Names that bug you, or names you're sick of hearing?

[mommydearest]

I'm bored with them. These are the current ranking of my Banal Beige Names:

Alice - 258
Charlotte - 68
Claire - 53
Eleanor - 218
Eliza - 278
Frances - 802
Grace - 17
Isabel - 110
Julia - 50
Lucy - 101
Madeline - 64
Margaret - 187
Nora - 197
Rose - 352
Virginia - 617

Charles - 64
Edward - 137
Frederick - 536
George - 163
Henry - 71
Hugh - 988
Jack - 42
Patrick - 129
Philip - 395

I look for more eclectic names that are stylish that have not been in the Top 1000 for the past 20 years. Names I like are Delia, Dinah, and Barnaby. You see these names especially in books, films, and television. Some classics have become tired hence these are the new John and Mary for me. I feel indifferent to names that aren't very forward thinking or at least chic.

Firstly, I've seen your Eclectic Names thread/list. You can't come up with more than a dozen names dear that haven't been on the top 1000 since around 1990. Truly unique names especially good ones don't stay off the list long.

Next, i'm picking up what you're putting down when it comes to these names. I'm a New Yorker living in Los Angeles. You can't swing a stick on a school playground without hitting one of these names. I hear you when you call it beige. Some of the hormonal pregnant ladies, working writers of either sex, and gentlemen daddies maybe dissed at the banal part. They used to call it "Volvo Names" or "Millennial Names" to lessen the blah. Or just call it "Names Grandma Won't Be Shocked At".

[whistlinggirl]

Basicsand, I disagree with your analogy of "bland, beige names." IMO, beige names are indistinct from other names. Let's take, for instance, one of my husband's suggestions once upon a time - Layla. I don't give a damn where it falls on the social security list (1000 is an arbitrary number, by the way), it'll never be a distinct name. Change a single letter (or sound) and you get:

Lila
Leila
Lola
Kayla
Aila

Change two letters and you get tons more names - Lana, Lacey, Lyta, Lara, etc.

I can't even get sick of these names because I forget them five minutes after hearing them. They're background noise - they have little to separate themselves from other names. How can you love or hate them? They're just like beige. They're neutral, they blend in, they're not shocking or trendy or classic or stylish.

Most of the names that you list are quite distinct and substantive. Eleanor, for instance, has its diminutives and variants - Ellen, Helen, Leanora, the older Alienor - but there aren't a lot of names that sound just like Eleanor. Emeanor? Eleator? Eleanar? Peleanor? No. Eleanor is more like - what's a hot color that a lot of designers decorate with right now? - orange, say. OK, well maybe you hate orange; maybe the fact that everyone's all about orange right now makes you turn away from orange and embrace pink. But it's not beige. In fact, in terms of this analogy, I would call names that are perennially popular but distinct and substantive (e.g. John, Elizabeth) the green of the nameverse. Green never goes out of favor; it's the color of nature. It may be a little boring because it's everywhere, but it's not beige.

Anyway, this is just my opinion. But I think that your argument that everything that is in the top 1000 given names in the SS list are the "khaki pants of names" is kind of silly. For one thing, it's arbitrary (how is #950 on the SS list all that quantifiably different from what would fall at #1050?); for another, you haven't backed up your examples (maybe Virginia is an uberpopular name in your city, but I haven't seen a lot of characters in novels named Virginia lately and it certainly isn't a popular name nationwide); for another, it just kind of makes you sound like a style snob who doesn't care about substance, but rather being apart from the pack for its own sake - what happens when Delia or Dinah reaches the top 1000 - does it become beige?

[triceratops]

Basicsand, I disagree with your analogy of "bland, beige names." IMO, beige names are indistinct from other names. Let's take, for instance, one of my husband's suggestions once upon a time - Layla. I don't give a damn where it falls on the social security list (1000 is an arbitrary number, by the way), it'll never be a distinct name. Change a single letter (or sound) and you get:

Lila
Leila
Lola
Kayla
Aila

Change two letters and you get tons more names - Lana, Lacey, Lyta, Lara, etc.

I can't even get sick of these names because I forget them five minutes after hearing them. They're background noise - they have little to separate themselves from other names. How can you love or hate them? They're just like beige. They're neutral, they blend in, they're not shocking or trendy or classic or stylish.

Most of the names that you list are quite distinct and substantive. Eleanor, for instance, has its diminutives and variants - Ellen, Helen, Leanora, the older Alienor - but there aren't a lot of names that sound just like Eleanor. Emeanor? Eleator? Eleanar? Peleanor? No. Eleanor is more like - what's a hot color that a lot of designers decorate with right now? - orange, say. OK, well maybe you hate orange; maybe the fact that everyone's all about orange right now makes you turn away from orange and embrace pink. But it's not beige. In fact, in terms of this analogy, I would call names that are perennially popular but distinct and substantive (e.g. John, Elizabeth) the green of the nameverse. Green never goes out of favor; it's the color of nature. It may be a little boring because it's everywhere, but it's not beige.

