# How would you stereotype these names? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2015, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587 "2015-03-09T11:15:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/21 "2015-03-10T05:03:18Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > You mentioned in your first reply that you thought white or colored. No, _Coloured_. Which is not Black. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/22 "2015-03-10T05:06:58Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > If you really wanted to do a crazy experiment, have the same names, but on a few of them make them spelled differently than we think (Bryan, Candyce, etc.) and see how many people associate the different spellings with being black “Bryan” is, in fact, how I would spell the name sight unseen. As for “Candyce”, I wouldn’t think of that as a Black name, I’d think of that as the 8 y.o. kid of a WASPY soccer mom desperate to have “unique” kids - the Madysynn school of baby naming. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/23 "2015-03-10T05:28:20Z")
Most of them are way too common in my experience to stereotype. “Cheryl” seems to fit someone born before 1965, and “Tiffany” someone born after 1970. “Skyler” seems unusual, maybe more common in someone born after 1980. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/24 "2015-03-10T06:11:49Z")
\*Brian-somewhat bland middle-aged middle-manager, nice, dependable, average (with apologies to my cousin Brian-except that he _is_ a high-school math teacher) \*Christopher-late 20’s in sales or real estate, wears expensive suits and too much hair product \*Sarah-nice girl in her 20s, probably jewish \*Megan-slightly quirky but dependable, in mid-20s. \*Tiffany-spoiled, but not from a wealthy background, in her 20s. \*Daniel-Solid, nice guy, marriage material, less athletic and more upscale than Dan, in his 40s. \*Cheryl-40-50 yo soccer mom. \*Nicholas-Child of hipsters. Helicopter-parented. \*Candice-About 30, slightly overbearing, probably in PR or marketing. WASP. \*Brett-Totally uncool. Parents think they’re cool but they aren’t. Probably a teenager who does drugs. \*Skyler-She’s a teenage girl with a horse. \*Alex (of either sex)-Definely WASPy, probably plays sports., in mid 20s. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/25 "2015-03-10T13:14:30Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > No, _Coloured_. Which is not Black. Please forgive my ignorance; can you explain this? ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/26 "2015-03-10T13:16:54Z")
My stereotypes are derived either from people I’ve known or extremely outdated movie and tv tropes. \*Brian-----Blond surfer dude. \*Christopher-----Someone’s kid brother. \*Sarah-----Wretchedly poor sad sack of a teenager who lives on a dirt farm and makes her own drab clothing. Doesn’t seem to fit in at school. \*Megan-----Five years old, tops. \*Tiffany-----Blond hair, blue eyes, and wouldn’t waste her saliva to spit on me. \*Daniel-----Lots of people’s kid brother. \*Cheryl-----Stoner. \*Nicholas-----Nick=Stoner, Nicholas=British \*Candice-----Sounds cute. Definitely has freckles. \*Brett-----Everybody’s All-American. _Skyler-----Thirteen years old, lives with grandma. Alex (of either sex)-----Male=Nice Kitty! Female=“Hellooooooo!”_ ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/27 "2015-03-10T13:53:28Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Please forgive my ignorance; can you explain this? [Coloured](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloured). [Black](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantu_peoples_in_South_Africa). ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/28 "2015-03-10T14:23:05Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > [Coloured](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloured). [Black](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantu_peoples_in_South_Africa). Thank you; I literally had no knowledge of this and was kind of wondering why you’d used the term “coloured”,but figured it was the SA spelling / term for black. Another tiny bit of ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/29 "2015-03-10T15:01:19Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Thank you; I literally had no knowledge of this and was kind of wondering why you’d used the term “coloured”,but figured it was the SA spelling / term for black. Another tiny bit of ignorance fought! No problem. The primary difference, beyond genetics\*, is one of culture and more specifically, language. Coloureds have Afrikaans or English as a mother tongue, Blacks have a Bantu language as a mother tongue. This renders them as separate ethnicities \*\* - (some Blacks have quite a bit of KhoiSan heritage, some Coloureds are mostly Bantu, genetically) \*\* (well, strictly, “Black” is a grab-bag of _scores_ of ethnicities and “Coloured” covers at least 4 distinct ones) ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/30 "2015-03-10T17:12:32Z")
