S/O Names that try too hard

lifeonthehill

Just for fun. What are some names that you think try to hard?

Helenahhandbasket

Pretty much any name that has a "cool" factor.  Lots of celeb baby names come to mind:

Story, True, Blue, Jett, Knox, Pax, Maddox, Harlow.

Also, I think the slapping of a random "cool sounding" LN if it has no fam connection is TTH.

Like, people never use Lipshitz as a FN.  It doesn't sound cool.

queenbone

What I call nouveaux riche names: Barron, Earl, Duke, Contessa, Sterling, Chanel, Lexus, Bentley.

julesgilead

Helenahhandbasket said:

Also, I think the slapping of a random "cool sounding" LN if it has no fam connection is TTH.

Like, people never use Lipshitz as a FN.  It doesn't sound cool.

imagining some poor baby named Lipshitz made my day, thank you. I'm kind of torn about the LN-as-FN trend, because there are lots of pretty cool LNs and being from the south I see them as names often. Usually they're family names, and I definitely prefer it that way. But sometimes I'll see one that's just great and want to steal it. For instance, I went to elementary school with a boy named Hawkins. It was his mother's maiden name, but it's just so cool that it's stuck with me all this time.

As for names that try too hard: a lot of very unusual literary names that are directly linked to specific characters like Atticus, Gatsby, or Holden scream "pretentious" to me. (On the other hand, a lot of names from Greek mythology like Persephone are GP names for me, so I guess I can make exceptions.)

julesgilead

VioletteGrayskies said:
I completely agree about Atticus, Gatsby, and Holden.  Literary names are fine, but those are the favorite characters of people who haven't read a book since high school.
that is exactly what I was searching for as to why I don't like them. (Of course, in my case it might also be that I think Fitzgerald and Salinger are pretentious authors themselves, but I love To Kill a Mockingbird and still hate the name Atticus.)

lifeonthehill

VioletteGrayskies said:

I completely agree about Atticus, Gatsby, and Holden.  Literary names are fine, but those are the favorite characters of people who haven't read a book since high school.

Haha. I tried to convince DH to allow Gatsby as a MN for future DS a few years bacl but he vetoed it. He teaches HS english and we pass a tattered copy of The Great Gatsby back and forth re reading it dozens of times.
We have a kittens named Gatsby and Nick now. hahaha.

jasminelorraine20

Chance, Presley, Denzel, Knight

 

 

NerdyLucy

VioletteGrayskies said:

I completely agree about Atticus, Gatsby, and Holden.  Literary names are fine, but those are the favorite characters of people who haven't read a book since high school.

 

This is where I'll jump in and sheepishly confess.

My cats are named after Atticus Finch and Tom Sawyer, BUT I have definitely read many, many books since high school.  With my first degree, most of my focus was on literature.

I think I just love nostalgia, and for me, that's the feel those names have, but then again, anything goes with pet names. 

ETA: I will say that I like Atticus as a name, but not necessarily as a "literature name," just a name.   It will always be associated with To Kill a Mockingbird though.

ClaireHuxtable

For me it's any of the really frilly names that end in "anna" or really ultra frilly names.

Julianna

Marianna

Audrianna

Adrianna

These names make me barf. 

SuperMom17

Grace0609 said:

For me it's any of the really frilly names that end in "anna" or really ultra frilly names.

Julianna

Marianna

Audrianna

Adrianna

These names make me barf. 

See my post above. I completely agree.

Ditto. Adding Grayson, Weston, and Cruz though.

queenbone

Joy2611 said:

queenbone said:

Barron

::whispers::  I love Barron.  Judge me.  It's okay.

Haha! Donald Trump and the Hiltons have used this name, hence my disdain. :P

PS. This reminds me I ought to add Paris to the list.

NerdyLucy

VioletteGrayskies said:

alyssa32713 said:
We have a kittens named Gatsby and Nick now. hahaha.

They're great names for cats!

I used to name all of my fish after members of Led Zeppelin, Rollings Stones, The Beatles, Queen, etc, when I was in high school. 

Oh, it's fun to name animals.

queenbone

VioletteGrayskies said:

SuperMom17 said:
Ditto. Adding Grayson, Weston, and Cruz though.

