Most hated names in America

[Tap]

I really don't get using a creative spelling for Nevaeh. :confused: Heaven spelled backward is Nevaeh, not Neveah, which I've also seen.

 

I don't think they are trying to be creative....they just screw it up. LOL

[J-rap]

That list isn't what I expected! I thought it would have names like Osama and Adolph.

[tmulcahy]

This thread makes me a bit sad. My daughter's name is on the list. She loves her name. It's kinda like saying, "No offense, but I hate your name." Well it is offensive and it makes me sad for her.

 

I can understand raising an eyebrow at names that are unusual. But I guess I just don't get insulting someone by stating that you don't like their name. When working in the ER, I met a Budweiser, a DCBA (ABCD backwards, a Tae-kwon, a Tasty, and many others. They did cause me to think, hmmm what were the parents thinking? But, most of the names on that list are just names. I guess I just don't get the nit-picking on things that should not matter.

[Laura Corin]

Unless it's a family name already. So if your great-aunt's surname was Cholmondely and you loved her/like the sound of it, by all means call your child Cholmondely Jones. Otherwise, I think that traditional first names sound better.

 

Laura

[swellmomma]

Well Hunter's name is on the list, oh well I still love his name.

[Word Nerd]

This thread makes me a bit sad. My daughter's name is on the list. She loves her name. It's kinda like saying, "No offense, but I hate your name." Well it is offensive and it makes me sad for her.

 

I can understand raising an eyebrow at names that are unusual. But I guess I just don't get insulting someone by stating that you don't like their name. When working in the ER, I met a Budweiser, a DCBA (ABCD backwards, a Tae-kwon, a Tasty, and many others. They did cause me to think, hmmm what were the parents thinking? But, most of the names on that list are just names. I guess I just don't get the nit-picking on things that should not matter.

 

 

Expressing an opinion about a name in general is not the same as going up to your daughter and saying, "I hate your name!" From the link:

"She makes clear that the names in her list aren’t necessarily 'bad' or even unpopular–in fact her list includes some of today’s most popular names. The list is solely based on number of negative mentions on the Internet."

[PiCO]

I've known two families who have had two boys and named them Hunter and Trapper. Hmm...

 

Did they name a daughter Gatherer?

[tmulcahy]

Expressing an opinion about a name in general is not the same as going up to your daughter and saying, "I hate your name!" From the link:

"She makes clear that the names in her list aren’t necessarily 'bad' or even unpopular–in fact her list includes some of today’s most popular names. The list is solely based on number of negative mentions on the Internet."

 

 

I'm not talking about the OP. She did not state that she agreed or disagreed. I am talking people in general who say things like "I hate that name" or "That name is awful".

 

Your name is a part of you. When someone says they dislike your name or your name makes them want to gag, it is meant to be offensive.

 

Just my two cents...no one has to agree;)

[Melinda in VT]

I'm not talking about the OP. She did not state that she agreed or disagreed. I am talking people in general who say things like "I hate that name" or "That name is awful".

 

Your name is a part of you. When someone says they dislike your name or your name makes them want to gag, it is meant to be offensive.

 

Just my two cents...no one has to agree;)

 

In my opinion, it depends on the context. My father-in-law doesn't like my name. I know this not because he came up to me and said "I don't like your name" (which would have been offensive) but because it came up in a discussion over baby names that my in-laws had discussed for my husband's siblings years ago. <shrug> It doesn't mean he doesn't like me.

[Cindy in FL.]

I know a young couple with the last name White. They have given each of their children (2 boys, 1 girl) the middle name Great. I am not kidding.

 

Cindy

[beaners]

I'm not talking about the OP. She did not state that she agreed or disagreed. I am talking people in general who say things like "I hate that name" or "That name is awful".

 

Your name is a part of you. When someone says they dislike your name or your name makes them want to gag, it is meant to be offensive.