> [@Steve918](#): > > \*Brian > > Mid thirties. Under-appreciated IT worker. Quiet but with simmering anger and a burning hatred of his co-workers. White. > > \*Christopher > > Red-braces-wearing Yuppie stereotype. About Fifty. Irish ancestry. Boss of the rest. And he knows it. Bastard. Proud of his really weak network account password. > \*Sarah > > Straight-laced, efficient office manager. Also underappreciated like Brian. Unlike Brian, she does not hide a firearm in her desk and spend most nights drinking alone and watching Death Wish Three. > > \*Megan > \*Tiffany > \*Daniel > > Cheryl’s goldfish, who live in a tank on her desk. This tank is a major bone of contention in the office. Brian only allows it as he has a vague memory of Murdock having a pet racoon in his cell in the A-Team. Tiffany annoys the others by singing, ‘I Think We’re alone now’ all the time. > > \*Cheryl > > Black transsexual former Special Ops commando. She watches the rest with the calm detachment of a shark. Also in charge of stationary. > > \*Nicholas > > White film star famous for accepting roles in rubbish films. Lost and coked out of his mind. > > \*Candice > > Nicholas’s ‘companion’. He pays her to leave. Candice is Hispanic and has a prominent Adam’s apple. > > \*Brett > > Murder victim. Encased in concrete in the basement. White, obviously, as he is called, ‘Brett’. He leaves three children and an unassuming wife. Buried beside him are documents proving that the US government reneged on locating soldiers missing in action in Vietnam. His cat misses him but would never admit it. Cats are nasty. > > \*Skyler > > What Christopher calls his tumour. A lazy reference to Braking Bad. Ironically, it will not be the thing that kills him. > > \*Alex (of either sex) > > Sabre-toothed bat who lives in the crawl space between the steel frame and the polystyrene ceiling tiles. Alex has seen it all and cares for nothing. A laconic, bitter creature, Alex derives pleasure from watching others fail. He of cause thrives in a modern office environment. Well done. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/31 "2015-03-11T19:41:35Z")
\*Brian - he’s got learning difficulties and lives with his mother who dresses him like a 50 year old - he’s 23 \*Christopher - Brian’s brother - the golden boy because he’s got a job - he helps out with a removals company and dresses himself on weekends \*Sarah - she’s the snooty daughter of the removals company owner. Calls Christopher ‘Chris’ which he doesn’t like. \*Megan - Sarah’s sister married an Italian bloke she met on holiday. They moved to Wales, but it’s not working out. \*Tiffany - she’s visiting from the States and finds it all a bit small. \*Daniel - Drives the removal van for Nick … also does Nick. \*Cheryl - companion to Brett, they live behind the supermarket \*Nicholas - “Nick” he owns the removal company and he’s married to Cheryl, but Daniel is his boyfriend. \*Candice - I know nothing about her. \*Brett - former lover of Alex and father of Brian and Christopher, fulltime drunkard. \*Skyler - I know nothing about her. \*Alex (of either sex) is the mother of Brian and Christopher, they’re Brett’s kids but Brett can’t stay sober long enough to fuction as a dad. ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/32 "2015-03-13T08:52:45Z")
