I could be way off on this, but my working theory is that the current crop of "handful-of-Scrabble-tiles" names is indicative of a sort of erosion of the extended family. Think of how many people each of us have in our extended-family tree...hundreds. Why not honor one of them with the use of their name? I never want kids but if I *did* and had a daughter I'd name her Ruth, for an aunt of mine who died when she was a child way back in the 1930s. For a boy I guess I'd choose a name from my husband's family tree; likely Charles; both of our family trees have lots of Charles-es. Can't go wrong with either of those and they honor family members. I can't imagine giving a human being the silly made-up names so popular these days--there's no history or legacy or connection with those.

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randomcfchick
Little "Cressida" will be in good company, as I have already met little girls named (and I am not making this up!) Infiniti and Lexus.

Same here. And I've known of numerous little girls named Kia, which for those who don't already know is a POS car made in Korea or is a fictional stillborn babby minor character in Stephen King's novel "Bag of Bones".

I've said it before - movie credits are a gold mine of weird names. Anyone here seen the first "Ghost Rider" movie? Remember the scene where the fat goth wannabe girl gets mugged? That actress' real-life name (or at least what she has people call her) is "Rebel." Fabulous.

Gonna have to check the paper's list of freshly-shat welfare recipients to see how may more Aidens and Kaydenns will be gracing kindergarten in 5-6 years.

For some reason, doesn't "The Minty Badger" sound like it could be a titty bar?

Kalen/Kaylynn/Kaelin, etc. The name sounds like kaolin, which is a type of clay used as an antidiarrheal, and is VERY reminiscent of a certain OJ Simpson trial juror's surname. Either way unappealing, yet somehow trendy. If they grew up in the 70s or 80s with that name, they'd get remarks about kaopectate's main ingredient, in the 90s or early 2000s, about the OJ juror, and now get remarks about "are you a boy or a girl?"

As much as I hate kids, I feel a tiny bit sorry for them having a stupid name like that.

Somehow dated names like mine (Christopher... yes it's a classic name, but all too common to the point of being a cliche') or my girlfriend's (Andria... talk about completely stuck in the 70s/80s, yet somehow white trash moos keep using that name and other severely dated names ad nauseum here!) seem to be perennially popular, white trash seemingly have two name categories, one is dated names, the other is made-up names that can sound anything from contrived to reminiscent of prescription drugs.

I have a friend named Lois. When I first met her, I thought, "wow, what an old name!" but now I am glad of her name because she is the ONLY Lois I know who is in the 30's age group. She is a fun, popular girl and a blast to hang out with, if a little chronically late to arrive. THAT is the way to name your child uniquely. What is funny is all but one of her other siblings have really out there names.

My workplace added 3-4 new employees. To compensate, they cut a few other people's hours, including mine.
New names include A rian and R obyn. (trying to be slightly discreet)

The first one sounds like either the parents forgot the d in Adrian or they never heard of a man named Adolf Hitler.

The other one is a normal enough name, but it has a y instead of an i so she must be spayshul.

We'll see if the newbies were worth cutting other folks' hours.

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michaela

"A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt, will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter." -Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal

Are you guys familiar with the Baby Name Wizard? It's a fascinating interactive chart that shows you what names were popular in the last century or so. Fun to play with.

Mouse over the chart to see which names were popular when. Or enter a name, or just a letter of the alphabet, in the search box at top left to find names beginning with only that letter. Search your own name. Fun stuff.

My husband's name was most popular in 1880 and died out completely in 1970. My name peaked in the mid-1960s.

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clematis
Are you guys familiar with the Baby Name Wizard? It's a fascinating interactive chart that shows you what names were popular in the last century or so. Fun to play with.

Mouse over the chart to see which names were popular when. Or enter a name, or just a letter of the alphabet, in the search box at top left to find names beginning with only that letter. Search your own name. Fun stuff.

My husband's name was most popular in 1880 and died out completely in 1970. My name peaked in the mid-1960s.

Mine apparently peaked in the 90s with the rise of Dr. Quinn. Thankfully, I've only had to tell one person that she was an idiot for thinking I was named after her. (My mother never watched the show...)

The nicknames bit is interesting:
Nicknames for Michaela:
Mick/Mic
Mickey/Micky/Mikki
Moo (wat)
Kayla/Chaela
Mikki
Mika
Kay/K
Mike
Mac
KK/Kae Kae/Kay Kay
MK

I hate my name being shortened to Kayla with a bloody purple passion and Lord help whoever tries to pull "Kay Kay" on me. Most of my family members call me Mike.

Global popularity:
#14 in Czech Republic
#223 in Scotland
#357 in United States
#359 in Canada (British Columbia)

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michaela

"A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt, will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter." -Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal

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michaela
My workplace added 3-4 new employees. To compensate, they cut a few other people's hours, including mine.
New names include A rian and R obyn. (trying to be slightly discreet)

The first one sounds like either the parents forgot the d in Adrian or they never heard of a man named Adolf Hitler.

The other one is a normal enough name, but it has a y instead of an i so she must be spayshul.

