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HelpThe Difference Between East Coast and West Coast
Many months ago I read an article that was looking at naming trends that were different depending on where you lived in the US. It found that the farther West you went and then up to Alaska the more people there were naming their children unusual names.
The article wasn't certain why this was but the researcher suspected that it had to do with the spirit for adventure and escape that caused people to originally explore out away from the East Coast.
Anyway that's slightly off topic. I'm from the West Coast but I've been considering moving to New England someday. Where I come from strange names are very common. My partner likes the name Dante for a girl which wouldn't be weird where I'm from. I've even met a little girl named Dante once.
These questions are mostly for people who have lived in New York or New England:
I'm curious would a girl named Dante be really out of place where you lived?
What kind of opinion do you think people would have of a girl named Dante?
Also I'm curious if you personally lived in a big city, a small city or a town? I'm thinking that could matter but maybe it wouldn't. Where I'm from I meet people with strange names in the city and the country. I know people in cities tend to be more liberal but I don't know if that affects naming trends.
Thank you so much for answering any of my questions. Feel free to respond to as much or as few things as you want. You can also discuss related things that I didn't ask about if you want to.
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The article wasn't certain why this was but the researcher suspected that it had to do with the spirit for adventure and escape that caused people to originally explore out away from the East Coast.
Anyway that's slightly off topic. I'm from the West Coast but I've been considering moving to New England someday. Where I come from strange names are very common. My partner likes the name Dante for a girl which wouldn't be weird where I'm from. I've even met a little girl named Dante once.
These questions are mostly for people who have lived in New York or New England:
I'm curious would a girl named Dante be really out of place where you lived?
What kind of opinion do you think people would have of a girl named Dante?
Also I'm curious if you personally lived in a big city, a small city or a town? I'm thinking that could matter but maybe it wouldn't. Where I'm from I meet people with strange names in the city and the country. I know people in cities tend to be more liberal but I don't know if that affects naming trends.
Thank you so much for answering any of my questions. Feel free to respond to as much or as few things as you want. You can also discuss related things that I didn't ask about if you want to.
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This message was edited 5/2/2012, 8:04 AM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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I'm from New York...
I live in New York City, but I've been all over New England as well as the whole East Coast. I think Dante on a girl would raise a few eyebrows from time to time, but not for too long.
There are tons of kids walking around here with names way stranger than that.
As for the more suburban areas of New England/ Mid-Atlantic region, I'd say that traditional girls names are probably the way to go. Saying that, I do know girls from those areas named things like Logan, Kendall and Jordan, which were all male names at one time.
I live in New York City, but I've been all over New England as well as the whole East Coast. I think Dante on a girl would raise a few eyebrows from time to time, but not for too long.
There are tons of kids walking around here with names way stranger than that.
As for the more suburban areas of New England/ Mid-Atlantic region, I'd say that traditional girls names are probably the way to go. Saying that, I do know girls from those areas named things like Logan, Kendall and Jordan, which were all male names at one time.
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I'm curious when you say suburban areas do you mean the suburban areas just outside cities as well as the small towns around the countryside or are you just talking about the suburbs?
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Am I too late? :(
I've stayed away from btn almost all day! My addiction! lol
Anyway: I have lived as far north as New York (city and long island) and as far south as South Carolina, although I did spend a lot of time in Florida and everywhere in between!
In NY no one would really care that a little girl is Dante. Even in parts of where I am some people wouldn't care. I think it really depends on the specific town. In Goose Creek (not where I am, but close enough) people would be appalled. In Charleston, not so much. Probably some comments--mostly inquisitive but not negative. It's a Hipster-y town, though, so a lot goes there...
:)
I've stayed away from btn almost all day! My addiction! lol
Anyway: I have lived as far north as New York (city and long island) and as far south as South Carolina, although I did spend a lot of time in Florida and everywhere in between!
In NY no one would really care that a little girl is Dante. Even in parts of where I am some people wouldn't care. I think it really depends on the specific town. In Goose Creek (not where I am, but close enough) people would be appalled. In Charleston, not so much. Probably some comments--mostly inquisitive but not negative. It's a Hipster-y town, though, so a lot goes there...
:)
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Hehe you definitely aren't too late. It's only 7:00pm where I am right now. Plus I'm a terrible night owl though I'm hoping to go to sleep earlier tonight than last night.