Cruz for me is totally contextual.  If you're a religious, Latino/Spanish family, it's great.  If you're neither of those things and just using it because it sounds cool, then definitely trying too hard.

I feel the same way about most last names as first names (like Grayson and Weston).  Archer was your maiden name?  Carry on.  Archer sounds cool?  Trying too hard.

ITA!  Cruz used because it sounds/looks cool is borderline offensive to me, similar to the Cohen debate.

lifeonthehill

queenbone said:

PS. This reminds me I ought to add Paris to the list.

Oh yes! Also Brooklyn, Boston, and more recently a friend from HS who has never left our hometown named her son Egypt.

julesgilead

Like PP said, I really don't like very frilly, overly feminine names like Arabella or Avianna. I actually don't like most -belle or -bella names, but I have a higher tolerance for -bel names. For example, I vastly prefer Isabel to either Isabelle or Isabella. I also like Annabel and don't like Annabelle. Somehow the extra letters make it seem much more forced to me.

lifeonthehill

NerdyLucy said:

VioletteGrayskies said:

alyssa32713 said:
We have a kittens named Gatsby and Nick now. hahaha.

They're great names for cats!

I used to name all of my fish after members of Led Zeppelin, Rollings Stones, The Beatles, Queen, etc, when I was in high school. 

Oh, it's fun to name animals.

I had a big bowl of goldfish named Ferris, Cameron, Rooney, Sloane and Grace. Hahaha. They are all dead now. Come to think of it I don't think Cameron made it home.

lifeonthehill

julesgilead said:

Like PP said, I really don't like very frilly, overly feminine names like Arabella or Avianna. I actually don't like most -belle or -bella names, but I have a higher tolerance for -bel names. For example, I vastly prefer Isabel to either Isabelle or Isabella. I also like Annabel and don't like Annabelle. Somehow the extra letters make it seem much more forced to me.

We share a brain.

Luna C

Any mythological names -- esp. those of gods or goddesses. And I'm a bit of a hypocrite, because I like the sound of many of them. (Ceres, Athena, Hermes). But it's just too much too saddle a kid with.

That's why I use them on pets.

lifeonthehill

Luna C said:

Any mythological names -- esp. those of gods or goddesses. And I'm a bit of a hypocrite, because I like the sound of many of them. (Ceres, Athena, Hermes). But it's just too much too saddle a kid with.

That's why I use them on pets.

OH I love Athena! Haha. Wicked GP name of mine.

jesus4life2

my sons middle name is Knox ( named after a railroad my dad and I road on when I was young---he passed away when I was pregnant) I like names that have the cool factor but with a purpose. side note: my best friends son is Atticus--- she has never read the book

NerdyLucy

Luna C said:

Any mythological names -- esp. those of gods or goddesses.

Even Diana?!  

SuperMom17

julesgilead said:

Like PP said, I really don't like very frilly, overly feminine names like Arabella or Avianna. I actually don't like most -belle or -bella names, but I have a higher tolerance for -bel names. For example, I vastly prefer Isabel to either Isabelle or Isabella. I also like Annabel and don't like Annabelle. Somehow the extra letters make it seem much more forced to me.

Clearly you, too, are a genius. . DD is Annabel for a reason.

divinemsbee

My best friend and I call this 'The Olive Scale.' Olive, while not awful, is very trying to hard to me. I thin the names I see as pretentious (Holden, Presley, Gatsby, Atticus, even Zooey) are different from the names I see as a bit trashy ( lots of extra vowels) or the names I see as bougie (most place or car names). I feel bad because H and I looooooove the name Persephone, but I feel like it probably violates my trying to hard rules.

lv2011

I agree with sooo many of these! City/ place names, trendy names, all of them. With the whole Gatsby/ Holden thing, I actually like the name Holden but could never in good conscience name my kid after such a whiny and spoiled brat. Same with Gatsby. These were not redeeming characters. I read those books in middle/ high school and hated them then, and hated them when I re-read them in adulthood. I can get behind a literary name if the character is actually a good character. But those two in particular just rub me the wrong way. Ew.

Luna C

NerdyLucy said:

Luna C said:

Any mythological names -- esp. those of gods or goddesses.

Even Diana?!  

** 

Nah. That's been mainstreamed enough that I think it's lost some of the instant-mythological connections. I'm thinking names like Zeus and Odin. 