We'll see if the newbies were worth cutting other folks' hours.

robyn is a normal variation.

arian is possibly derived from ariadne

i get thrown on creative names. ethnic or traditional names have a pronunciation that is consistent and meanings ("ariadne", for example, is greek and means "most holy". it appears in mythology). but these creative names have no meaning and no distinct pronunciation. i think it also drives kids to not seek out an identity. when you are a jennifer, you are one of a thousand jennifers and work to make yourself different. even rare names such as kaisa or tarja, because there's a heritage to those names. but naming your kid some meaningless and garbled name means the kid does not have a heritage to play up to and does not have a reason to try to be different.

I just looked up my new coworker Arian; apparently he is a she and a horrible hipster "photographer."

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michaela

"A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt, will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter." -Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal

A pregnant moo just came through my work and I overheard her telling one of my coworkers what she is going to name her loaf. Tapani. Only she pronounced it TUPani. No one and I mean NO ONE will EVER pronounce her kyd's name correctly. Love affair with Tupperware?

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crazycatlady
A pregnant moo just came through my work and I overheard her telling one of my coworkers what she is going to name her loaf. Tapani. Only she pronounced it TUPani. No one and I mean NO ONE will EVER pronounce her kyd's name correctly. Love affair with Tupperware?

Tu Pac and panini bread.

Bread Box
That's where motherfuckers is endin up

Dear mama, I'm caught up in this sammich
I ate my baloney , but slipped and spilled the mustard ...

_______________________________________________
“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

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thom_c

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crazycatlady
A pregnant moo just came through my work and I overheard her telling one of my coworkers what she is going to name her loaf. Tapani. Only she pronounced it TUPani. No one and I mean NO ONE will EVER pronounce her kyd's name correctly. Love affair with Tupperware?

Tu Pac and panini bread.

Bread Box
That's where motherfuckers is endin up

Dear mama, I'm caught up in this sammich
I ate my baloney , but slipped and spilled the mustard ...

Possibly "Tuppenny?"

TUH-pah-nee that is how she pronounced it. the worst name ever. Makes no sense.

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crazycatlady
TUH-pah-nee that is how she pronounced it. the worst name ever. Makes no sense.

Tuba and Tympani - a brass percussion instrument that disturbs the neighbors. Looking at it that way it surely does describe a kid.

_______________________________________________
“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

How adroit!

How about Tar Panties?

Well, being Tiziana, I am often called Titti or Tizzi. But in Italian neither means anything
(You can calm me like that, if you wish. I don't mind).

Worst name evah here is a kid I remember who is named Sulpicio.
Now, let me explain:

Sul in italian mean over, above, on, or up (like: on the table = sul tavolo).
Picio means Penis in some dialects.

Now, it is an ancient latin name. But it is not a good enough reason!


Also know:

Crocifisso (Crucified. I swear)
Mafaldo

sigh

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Snark Shark

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t.
Also know:

Crocifisso (Crucified. I swear)
Mafaldo

sigh

"Crocifisso! Get down off that cross RIGHT THIS MINUTE!!"

AHAHAHAH yeah, exactly that! You can bet he didn't have an easy life!

I just got off the phone with a customer service representative named Psyche. Because I will have to call her back with a reference number in the next few days she spelled out her name for me, so I know I wasn't just hearing things.

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nobodylikesyourkidbutyou
I just got off the phone with a customer service representative named Psyche. Because I will have to call her back with a reference number in the next few days she spelled out her name for me, so I know I wasn't just hearing things.

That is acqually an anciet greek name, from peraphs the most ancient fairy tale ever: The Tale of Eros and Psyche. It is very interesting read^^

But still... ancient greek? Why not Epaminonda?

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t.

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nobodylikesyourkidbutyou
I just got off the phone with a customer service representative named Psyche. Because I will have to call her back with a reference number in the next few days she spelled out her name for me, so I know I wasn't just hearing things.

That is acqually an anciet greek name, from peraphs the most ancient fairy tale ever: The Tale of Eros and Psyche. It is very interesting read^^

But still... ancient greek? Why not Epaminonda?

I know Psyche an ancient Greek name, but it's current use in the English language is like naming your child "Psychology." And the person was in Atlanta, Georgia, so I thought it was weird.

I think "Dionysus" would be a fitting name for a partying frat boy. But then again, I kind of like the name "Dion" for a man, for some reason. I think that's one of the few mythological kre8ive names I could deal with.

Saw some future cancer curers in the Births section of the paper. There were some normal ones here and there - a Kate and a Mary. There was also Addaleigh, Brooklyn (why not just name her Detriot or Newark while you're at it), and Del. I'm friends with the father of that last loaf - is Del even a word? Wasn't Del the homeless guy played by John Candy in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles?" I thought it was short for "Delmont" or "Delaware" or some stupid shit, but it's a full name, I guess.

A couples of times in the last week I've run across a new entry in the "Aiden " rhyming sweepstakes that i hadn't heard before- Paden !!! What the hell kind of name is Paden??? Sounds like something you spread on a cracker! The next two I'm expecting to see are Traden{ spinoff on Tristan, another moronic name ] and Zaden [from the planet Numb nuts]. Paden, unreal.

Damn. I was hoping it would be 'Mayden'. 'Paden' is pretty dumb though z

Speaking of Paden, this girl I was friends with in middle school put pictures of her lame kids on Facebook. One of them is named Payleigh. I guess it is a spin off of Hayleigh? I don't know. Anyways, I think that that sounds dumb. Makes me think of Payless Shoes or something.