but your name would have been one of those ones where I got to it and went "uhhhh. Shit.")

Heh heh :D It also doesn't help that the -sc- at the end isn't pronounced -s- (like the -sc- in science) or -sk- (like scare), but -sh- (ship). And, coincidentally, aesc refers to the ash tree, not what's left at the end of a cigarette :D