 

Just my two cents...no one has to agree;)

 

You can't think of a single name that you find completely awful? If someone introduced you to a child named Vomit, you wouldn't think that it was a rather unfortunate thing to name a child, even if you smiled at the time? ;)

[tmulcahy]

In my opinion, it depends on the context. My father-in-law doesn't like my name. I know this not because he came up to me and said "I don't like your name" (which would have been offensive) but because it came up in a discussion over baby names that my in-laws had discussed for my husband's siblings years ago. <shrug> It doesn't mean he doesn't like me.

 

Nope it doesn't mean he does not like you...but it was offensive. I guess you have thicker skin than me:D

[Melinda in VT]

Nope it doesn't mean he does not like you...but it was offensive. I guess you have thicker skin than me:D

 

What was he supposed to do, lie? The reason I don't have a sister-in-law named Melinda is because he didn't like the name. He didn't go on and on about how awful it was.

 

(And for the record, I like his full name but not his nickname, so opinions go both ways. )

[tmulcahy]

You can't think of a single name that you find completely awful? If someone introduced you to a child named Vomit, you wouldn't think that it was a rather unfortunate thing to name a child, even if you smiled at the time? ;)

 

Well, like I said...I did not get it when I worked in the ER and saw names like Tasty or Budweiser. I suppose it is the parents I don't get. I may not get the reasoning for naming a kid that. I would not name my kid that. But, I would never say the name would make me want to gag. I guess I just view names as a really personal thing and truly would not want to offend.

 

Look at my siggy....my parents spelled my name Therese and pronounced it Teresa. I have gotten a bit of grief over it through the years:tongue_smilie:

 

Meat meat made me laugh. I would want to hang out with them just so I could say his name:lol:

[tmulcahy]

What was he supposed to do, lie? The reason I don't have a sister-in-law named Melinda is because he didn't like the name. He didn't go on and on about how awful it was.

 

(And for the record, I like his full name but not his nickname, so opinions go both ways. )

 

Lie, no. But, I still don't get why one would purpose to offend someone over something like their name. Like I said, JMO...no one has to agree.

[Pretty in Pink]

There aren't many names that I would say I truly hate -- Bullet, Tasty, and Budweiser might make the hate list. Beyond that I don't really care what people name their children. <shrugs>

 

I have a Tristan and he's one of the most delightful little people I know, so there. :tongue_smilie:

[LibraryLover]

Look at my siggy....my parents spelled my name Therese and pronounced it Teresa. I have gotten a bit of grief over it through the years:tongue_smilie:

 

Meat meat made me laugh. I would want to hang out with them just so I could say his name:lol:

 

 

Your parents were correct. That's the traditional spelling. Even if they used it because they have a French background, that's how it's it's pronounced, except maybe with a little more roll of the tongue at the beginning and a bit more lingering eh at the end.

[tmulcahy]

Your parents were correct. That's the traditional spelling. Even if they used it because they have a French background, that's how it's it's pronounced, except maybe with a little more roll of the tongue at the beginning and a bit more lingering eh at the end.

 

 

Yeah...but I'm not French:lol:

 

I always got Thah-ree-see

or Thah- ree-sah

or Ter-eese

 

I don't even bother correcting most people anymore.:tongue_smilie:

[Dmmetler]

We very carefully picked DD's name so that it was top 100, but not top 10, easy to spell (and we picked the most normal spelling), and one that would age well-it shortened well for young children, but would sound OK on an adult in a professional job. I googled all possible combinations to make sure that there were no unfortunate associations (when you're on bedrest for several months, you have a lot of time on your hands)-and changed the middle name when I found out that first name + middle name was the name of a garage band in Seattle.

 

When DD was about 1 1/2, a company released an OTC medication-named the same as the shortened version of DD's name, spelled the same way (but pronounced differently). So, I had this toddler who was THRILLED with all the ads with HER name on it. Sigh....

[Tap]

Did they name a daughter Gatherer?

 

:D:lol:

[Sneezyone]

We picked a greek spelling/meaning for DD's name. In places where people commonly speak Spanish or French, it is pronounced correctly right off the bat...in other places, not so much. That is annoying. There are three girls in her school with the same name but none are spelled alike. Our son got a classic jazz name. It has grown in popularity but still suits him well. Both kids' names are ethnically neutral and that was important to us.