I was thinking that it would depend on where you are living on the East Coast. I suspect that some places are probably very traditional and proper, while some other places are less so. I haven't spent much time on the East Coast so I'm not very familiar with it.
I know I've said it before but I'd love to visit Charleston. In the past I've noticed that quite a few people on here who have either lived in Charleston or live there currently. After seeing Anthony Bourdain's South Carolina episode I've felt that Charleston seems like a cool place to visit. I don't think I would ever want to live that far South, at least not more than a few years. The Southern parts of the US are hotter than I like.
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I was thinking that it would depend on where you are living on the East Coast. I suspect that some places are probably very traditional and proper, while some other places are less so. I haven't spent much time on the East Coast so I'm not very familiar with it.
I know I've said it before but I'd love to visit Charleston. In the past I've noticed that quite a few people on here who have either lived in Charleston or live there currently. After seeing Anthony Bourdain's South Carolina episode I've felt that Charleston seems like a cool place to visit. I don't think I would ever want to live that far South, at least not more than a few years. The Southern parts of the US are hotter than I like.
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This message was edited 5/2/2012, 7:02 PM
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Yay! Although I hope you did get some sleep! :)
Yes--it's hard to lump the entire East Coast together when it comprises so many different states.
Charleston is great. It can get very hot (especially if you aren't used to it--which I kinda am now) but it's worth it. Right by the water with pretty ships, a lot of history, old churches, and interesting people. There is a man who plays his violin every night on a street corner... unfortunately, it sounds more like he's doing a social experiment on how long strangers can deal with sound annoyances.
We have Captain Sparrow here. Some man dressed up like Captain Sparrow just wanders around acting awesome. Looks just like him and has the walk down! When you sight him it's a lot like seeing a unicorn. He just passes by and you go, "Ah! Captain Sparrow!" but by the time your friends turn around he's gone and you look insane. It's great.
Yes--it's hard to lump the entire East Coast together when it comprises so many different states.
Charleston is great. It can get very hot (especially if you aren't used to it--which I kinda am now) but it's worth it. Right by the water with pretty ships, a lot of history, old churches, and interesting people. There is a man who plays his violin every night on a street corner... unfortunately, it sounds more like he's doing a social experiment on how long strangers can deal with sound annoyances.
We have Captain Sparrow here. Some man dressed up like Captain Sparrow just wanders around acting awesome. Looks just like him and has the walk down! When you sight him it's a lot like seeing a unicorn. He just passes by and you go, "Ah! Captain Sparrow!" but by the time your friends turn around he's gone and you look insane. It's great.
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I'm from the West, but I'll answer your questions, anyway...
Would a girl named Dante be really out of place where you lived?
-It wouldn't be TOO out of place, but I know a lot of people would quietly wonder why the couple chose such a masculine name for their daughter. I'm from Northern CA, and while there does seem to be a lot of uncommon names here (think surnames-as-first-names, nature names, etc.), I can't think of a lot of people who would give the thumbs up to Dante on a girl. She wouldn't be made fun of or anything, but yes, people would think it was a little weird. The only Dantes I have known have been male.
What kind of opinion do you think people would have of a girl named Dante?
-Well, MY opinion would be, "Why did her parents choose Dante when there are so many great female names that never get used?" It wouldn't annoy me or anything, but I wouldn't understand it.
I live in a small city, I guess. It's not THAT big, but it's not a one-horse town. People have heard of it.
Would a girl named Dante be really out of place where you lived?
-It wouldn't be TOO out of place, but I know a lot of people would quietly wonder why the couple chose such a masculine name for their daughter. I'm from Northern CA, and while there does seem to be a lot of uncommon names here (think surnames-as-first-names, nature names, etc.), I can't think of a lot of people who would give the thumbs up to Dante on a girl. She wouldn't be made fun of or anything, but yes, people would think it was a little weird. The only Dantes I have known have been male.
What kind of opinion do you think people would have of a girl named Dante?
-Well, MY opinion would be, "Why did her parents choose Dante when there are so many great female names that never get used?" It wouldn't annoy me or anything, but I wouldn't understand it.
I live in a small city, I guess. It's not THAT big, but it's not a one-horse town. People have heard of it.
