Names that are too girly?

almostjennifer · August 2012

Am I the only one that can't stand super girly names? Eliana, Arianna, Gabriella, Audiranna, etc. These sound like girls that will float through life in princess dresses riding unicorns until Prince Charming shows up. I just can't take them seriously. Am I weird?

Y I Oughta · August 2012

I feel the same way. I don't like really girly names either. I'm glad we are having a boy so we don't have to worry about this. H likes the girly names.

WashingtonQueen · August 2012

I love those names! There is no such thing as too girly!

I think your weird

almostjennifer · August 2012

WashingtonQueen:

I love those names! There is no such thing as too girly!

I think your weird

I knew it!!

BTW the name Sterling is so my guilty pleasure name.

orleyl · August 2012

Seems like you don't like names that end in a. I like girly names abbe don't think they are to cutesy.

almostjennifer · August 2012

orleyl:
Seems like you don't like names that end in a. I like girly names abbe don't think they are to cutesy.

I do because Fiona and Willa are big favorites of mine. I think it's ending with "anna" that turns me off?? An excess of vowels?? Not sure.

WashingtonQueen · August 2012

almostjennifer:
WashingtonQueen:

I love those names! There is no such thing as too girly!

I think your weird

I knew it!!

BTW the name Sterling is so my guilty pleasure name.

Haha!

Thanks! He is adopted and I didn't get to name him but, it sure fits him and it has grown on me quite a bit. Smile

ashleyb1114 · August 2012

I like most girly names but I am pretty girly myself. Maybe that makes a difference?

AimeeL85 · August 2012

I feel the same.

BriDaily · August 2012

I try to play around with names of future children... who hasn't done this? While my first daughter will be Eriana (My DH is Aaron and I am Brianna), I totally agree that sometimes the overly girly names get to me. I like looking at all the odd girl names from other cultures (Indian, Arabic, African, etc.) - there are some really interesting ones with great meanings. I also like the idea of naming a child after a place - Silesia is one of my favorites (it is a historical area in Poland... I have Polish in my heritage). I have also considered using names from To Kill A Mockingbird or simply making some up (I created the name Azteckarii in high school). I want to pay homage to Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (a fav show growing up) and give my first daughter the full name of Eriana Michaela Quinn (still debating about Michaela). Anyways, have fun exploring not-so-girly girl names!

supermanda · August 2012

I can kinda agree with this. I like a lot of names that end in 'a' (DD is Emma, and I like names like Sophia, Olivia, and Camilla), but I really can't stand names that are loaded with vowels like Aurora, Audriana, Eliana, etc. They do scream "Disney Princess".

slukd79 · August 2012

Not weird. Super feminine names seem to be all pink, cupcakes and glitter to me. Not in a good way.. ;
Ironically I consider myself a girly girl.

LemonBlush · August 2012

I agree. There are just so many ana names now, including made up names.

Fink · August 2012

Not weird at all!! Saying that I am not a fan of super girly names would be a tremendous understatement; but I might not like girly names because no one would ever call me girly.

We had a hard time naming Zane, but I can only imagine how hard it would have been for us if he had been a girl.

Cranang · August 2012

almostjennifer:
Am I the only one that can't stand super girly names? Eliana, Arianna, Gabriella, Audiranna, etc. These sound like girls that will float through life in princess dresses riding unicorns until Prince Charming shows up. I just can't take them seriously. Am I weird?

Those names just seem too over the top to me. Too flowery, and smushed two names together. I like girly names. I think my daughter's name is "girly", but not sickenly so.

scoutkate · August 2012

Not weird. I love feminine names but certain names seem to take it just one syllable too far. Gabriella immediately came to mind when I read you post title. I always kind of picture little girls with those names being forced to wear a lot of blinged out princess/diva/etc onesies and enormous flowers on their heads.

amyegunnip · August 2012

NMS either *shrug* to each their own

jburdet1 · August 2012

I agree with OP. Names like Arabella, Isabella, Annabella, and Alessandra make me cringe. However, I like the similar Annabel and Isabel. I feel maybe the extra vowels are too fussy and unnecessary.

strawberrytree · August 2012

With the exception of Annabel and plain old Anna, I'm not a fan of the Ella and Anna names either. I like my girl names feminine but not frilly. To each his own, though.

magsugar13 · August 2012

I love anna names and dont think they are frilly at all...actually if you take them out you wipe out half of all italian girl names..i look at them as being italian names not frilly names

femmepink · August 2012

I can't stand them either.

