It's from a book Uncle Tom's Cabin[1] by Harriet Beecher Stowe who was staunchly antislavery. In Europe it was very popular, and there was even an U-Bahn station in Berlin called "Onkel Tom's Hütte"[2]. Also, the story of the Chevy Nova in Spanish has been debunked many times[3], but for whatever reason it's a nice story and keeps getting retold. I suppose it's like JFK allegedly proclaiming himself a donut, coincidentally also in Berlin.
I do agree with you though that it's probably not a great choice for a name, if only because people in the US will be hypersensitive and might completely misconstrue the meaning.
I do agree with you though that it's probably not a great choice for a name, if only because people in the US will be hypersensitive and might completely misconstrue the meaning.
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom%27s_Cabin [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onkel_Toms_H%C3%BCtte_%28Berlin... [3]: http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp