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Helpreasons for disliking names
I'm interested in why people dislike particular names, or what is most important in a name.
Could you rank these in order of importance please? Also, add an example of a name you dislike for each reason. Thanks! (if it's not a reason you dislike any names, please just leave it out)
Dislike the sound
Dislike the spelling
It's popular
It's old fashioned
It's made up
It's boring
It's too short/nicknamey
It's too long
Bad association
It is close to another word
It's over the top
It's trashy
Could you rank these in order of importance please? Also, add an example of a name you dislike for each reason. Thanks! (if it's not a reason you dislike any names, please just leave it out)
Dislike the sound
Dislike the spelling
It's popular
It's old fashioned
It's made up
It's boring
It's too short/nicknamey
It's too long
Bad association
It is close to another word
It's over the top
It's trashy
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
It's made up
--> Brayden, Skylar
It's trashy
--> Phoebe
Dislike the sound
--> Ivor
Dislike the spelling
--> Catharine, Katelin
It's over the top
--> Violetta, Edmund
It's too short/nicknamey
-- Mike, Jamie (dislike them as actual names, no problem with them as nicknames)
It's popular
--> James
It's old fashioned
--> Betty, Rufus, Edward, Martha, Felix
Bad association
--> Victoria
--> Brayden, Skylar
It's trashy
--> Phoebe
Dislike the sound
--> Ivor
Dislike the spelling
--> Catharine, Katelin
It's over the top
--> Violetta, Edmund
It's too short/nicknamey
-- Mike, Jamie (dislike them as actual names, no problem with them as nicknames)
It's popular
--> James
It's old fashioned
--> Betty, Rufus, Edward, Martha, Felix
Bad association
--> Victoria
This message was edited 7/11/2015, 5:14 PM
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To the question "what is most important in a name": I am reticent to dislike any name; as people will read this & I do not want to hurt or offend any who may already have that given name. (As a guy with a girl's name - trust me, there are plenty who are uncomfortable with my own name - yet those who love it, really love it, and spare no occasion to repeat reference to it.)
I love the literary heritage; here, used by Shakespeare in Twelfth Night - he not only decries his (own) lost son Hamnet - a Tragedy endured by Shakespeare and his wife; He asserts that his love for his son will endure forever as he redefines the meaning behind Ovid's Echo (and Narcissus) with "Holla your name to the reverberate hills, / And make the babbling gossip of the air / Cry out, 'Olivia!' O! you should not rest / Between the elements of air and earth, / But you should pity me!"
"Viola. If I did love you in my master's flame,
With such a suffering, such a deadly life,
In your denial I would find no sense;
I would not understand it.
Olivia. Why, what would you?
Viola. Make me a willow cabin at your gate,
And call upon my soul within the house;
Write loyal cantons of contemned love,
And sing them loud even in the dead of night;
Holla your name to the reverberate hills,
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out, 'Olivia!' O! you should not rest
Between the elements of air and earth,
But you should pity me!
I love the literary heritage; here, used by Shakespeare in Twelfth Night - he not only decries his (own) lost son Hamnet - a Tragedy endured by Shakespeare and his wife; He asserts that his love for his son will endure forever as he redefines the meaning behind Ovid's Echo (and Narcissus) with "Holla your name to the reverberate hills, / And make the babbling gossip of the air / Cry out, 'Olivia!' O! you should not rest / Between the elements of air and earth, / But you should pity me!"
"Viola. If I did love you in my master's flame,
With such a suffering, such a deadly life,
In your denial I would find no sense;
I would not understand it.
Olivia. Why, what would you?
Viola. Make me a willow cabin at your gate,
And call upon my soul within the house;
Write loyal cantons of contemned love,
And sing them loud even in the dead of night;
Holla your name to the reverberate hills,
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out, 'Olivia!' O! you should not rest
Between the elements of air and earth,
But you should pity me!
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Most important to least important:
Dislike the sound: Uriah, Oona, Amanda
Dislike the spelling: Sean, Siobhán, Aaron
It's boring: James, Charles, George, Henry
It is close to another word: Uriah, Eustace
Bad association: Joffrey, Garrett, Pierce
Too short/nicknamey: Missy, Mindy, Danny, Sammy, Fancy, Charlie
For the record, I don't think "it's made up" is in any way a valid criticism of a name, since ultimately every single name was at one point made up by someone. "It's too modern"/"it's too new" would be totally fair, though.
Dislike the sound: Uriah, Oona, Amanda
Dislike the spelling: Sean, Siobhán, Aaron
It's boring: James, Charles, George, Henry
It is close to another word: Uriah, Eustace
Bad association: Joffrey, Garrett, Pierce
Too short/nicknamey: Missy, Mindy, Danny, Sammy, Fancy, Charlie
For the record, I don't think "it's made up" is in any way a valid criticism of a name, since ultimately every single name was at one point made up by someone. "It's too modern"/"it's too new" would be totally fair, though.
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Bad association - Marcus, Taylor
Dislike the sound - Bert, Claudia
Dislike the spelling - Michael (prefer Mikhail, which technically isn't the same name, but whatever), Elizabeth (prefer an 's' instead of a 'z')
It's boring - Joseph, Amy
It's over the top - Augustus (most girls' names I like could be considered over the top, so I only have a boys' name for this one)
Dislike the sound - Bert, Claudia
Dislike the spelling - Michael (prefer Mikhail, which technically isn't the same name, but whatever), Elizabeth (prefer an 's' instead of a 'z')
It's boring - Joseph, Amy
It's over the top - Augustus (most girls' names I like could be considered over the top, so I only have a boys' name for this one)
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AFFECTS MY LIKE/DISLIKE:
It's old fashioned - I usually like names that are dated, vintage, or just plan dusty. I doesn't affect whether I dislike a name. In fact, I listed it first here, because being older and rarely used is the thing I like BEST in a name usually.
Dislike the sound - This is the primary reason I would dislike a name. Imogen and Hugh come to mind here.
Dislike the spelling - A lot of times I like a name, but really dislike the chosen spelling. Most kre8tive names fill in here. Meighyah and Kehden for example.
It is close to another word / Bad association - I see these as pretty much the same thing. A name might be ruined because of this. My favorite name used to be Olin (boy), but it is very close to a Filipino word for a male body part. Same scenario with Minette, a French girls name I love, with unfortunate connotations in French slang.
It's boring - Hmmm, I think names like Lee and Al fit here.
RARELY AFFECTS WHETHER I LIKE THE NAME:
It's made up - I might not find a name usable, but it's legitimacy doesn't affect whether I like it or not. Just whether I would use it. Which is usually a "no".
It's too short/nickname - Nope. I usually like these names.
It's too long - Nope. I might think a name is too long, but I rarely dislike those names. I tend to love them, but find them unusable.
It's over the top - This is the best quality about some names!
**It's popular - This might affect usability for me, but does not affect whether I like the name.
**It's trashy - This is synonomous with Kre8tive to me. It takes a lot to make a name trashy for me.
It's old fashioned - I usually like names that are dated, vintage, or just plan dusty. I doesn't affect whether I dislike a name. In fact, I listed it first here, because being older and rarely used is the thing I like BEST in a name usually.
Dislike the sound - This is the primary reason I would dislike a name. Imogen and Hugh come to mind here.
Dislike the spelling - A lot of times I like a name, but really dislike the chosen spelling. Most kre8tive names fill in here. Meighyah and Kehden for example.
It is close to another word / Bad association - I see these as pretty much the same thing. A name might be ruined because of this. My favorite name used to be Olin (boy), but it is very close to a Filipino word for a male body part. Same scenario with Minette, a French girls name I love, with unfortunate connotations in French slang.
It's boring - Hmmm, I think names like Lee and Al fit here.
RARELY AFFECTS WHETHER I LIKE THE NAME:
It's made up - I might not find a name usable, but it's legitimacy doesn't affect whether I like it or not. Just whether I would use it. Which is usually a "no".
It's too short/nickname - Nope. I usually like these names.
It's too long - Nope. I might think a name is too long, but I rarely dislike those names. I tend to love them, but find them unusable.
It's over the top - This is the best quality about some names!
**It's popular - This might affect usability for me, but does not affect whether I like the name.
**It's trashy - This is synonomous with Kre8tive to me. It takes a lot to make a name trashy for me.
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Dislike the sound
- Daphne, Phoebe, Hugh, Philip
It's popular
- Caden (I used to like it, then heard it so much I got sick of it).
It's boring
- Anna
It's too short/nicknamey
- Alex and Charlie (should also go under popular and boring). But I love Alec.
Bad association
- Evelina
It's trashy
- Kevin, Liam, Joline, Engla, Novalie
- Daphne, Phoebe, Hugh, Philip
It's popular
- Caden (I used to like it, then heard it so much I got sick of it).
It's boring
- Anna
It's too short/nicknamey
- Alex and Charlie (should also go under popular and boring). But I love Alec.
Bad association
- Evelina
It's trashy
- Kevin, Liam, Joline, Engla, Novalie
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for me
1. Dislike the sound - Bertha, Isaiah
2. It's boring - Emma, Andrew
3. Bad association - Elspeth, Dylan
4. Dislike the spelling - Eleanor, Graham
5. It is close to another word - Violet, Seth
6. It's too short/nicknamey - Mia, Finn
7. It's popular - Jack, Olivia
8. It's old fashioned - Martha, Humphrey
9. It's trashy - Brandi, Bentley
10. It's made up - Brayden, Nevaeh
11. It's too long - don't think I actually have any examples for this
12. It's over the top - don't think I have any examples for this either
1. Dislike the sound - Bertha, Isaiah
2. It's boring - Emma, Andrew
3. Bad association - Elspeth, Dylan
4. Dislike the spelling - Eleanor, Graham
5. It is close to another word - Violet, Seth
6. It's too short/nicknamey - Mia, Finn
7. It's popular - Jack, Olivia
8. It's old fashioned - Martha, Humphrey
9. It's trashy - Brandi, Bentley
10. It's made up - Brayden, Nevaeh
11. It's too long - don't think I actually have any examples for this
12. It's over the top - don't think I have any examples for this either
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