Let’s suppose that you were out of your current relationship and back in the meat market. (For some of us, it’s not hard to suppose.) And let’s suppose that your only real way to meet people was through personal ads. And let’s lastly suppose that each ad had very little information about the people and that from that, they all look more or less datable. But they all have the person’s first name listed. Who would you turn down, be sort of meh, or be instantly head-over-ears with? And why? Comment on the following appropriate list below. Feel free to add names.
Winifred
Ethel
Glynnis
Joan
Gertrude
Frederica
Salpi
Morgan
Octavia
Phyllis
Mildred
Wanda
Anatole
Malcolm
Rocco
Eddie
Ali
Percy
Viv
Renzo
Morgan
Dean
Leland
Waldo
ETA: Don’t be upset if your name is on this list and people don’t like it. We all know you’re a great humanitarian and an amazing fuck.
My grandma’s name is Winifred, so right away I’ll agree with anyone who thinks it’s the unsexiest name in the world.
My ex-husband’s name was Ed, and even way back when I thought he was a great guy, I thought he had a creepy old name. At best it makes you think of a talking horse.
It wouldn’t matter in the slightest. I date people, not names and it strikes me as being pretty limiting if you decide on a person’s worth just because of his or her name.
For me, a name will never be a reason not to date somebody. That being said, certain of those names are not as…mellifluous to mine ears as others. Particularly those that are, for lack of a better word, downright old-fashioned to my sensibilities. I’d have no trouble saying “my girlfriend Joan,” or “my girlfriend Morgan,” or “my girlfriend Frederica,” or “my girlfriend Salpi.” The others…they might make me a little self-conscious, at least at first.
I’ve dated a number of women with interesting/uncommon names. Names I had absolutely no self-consciousness about: Marishka, Cat, Meredith, Sangeeta, Katya. Names that made me a little self-conscious at the time: Jean, Gaye, Olga. I’m dating a woman right now with a somewhat unusual name (more commonly found on a man), and it doesn’t bother me at all.
I’m sure our own cultural and social biases and experiences really inform this. My demographics, for what they’re worth as data points: 31-year-old white male, currently living in Washington, D.C., who grew up on the Oregon coast.
Did you know Babe Didrickson Zaharias’ real first name was Mildred? I, uh, don’t have anything else to contribute to this thread, just thought I’d share that.
I have less problem with old-fashioned, outdated-sounding, or “nerdy” names than I do with trendy soap-opera names. All other things being equal, I’d date Harvey or George before I’d date Kyle or Blaine.
My husband’s first name is about as old-sounding and goofy as they come. He goes by his middle name, though. My name is also fairly old-fashioned, and if you put us together, we sound like we are 90-year-old farmers who live in North Dakota.
I still thought he was pretty cute when I learned his real name before we started dating, though.
Nothing at all. I tried to mix it up with names I like and ones I don’t. For instance, I think Glynnis is exotic and hot.
But since you ask, Joan is a mean-spirited suburban housewife who just wants the damn kids off of her lawn. It’s probably the worst one on the list for me.
I’m thinking the only way to say the name “Blanche” tenderly during sex would be in the original French. Otherwise it sounds like instructions for getting the skins off tomatoes.
Since we’re being completely shallow…I would only date someone whose name was preceded by something like Prince or King. Or perhaps was followed by M.D. or CEO. Their given name would be irrelevant at that point.
