Batman, Spiderman or Ironman is just as goofy a name ant-man really its just that we are used to hearing those names and are familiar with those characters so that they don't seem as goofy. If you go up to a person with no interest or knowledge superhero comics and mention names they usually think they all sound really goofy and lame.
The talking to an controlling insects much like Aquaman's talking and controlling sea life are kind of goofy/quirky and I can see why people laugh about that power but size changing is actually a pretty fun visual power depending on how they use it. The problem is that people think Ant-Man stays tiny or large as giant-man all the time instead of changing size at rapid succession using the momentum and element of surprise in fighting combat. Like Stan Lee and Edgar Wright said size changing is a power that works better in live action motion rather than a 2d comic panel.
I find Pym, Lang and O'Grady are all interesting depending on who is writing them. Tony Stark in the comics was a lot more serious and at times down beat character than Robert Downey Junior's movie version. Iron Man was nowhere near as popular as he is since his movies took off remember. Iron Man was a B-lister who not many people had heard of. Iron Man came about because Stan Lee wanted to create the most unlikeable character possible, and see if he could make readers like him.