Anyway, this is just my opinion. But I think that your argument that everything that is in the top 1000 given names in the SS list are the "khaki pants of names" is kind of silly. For one thing, it's arbitrary (how is #950 on the SS list all that quantifiably different from what would fall at #1050?); for another, you haven't backed up your examples (maybe Virginia is an uberpopular name in your city, but I haven't seen a lot of characters in novels named Virginia lately and it certainly isn't a popular name nationwide); for another, it just kind of makes you sound like a style snob who doesn't care about substance, but rather being apart from the pack for its own sake - what happens when Delia or Dinah reaches the top 1000 - does it become beige?

This.

[ladyrussell]

very eloquently put!
exactly how i feel.

[jonaandida]

Jayden/Brayden. They sound so unsophisticated to me.

[basicsand]

The original question was names that you're sick of hearing and these were mine. Do these names bug me? It's more like I get a glazed eye and try not to stifle a yawn. Not everything that makes top 1000 is beige (Jayden? Kaitlyn?) but more like I feel indifferent toward these. Perhaps it maybe too strong for some that I say these are the new John and Mary since it's more like they're the new James and Elizabeth; perennial Teflon naming that is indistinguishable. To keep with the color analogy, choosing any of my chosen banal names would be like painting a room white. These generally known, commonplace names reflect an easily satisfied, average ordinariness that is usually typical stylistically. It's coloring with a neutral palette squarely within the lines of conformity.

[whistlinggirl]

The original question was names that you're sick of hearing and these were mine. Do these names bug me? It's more like I get a glazed eye and try not to stifle a yawn. Not everything that makes top 1000 is beige (Jayden? Kaitlyn?) but more like I feel indifferent toward these. Perhaps it maybe too strong for some that I say these are the new John and Mary since it's more like they're the new James and Elizabeth; perennial Teflon naming that is indistinguishable. To keep with the color analogy, choosing any of my chosen banal names would be like painting a room white. These generally known, commonplace names reflect an easily satisfied, average ordinariness that is usually typical stylistically. It's coloring with a neutral palette squarely within the lines of conformity.

I think that the process of scanning the SS list to make sure that a name doesn't appear on it for x number of years reflects an easily satisfied, average ordinariness, myself (and it's certainly no different from using a popular name because it's popular). Caring about style over substance is pretty damn ordinary.

I have no children and I'm not pregnant yet, so I don't have a huge stake in this, but the names I like and would consider using fall all over the popularity range because I have a real reason for liking them that says something about me as a person. Whether it's a family namesake, a historical figure, a literary character or author that my husband and I both love; there's a reason I can give beyond "it's not in the top 1000 on the SS list for this decade." How trite.

And by the way, if you have a bunch of high-quality abstract art hanging up, white is a great color to paint your room. Regardless, your analogy still falls short, big time. You can't have dozens of names be "the new John and Mary." There can only be, like, two at a time.

[mommydearest]

Some people here would rather prove themselves right that just simply be freaking happy. Get over it ladies! One's conformity is another's comfort. Classic boring. Boring classic. If you don't like it, don't use it. It was a breath of fresh air but we're steering off topic. There were only so many postings of many times people were bored with Hayden/Aiden and the western names. Btw, I wouldn't quote someone who I disagree with by imitating them to the tee. Get back to hating names instead of each other.

[zinkyowl]

Couldn't of said it better myself. So to get things bak on track i'll share my dislikes...
Girls
Evangelina- Anything like this makes me want to barf. I hate all the syllables and vowels, it doesn't give the girl ny opproutunity to be a tomboy. Barf.
Evie- Bad connections, plus it's one letter away from evil. 'nuff said.
Anything ending in Belle or Bella- These names are one agian, too girly! I sigh wenever i think about all those poor Isabellas who happen to be tomboys...
I basically hate girly names.

Boys
Charles- I love charlie, but the full name just looks gross to me! I hate the s ending on boys names. When i say it it always slurs...
Hugh- This just looks weird to me. Feels VERY akward.
Noel/Joel- These sound incredibly whimpy to me. But i do like Nolan...

[lauren-kay]

I generally have no issue with "line" names - Emmeline, Madeline, Aveline etc, but Adeline makes me want to rip my hair out. It sounds like Add a Line and reminds me too much of other names I dislike such as Adelheid and Addison. A lot of people seem to be in love with it lately, but to me it lacks substance and is less pretty little girls name and more fingers down a blackboard. Sorry!