> [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](#): > > \*Brian - he’s got learning difficulties and lives with his mother who dresses him like a 50 year old - he’s 23 > \*Christopher - Brian’s brother - the golden boy because he’s got a job - he helps out with a removals company and dresses himself on weekends > \*Sarah - she’s the snooty daughter of the removals company owner. Calls Christopher ‘Chris’ which he doesn’t like. > \*Megan - Sarah’s sister married an Italian bloke she met on holiday. They moved to Wales, but it’s not working out. > \*Tiffany - she’s visiting from the States and finds it all a bit small. > \*Daniel - Drives the removal van for Nick … also does Nick. > \*Cheryl - companion to Brett, they live behind the supermarket > \*Nicholas - “Nick” he owns the removal company and he’s married to Cheryl, but Daniel is his boyfriend. > \*Candice - I know nothing about her. > \*Brett - former lover of Alex and father of Brian and Christopher, fulltime drunkard. > \*Skyler - I know nothing about her. > \*Alex (of either sex) is the mother of Brian and Christopher, they’re Brett’s kids but Brett can’t stay sober long enough to fuction as a dad. I like it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/33 "2015-03-13T15:25:53Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Thank you; I literally had no knowledge of this and was kind of wondering why you’d used the term “coloured”,but figured it was the SA spelling / term for black. Another tiny bit of ignorance fought! Same here. I learned something today. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/34 "2015-03-13T15:40:46Z")
Brian-Muscular Elephant man very smart but takes time to think things over Christopher- Sleek jaguar man. Fast. Sarah- Cute cat girl (British short hair) Megan-Busty cow girl Tiffany- sleek sexy cat girl, Megan’s “pet” Daniel- Leader, Lion man, very brave Cheryl-Sexy looking skunk girl Nicholas- wise owl man Candice- Pony girl, sick and tire of being confused with Cadance Brett- Muscular Stallion man, loved Candice Skylar- weasel guy always scheming to take Daniel’s place as leader Alex- Generic average looking human all the girls are after ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/35 "2015-03-13T17:14:30Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > I like it. 😃 Thanks! I’m starting to feel sorry for Cheryl now, living behind the supermarket getting drunk with Brett ever since she realised her husband is gay. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/36 "2015-03-13T17:17:09Z")
What about Braylee, Kayleigh and Rayleeigghh? Or Kaden, Aiden and Jayden? Or my all time favorite: Nevaeh? Wow! That’s Heaven spelled backwards! So clever! I feel sorry for teachers. Fast forward 70 years from now, “C’mon kids! It’s time to go visit Granny Nevaeh.” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/37 "2015-03-13T18:18:50Z")
> [@dada2fish](#): > > What about Braylee, Kayleigh and Rayleeigghh? > > Or Kaden, Aiden and Jayden? > > Or my all time favorite: Nevaeh? Wow! That’s Heaven spelled backwards! So clever! > > I feel sorry for teachers. > Fast forward 70 years from now, “C’mon kids! It’s time to go visit Granny Nevaeh.” 😛 How the heck do you even pronounce that? ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/38 "2015-03-13T18:48:19Z")
I’m from the US, which may affect my stereotypes. The following names are too common to have particular associations with them: Brian Christopher Megan Daniel Nicholas (I’m assuming these people go by the common nicknames, eg “Nick” and “Chris” and “Dan”…) Here’s what I think of with the rest of the names: Sarah- Very sweet, good-natured (I know it’s a very common name, but the Sarahs in my life have been very kind to me Tiffany- Stripper or trailer-park trash Cheryl- Never met a Cheryl, but I think of an older woman Candice- Stripper (if going by “Candy”) Brett- Douche Skyler- Little white kid of either sex with insufferably entitled, suburban parents. Has friends named “Zoe” and “Gunnar” and “Gryler”. Alex- White person, either sex, probably a fairly cool person ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/39 "2015-03-13T19:21:35Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > How the heck do you even pronounce that? ni-VEH-ya. I’ve also heard neh-VEH-ya, but mostly with the more “I” sound than another eh sound. And yes I know multiples of them…Lutheran schooling after all ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587/40 "2015-03-13T19:46:08Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > ni-VEH-ya. > > I’ve also heard neh-VEH-ya, but mostly with the more “I” sound than another eh sound. > And yes I know multiples of them…Lutheran schooling after all Am I reading it incorrectly or is it like Nivea skin lotion? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-stereotype-these-names/714587.md?page=3)