# First names you hate. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 11, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820 "2005-06-11T00:42:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/21 "2005-06-11T03:07:46Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > Well, just to be different, I don’t care if I offend anyone or not. 🙂 > > I hate the recent trend of naming kids after places. The only two I can think of off the top of my head are Austin and Dakota. Everytime I hear one, I think (in my best Chandler voice) “Wow, could you _sound_ more pretentious?” Is Dakota okay if it’s a [dog’s name?](http://www.dakotasplace.com) ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/22 "2005-06-11T03:13:51Z")
I’ve always had what I thought was an irrational hatred of the name Fiona. Only in the last couple of years have I realised that it was the name of the bully at my kindergarten. I still hate the name, and also all of those mentioned in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/23 "2005-06-11T03:35:08Z")
Every Elizabeth I have ever known–from senior citizen to elementary school age has been opinionated, bossy and insensitive. Every one. Doesn’t matter if they cute it up to Betsy or Betty or Beth or Liza or Lizzy or any other of the million variations of the name… Also hate: Lauren Ashley Brittany-the trendy trash name (Tiffany also) Tiffany any girl name that makes the girl a perpetual 8 year old. Candy, Lucy, Nancy, Lori, Brandy, Shirley etc. any -ee ending name, really. (note on Shirley–everyone I have met–total of 2- has been an alcoholic) I have a loathing for “unique” spellings of girl’s names–Tracee, Kristin/Kristen, Alison, Allison, Allyson etc. Sharon Sheila Walter Lester Henry-ugh ugh ugh Brenton/Brandon/Bradon or whatever Preston (how’s that for pretention?) Fred or Frederick David Albert Barry I could go on all night. I’m picky I guess. Note-if one of these is your name, sorry! ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/24 "2005-06-11T03:40:54Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Every Elizabeth I have ever known–from senior citizen to elementary school age has been opinionated, bossy and insensitive. Hey, that’s me! Well I’m trying really hard not to be so insensitive. Sometimes it actually works. I have a dislike for the cutsey names and place names already mentioned: your Tiffanys, Dakotas, etc. ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/25 "2005-06-11T04:01:51Z")
Every Melissa/Missy I’ve ever known has been a slut. Shame, because it’s otherwise a pretty name. A friend of mine has the same issue with anyone named Lisa. A lot of Lisas tried to steal her boyfriends. Again, pretty name, bad association. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/26 "2005-06-11T04:19:28Z")
My dad’s name is “Dick,” and my mom’s Lavonne, which more than one wag has pointed out sounds like “Love On!” An appropriate pairing, I suppose, but I really didn’t need the visual, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/27 "2005-06-11T04:20:17Z")
I could probably walk up behind any ten year old boy in Sydney and call out “Josh!” or “Zac!” and he’d turn around instantly. Same for younger kids and “Jarrod”. Eugh. If you’re not Irish any of the various spellings of Caitlin are unpleasant to me (as is the complete disregard for the way it should be pronounced). Skyler. :eek: My sister used to work in the hospital system here in Sydney, and she’d email me with particularly revolting names of child patients. “Craigette” remains my favourite. The overuse of surnames as given names is a bit of a worry too. I like the classic names (luckily I’ve got one). ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/28 "2005-06-11T04:29:56Z")
I don’t like “double S” names–Melissa, Jessica, Marissa, Larissa. No rational reason, I just don’t like them. I really dislike adjective names: Precious, Darling, Unique, Merry, Happy. Way to ensure your kid’s not going to be any of those things, not to mention that it’s pretty presumptuous to call your kid something like that–“my kid is so much more unique/darling/precious than yours, it’s in her name so you know it’s true!” Pisses me off. Oh, yeah, and then the names that sound like animal names: Missy, Blaze, Buster, Colt (actually that is a kind of animal, but same principle), Rusty, Lucky (those last two when they’re the given name, not a chosen nickname–and I have seen them as given names). Cross-gender names can be cool; cross-species, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/29 "2005-06-11T04:34:05Z")
I think the name Chase just screams “PLEASE BEAT ME UP!” to the other kids. ---
**Author:** ![Pensandfeathers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Pensandfeathers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pensandfeathers)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/30 "2005-06-11T04:42:08Z")
> [@Agent Foxtrot](#): > > Taylor ☹ That’s okay. My mom named me after Elizabeth Taylor, but I don’t understand why she didn’t just name me Elizabeth. I like that name - its very strong but also obviously female. I’ve always kinda resented the fact that my name isn’t feminine. Is that a common feeling amongst women with unisex names? When it comes to names I don’t like, it would be the cutesy girly names like Ashley, Tiffany, Jamie, Courtney, Brittany, Kelly, Lisa, Stacy…probably because I feel like girls with those names get off so easy. Its a false assumption, but still. Also, I loath the names Shannon, Kayla and Rochelle. Everyone I’ve met with those names have been horribly cruel bitches. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/31 "2005-06-11T05:26:19Z")