 

A friend of ours used one of those aden names at what seemed like the height of the aden craze. I was like...:001_huh: why would you do that when you know kids with that name are a dime a dozen? Now that i think about it, I agree with most of the names on that list.

[Veritaserum]

None of the names on that list are the names of my kids. :tongue_smilie: I'm rather tired of the "ayden" names since they are really popular in my area. They're not my style, either, but there are certainly worse names.

 

I read The Baby Name Wizard, which is a really great baby name book, and the names I like are classic. We are branching out a bit with ds's name to give a nod to dh's Nordic ancestry. It's a very common name in Sweden and Norway, but not common here in the USA.

 

My sister's kids all have names from the '50s. My brother has a Mackenzie. ;) Both his kids have surnames as first names, actually. Another brother gave his dds unusual names, but they suit them.

[Jpoy85]

LOL. DHs name is on there and he actually does hate it so he uses his middle name. :lol:

[Kathryn]

I'm not a fan of most of those names.

 

My personal favorite was when signing my son up for library story time once, on the signup sheet ahead of us, someone had signed up a girl named Younique.

[Soror]

Personally most of the names on those lists are not ones I would pick due to trendiness, however my last dd has a somewhat trendy name. At the time we knew of one girl (7yo) with that name of course that didn't even play in mind when picking it. We just found it when going through the lists and it seemed to fit her. Afterwards the Mom of the girl with the same name came up to me and told me that she picked the name whenever it wasn't so cool but now everyone is using it. I didn't know how to respond to that. We just liked it. I didn't check the top 100 and evidently it was/is in the top 5 girl names. I still only know of 1 other. Perhaps my circle is small or it is used more in other places. I still think it is lovely and quite fitting for her. So, you cannot please everyone so you might as well pick the name you like. Back before I had kids I had picked out the name Isabella but it was so popular by the time I had kids we didn't use it, although dh still likes it as do I.

 

Oh, I made an idiot comment recently. I was talking to someone about baby names and how dh liked Catherine but I didn't like the nickname Cathy so I refused to use it for a first time. Shortly after that I realized right behind me was my mom's cousin, who happens to be named Cathy. We were on a boyscout hike and I didn't see her much after that. I wondered if I offended her. I wouldn't name a kid after myself either. I don't loathe my name but it's not my favorite.

Edited May 8, 2012 by soror

[OnTheBrink]

I saw a baby name the other day: Devaeh. Spell it backwards. Not nice!

 

 

My kid's names are not on the list, so I guess we do ok naming them. ;)

 

Those names on the list are all fine with me. The one's that truly bug me are the made up names or names that should not be used for people, like Michael Jackson's son, Blanket. :ack2:

 

That's not his real name, though; it's a nickname the baby got from being held over a balcony railing with a blanket over his head. His real name, IIRC, is Prince Michael II.

[Kathryn]

That's not his real name, though; it's a nickname the baby got from being held over a balcony railing with a blanket over his head. His real name, IIRC, is Prince Michael II.

 

Yep, that's right.

[Lady Florida.]

My son's very common middle name is on there. We gave him a common middle name because his first name isn't common anymore, though it once was. We figured when he got older he could use his middle name if he wanted to (so far he's fine with his name).

 

While I'm not crazy about a lot of the names on there, I can't say I hate any of them. We know or know of people with almost every name from the list. Don't know any Nevaehs though.

[Mom in High Heels]

I'm not keen on surnames re-used as first names Unless it's a family name already. So if your great-aunt's surname was Cholmondely and you loved her/like the sound of it, by all means call your child Cholmondely Jones. Otherwise, I think that traditional first names sound better.

 

Laura

 

Note: Bolded won't stop being bolded, it's not for effect!

 

Both my boys have last names for both first and middle names. Indy's name is my mom's maiden name and his middle name is...something James Bond pulled out of the air, but it goes well with his first name. It too is a last name though.