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It's true--the East Coast is much more conscious about all things classic. This is not universally true of every place or family, but certainly more present in the more traditional mid-Atlantic region among more affluent people.
I know I would not want any of the names I chose to enter into obsolescence, thus I'd avoid anything too trendy or things I only like impulsively.
I often ask myself when it comes to names: "Would this look silly on one's tombstone?"
I know I would not want any of the names I chose to enter into obsolescence, thus I'd avoid anything too trendy or things I only like impulsively.
I often ask myself when it comes to names: "Would this look silly on one's tombstone?"
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New England girl here. My time is split pretty evenly between the city and the cape. Personally I do think a girl named Dante would feel really out of place. I know more masculine/strong names for girls seems to be a trend, but in all honestly I feel like I keep meeting little ones with frilly names. Or at least names that specifically denote their gender. The most masculinely named girls I've taught recently have been Avery, Ainsley/Ainslee, Taylor, Harbour and Ryan. But none of those are really a stretch. Personally if I met a little girl named Dante I'd be left wondering why her parents gave her such a strong, masculine name when there are plenty of strong females names out there. Have you ever thought about Bronte?
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Hmmm I wonder why so many people find Dante to sound masculine but say that they like Bronte for a female.
Does it come down to familiarity and association of the people they actually know or know from literature or history?
Because I feel that the Dawn sound is much more feminine than the Brawn sound. Brawn makes me think of muscles and Dawn makes me think of the sunrise.
Both Dante and Bronte aren't quite my style. I don't hate or love Dante but my partner loves the name Dante for a girl.
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Does it come down to familiarity and association of the people they actually know or know from literature or history?
Because I feel that the Dawn sound is much more feminine than the Brawn sound. Brawn makes me think of muscles and Dawn makes me think of the sunrise.
Both Dante and Bronte aren't quite my style. I don't hate or love Dante but my partner loves the name Dante for a girl.
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I currently live in New York City, but I'm originally from a rural town in Pennsylvania.
The only major difference I see between those two, would be that there are simply more people in New York City, and that the diversity there is what leads to the different names. My hometown is equally liberal, just smaller. (Much smaller.)
I dislike the name Dante for a girl. It's not my style, and I'm a firm believer in male names for males, etc, with some exceptions for "unisex names" (which I ultimately think tend to lean one way or another). I think a female Dante would stick out regardless of where you are.
The only major difference I see between those two, would be that there are simply more people in New York City, and that the diversity there is what leads to the different names. My hometown is equally liberal, just smaller. (Much smaller.)
I dislike the name Dante for a girl. It's not my style, and I'm a firm believer in male names for males, etc, with some exceptions for "unisex names" (which I ultimately think tend to lean one way or another). I think a female Dante would stick out regardless of where you are.
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I agree. I'm from Washington State (which is west) and I think that it would stick out here even if we are a very western liberal state. I haven't really hard all that many made up names. A lot of them just seem to be the trendy names like "Jayden" and "Nevaeh". A lot of my former classmates also ended up spelling them creatively.
Oh can I have the link to the article? I would really like to read it.
Oh can I have the link to the article? I would really like to read it.
This message was edited 5/2/2012, 10:15 AM
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I'm from Seattle but I'm currently living just outside the WA capitol. I meet girls with names like Charlie, Devon, Noah, Spencer, Ryan, Riley, etc... fairly often. One of the times I was at Sol Duc I met a little girl named Dante. I guess it could be really different in WA depending on where you live.
I found the article, here it is: http://www.livescience.com/12934-popular-baby-names-frontier-states.html
Enjoy :)
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I found the article, here it is: http://www.livescience.com/12934-popular-baby-names-frontier-states.html
Enjoy :)
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This message was edited 5/2/2012, 6:20 PM
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Same holds true in Michigan. But Dante isn't very popular and never really was by the population in Michigan regardless of race.
This message was edited 5/2/2012, 11:15 AM
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I've only met three Dantes, one white, one black, and one hispanic. I don't think it has a race connotation here. Like I just put it through facebook to see mutual friends and it seems pretty mixed. But like I said, I'm more north.
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Dante is slightly more common where I live for black males than for white males. I don't meet many Dante's. It could be because both of the places I have lived have fairly small black communities. Seattle's African American / black community only makes up 7.9% of the population. Where I live now it is only 1.9% of the population. Or it could be that Dante just isn't very popular where I live. I've only ever met a handful of Dante's before and some of them I met when visiting other places in the US.
