, but my mom said no. Then he wanted to name me Raquel, and my mom said no. She thought the Spanish names wouldn’t fit with the Irish surname…so I ended up with an Irish first name.

beatrice on March 29th, 2007

I think I’d find this whole exchange funnier if I didn’t know that “Carlos Mencia” is not Mexican – he’s half Honduran and half German. His name isn’t even Carlos Mencia; it’s Ned Holmes.
So while I congratulate him on his child, I have to admit I’m really not impressed by his using his son’s name as a spring-board for yet more jokes about his “Mexican family.” The one that doesn’t exist, I guess.

His mother is Mexican and his father is Honduran. Yes, his actual first name is Ned, but his mother’s maiden name is Mencia and is what is on his birth certificate. His father’s last name is Holness and is what he went by until he was 18. There’s more info on his Wiki page.

Cheryl on March 29th, 2007

Two of my children’s great-grandparents have heavy Japanese accents, and my husband and I took that into account when choosing names for our children. We chose names that they could more or less pronounce correctly without completely butchering them.

SingingClayPearl on March 29th, 2007

Yes! When my husband was born, is father was mexican and his mother was a “european mutt” (his words). His mother wanted to name him Ryan because it was a popular name, but his father wanted to name him Joaquin, because it was a good mexican name. So they compromised…his name is Ryan. (Okay, so his middle name is “Joe” but, still…)

kit on March 29th, 2007

The only comment I have is that to be 1/2 hispanic does not mean the child is biracial. Last I checked Hispanic is a culture not a race, I’m always annoyed when people assume otherwise.

We had changed it to read multiracial/cultural, but sometimes it takes awhile to show live on the site! Hopefully it will be visible soon. Of course, we didn’t mean to be offensive at all.

Virginia on March 29th, 2007

Yes! Our son is named Caleb and I have found that both the Mexican side of the family as well as the British side pronounce it differently than my American accent does.

We joke that the Mexican grandparents sound like they’re saying K-LOVE as in a radio station =)

I say it to sound ‘Kay-Leb’ but the English family are used to the name Callum so they sound as if they are saying ‘Ca-Lib’.

meghan on March 29th, 2007

well – my husband and i are currently dealing with that issue – as we about to be first time parents. he is from egypt – i am american. i have agreed to his request to give this child a full arabic name – but other than that – i have complete say. who knows what it will be though…

MuffThumb on March 29th, 2007

I’m only 21 so I dont have kids yet, but I’m half Mexican, half Costa Rican, so I DO want to find a name that is pronouncable and pretty in BOTH english and spanish. Because of that dilemna alone, I’ve had my kids names picked out since I was 15! LOL!!

jp on March 29th, 2007

oh my, yes…my first daughter we named Paige and my (very traditional Mexican) in-laws were not, uh, supportive of our decision. Thought it was rather weird, especially since there is no translation. Thank heavens our second daughter we named Abigail, which met approval since it could be translated. Lucky me.

Annie on March 29th, 2007

I’m German, my hubby is American. It was important to us that our daughter’s first name is pronounced the same way in both languages. For her middle name we chose Morrigan and sure enough, half my family can’t say it right, but it honors my hubby’s Irish heritage, so it’s ok.

ceci on March 29th, 2007

I don’t have kids yet, but being Argentinian and living in Quebec, my dilema is even bigger. I need to find names that can be pronounced in 3 languages (English, Spanish and French).
Lucky for me my hubby is ok with this. However, it is much easier said than done.

Maximum Big Surprise on March 29th, 2007

Hey Annie, I’m Canadian and my hubby is German, so we are kind of the same. :O) We also had to find names that go with both languages. I think we did a good job at that.

tul1pan on March 27th, 2008

Yes! We have the same issues! but I have found names they can pronounce in Spanish.