 

Han Solo's first name is really a last name, but there are a few with it as a first name (one very famous). James Bond is a HUGE Beatles fan and Han Solo's first name has a Beatles association. His middle name is my great-grandfather's first name, which in turn was his grandmother's maiden name, so it too is technically a last name.

 

If you add our last name, they both have 3 last names in their name.

 

BTW, if we'd had a girl, James Bond wanted to name her Penny Lane. Um, no.

[swellmomma]

Not one of my dc's names is on that list - yeah! I detest "initial" names (names so common one has to use a last initial to distinguish them from others with the same name). Add "Isabelle/Isabella" to the most-hated girl name list and I think it would be complete simply because of this: ;)

 

Man I really know how to pcik names then. Hunter is already on there, and dd4 is Isabelle.

[LibraryLover]

Yeah...but I'm not French:lol:

 

I always got Thah-ree-see

or Thah- ree-sah

or Ter-eese

 

I don't even bother correcting most people anymore.:tongue_smilie:

 

Lol It doesn't matter if you are French or not, the spelling your patents chose is perfectly correct. Whether people can pronounce it is a different matter. ;)

[KungFuPanda]

We very carefully picked DD's name so that it was top 100, but not top 10, easy to spell (and we picked the most normal spelling), and one that would age well-it shortened well for young children, but would sound OK on an adult in a professional job. I googled all possible combinations to make sure that there were no unfortunate associations (when you're on bedrest for several months, you have a lot of time on your hands)-and changed the middle name when I found out that first name + middle name was the name of a garage band in Seattle.

 

When DD was about 1 1/2, a company released an OTC medication-named the same as the shortened version of DD's name, spelled the same way (but pronounced differently). So, I had this toddler who was THRILLED with all the ads with HER name on it. Sigh....

 

I think our daughters have the same name. :lol: We paired ours with an uncommon, but easy-to-spell middle name ('Pauline' after my grandmother) so nobody would have the same first and middle. Our last name is routinely botched even though it is pronounced EXACTLY how it's spelled.

[Rivka]

When I was pregnant with my first I made up a name popularity poll (which I posted elsewhere on the net) based on the 2003 SSA baby name ranking database. I feel compelled to share it with you all now.

 

I'll put the answers in my next post, if you want to play along.

 

1. Which name is more popular for girls?

- Ellen

- Nevaeh

 

2. Which name is more popular for boys?

- Peter

- Isaiah

 

3. Which name is more popular for girls?

- Mary

- Kendall

 

4. Which name is more popular for girls?

- Mary

- Makayla

 

5. Which name is more popular for boys?

- John

- Hunter

 

6. Which name is more popular for boys?

- Toby

- Maximus

 

7. Battle of the TV heartthrobs: Which name is more popular for boys?

- Angel

- Dawson

 

8. Which egregiously misspelled girl's name is the most popular?

- Emely

- Madisyn

- Alivia

 

9. Which name is more popular for girls?

- Brooklynn

- Ryleigh

 

10. Which name is more popular for boys?

- Axel

- Uriel

 

11. "Harley" is more popular as a name for a ____.

- boy

- girl

 

12. "Kendall" is more popular as a name for a ___.

- boy

- girl

- subway station

 

13. "Skyler" is more popular as a name for a ___.

- boy

- girl

[Rivka]

Aaaand the answers to the baby name popularity poll, with the percentage of my original respondents who got it right.

 

1. Which name is more popular for girls, Ellen or Nevaeh?

 

72.3%, thinking way too kindly of American parents, picked "Ellen." In fact, Ellen is #447, and Nevaeh is #150. Guess why Nevaeh is so popular. Come on, guess.

 

It's heaven spelled backwards, that's why.

 

It's also the name of a Christian rock group. And a porn star.

 

2. Which name is more popular for boys, Peter or Isaiah?

 

Voting was extremely close on this one, but 50.6% chose the wrong answer, Peter. Peter is at #148. Isaiah is at #50. Probably because of the extra basketball advantage, is my guess, because I think "peter" as a nickname for "penis" is old-fashioned enough not to play a major role.

