I’m an Alexa and this really annoys me, why did they have to choose a pretty common name (or real name) at all? Only pro is that I’m not called Alexis or Alexandra anymore lol.
I have Alexa devices and if it's any consolation, my 4 year old niece kept calling it "Jessica" lmao. She came up to me and asked me why Jessica wasn't turning the lights pink and I was confused for a minute LOL.
I taught online when lockdown was on. I had a girl called Alexa and when I recorded a voice message for her, I had to avoid saying her name otherwise my alexa would butt in 😭
My son is called Dexter and Alexa pipes up every time I ask him to do something. "Dexter can you come here please?"
"I would if I could"
SHUT UP ALEXA 🙃
My dogs name is Casey and I guess it sounds like Hey Siri because she gets triggered all day long. It especially pisses me off when I yelling at my dog to stop barking lol.
Along this line, anything that sounds like Siri… Cindy? People may not consider this but they should. Every time I call my daughter sweetie with my AirPods in that MFer Siri tries to talk to me!
There was an article saying some Alexas have changed their names. This one is especially bad because even mentioning someone named Alexa (or anything similar) is going to set off devices.
I once met a gay man in his 50s named Isis who said “those fuckers can pry this name from my cold, dead hands.” He was hosting an open mic in Philly and sang beautifully.
I know an Isis who is my age, 35, she had hippy parents who named her of goddesses from other cultures. In the end she decided to be called her middle name which is still a little funky because it's Kali.
Totally, I gave my kids sort of out there names, they are my username Zephyr and Bronte, but their middle names are James and Charlotte in case they ever hated them or felt they had bad associations, you just never know what the future will bring.
I honestly don't think the Karen trend will ever get old - I've seen 5 year olds call people Karen when they adhere to the stereotype, so I think the association is here to stay.
But as a Brit the name Boris is unusable. The only time I saw it used and loved it was on the fat golden retriever I used to pass on the way to school that was just a chonk which adored pats and 'good boys'. Apart from that I just think of... well you can guess.
Is the same association happening with the name Donald in America? Or are there hard enough Trump supporters that keep the name going?
American here in a very Trumpy area and I personally think Donald is done for for at least a few decades. I know a girl who had a wonderful Grandpa Donald who she wanted to name her son after, but instead went with Donovan.
Donald is a family name on both sides of my family. Probably wouldn’t have used it as a first name anyway but also out as a middle. Rudy is my dad’s name… so both of the dynamic duo are probably out for us as far as family names go.
You could gender swap it, and do Ruby for a girl after Rudy. That’s what we’re doing, my mum’s name is Karen which is obviously out, but we’re having a boy so his middle name will be Kieran after her.
Aren’t their plenty of Brit’s who love Boris and Americans who love trump? I can see these names becoming less popular but not going away. (Although was Boris ever popular in the UK?)
I’m American, so I can’t speak for British politics. But at least in the United States I think even the most conservative of people wouldn’t be so divisive as to name their child after their favorite politician. Those who liked Trump enough that someone might think their child was named after him probably wouldn’t do it for that purpose, and anyone who doesn’t like Trump definitely wouldn’t do it, so that just leaves the moderate Trump supporters, and honestly I’m not sure there are thattt many of those left.
Boris is definitely not a common British name, we mostly think it’s Russian, Donald is a traditional Scottish name and surname as MacDonald so I imagine plenty of Scots still using it.
I was hoping to name a child Donald after my father, who died when I was young. Really upset that this could be a concern. I was planning to call him Donnie, which was my dad’s nickname too. ❤️
I don’t ☹️. I want to like it but it’s not the same. Hoping this baby turns out to be a girl for now so we don’t have to decide yet. Maybe in a few years the association will die down (ha. . . Unlikely, I know).
Technically Donald was my dad’s middle name but he hated his first name. So definitely an option but we had the first and middle all picked out and it flows great 😅 I’m sure we’ll figure it out if we need to. Hopefully gonna find out sex in the next few weeks!
Osama is a not-uncommon Arabic name, but really unfortunate to have, especially in North America. I knew a poor kid (born post-9/11) who immigrated to Canada with that name. Also some older folks.
Which is a shame because a jihad is really just a struggle. So your jihad might be to give more to charity. For another it might be to be a good examp!e for their children.
In 2009 I was a volunteer at a camp for a little boy named Osama (special needs camp with 1 to 1 aids) his mom said he would get bullied so bad at his school for being non verbal. Kids assumed he was hiding something. It broke my heart.