The little girl I met named Dante was American Indian. If I remember right she was partially Quileute and from another Washington tribe.
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The little girl I met named Dante was American Indian. If I remember right she was partially Quileute and from another Washington tribe.
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This message was edited 5/2/2012, 5:53 PM
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I live in a village on the coast of Maine, and I think the most common reaction one might find here to a girl named Dante would be genuine interest and inspiration. Pretty much anything goes, and lots of kids have unusual names.
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That's nice to hear since Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are the three states we're considering the most to some day move to. If I lived in Maine I'd probably want to be on the coast since I love the ocean. Though the in-land towns also seem really nice.
It's good to hear that a female Dante wouldn't out of place.
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It's good to hear that a female Dante wouldn't out of place.
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This message was edited 5/2/2012, 8:51 AM
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Almost any town on the Maine coast has a very liberal cast. My grown (32) dd just moved to Portland after living in NYC for a number of years, and she absolutely loves it. Very accessible, great local food scene, lots of cultural events, decent economic climate, the smell of the sea, and yes, stars.....For a somewhat smaller town (pop. 7,000) I'd recommend Belfast, which is about 2.5 hours north of Portland.
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I'm from a city in Connecticut
Currently living in a city in Massachusetts. It really just depends where you are I mean, I don't think anything in New York City will surprising, just too many people. That said, where I'm from, it would be a little off. People would definitely raise an eyebrow to it but it wouldn't be like OMG WHAT DID THEY DO TO THAT LITTLE GIRL?! Like I've met girls my age named Conner, Seton, Tristyn, etc. the whole boy names on girls isn't foreign here and those were all suburban kids. But I have a city girl mindset, I've always lived in a city so I see them and raise an eyebrow but don't really care, I don't really know how the suburban community looks at them as a whole though.
Currently living in a city in Massachusetts. It really just depends where you are I mean, I don't think anything in New York City will surprising, just too many people. That said, where I'm from, it would be a little off. People would definitely raise an eyebrow to it but it wouldn't be like OMG WHAT DID THEY DO TO THAT LITTLE GIRL?! Like I've met girls my age named Conner, Seton, Tristyn, etc. the whole boy names on girls isn't foreign here and those were all suburban kids. But I have a city girl mindset, I've always lived in a city so I see them and raise an eyebrow but don't really care, I don't really know how the suburban community looks at them as a whole though.
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Hehe thanks for your answer.
We'd never live in New York City if we can help it.
The biggest city we would ever consider would be Chicago or Toronto. But we'd want to permanently live some place like Portland Maine and smaller. We both prefer living someplace where we can see the stars and have some land.
We currently are considering moving to a big city for just a little while. We've never lived on our own in a big city. We probably won't move too far away since if my partner get's into medical school or a PhD program we'll probably be moving again in a year or less. My partner is getting a bit tired of living 15 minutes by car and 45 minutes by bus away from the downtown of the small city we live outside of. We don't have a car and it takes forever to get places by bus and the buses don't run very late. There isn't much to in this city except eat, watch a movie, see a band or go to a play. We don't have museums, zoos or aquariums in this city. The food scene is also very boring. It would be nice for at least a few years to experience life on our own in a big city. I grew up in a big city but that was before I went off to college. The freedom of not being under our parents roof while living in a city will be fun.
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We'd never live in New York City if we can help it.
The biggest city we would ever consider would be Chicago or Toronto. But we'd want to permanently live some place like Portland Maine and smaller. We both prefer living someplace where we can see the stars and have some land.
We currently are considering moving to a big city for just a little while. We've never lived on our own in a big city. We probably won't move too far away since if my partner get's into medical school or a PhD program we'll probably be moving again in a year or less. My partner is getting a bit tired of living 15 minutes by car and 45 minutes by bus away from the downtown of the small city we live outside of. We don't have a car and it takes forever to get places by bus and the buses don't run very late. There isn't much to in this city except eat, watch a movie, see a band or go to a play. We don't have museums, zoos or aquariums in this city. The food scene is also very boring. It would be nice for at least a few years to experience life on our own in a big city. I grew up in a big city but that was before I went off to college. The freedom of not being under our parents roof while living in a city will be fun.
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