 

3. Which name is more popular for girls, Mary or Kendall?

 

65.1% decided that Kendall was awfully trendy-sounding, and I won't say that they're wrong. But Mary is higher up on the popularity list at #61, compared to Kendall at #157.

 

4. Which name is more popular for girls, Mary or Makayla?

 

Inexplicably, but predicted by 60.2%, Makayla is #51 in popularity.

 

5. Which name is more popular for boys, John or Hunter?

 

43.4% got it right. John is #17, Hunter all the way down at #41.

 

6. Which name is more popular for boys, Toby or Maximus?

 

Y'all thought that American parents would only go so far, didn't you? 81.9% thought that Toby was more popular, making this the wrongest wrong answer of all. In fact, Maximus is #375, and Toby is all the way down at #439. Explain that one to me.

 

7. Battle of the TV heartthrobs: Which name is more popular for boys?

 

The TV thing was a bit of misdirection, actually. Angel is #43, probably because it's a Latino name. Dawson is way down the list at #204. 21.7% got it right.

 

8. Which egregiously misspelled girl's name is the most popular?

 

It pains me - severely - to admit that any of these names is on the top 500. 59% thought that the winner must be Madisyn, probably because of the gratuitous "y." But in fact, Alivia (#352) narrowly edges out Emely (#359), and Madisyn (#418) is far behind.

 

I must now go weep tears of blood.

 

9. Which name is more popular for girls, Brooklynn or Ryleigh?

 

I wanted a choice that would make people just throw up their hands in bewilderment. And in fact, voting was fairly even. 46.9% chose the right answer, Brooklynn. (Brooklynn is #406, Ryleigh #479. Queenns wasn't in the top 500, and neither was Manhattanne.)

 

10. Which name is more popular for boys, Axel or Uriel?

 

I think this one was a little too easy. 79% correctly guessed that Axel (#333) is more popular than Uriel (#435). But why is Uriel in the top 500 to begin with?

 

11. Boy's name or girl's name: Harley

 

It astounds me that 75.6% of you think Harley sounds like a girl's name. It's the name of a freaking motorcycle, is what it is. But indeed, it's #313 for girls and only #426 for boys.

 

12. Boy's name or girl's name: Kendall

 

This is another one that sounds boyish to me, but as 72% of you knew, Kendall is far more popular for girls (#157) than for boys (#500).

 

13. Boy's name or girl's name: Skyler

 

The right answer was winning on this one until the very end of the poll, but in the end the wrong answer pulled ahead with 51.8% Skyler is obviously a boy's name, at #234, compared to #279 for girls. Huh. I guess, actually, that's fairly androgynous.

 

In conclusion: I propose that we replace naming with a serial number system, as soon as possible.

[QuirkyKapers]

Harley, Kendall sound like boys names to me. Skylar sounds like a girls to me. I didn't know that those names are used for both boys and girls.

[Mallory]

I agree that most of those names aren't names I'd pick, but I don't hate them.

 

I've known two families who have had two boys and named them Hunter and Trapper. Hmm...

 

 

Now that's sweet. :001_smile:

Oh but that made me think of Renesmee from Twilight. I hated that name.

 

Which I agree with but-

 

I've got a Tracker. Whose name is from combining the names of my husband and his siblings- TRavis, Amanda, chuCK, christophER

 

Since this kid goes fishing almost every day (he's the 6yo and hasn't been allowed out the door with out his life jacket on for years), I've started hoping maybe someday Tracker boats will give him a nice sponsor ;)

 

The rest of my kids have rather uncommon but normal names.

[Bassoonaroo]

11. Boy's name or girl's name: Harley

 

It astounds me that 75.6% of you think Harley sounds like a girl's name. It's the name of a freaking motorcycle, is what it is. But indeed, it's #313 for girls and only #426 for boys.