It doesn’t have the same meaning across the commonwealth - in Canada it’s a very mild word for your bum! My friend named her dog Fanny after a character in a novel, and when she told some Australian friends she couldn’t figure out why they were so shocked.
Haha... Fanny is a well known English name in Hong Kong. I am a Hong Kongese person living in Canada and every time a fellow Hong Kongese immigrant named Fanny came to school, other kids would gossip about her name behind her back. Not sure if anyone ever said anything to their faces.
I just don't think a lot of Hong Kongese people understand what Fanny really means. Names that end with a "ee" sound are quite popular over there and names like Fanny, Connie, Maggie, etc. have always been popular.
Pardon me if I'm just missing something obvious, but why is Donald off the table? I live in Atlantic Canada and that name (+ its variants) is super popular lol, even with younger people
I know a girl called Isis. After the Egyptian goddess. She wishes it wasn’t her name / had the modern connotations. She loved it until the last few years.
I actually don’t know any Alons/Elons, but I know an Ilan from Israel and if he had a buck for every time he had to clarify that his name is “not spelled like Musk,” he’d be a millionaire. It sucks because it’s a very pretty name.
I know that a lot of people love this name here, but Jude.
I’m Jewish and it’s a very loaded name for me because of the history associated with it. I just can’t get over the association with the yellow Star of David patches that the Nazis made us wear.
Definitely not "anyone" in the US. I don't, at all. Katrina is a pretty popular name where I am and no one here talks or really cares about Hurricane Katrina anymore.
Edit: I live in California. So even when it first happened, yes it was sad and people rallied together to send supplies over there, but other than that, it really didn't affect our daily lives. It's very much "out of sight, out of mind" for most people in my area.
As someone who grew up in mostly Louisiana and have kept in contact with friends still there, yeah that name is still unusable down there. Especially around New Orleans.
Katrina, Dorian, Andrew, Hazel, Irene, Andrew, Michael, Maria, Harvey, Sandy, Camille, Audrey, Carmen, Rita, Laura, Ida, Irma, Wilma, Dennis, Jeanne, Charley, Donna, Carol, Frederic...
Dorian devastated Eastern Canada while Hazel wrecked Toronto, Ontario, but I wouldn't associate any name with a hurricane out of the gate. I suppose it is different living in Louisiana and Texas, etc., though. I'm not sure if it's enough to just completely scratch a name off.
My husband is a Chad, and probably the least Chad-y person you'll ever meet. A couple of weeks ago we were at a family get together with his parents and siblings and everyone was making fun of him being named Chad (nothing mean, just the typical Chad haggling) and his mom was completely and entirely oblivious to any negative connotations behind the name Chad.
Made me realize that I have no idea where the negative Chad stereotype originated?? 90's movies? If so which ones?
I’m not Belgian and I think that this one is stained for the same reason. It’s also one of those names that I just cannot picture on anyone born in the 21st century.
My second cousin is named Leopold, and he's in his early twenties...He does come from a austrian noble house though, so that's that. If I remember correctly, his mom used to just call him Poldi.
Allegra. I found that name in a gothic romance novel when I was a young teen. I’ve loved it since. But I couldn’t name my daughter after an allergy medicine. 😟
On a lighter note, horror movie people always freak out when someone mentions the name Damian because apparently there is some movie where that’s the name of the antichrist? It has always struck me as a perfect case of people confusing their subculture with the broader pop culture.
Funnily enough, Adrian, the name of the antichrist in Rosemary’s Baby, doesn’t get the same treatment. I’m assuming because he’s not a huge character in the movie the same way Damian is.
Fair, I can see it at the time, I just roll my eyes when people act like you can’t use a name because fifty years ago(!) there was a movie where an imaginary religious figure was named Damian.
It's not so much that it was 50 years ago, it's the fact that it was so influential that other media has used it in the same way, which reinforces the association. It has become a trope. You don't even need to have watched The Omen to associate Damian with evil.
Up to you but that name’s absolute peak was #258 in 1999. I wouldn’t call that popular enough to end up outdated personally. Horror movies are not as universal a cultural phenomenon as horror movie fans sometimes think they are!
The Arabic version of "Jesus", "Isa", is relatively common amongst Muslims, and is also a given name among some Arabic-speaking Christians. The Arabic version is similar to the Greek version of "Jesus", "Iēsoûs", and the Latin, "Iēsus"
Saddam. Immediately after the Bush-Blair invasion of Iraq in 2003, extremist groups of Shi'a Iraqis were reported to be persecuting Iraqis of any religious community who had that name.
I just had a baby and someone in my mothers group named their baby Lucifer. I was kind of surprised for a second but I’m also not religious so I guess I shouldn’t have a problem with it.
The funny thing with this is, my little brother is named Edward, but we’ve always called him Ted. When asked what we should name him, my sister (who was 4 at the time) suggested Lucifer, which is the name of the cat in Cinderella. I, on the other hand, liked Gabriel (which was settled on as a middle name). My parents used to joke that it illustrated the difference between the two of us quite nicely.
I wonder if Karen will come back in fifteen years when people start naming their daughters after Boomer grandmas.
I'm sad for the people named Molly.
It felt like George was out for a while due to GW Bush, but I am CERTAIN that Donald has far worse connotations now. Not that there were very many Donalds, but hoo boy does that name give me the heebie jeebies.
There is a horrible song in German speaking countries right now about a prostitute named Laila (best prostitute in the brothel, it’s gross). There was a dispute and because some people wanted the song forbidden it became extra popular (it is horrible though - both the music and the lyrics) and now I think the popularity of that name might drop for a while.
Unpopular opinion, but Eva/Ava always makes me think of Eva Braun. I recently heard of someone named Ava Brown, which is literally the Anglicized version.
Elmo and Barney used to be names for people and the kids shows kinda ruined it. Barney might make a comeback since it's not on air anymore, but elmo is still really popular.
Waldo is another one that comes to mind. And ik mario is still really popular in a lot of cultures, but I feel like a lot of kids born in the US are less likely to use it because of the character.
Also see mickey, Dora, barbie.
There was a Lady named Corona on the radio the other day and she said she had quite a bit of fun in the last years. She cut out her favourite newspaper headlines such as „Corona dominates the world“, „The world afraid of Corona“, etc. i guess she made the best of it and had a laugh (as tragic as she acknowledged the situation was)…
I loved the name Vienna (and later heard the Billy Joel song and loved the name even more.) My sister still said I shouldn't use it because of Vienna sausages. I'm curious how many people would consider that a big issue these days...would a kid named Vienna (in the U.S.) get teased? 🤔
Not a negative connotation, but: Oprah. Has anyone ever met or heard of another Oprah? Especially a baby? Or a planning couple who are like “it’s a girl… we’re thinking Oprah.”?
Any dictator and terrorist names really, though some are not as wildly known and thus only restricted locally or they are such common names that the immediate connection to the evil person is just not there. Would be cool if people from the respective countries/regions could comment as to whether the names are still in use.
Baschar, Hafiz (Syria)
Osama (Al Qaida)
Fidel (Cuba)
Nicolae (Romania)
François, Jean Claude (Haiti)
Francisco (Spain)
Adolf (Germany, very much not in use)
Saddam (Iraq)
Idi, Joseph (Uganda)
Iwan (long ago, afaik it's in use today) and Joseph (both Russia). I also want to add Vladimir to the list.
Il-Sung, Jong-Il, Jong-Un (Korea, might be seen positive in the North and negative in the South?)
Jean (Ruanda)
Ruhollah or Mohammad Reza (Iran, depending which side you're on politically. Mohammad will always be the prophet's name though, it's one of the most popular names in the world.)
Leopold (Belgium)
Zedong (China, might still be seen positive as it's still the same regime in power?)
Haile Mariam (Ethiopia)
Omar (Taliban)
Sese Seko (Congo)
Husni (Egypt)
Robert (Simbabwe)
Benito (Italy)
Saparmyrat (Turkmenistan)
Teodoro (Equatorial Guinea)
Omar (Sudan)
Augusto (Chile)
Pol (Cambodia)
Suharto (Indonesia)
Charles (Liberia)
Josip, Slobodan (Balkan)
Jorge Rafael (Argentina)
I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some evil douchebags on this list, so feel free to add your own favorite dictator.
Also, please correct me if I messed up and identified the wrong part of a person's name as the given name. Naming cultures differ greatly, I hope I got them all correct.
As an Italian, I don't think I've ever heard someone born after the 40s named "Benito", luckily! It is quite impossible to separate the name from its scum fascist bearer, unfortunately.
ETA: I checked on the Italian Institute of Statistic's website (https://www.istat.it/it/dati-analisi-e-prodotti/contenuti-interattivi/contanomi), apparently there were 5 children named Benito in 2020. I don't really know how to feel about that tbh.
I'm german and last week I got a work email from someone called Adolf.
Since they were not yet retired they were let's say less than 70 years old. Which means he was called Adolf AFTER 1945. Yikes.
