What do you think about what we call our kids?

I won't name names, but to me, a few of the top girl names are downright ugly. But most current girl and boy names are not bad.

Emma has been popular for a while. Not long ago I had dealings with a young woman named Emma. It was weird, because to me Emma is a "trendy baby name," not a name for an adult.

There's another name, popular for baby girls 30-40 years ago, that I consider kind of trashy. I tried to get over it when I knew a woman by that name.

I know a young (and hot) man named Charlie. To me that's an old man name. I'll try to get over that too.

Many women my age were named Linda or Karen. I prefer names that are not such an obvious indicator of fads or demographics. I suppose many of us have read Freakonomics.
 
Unless you're born to a celebrity, it could be rough going through life as "Moon Unit". "Moon Unit" never really had to apply for a job. "Sunshine" might be cute when your daughter is two years old, but she won't always be two. And a name that's hard to pronounce and/or spell will always present problems. Call your kids whatever you want, just take into consideration that they'll have to forever bear the burden of their names if they're too off the wall for "conventional" society to accept.
 
It's not always easy to insist on a preferred short form. Maybe she used Lu all her life, and then an employer gave her a name tag with her full name. That happened to my sister. She's had to bounce between both names ever since.

A friend's name was Elizabeth. She was always Liz. Then when an employer decided her name was Elly, she was stuck with it.
 
NorthernLight said:
It's not always easy to insist on a preferred short form. Maybe she used Lu all her life, and then an employer gave her a name tag with her full name. That happened to my sister. She's had to bounce between both names ever since.

A friend's name was Elizabeth. She was always Liz. Then when an employer decided her name was Elly, she was stuck with it.
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There was a locally owned department store that used to let employees choose their name tags from a big basket when they were hired.

They thought that it was safer for the employee and probably a little more fun.
 
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Actually, I LIKE that people are inventive with new names.
I know the black community in the East or South have unusual and unique, beautiful names.
Once knew a woman (in the 70's) who named her twin girls "Joy" and "Bliss". Back then, that was pretty irregular!
I'm all for the unique names! I think it's wonderful!
 
I worked with a young, bigger, rather lazy young woman who's name was Tiani. Not sure if I got the spelling right but pronounced tea-ah-knee. Apparently her mother had her very young because I also worked with this woman's aunt and she told me so. That young mother couldn't imagine herself being 40 years of age, let alone Tiani.
 
I want to add, if someone hates their name, they can and should change it. But I don't think a lot of people consider that. Or may be afraid of pushback from relatives if they do.

I'd like to go back to the last name on my birth certificate. I can't as long as my stepfather is alive and at my age, I don't know if it would be worth it but I literally cannot stand my name.
 
Remy said:
I want to add, if someone hates their name, they can and should change it. But I don't think a lot of people consider that. Or may be afraid of pushback from relatives if they do.

I'd like to go back to the last name on my birth certificate. I can't as long as my stepfather is alive and at my age, I don't know if it would be worth it but I literally cannot stand my name.
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Agreed!
Samual Clemens was a writer, not famous or anything.
Story goes, a numerologist bade him to change his name.
He changed it to Mark Twain and as soon as he did that,
Well, you know the rest!
My late husband was named Gene. When we married
and moved to Colorado, he changed his name to Jack
a complete change of personality and demeanor!
It was as though he had found his element, his nitch!
He was himself! (Can't explain it right)
but it was like two different men!
 
I've always been one of those blend-in conformist types, and prefer average names.
I'm not keen on made-up names, but I'll say misspelling really bugs me. In my opinion, instead of making a child appear "unique" it makes them look dumb.
Hopefully this won't offend anyone here, but the first one I encountered (a newspaper's baby announcements long ago) was ShyAnn. Seriously, the parents couldn't spell Cheyenne?!?
 
Pepper said:
All the Stacy's & Tracy's -- girls and boys -- are now grownups! I used to wonder how it would be when they grew up and became somebodies, but it's absolutely Fine!
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And don't forget Jennifer!
I honestly can't think of anyone I ever knew who had daughters born in the 1970s that didn't name them Jennifer.
Never noticed any similar trends with boys, though.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I grew up in the Dick & Jane era. My real name is Dick. Back then everybody was John and Susie, Then, we went through the biblical period- Joshua, Sara, etc. Then came Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet. Now we're into Brent, Tray, Arora, Violet. What do you think about what we call our kids?
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Perhaps we should just use numbers instead of names. remember on seinfeld, Georges 7. Why not
 
When my father was a kid, in the 20's and 30's he had a bunch of sisters, and the popular names back then were Elizabeth , Margaret, Gwen, Mary and all the flower names.. Lily, Iris, Rose etc..

The boys names were strong names, Robert, (Bert).. Charles, Alan, Ron.. etc..

My mum was the same in her family in the 30's and 40's.. John, Kenneth, Bob, Jan, Elizabeth etc..

I haven't got a particularly unusual name but it wasn't a popular name in the 50's so I went through all of my school years and not one other girl had the same name.. so I always hated it..

Since 2020.. these have been the most popular girls names in the UK. Incredibly the full list is 100 names and STILL my name is not on the list after nearly 70 years.. :D

  • Olivia
  • Amelia
  • Isla
  • Ava
  • Mia
  • Ivy
  • Lily
  • Isabella
  • Rosie
  • Sophia
  • Grace
  • Freya
  • Willow
  • Florence
  • Emily
  • Ella
  • Poppy
  • Evie
  • Elsie
  • Charlotte
..and the 20 most popular boys names

  • Oliver
  • George
  • Arthur
  • Noah
  • Muhammad
  • Leo
  • Oscar
  • Harry
  • Archie
  • Jack
  • Henry
  • Charlie
  • Freddie
  • Theodore
  • Thomas
  • Finley
  • Theo
  • Alfie
  • Jacob
  • William
 
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JaniceM said:
And don't forget Jennifer!
I honestly can't think of anyone I ever knew who had daughters born in the 1970s that didn't name them Jennifer.
Never noticed any similar trends with boys, though.
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I had a daughter born in the 70's and I didn't name her Jennifer, in fact I dodn't know anyone who has a daughter named Jennifer.. My best friend is called Jennifer ( jen) but she was born in the 60's ..and I had a great Aunt Jennifer who was born in 1915
 

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