> [@Green Bean](#): > > Well, now. I do believe that Miss **Flutterby** and I are going to have to get medieval on your heinie. I think so! 😉 I don’t have any real hatred for names. I really dislike anything that sounds too old ladyish though (Agnes falls that way, as does stuff like Ruth, Gertrude and Hilda). That has more to do with being saddled with one of them though. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/32 "2005-06-11T07:26:03Z")
Geoff, and Sean. Eww ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/33 "2005-06-11T07:34:18Z")
Peggy. Hate it. Utterly repellent name. All others mentioned here aren’t so bad, really. Except for the deliberately weirdo hippy ones. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/34 "2005-06-11T07:36:00Z")
At the beach where I work there is a young boy named “Jackson”. I am sorry, but that is a horrible first name. Maybe it’s just scandinavian roots speaking, but anything ending in “son” ought to be a last name. Another kid is naled Taber. That’s like the parents wanted Tailor, but decided to smoke up before naming the kid. OTOH, there us also a young boy named “Hunter”. That is one cool name. Not quite Ragnar Lodbrock cool ir Magnus Olson cool, but still cool. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/35 "2005-06-11T07:42:47Z")
> [@KSO](#): > > Kirsten but pronounced Keer-sten. If it’s spelled Kirsten, I’m pronouncing Cur-sten, end of story. Actually, it’s pronounced Chish-ten or Chirsh-ten, with “ch” like in the German “ich” 😛 I may have said this before, but: Kristen. It’s not that I don’t like the name, but please, American parents… go ahead and name your baby girl Kristen, but then don’t try to tell everyone it’s an old Scandinavian name. Because the Scandinavians are grinning behind your back. Kristen is indeed an old, traditional Scandinavian name… for boys. The corresponding old, traditional Scandinavian name for girls is spelled Kristin. “Kristen” for girls is a modern, Anglophone name, and that’s cool, too. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rich\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Mann)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/36 "2005-06-11T08:10:25Z")
Twenty-first century girls should not have nineteenth or twentieth century presidents last names as their first names. This includes, but is not limited to: Tyler Taylor Madison Reagan. I fully expect to see (if I live long enough) girls named Clinton and Bush. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/37 "2005-06-11T08:33:34Z")
> [@The Sausage Creature](#): > > Hey, that’s me! Well I’m trying really hard not to be so insensitive. Sometimes it actually works. Don’t sweat it, **Creature**. The sweetest, most humble, least bossy, greatest person I know is named Elizabeth. There’s an idea about which claims that how you name your child will determine how that child’s personality will result. Maybe people who name their child “Gertrude” are likely to shape that child in a particular way, but it’s not the name itself that makes the difference. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/38 "2005-06-11T11:05:31Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > any girl name that makes the girl a perpetual 8 year old. Candy, Lucy, Nancy, Lori, Brandy, Shirley etc. any -ee ending name, really. I’m not a fan of the cutesy names either, but I think a lot of --ee sound names are pleasant enough. Nellie Haley Joey Darly Molly… And a couple you mentioned are usually short for something–Candace, Lucille, Loren–so they’ll have that to fall back on when they’re older. Ones I really dislike are the “genero-names” Lisa, Amy, Linda, Debbie, Dave, Bob, Jim, etc. That’s mainly because I’m terrible with names though, and these are everywhere. I often end up guessing the wrong one. Embarassment ensues. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/39 "2005-06-11T12:23:34Z")
Jennifer. Mainly because it’s like the female equivalent of “John.” I think I’ve met about a billion Jennifers, with more cropping up every day. I don’t think I’ve ever had a job where there weren’t at least two Jennifers. Which meant coming up with nicknames/short versions, or doing that tedious Jennifer P. and Jennifer R. or Little Jen/Big Jen thing to differentiate between them. At one restaurant I worked at, we had Original Jen and Blonde Jen. I have also encountered Mama Jen (she was the Jen with kids) and “Server Jen” because another Jen was a bartender. No bullshit. I feel very badly for the Jennifers of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820/40 "2005-06-11T12:31:24Z")
I also think, as a general rule, that it’s poor form to name your kid anything they’re going to have to spell out all the time, either b/c no one knows how to spell it or b/c you decided to put a “unique” spin on the spelling of a classic. All that means is that they’re going to get their name mispronounced all the time, spend even more time spelling it out for people, and half their mail is going to be addressed to some other person even when they do spell it out. I read in some baby-name book that one year, approx. fifty people named their poor unfortunate spawn “Pepsi.” Parents are cruel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-names-you-hate/307820.md?page=3)