 

 

And for further inspiration, Harley is a variety of pet rat with long, messy hair:

 

[Scuff]

Whew, neither Indy nor Han Solo's real names are on there. They're not weird or kre8tive, but not incredibly common. I don't think the names on the list are horrible (okay, maybe Nevaeh), I just think they are used so much that people get tired of them. How many Addison's can there be in one kindergarten class? It's annoying I think.

I have an incredibly unusual name (seriously), so really I guess I'm used to being the only person with that name and find it odd when there are several people with the same name. BTW, I've actually met 2 other people IRL with my name (one was a guy) and seen 3 on TV (one was in a very famous movie), but none of them spell it the same way I do (or rather my parents did). Mine seems like it's actually missing a letter, but there's an accent over a letter that makes it (the letter) say a different sound rendering the extra letter unnecessary. Of course in the States getting an accent put on a letter is practically impossible, so it kind of stinks and people always mispronounce it. Boo.

BTW, our last name actually made the list of horrible names and I have to admit, I agree that it is not cool for a first name.

 

Now you got me curious about what your name is!

[Chris in VA]

Busting a gut laughing at your comments, Rivka.

 

Df's dd gave her little boy the middle name of "Danger." I thought it was very unusual, not sure I agreed with it...and commented so, here, a couple of years ago. Sure enough, there's a frequent poster with a little boy who's first name is Danger.

 

To each his own, I guess.

 

Better than naming your child Placenta or your twins Lurine and Urine.

[Perry]

I'm a Harry Potter fan and all (my license plate in IL read XPLERMS

Expelliarmus!

[Stayseeliz]

My youngest is Hope. I can't believe that's a "hated" name. I LOOOOOOVE her name and it has so much meaning for us!

[tristangrace]

Huh. Tristan is "fakey"? It's my husband's middle name, chosen from opera based on the 12th century story of Tristan and Isolde.

[MrsBasil]

Rivka, I'm going to guess that quite a few Harleys have parents who are Batman fans. Or really uncreative Kevin Smith fans.

 

Loved your poll and comments!

 

I've been told my kids have great names and been told that they have really boring names. :tongue_smilie:

[Tree House Academy]

If my oldest son had been a girl, both his first AND middle chosen names made the list! Kaitlyn McKenzie. And, my niece's name (Madisyn) also made the list.

[kitten18]

8. Which egregiously misspelled girl's name is the most popular?

- Emely

- Madisyn

- Alivia

 

 

Those make my eye twitch. :tongue_smilie:

[Henriettakittycat]

My husband's name is on the list. We also, in our small neighborhood, have had, at the same time, two Jaydens (both girls) an Aiden, and a Kaden.

 

My niece wanted to name a future child Neheah and I have Hope picked out as a middle name for a future dd.

 

Somewhat surprised that my sister's and I aren't on the list. ;)

[Mothersweets]

Love your poll, Rivka! too funny :lol:

[ByGrace3]

Well. . . I have a Caden and dd1's middle name is Grace and dd2's middle name is faith and I almost named dd2 Addison, except couldn't get over the association to Addison on Grey's Anatomy :lol: So apparently I don't win any naming awards, but I guess I am ok with that! :tongue_smilie:

[freesia]

Well. . . I have a Caden and dd1's middle name is Grace and dd2's middle name is faith and I almost named dd2 Addison, except couldn't get over the association to Addison on Grey's Anatomy :lol: So apparently I don't win any naming awards, but I guess I am ok with that! :tongue_smilie:

My 2 dd's middle names are Grace and Faith, too! I love them.

 

And honestly, I don't put much stock in gathering data from naming boards.

[Sugarfoot]

I really don't get using a creative spelling for Nevaeh. :confused: Heaven spelled backward is Nevaeh, not Neveah, which I've also seen.

 

Oops, I spelled it wrong it my post, too. :lol: I was spelling it as I heard it in my head. Honestly, without this discussion here, I don't think I would've ever figured out the "heaven spelled backward" thing. I really just would've gone with my lotion theory.:001_huh: