# Names you loathe... and why!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 13, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991 "2010-04-13T21:59:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/1 "2010-04-13T21:59:28Z")
Having just named, or been involved in the naming of our second child, I found myself possibly more influenced by names I don’t like than names I do.
There are some names that just grate. I hate the sound of them, but the name itself isn’t an issue.
But there are names that just conjure up such negative images and connotations I can hardly utter them. Here are mine, what are yours? (Careful, your ox might get gored. Approach this thread with a sense of humor!)
Kaden/Caden/Kayden or any derivation of this - It reminds me of the misbehaving kids on Nanny 911. Way too trendy.
Nevaeh - Stripper name!
McKenzie - I actually have a good friend that named her child this. Umm… it’s a last name!
I’m sure I can come up with more.
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### Author:  [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/2 "2010-04-13T22:01:09Z")
The whole last-name-as-first-name thing has been really popular the last few years. I personally loathe it.
Lots of little Taylors, McKenzies, McKennas, Hunters, etc. running around.
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### Author:  [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/3 "2010-04-13T23:05:47Z")
I’ve always hated the name Penelope. It just feels gross to say it. I feel the same way about Chloe, too.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/4 "2010-04-13T23:08:56Z")
There’s a road off Highway 62 near Bancroft named McKenzie Lane. It’s just a track through the bush, probably goes to a hunting camp, but it’s name always makes me think it should be the perky and smart redheaded teen heroine of a Nancy Drew style detective series. 🙂
Names I loathe? Percy, Percval, is a good start.
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### Author:  [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/5 "2010-04-13T23:14:22Z")
I loathe the name Rachael, entirely because of the Rachael Green character on _Friends_. What an asshole she was.
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### Author:  [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/6 "2010-04-13T23:16:21Z")
Any last name as a first name if there is no family connection. I know several people with last name names (some in my own family) that is a mother or grandmother’s maiden name. Most of these predate the current trend. I’m ok with that and even think it’s cool. But the ones where there is no connection just sound overdone and pretentious.
I’m with you, **Hippy Hollow** on Neveah!. Or any other “precious” name like that. It seems like only the girls get these.
Any name with cutesy spellings. Fer Og’s sake, not only will your kid have to go through life spelling / pronouncing it to people, but the kids who got the traditional spelling will too. Don’t screw with other kids’ names, people!
(There, I feel better now that that’s off my chest. 🙂 )
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### Author:  [@Chickie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chickie)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/7 "2010-04-13T23:19:03Z")
A friend of mine is a preschool teacher and has an “Emerson” in her class- little girl. Blechh! I hate this name. Can you GET any more pretentious?
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### Author:  [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/8 "2010-04-13T23:22:05Z")
Didn’t George Carlin make fun of guys named Skip?
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### Author:  [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/9 "2010-04-13T23:43:42Z")
> [@Oni no Maggie](#):
>
> The whole last-name-as-first-name thing has been really popular the last few years. I personally loathe it.
>
> Lots of little Taylors, McKenzies, McKennas, Hunters, etc. running around.
It’s not my style at all, hence I wouldn’t name my kids that way, but to be fair the practice of using last names for first names has been around a long time, at least in some cultural groups:
Mackenzie Phillips
Harper Lee
Truman Capote
Ford Maddox Ford (born Ford Hermann Hueffer)
and plenty of others.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/10 "2010-04-13T23:59:17Z")
Moist, as in Moist von Lipwig from the Discworld books. Much as I like Pratchett, that name gets under my skin.
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### Author:  [@Terra1041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terra1041)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/11 "2010-04-14T00:00:16Z")
- Girls being named after the last names of US Presidents (Kennedy, Reagan, etc.).
- Madison
- Any name that starts with Mc
- Nevaeh (seriously, you’re spelling heaven backwards and calling it a name?)
- Names of states. Even legit names like Georgia and Virginia bug me.
- Any name ending in a 2-syllable “oe”
- Ghetto names like DeWayne or Keesha
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### Author:  [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/12 "2010-04-14T00:03:20Z")
Anything that rhymes with maiden–Brayden, Jaden, Caiden, etc.