A lot of the top 50 names are just way too frilly for me -- Sophia, Olivia, Isabella, Ella...bleh.

plunderb · August 2012

OP: I know you probably don't mean it this way, but I think this post comes off a bit Anglo-chauvinist. I'm Italian, and when I look at my family tree, it's all -ellas and -annas and -inas. It's just the way the language works. It's not my family's fault that English literature across the centuries has exoticized Spanish and Italian women as hyper-feminine and borrowed their name patterns for its hyper-feminine and hyper-romantic characters.

It's perfectly fine to have a personal preference, and I also see what you are saying about the trend toward Disney-ish names. I get that. But can you imagine coming onto this board and posting, "Eeew, all those Eastern European names are so awful! Buy a vowel, already!" or "Irish names are just so gross. Why are they spelled so weird???" Personal preference is one thing, but going out of your way to post about how much you dislike the names of a whole language family is sort of rude. Please realize that your perfectly legitimate preferences exist in the historical context of stereotypes about people of different ethnicities.

almostjennifer · August 2012

plunderb:

OP: I know you probably don't mean it this way, but I think this post comes off a bit Anglo-chauvinist. I'm Italian, and when I look at my family tree, it's all -ellas and -annas and -inas. It's just the way the language works. It's not my family's fault that English literature across the centuries has exoticized Spanish and Italian women as hyper-feminine and borrowed their name patterns for its hyper-feminine and hyper-romantic characters.

It's perfectly fine to have a personal preference, and I also see what you are saying about the trend toward Disney-ish names. I get that. But can you imagine coming onto this board and posting, "Eeew, all those Eastern European names are so awful! Buy a vowel, already!" or "Irish names are just so gross. Why are they spelled so weird???" Personal preference is one thing, but going out of your way to post about how much you dislike the names of a whole language family is sort of rude. Please realize that your perfectly legitimate preferences exist in the historical context of stereotypes about people of different ethnicities.

I certainly did not intend to offend you or call out an entire ethnicity of names. I did not connect those names as being Italian -- I think more of Maria, Gia, Giada, Theresa, Antonia, Bianca as Italian names (which are lovely) while the others I mentioned feel like American Disney princess to me. I sincerely apologize if it offended you -- I did not see it that way when I posted it.

alliejo725 · August 2012

Hahaha, I posted this same thing like...eons ago and kind of got reemed out over it. "It's better than a silly made up name!" Well of course it is. But you have to admit that some names are a little...over the top girly. And I'm not convinced that a "pretty pretty princess" name is any more livable than a unisex name.

Regardless, I suppose everyone has their tastes. I didn't wear a blinged out ball gown on my wedding day, either, so maybe there's something I'm not getting about super girly names.

plunderb · August 2012

almostjennifer:
plunderb:

OP: I know you probably don't mean it this way, but I think this post comes off a bit Anglo-chauvinist. I'm Italian, and when I look at my family tree, it's all -ellas and -annas and -inas. It's just the way the language works. It's not my family's fault that English literature across the centuries has exoticized Spanish and Italian women as hyper-feminine and borrowed their name patterns for its hyper-feminine and hyper-romantic characters.

It's perfectly fine to have a personal preference, and I also see what you are saying about the trend toward Disney-ish names. I get that. But can you imagine coming onto this board and posting, "Eeew, all those Eastern European names are so awful! Buy a vowel, already!" or "Irish names are just so gross. Why are they spelled so weird???" Personal preference is one thing, but going out of your way to post about how much you dislike the names of a whole language family is sort of rude. Please realize that your perfectly legitimate preferences exist in the historical context of stereotypes about people of different ethnicities.

I certainly did not intend to offend you or call out an entire ethnicity of names. I did not connect those names as being Italian -- I think more of Maria, Gia, Giada, Theresa, Antonia, Bianca as Italian names (which are lovely) while the others I mentioned feel like American Disney princess to me. I sincerely apologize if it offended you -- I did not see it that way when I posted it.

No worries ? not offended, just consciousness-raising. The reason we feel that -anna, -ella, etc. names are hyper-feminine is that English authors have used these names to signal femininity, relying on English/American perceptions of hyper-sexual Latina/Italian women. Of course, those names are feminine in their languages of origin, but the reason "Isabella" sounds more feminine to us than "Elizabeth" is tangled up in this ethnic issue.