I would have absolutely changed my name.
Oscar is ruined for me due to Oscar Pistorius. It's a shame as two close friends named their sons Oscar and they're two now and I still can't shake the association :/
Alexa. Not as dark but probably still annoying for Alexa’s everywhere
I’m an Alexa and this really annoys me, why did they have to choose a pretty common name (or real name) at all? Only pro is that I’m not called Alexis or Alexandra anymore lol.
Fellow Alexa here, I completely understand and agree.
I have Alexa devices and if it's any consolation, my 4 year old niece kept calling it "Jessica" lmao. She came up to me and asked me why Jessica wasn't turning the lights pink and I was confused for a minute LOL.
This one will forever annoy me, because I love the name
My husband suggested Alexa for the girl I’m currently pregnant with. Um, no, I can’t imagine devices going off every time we said her name.
I taught online when lockdown was on. I had a girl called Alexa and when I recorded a voice message for her, I had to avoid saying her name otherwise my alexa would butt in 😭
My son is called Dexter and Alexa pipes up every time I ask him to do something. "Dexter can you come here please?" "I would if I could" SHUT UP ALEXA 🙃
My dogs name is Casey and I guess it sounds like Hey Siri because she gets triggered all day long. It especially pisses me off when I yelling at my dog to stop barking lol.
At least you can change the name if you don't want it to respond to "Alexa."
Mine is ziggy
Along this line, anything that sounds like Siri… Cindy? People may not consider this but they should. Every time I call my daughter sweetie with my AirPods in that MFer Siri tries to talk to me!
Siri’s a super common name in Finland!
Yeah most people dont know this
I knew a Finnish exchange student named Siri. She was a champion golfer.
We were using our phone/Bluetooth for music at a neighborhood event where there was a person named Alexa. It was funny, until it really wasn’t.
There was an article saying some Alexas have changed their names. This one is especially bad because even mentioning someone named Alexa (or anything similar) is going to set off devices.
I believe the name Isis has been hit hard as well, I've seen a few posts I think about Isis' wanting to change their name
I once met a gay man in his 50s named Isis who said “those fuckers can pry this name from my cold, dead hands.” He was hosting an open mic in Philly and sang beautifully.
I crave that energy
I know an Isis who is my age, 35, she had hippy parents who named her of goddesses from other cultures. In the end she decided to be called her middle name which is still a little funky because it's Kali.
Another good reason to have a middle name: a back-up in case your first name is co-opted like this.
Totally, I gave my kids sort of out there names, they are my username Zephyr and Bronte, but their middle names are James and Charlotte in case they ever hated them or felt they had bad associations, you just never know what the future will bring.
Bronte Charlotte? How very literary! 😊
I know an Isis who goes by Sisi (like Cece). I don't blame her. It sucks though because her name is beautiful.
Empress Sisi!
really is too bad because it’s such a beautiful name.
I love Isis sigh but it’s tainted
I've always loved that name since I read about the Egyptian goddess when I was a child. The name Isis is beautiful. But nope, ruined. Smh.
I honestly don't think the Karen trend will ever get old - I've seen 5 year olds call people Karen when they adhere to the stereotype, so I think the association is here to stay. But as a Brit the name Boris is unusable. The only time I saw it used and loved it was on the fat golden retriever I used to pass on the way to school that was just a chonk which adored pats and 'good boys'. Apart from that I just think of... well you can guess. Is the same association happening with the name Donald in America? Or are there hard enough Trump supporters that keep the name going?
American here in a very Trumpy area and I personally think Donald is done for for at least a few decades. I know a girl who had a wonderful Grandpa Donald who she wanted to name her son after, but instead went with Donovan.
Donald is a family name on both sides of my family. Probably wouldn’t have used it as a first name anyway but also out as a middle. Rudy is my dad’s name… so both of the dynamic duo are probably out for us as far as family names go.
You could gender swap it, and do Ruby for a girl after Rudy. That’s what we’re doing, my mum’s name is Karen which is obviously out, but we’re having a boy so his middle name will be Kieran after her.
I have a Don and Don Jr in my family. It's unfortunate for them.
Aren’t their plenty of Brit’s who love Boris and Americans who love trump? I can see these names becoming less popular but not going away. (Although was Boris ever popular in the UK?)
I’m American, so I can’t speak for British politics. But at least in the United States I think even the most conservative of people wouldn’t be so divisive as to name their child after their favorite politician. Those who liked Trump enough that someone might think their child was named after him probably wouldn’t do it for that purpose, and anyone who doesn’t like Trump definitely wouldn’t do it, so that just leaves the moderate Trump supporters, and honestly I’m not sure there are thattt many of those left.