I guess I'd be OK with some lesser-known names too that wouldn't have the same connotation. Again, it's not the names themselves -- they're often cool. It's the baggage that comes with them. It's like naming a kid King or God -- you're making a heck of a statement. 

diamondduck13

Helenahhandbasket said:

Pretty much any name that has a "cool" factor.  Lots of celeb baby names come to mind:

Story, True, Blue, Jett, Knox, Pax, Maddox, Harlow.

Also, I think the slapping of a random "cool sounding" LN if it has no fam connection is TTH.

Like, people never use Lipshitz as a FN.  It doesn't sound cool.

This sums up my thoughts really well. And its names on the extremes - uber masculine like Maverick or uber femine like Ellabellia. Made up names, out of place y's, names with an x, and the boy name on girl trend can feel that way too. And when just *have* to have a NN for a multi syllable name when there's a great short version option of the name.

Zimger

Random weirdness like Diesel, Bear, Gunner.

Maverick gets lumped in there and I just don't see it. I love the name (we used it for our first Angel Baby). I don't mind being judged. :P

For girls it seems like everyone is competing for the trendiest name on the block. Boy names on girls are the worst.

ClaireHuxtable

divinemsbee said:

My best friend and I call this 'The Olive Scale.' Olive, while not awful, is very trying to hard to me. I thin the names I see as pretentious (Holden, Presley, Gatsby, Atticus, even Zooey) are different from the names I see as a bit trashy ( lots of extra vowels) or the names I see as bougie (most place or car names). I feel bad because H and I looooooove the name Persephone, but I feel like it probably violates my trying to hard rules.

I agree wholeheartedly with this.  I know I'll get stoned, but I also lump Lucy, Juliette and some others reoccurring names that inevitably always pop up on this board - especially for girls.  

julesgilead

ClaireHuxtable said:

divinemsbee said:

My best friend and I call this 'The Olive Scale.' Olive, while not awful, is very trying to hard to me. I thin the names I see as pretentious (Holden, Presley, Gatsby, Atticus, even Zooey) are different from the names I see as a bit trashy ( lots of extra vowels) or the names I see as bougie (most place or car names). I feel bad because H and I looooooove the name Persephone, but I feel like it probably violates my trying to hard rules.

I agree wholeheartedly with this.  I know I'll get stoned, but I also lump Lucy, Juliette and some others reoccurring names that inevitably always pop up on this board - especially for girls.  

I don't mind Lucy, but I don't particularly like Juliet and especially not Juliette. They're too frilly, and honestly as a Julia I think my own name is much prettier and simpler.

brownmouse

Fox (thought I SO want to name a boy this) 

Maverick

Danger (as a middle name)

Cash

Hawk, Wolf, Bear

Most place names (Brooklyn, Paris, etc) 

ALL car names (Mercedes, Porche, Lexus, etc) 

A lot of gemstone names (Jade, Ruby, Sapphire(though I like Pearl and Opal) 

And those really beautiful but crazy long names that will make a kindergarten learning to write their name cry (Persephone, Guinevere, Gwendolyn, Wilhelmina, Alexandria, etc etc etc)

On the other hand, I feel like people who use boring overused names like John, Kathy, Mary and Frank are not trying hard enough.  

ClaireHuxtable

@brownmouse - we definitely need a "Names not trying hard enough" spin-off.

macchiatto

I'm mystified by how Eliana is "trying too hard"; it's a beautiful Hebrew name meaning "the Lord has answered." 

For me though, I agree with a lot of the names mentioned:

* the literary names like Atticus, Gatsby, etc.

* awkward-sounding Greek names like Calliope and Persephone

* names that sound overly stuffy or pretentious to me like August, Theodore, Alfred, etc.

* the old-fashioned names that to me sound unattractive and don't need to be revived, like Maude, Otis, Matilda, etc.

* Most last names as first names, especially something like Banks, Brooks, Remington, etc.

* Boy names on girls ... to me it sounds like you're trying to hard to be cool or trendy

* Ryker, Ryder and similar names

* Cash :shudders:

* youneek spellings

macchiatto

I see. My own name is quite short but I tend to like a lot of 3-4 syllable names and they tend to flow well with our Portuguese LN. There are some I do find overly frilly though.