It's worth noting that the actual Disney princesses don't really have these names. Of the 10 official Disney princesses, I would count Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, and Tiana among the "frilly" names, though only Cinderella is out-and-out frilly. I guess you could count Tinkerbelle, though she is not an official member of the pantheon. The others are Snow White, Ariel, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, and Rapunzel. So when people give their kids "Disney Princess" names, they are elaborating on a theme that is not actually attested among the DPs. You're absolutely right that we're having a DP moment as a culture ? I even know a family with 4 daughters named Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, and Aurora! But the rise of the -ella, -anna names in popularity is also a function of the vast increase in the proportion of American babies whose families speak Spanish.

alliejo725 · August 2012

plunderb:
almostjennifer:
plunderb:

OP: I know you probably don't mean it this way, but I think this post comes off a bit Anglo-chauvinist. I'm Italian, and when I look at my family tree, it's all -ellas and -annas and -inas. It's just the way the language works. It's not my family's fault that English literature across the centuries has exoticized Spanish and Italian women as hyper-feminine and borrowed their name patterns for its hyper-feminine and hyper-romantic characters.

It's perfectly fine to have a personal preference, and I also see what you are saying about the trend toward Disney-ish names. I get that. But can you imagine coming onto this board and posting, "Eeew, all those Eastern European names are so awful! Buy a vowel, already!" or "Irish names are just so gross. Why are they spelled so weird???" Personal preference is one thing, but going out of your way to post about how much you dislike the names of a whole language family is sort of rude. Please realize that your perfectly legitimate preferences exist in the historical context of stereotypes about people of different ethnicities.

I certainly did not intend to offend you or call out an entire ethnicity of names. I did not connect those names as being Italian -- I think more of Maria, Gia, Giada, Theresa, Antonia, Bianca as Italian names (which are lovely) while the others I mentioned feel like American Disney princess to me. I sincerely apologize if it offended you -- I did not see it that way when I posted it.
No worries ? not offended, just consciousness-raising. The reason we feel that -anna, -ella, etc. names are hyper-feminine is that English authors have used these names to signal femininity, relying on English/American perceptions of hyper-sexual Latina/Italian women. Of course, those names are feminine in their languages of origin, but the reason "Isabella" sounds more feminine to us than "Elizabeth" is tangled up in this ethnic issue.
It's worth noting that the actual Disney princesses don't really have these names. Of the 10 official Disney princesses, I would count Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, and Tiana among the "frilly" names, though only Cinderella is out-and-out frilly. I guess you could count Tinkerbelle, though she is not an official member of the pantheon. The others are Snow White, Ariel, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, and Rapunzel. So when people give their kids "Disney Princess" names, they are elaborating on a theme that is not actually attested among the DPs. You're absolutely right that we're having a DP moment as a culture ? I even know a family with 4 daughters named Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, and Aurora! But the rise of the -ella, -anna names in popularity is also a function of the vast increase in the proportion of American babies whose families speak Spanish.

Shut the front door! Someone named a kid Cinderella? For real?

plunderb · August 2012

alliejo725:
Shut the front door! Someone named a kid Cinderella? For real?

They don't even call her Ella. Just Cinderella. It's embroidered on her backpack and everything.

BLPL101 · August 2012

I don't mind them, but I don't have any on my list. I tend to not be drawn to girl names that end in "a". We are naming our DD Caroline.

almostjennifer · August 2012

plunderb:
alliejo725:

Shut the front door! Someone named a kid Cinderella? For real?

They don't even call her Ella. Just Cinderella. It's embroidered on her backpack and everything.

I bet she is the envy of all the little girls in preschool. Middle school, probably not so much. Especially if she loses a shoe in gym class.

jennipea382 · August 2012

I agree that I don't like super girly names. I like names that are feminine but not cutesy. For example, I like Audrey and Bridget, but not any of the elle/ella names (especially those that are a regular name with elle/ella tacked on like Graciella). I think for me it's usually too many syllables and usually ending with elle/ella/anna/etc. I don't hate ALL names like this, but I'm not a fan of most. Just NMS.

On the flip side, I also don't like boy names that are too "macho" sounding. So I like Elliott, Everett, Callum, etc which are masculine but not super manly (IMO) like George, Walter, something like that, if that makes any sense.

That.Just.Happened · August 2012

I totally agree. In general I really don't like names that end in the -y, -ly, or -ah sounds. I seriously favor the unisex names.

kacelle · August 2012

scoutkate:
Not weird. I love feminine names but certain names seem to take it just one syllable too far. Gabriella immediately came to mind when I read you post title. I always kind of picture little girls with those names being forced to wear a lot of blinged out princess/diva/etc onesies and enormous flowers on their heads.

This. I can handle Gabrielle, but not Gabriella. Adrienne, but not Adriana.

Having said that, DD's MN is Eliana. I don't really group that in with the rest of the names. It's Hebrew and we chose it for its meaning. And there are a few super-frilly names I love, like Seraphina. I think a very feminine name can still be very strong, although it might be a bit harder for an Adriana.

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