Anything that sounds like an American Gladiator or pro wrestler. My boyfriend in high school had a cousin who had a little boy named Talon Force. Ugh.
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### Author:  [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/13 "2010-04-14T00:10:57Z")
I can’t stand names that are spelled non-traditionally. Seriously, what is the point of that? To ensure your kids name will forever be spelled incorrectly? Are you trying to be _original_? You’re not, you’re just annoying. Examples:
Caite
Kyleigh
Jennyfer
Also, stripper names
Candi
Destiny (try a Destinee spelling for extra “i hate you” points)
Bambi
Bunny
And finally, pretentious names mentioned upthread:
Kennedy
Regan
Kerrington
_shudder_
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### Author:  [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/14 "2010-04-14T00:11:32Z")
Kelly…I’ve never met a nice “Kelly” (female). One particularly nasty Kelly was the chief tormentor of my best friend in the 5th grade.
Liza and Mallory both sound terrible to me…I just can’t stand hearing either one of them, and I really have no idea why. ☹
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/15 "2010-04-14T00:14:08Z")
> [@Terra1041](#):
>
> - Girls being named after the last names of US Presidents (Kennedy, Reagan, etc.).
> - Madison
Isn’t that redundant?
> [@](#):
>
> - Any name that starts with Mc
Anybody remember McGeorge Bundy? WTF kind of a name is “McGeorge”?
> [@](#):
>
> - Nevaeh (seriously, you’re spelling heaven backwards and calling it a name?)
Pronounced “Nevada”?
> [@](#):
>
> - Names of states. Even legit names like Georgia and Virginia bug me.
“We named the **dog** Indiana.”
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### Author:  [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/16 "2010-04-14T00:27:36Z")
I feel sorry for little boys named Cody or Cory. Because someday they will be grown men named Cody or Cory. Kody and Kory are even worse.
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### Author:  [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/17 "2010-04-14T00:28:17Z")
> [@suranyi](#):
>
> [snip]
> Harper Lee
I had a student once with the middle name Harper. Turns out, his paternal grandfather was the doctor who delivered Harper Lee, and they named the baby after the doctor.
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/18 "2010-04-14T01:57:18Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#):
>
> Nevaeh - Stripper name!
But Neveah Obmil Lleh would make a great character name 😃
I don’t like cre8tively spelled names, but most others don’t rub me the wrong way. Except Jodie…never met one I liked.
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### Author:  [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/19 "2010-04-14T01:58:37Z")
My mid-20’s cousin’s middle name is McKenzie… he was named after his maternal grandfather (who went by “Mac”). Agree that it’s a stupid trend and that McKenzie is horrible for a little girl, but it certainly wasn’t invented as a first name by this generation. Without a family connection, the random-last-name-as-surname thing is just awful.
> [@TheChileanBlob](#):
>
> I feel sorry for little boys named Cody or Cory. Because someday they will be grown men named Cody or Cory. Kody and Kory are even worse.
Another cousin has a daughter named Kodee. Hate this for so many reasons (not the least of which is that her middle name is Lee).
My local paper recently carried a birth notice for a Renesmee. The stupid, it burns.
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### Author:  [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-loathe-and-why/535991/20 "2010-04-14T02:01:35Z")
As far as more popular names that are just too precious for words, almost any name that ends with an “i” instead of a “y”.
Tami, Candi, Mandi, Cindi…all that is missing is the cute little heart (or smiley face) to dot the “i” and I am ready to throw up.
I also feel sorry for guys who have names like “Butch”, “Guy”, “Rod” or “Dick” - geez, might as well just give them a tattoo and pierce their nipples on their fifth birthday and send them out to the playground and watch the fight.
Then again, it depends a lot on the person after they grow up, no matter how odd the name - I mean, years ago if you had a kid in your kindergarten class named Barack, would you have immediately thought “Hmm, future President!”
Or imagine shaking your head and pitying that poor little girl in the back row oddly named Oprah…
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