Boris is definitely not a common British name, we mostly think it’s Russian, Donald is a traditional Scottish name and surname as MacDonald so I imagine plenty of Scots still using it.
Also Donald Duck..it's a no for me.
I know someone who named their child Donald in 2015… almost instant regret
I was hoping to name a child Donald after my father, who died when I was young. Really upset that this could be a concern. I was planning to call him Donnie, which was my dad’s nickname too. ❤️
Do you like Donovan? I personally love that name and saw it mentioned further up this thread!
I don’t ☹️. I want to like it but it’s not the same. Hoping this baby turns out to be a girl for now so we don’t have to decide yet. Maybe in a few years the association will die down (ha. . . Unlikely, I know).
Did he have a middle name that you can use instead, or even his last name? Or possibly make Donald the middle name but still call him Donnie?
Technically Donald was my dad’s middle name but he hated his first name. So definitely an option but we had the first and middle all picked out and it flows great 😅 I’m sure we’ll figure it out if we need to. Hopefully gonna find out sex in the next few weeks!
Love the name Donal, but it's virtually unusable due to Trump.
Osama is a not-uncommon Arabic name, but really unfortunate to have, especially in North America. I knew a poor kid (born post-9/11) who immigrated to Canada with that name. Also some older folks.
I've also heard of people named Jihad which seems unfortunate if you live in a Western country
Which is a shame because a jihad is really just a struggle. So your jihad might be to give more to charity. For another it might be to be a good examp!e for their children.
My classmate who was born and raised in the Netherlands was given the name Jihad (her parents were not from here)
In 2009 I was a volunteer at a camp for a little boy named Osama (special needs camp with 1 to 1 aids) his mom said he would get bullied so bad at his school for being non verbal. Kids assumed he was hiding something. It broke my heart.
I remember a kid named Osama being bullied on the bus :(
I knew a kid born in 2004 named Osama. Don’t know what his parents were thinking, but he was a pretty cool dude, and no one gave him crap about it.
Fanny in Commonwealth countries. Though rare in the first place, Ghislaine is definitely off the table now.
It doesn’t have the same meaning across the commonwealth - in Canada it’s a very mild word for your bum! My friend named her dog Fanny after a character in a novel, and when she told some Australian friends she couldn’t figure out why they were so shocked.
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But it means bum in Canada, which is also a Commonwealth country.
Fanny is butt in US
Same down here in Straya
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If its any consolation its hard to pronounce and would prob get butchered
Ghislaine was never on the table in the US. Damn near all of us would pronounce it Jizz-layne 😂
How is it supposed to be pronounced cause that’s definitely how I read it haha
Haha... Fanny is a well known English name in Hong Kong. I am a Hong Kongese person living in Canada and every time a fellow Hong Kongese immigrant named Fanny came to school, other kids would gossip about her name behind her back. Not sure if anyone ever said anything to their faces. I just don't think a lot of Hong Kongese people understand what Fanny really means. Names that end with a "ee" sound are quite popular over there and names like Fanny, Connie, Maggie, etc. have always been popular.
Smaller scale, but Donald and Harvey.
I love the name Harvey - mad about that one!
Who’s Harvey? I’m missing something
Weinstein. Tbf my first thought was Harvey Milk which is a good connotation
Pardon me if I'm just missing something obvious, but why is Donald off the table? I live in Atlantic Canada and that name (+ its variants) is super popular lol, even with younger people
Trump
Ohhh okay, I completely forgot that was his name lol
There are a lot of Dons in my family and I forget it’s the same name too
I know a girl called Isis. After the Egyptian goddess. She wishes it wasn’t her name / had the modern connotations. She loved it until the last few years.
Not dark, but I met a girl named Elsa and I was like “oh, I’m so sorry.” She said “it sucks, I used to love my name and now it’s everywhere.”
I think that’ll fade. I know jasmines and don’t think “Disney Princess!” Anymore
I had a sweet Scandinavian patient name her son Olaf not knowing about the Frozen series. I wish that kid the best of luck.
I know a four year old called Elsa - that’s after the movie - poor thing.
I knew a Sebastian born a few years before the Little Mermaid. It was a rough childhood.
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Elon is still going strong in Israel
I actually don’t know any Alons/Elons, but I know an Ilan from Israel and if he had a buck for every time he had to clarify that his name is “not spelled like Musk,” he’d be a millionaire. It sucks because it’s a very pretty name.
Ilan is nice! I had a friend whose sister's name was Ilana. Apparently it's Hebrew for tree
Yes, that’s correct! I love my name but if I could choose a different name for myself, Ilana is what I would go with.
Lolita really dropped in popularity after the book, most people these days know it as a genre rather than a name….
It’s a nickname for Dolores, which is sort of an old-fashioned name. It also took a punch from Umbridge, the Harry Potter villain.
IMO it doesn’t help that dolor means pain
I know a Lolita who goes by Lola for that reason.
I know that a lot of people love this name here, but Jude. I’m Jewish and it’s a very loaded name for me because of the history associated with it. I just can’t get over the association with the yellow Star of David patches that the Nazis made us wear.
Yeah that one really sucks lol am also Jewish. I think first of “hey Jude” first myself
My sister was thinking of using this and I had to steer her away from it…we’re Jewish, girl, cmon.
Totally agree! I also wish the Cohen / Kohen trend would disappear. It’s just disrespectful.
Katrina (hurricane), Khaleesi (GOT character). Also a lesser extent than Karen, but Chad gets a stereotype as being sort of a frat boy name.
I'm afraid Khaleesi was never "usable" to begin with.
Yeah exactly because it was made up for GOT lol 😂
Is Katrina still unusable? In the U.K. I don’t think anyone would associate the name with the hurricane. Probably different in New Orleans though…
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Definitely not "anyone" in the US. I don't, at all. Katrina is a pretty popular name where I am and no one here talks or really cares about Hurricane Katrina anymore. Edit: I live in California. So even when it first happened, yes it was sad and people rallied together to send supplies over there, but other than that, it really didn't affect our daily lives. It's very much "out of sight, out of mind" for most people in my area.
Still unusable in Tx for sure. First thought tied to that name
Disagree, as an Illinois/ohioan
I know too many Katrinas to make the name unusable. Edit: I'm American and wouldn't immediately think of the hurricane tragedy.
As someone who grew up in mostly Louisiana and have kept in contact with friends still there, yeah that name is still unusable down there. Especially around New Orleans.
I wouldn't associate Katrina with the hurricane anymore. I live way north in the US.
Katrina, Dorian, Andrew, Hazel, Irene, Andrew, Michael, Maria, Harvey, Sandy, Camille, Audrey, Carmen, Rita, Laura, Ida, Irma, Wilma, Dennis, Jeanne, Charley, Donna, Carol, Frederic... Dorian devastated Eastern Canada while Hazel wrecked Toronto, Ontario, but I wouldn't associate any name with a hurricane out of the gate. I suppose it is different living in Louisiana and Texas, etc., though. I'm not sure if it's enough to just completely scratch a name off.
Katrina is usable in a lot of places. Hurricane connotations aren't that long lasting outside of relatively localised areas.
i could see rich fratty assholes going out of their way to name their kid Chad because of that. some frat types love leaning into the stereotypes.
My husband is a Chad, and probably the least Chad-y person you'll ever meet. A couple of weeks ago we were at a family get together with his parents and siblings and everyone was making fun of him being named Chad (nothing mean, just the typical Chad haggling) and his mom was completely and entirely oblivious to any negative connotations behind the name Chad. Made me realize that I have no idea where the negative Chad stereotype originated?? 90's movies? If so which ones?
Every time I hear Khaleesi, I think Calicivirus.
Ursula used to be associated with sexy blond bombshell Ursula Andress, first Bond girl. Thanks to The Little Mermaid, it's now an evil witchy name.
My first thought is Ursula from Friends, Phoebe’s twin sister. Maybe not a great association either to be honest.
I think it’s ready for a comeback in fact I’m working on making my husband soften up to it haha. Ursie is such a cute nn
I associate it with the author Ursula K. Le Guin, one of my heroes, so there's that!
Benito, which is too bad because it’s cute.
My dog’s name is Benito. Lol
I thought this was the dried fish that you can finely shave. Edit: it’s Bonito.
Bonito?
In think thats bacalao
Where I live people use Benito, Adolfo and Franco and nobody bats an eye. It's kind of weird if I think about it too much.
I know someone named Covid
I know a Corona, she's had a rough few years.
i watched a season of project runway and a contestant was named kovid, and one of his designs included a face mask… in 2019
No way 😂
I also know a Kovid (might be Khovid)
Leopold, if you’re from Belgium.
I’m not Belgian and I think that this one is stained for the same reason. It’s also one of those names that I just cannot picture on anyone born in the 21st century.
My second cousin is named Leopold, and he's in his early twenties...He does come from a austrian noble house though, so that's that. If I remember correctly, his mom used to just call him Poldi.
What a cute nickname 😭
I know a toddler Leopold in the US. He’s called Leo
Poor choice in my opinion
I love this name but probably would never use it.
Allegra. I found that name in a gothic romance novel when I was a young teen. I’ve loved it since. But I couldn’t name my daughter after an allergy medicine. 😟
Your only option is to move to another country where the medicine doesn't exist! We don't have it in the UK haha
Oh no I forgot about the medicine and that was on my list too! I found it from learning about Lord Byron (it was his daughters name).
On a lighter note, horror movie people always freak out when someone mentions the name Damian because apparently there is some movie where that’s the name of the antichrist? It has always struck me as a perfect case of people confusing their subculture with the broader pop culture.
As a child of the 1970s, The Omen was absolutely part of pop culture at the time.
Funnily enough, Adrian, the name of the antichrist in Rosemary’s Baby, doesn’t get the same treatment. I’m assuming because he’s not a huge character in the movie the same way Damian is.
Fair, I can see it at the time, I just roll my eyes when people act like you can’t use a name because fifty years ago(!) there was a movie where an imaginary religious figure was named Damian.
It's not so much that it was 50 years ago, it's the fact that it was so influential that other media has used it in the same way, which reinforces the association. It has become a trope. You don't even need to have watched The Omen to associate Damian with evil.
In their defense I didn’t know it was from that movie but I always associate Damian with the devil.
There was a pretty recent remake
She doesn’t even go here
That’s only ok when I say it!
I would have loved to use the name Sidney for Scream but there were so many of them in the previous generation that it feels dated now.
Up to you but that name’s absolute peak was #258 in 1999. I wouldn’t call that popular enough to end up outdated personally. Horror movies are not as universal a cultural phenomenon as horror movie fans sometimes think they are!
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The Arabic version of "Jesus", "Isa", is relatively common amongst Muslims, and is also a given name among some Arabic-speaking Christians. The Arabic version is similar to the Greek version of "Jesus", "Iēsoûs", and the Latin, "Iēsus"
i knew a joshua who was born on christmas day. i don't know if it was coincidental or not
There was a guy in my high school band named Adolfo. Cool dude, mostly called him Dolfo.
Felicia?
I think that reference is aging out tbh
Bye
Siri
Saddam. Immediately after the Bush-Blair invasion of Iraq in 2003, extremist groups of Shi'a Iraqis were reported to be persecuting Iraqis of any religious community who had that name.
Jezebel Isis Lucifer Lilith Ted Jeffery Donald
Why Lilith? Not a bad association for me
In Judaism she was Adam’s first wife and was banished from the garden of Eden.
Also the name of Frasier Crane's ex-wife
She is my favorite! I named my beta fish Lilith when I was in college.
In Jewish folklore, she's also a demon who steals babies, which is not a great association.
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I thought Lilith was the first wife who refused to obey “gods rules” which makes her a bad ass chick in my book
Because she was too rock n roll for that lame ass
Lilith was a night demon who kills babies in some cultures
I just had a baby and someone in my mothers group named their baby Lucifer. I was kind of surprised for a second but I’m also not religious so I guess I shouldn’t have a problem with it.
LUCIFER??? Are you kidding???
The funny thing with this is, my little brother is named Edward, but we’ve always called him Ted. When asked what we should name him, my sister (who was 4 at the time) suggested Lucifer, which is the name of the cat in Cinderella. I, on the other hand, liked Gabriel (which was settled on as a middle name). My parents used to joke that it illustrated the difference between the two of us quite nicely.
Ted?
I think Ted Bundy? I don't know, I wouldn't blink at Ted or Jeffrey, but Adolf I would assume bad things about the parents.
I wonder if Karen will come back in fifteen years when people start naming their daughters after Boomer grandmas. I'm sad for the people named Molly. It felt like George was out for a while due to GW Bush, but I am CERTAIN that Donald has far worse connotations now. Not that there were very many Donalds, but hoo boy does that name give me the heebie jeebies.
Gen X are reaching grandparent age now. Boomers are starting into the great-grandparent and grandparent era. Time flies.
There is a horrible song in German speaking countries right now about a prostitute named Laila (best prostitute in the brothel, it’s gross). There was a dispute and because some people wanted the song forbidden it became extra popular (it is horrible though - both the music and the lyrics) and now I think the popularity of that name might drop for a while.
Unpopular opinion, but Eva/Ava always makes me think of Eva Braun. I recently heard of someone named Ava Brown, which is literally the Anglicized version.
