Pretentious baby names

mkanderson85

Someone's post below about the name Ainsley got me thinking about what really IS a pretentious name.  What do you consider pretentious?

DH is John Charles Jr. and he goes by Charles and his father goes by John.  If we have a little boy, he will be John Charles III, but we want to call him John Charles (both names.)  Everyone says this is pretentious.  I guess?

When teaching tennis at a summer program at the country club here, I taught girls named Mary Margaret and Molly Francis, which I thought were quite pretentious. I'm not sure why though.   But it makes me think- what makes something sound pretentious? 

Sh1tStirring

I don't think double names are usually pretentious. I happen to really like John Charles. I think names are pretentious when they sound posh when you read the whole thing out. 

Example: Oliver David Cooper is not pretentious sounding but

Oliver Fitzgerald Van Stusen is pretentious sounding.

I think really long-winded names tend to sound pretentious for the most part, but you could fix it with a cute nickname like Ollie. 

lovemytwoboys

It always comes up on this board that people think Preston is pretentious, which I can kind of see. I guess I think of "preppy" names usually falling into that category. John Charles does fall into that category for me, but I don't think that is really a bad thing.

jellyandcake

i just think people will end up calling him john.  i grew up with a john michael, which he was only called until he was about 2, then it was john.

b2b999

You could also call him Trey

(which was going to be DH's nickname if MIL had followed through on naming him after his father & grandfather...thank goodness she didn't) 

I certainly don't think a double name is pretentious - IF however you insisted on him being called "John Charles Lastname the third", then I'd say that's pretentious.  

mkanderson85

b2b999:

You could also call him Trey

I prefer Tripp to Trey, but John Charles is just so cute  

BrideBuddies

We refer to our boy as Charles Henry sometimes, not just for when he's in trouble.  I don't think it sounds pretentious.. just formal.  I dont' it'll stick, tho.  We also call him Charlie.

 

sunnyday016

I don't really think of double names as pretentious. I think of names like Kensington, Kingston, Livingston, etc. to be pretentious.

KJKNAJ

I knew a Carrington - THAT"s pretentious, no?!

Simply Fated

I think some people confuse pretentious with "preppy."

 

For me? Pretentious is combining the mother and father's name. Like, Jamie Lynns Spears, Brittany Spears' sister? Her real full name is:

Jamie-Lynn Marie Spears

 Jamie for her father, Lynn for her mother.

 It just feels weird for me to see one child named after the parents, but not the others. And it just cries, "We're so wonderful that we named our child after us!"

George Foreman's 5 sons being named George, after him. I like the name, but you aren't great enough to name 5 innocent people after yourself.

 

The reason for my answers are simple.. a child does not name itself.

The parent does. So the pretension can only come from them. Naming a child after yourself for traditional purposes is one thing, but once it gets out of hand, it becomes pretentious.

 

 

laurel22

I don't think John Charles is pretentious... I just think it's a little annoying to have everyone refer to him with two names; it's kind of long-winded.  I bet anything it will get shortened to either just "John" or "JC" (I don't mind the initials actually, it's pretty cute!)

crwel1048

laurel22:

I don't think John Charles is pretentious... I just think it's a little annoying to have everyone refer to him with two names; it's kind of long-winded.  I bet anything it will get shortened to either just "John" or "JC" (I don't mind the initials actually, it's pretty cute!)

This. And I totally agree that John Charles or J.C. would be cute!

kforehand

I like John Charles, don't think its bad at all...

I do find these names pretentious though...(these are the names of twins in our paper this week)

Eloise Scott H____

Theodore Esterbrook H___ V (as in the fifth)

lisak624

lovemytwoboys:

It always comes up on this board that people think Preston is pretentious, which I can kind of see. I guess I think of "preppy" names usually falling into that category. John Charles does fall into that category for me, but I don't think that is really a bad thing.

 I was going to say Preston!