Uh, sorry?
Hey, someone already hated my name upthread. I just dislike the Kayla/Kyla names because there are so many little girls with that name in a similar age group. Of the six years of students at my daughter’s school, (kindergarten through fifth grade,) there are probably 40 Kaylas and Kylas. So when my daughter comes home and tells me stories about her day, she has to remind me “Kayla B., the one with the curly hair;” or “Kyla in my enrichment class, not the one in my regular class.” I can barely remember my own kids’ names at this point, and now I have to sort out the various Kayla/Kylas?! Yikes!
I try and be sensitive to the fact that names are individual. My own first name has a few different fairly common spellings, along the lines of Steven/Stephen. At work I have to enter clients’ names into our database. I try not to assume that I know how to spell anyone’s name, but 25 years ago my first guess was right a lot more often.
The year I was born Karen was ranked #3 in popularity among baby girl names in the US. For most of my formative years anyone you met named Karen spelled it just that way. I’m not suggesting that noone ever deviated, or that noone should but the one person I met in highschool that spelled it Karyn knew that people were anticipating an E.
I think a fairly close to traditional name with one unexpected letter is more of a potential hassle for the named than a completely made up name, or a more obscure name from Shakespeare than Juliette. There’s a comedian named Juston McKinney who I believe agrees with me.
I’m reminded of this snippet of dialogue from the TV show Mad About You:
Jamie: Kids can make fun of any name.
Ira: Oh yah? What about Bob?
Jamie: Blob.
Ira: All right, Joe!
Jamie: Schmo.
Ira: Shelley!
Jamie: Smelly.
Ira: Ira?
Jamie: Ira.
And it’s true. My own very common name was the source of jokes in grade school. Kids will make fun of anything. Now that doesn’t mean you should give your child a freakishly outlandish name, but if you like Madison for a girl, go for it.
Creatively (or stupidly) misspelled names. Of course, Gregg [sic] is the worst, but Kris, Haylee, and Britney are on my list. How many times have I had to explain how to write my name just because a certain percentage of parents can’t spell.
One of my best friends in the world is currently pregnant and we have been discussing baby names pretty much constantly. I am of the mind that you should be aware of how it is both pronounced and how it will be made fun of, because it will happen regardless of the name. She just wants to be unusual as she was one of 4 Laura’s in a class that we had together growing up. Currently, the most likely candidate is Paisley. As in the fabric. The pattern, The tie, the shirt that I love etc.
She claims that everyone that she has mentioned the name Paisley has absolutely loved it for the unique aspect, how cute etc. I think they don’t want to mess with a pregnant lady. So I thought that I would ask you wonderfully brilliant people. What is your opinion of the name Paisley? (Oh and it would be for a girl).
Wow. That’s terrible.
I went to school with a girl named Paisley. Of course, she had been born in 1969, so that explained it.
This website rates Paisley as a 2 out of 5
My husband and I used this site a lot when naming out daugher. It has polls filled out by people with that name that outline if people can spell it, pronounce it, how they were teased, and other helpful info.
A friend of mine named her boy Toss. When he turned 9, he announced that from now on he wanted to be known as Alex. Obviously he gave a toss 
One thing to consider is try to avoid giving your child the same initials as you. I open my daughter’s mail by mistake all the time.
Paisley is ridiculous. You can be unique without being…out there, you know? Why doesn’t she look at more traditional names that are just older, so they won’t be as common?
I’m not putting down the name Jamal; I’m referring to the prevalence of asshats who object to the name Jamal in some way. And I am putting down parents who wage a personal crusade using their children as tools. For instance, I strongly believe that atheism should be normalized in our culture, but I’m sure as hell not going to send my six year old to school wearing a t-shirt that says, “My parents are atheists.”
Jamal and Shaniqua are actually quite euphonious names. It is a sad comment on our society that they bring a higher risk of a resume being binned. However, I think that risk is not terribly important overall, and if you love one of those names, go for it. I’m actually more bothered by parents who knowingly jump on a naming fad like McKenzie or Jaden, or even Emily and Hannah. I hated being one of many with similar names in my classes, year in and year out.
Similarly, growing up with an unusual-but-not-unknown name, I hated it and really, really wished I had a common name like Jennifer or Kimberly! Jennifers and Kimberlys could buy little license plates for their bike with their name on them, or find keychains with their name on them, and there was never, NEVER anything with “Mona” on it. And believe me, to me at the time, that was A HUGE DEAL.
That’s what I feel sorriest for the Kaylee’s of the world about - all the disadvantages of a common name, but the chances are they still aren’t able to find a door hanger that says “Kaylee’s Room! Keep out!!!”
(Not to mention: No, my fucking middle name isn’t Lisa. Yes, I’ve heard the Nat King Cole song, please don’t sing it at me. No, it’s not short for Ramona, or Monica, or Desdemona, or anything else.
I hated my name growing up, and abandoned Mona about 15 years ago, and I haven’t looked back.)
Desiree. It always seems to be associated with white trailer trash folks. Also, a former neighbor of mine, who was busted for drug dealing, had a daughter with that name and was always yelling it out when he wanted her to do something.
Bad memories, bad association.
Mind if I ask where your friend is from? DC area by any chance?
I opened this thread with the intention of riffing on all the -ayden variants. What is WITH this? Aiden, Jayden, Cayden, etc.
This too. And it’s got to be Irish/Scottish/Whitish something, not just any last name. However it could become cool if Jewish last names ever become popular. I could support a toddler named Bernstein or Abramowitz.
Also Gray-anything seems to be the new black. puke
The epitome of a nails-on-a-chalkboard name for me is Chasity.
You might as well be wearing a sign saying “My parents were too stupid to know how to spell Chastity”.
And even if they did spell it right, that practically ensures slut-dom, like giving the kid a butt-crack tattoo at birth.
I once read a not entirely serious book on naming a child, which had strong pro and con opinions on the significance of names. One of their conclusions was “Kim is a three-year-old who bites.”
There was a girl in my school named Holly Tannenbaum. I hope she went into the military, because she was guaranteed to be highly decorated. 
You owe me a new keyboard, sir.
Parents need to realize that the names they give their children greatly influence their future.
While my parents eventually decided on pretty good names for me and my siblings, they flirted with disaster first. Supposedly their first-born (my older brother) was on track to be named Claude. If that had happened, they easily could have decided to name me Felix. We would both have wound up short and furtive-looking with pencil-thin mustaches, destined either to be headwaiters or confidence men specializing in fleecing wealthy older women.
Paisley?? I don’t hate it, I guess it’s better than Herringbone, Houndstooth, or Plaid, ha-ha. But what would you call her, for short? Would she go through life a ‘Paisley’, or, god forbid, ‘Paize’. That’s a problem with unusual names, there’s no diminutive that sounds good. I read a book with a male character called ‘Atheny’, a family name. ‘Theny’? ‘Ath’?