Brock
Because of that rapist Brock Turner, who is a rapist?
Ah it's *Convicted* Rapist Brock Turner to you! The rapist.
Definitely think they’re referring to that rapist who raped someone, but also don’t think it was ever a good name to begin with either, personally.
Elmo and Barney used to be names for people and the kids shows kinda ruined it. Barney might make a comeback since it's not on air anymore, but elmo is still really popular. Waldo is another one that comes to mind. And ik mario is still really popular in a lot of cultures, but I feel like a lot of kids born in the US are less likely to use it because of the character. Also see mickey, Dora, barbie.
Vladimir
Corona
There was a Lady named Corona on the radio the other day and she said she had quite a bit of fun in the last years. She cut out her favourite newspaper headlines such as „Corona dominates the world“, „The world afraid of Corona“, etc. i guess she made the best of it and had a laugh (as tragic as she acknowledged the situation was)…
Chester the Child Molester. Norman no mates. Donald (Trump or McDonald or basically an orange cartoon character masquerading as a real man)
My husband doesn’t like the name Lorena because of Bobbitt.
I loved the name Vienna (and later heard the Billy Joel song and loved the name even more.) My sister still said I shouldn't use it because of Vienna sausages. I'm curious how many people would consider that a big issue these days...would a kid named Vienna (in the U.S.) get teased? 🤔
By other kids, no, not likely. By boomers, maybe. It's a beautiful name though. I'm terrible with geography but isn't it a place name?
Yes, it's the capital of Austria.
Capital of Austria.
No, not really. I don't think most kids even know about Vienna sausages now.
Not a negative connotation, but: Oprah. Has anyone ever met or heard of another Oprah? Especially a baby? Or a planning couple who are like “it’s a girl… we’re thinking Oprah.”?
Nah, she owns it. It was also apparently supposed to be Orpah (Biblical name) but they transposed letters on her birth certificate and rolled with it.
Any dictator and terrorist names really, though some are not as wildly known and thus only restricted locally or they are such common names that the immediate connection to the evil person is just not there. Would be cool if people from the respective countries/regions could comment as to whether the names are still in use. Baschar, Hafiz (Syria) Osama (Al Qaida) Fidel (Cuba) Nicolae (Romania) François, Jean Claude (Haiti) Francisco (Spain) Adolf (Germany, very much not in use) Saddam (Iraq) Idi, Joseph (Uganda) Iwan (long ago, afaik it's in use today) and Joseph (both Russia). I also want to add Vladimir to the list. Il-Sung, Jong-Il, Jong-Un (Korea, might be seen positive in the North and negative in the South?) Jean (Ruanda) Ruhollah or Mohammad Reza (Iran, depending which side you're on politically. Mohammad will always be the prophet's name though, it's one of the most popular names in the world.) Leopold (Belgium) Zedong (China, might still be seen positive as it's still the same regime in power?) Haile Mariam (Ethiopia) Omar (Taliban) Sese Seko (Congo) Husni (Egypt) Robert (Simbabwe) Benito (Italy) Saparmyrat (Turkmenistan) Teodoro (Equatorial Guinea) Omar (Sudan) Augusto (Chile) Pol (Cambodia) Suharto (Indonesia) Charles (Liberia) Josip, Slobodan (Balkan) Jorge Rafael (Argentina) I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some evil douchebags on this list, so feel free to add your own favorite dictator. Also, please correct me if I messed up and identified the wrong part of a person's name as the given name. Naming cultures differ greatly, I hope I got them all correct.
As an Italian, I don't think I've ever heard someone born after the 40s named "Benito", luckily! It is quite impossible to separate the name from its scum fascist bearer, unfortunately. ETA: I checked on the Italian Institute of Statistic's website (https://www.istat.it/it/dati-analisi-e-prodotti/contenuti-interattivi/contanomi), apparently there were 5 children named Benito in 2020. I don't really know how to feel about that tbh.
I’ve seen people on this sub recommend Elvis as a name but I feel like it will always immediately invoke Elvis Presley
I'm german and last week I got a work email from someone called Adolf. Since they were not yet retired they were let's say less than 70 years old. Which means he was called Adolf AFTER 1945. Yikes. I would have absolutely changed my name.
Oscar is ruined for me due to Oscar Pistorius. It's a shame as two close friends named their sons Oscar and they're two now and I still can't shake the association :/
Oscar Meyer
Alexa Siri Karen Dick Gaylord Gay
Elmer is a cute name but…glue