'Chavvy' name.

Oh, I didn't realise. I get it now.

American evangelicals are fairly new to the scene as a group with any influence.

Caylen might be a Youneek spelling of Caoilfhionn.

Before they became popular, OT names were more widely used by the travelling community or American evangelicals.
I don't think that is correct. Irish Travellers (if that is the group you had in mind) stuck with Patrick and Brigid and similar names. American evangelicals are fairly new to the scene, and names are all over the map, with names like Brad, Trent, Chad, Parker, etc as likely to be found as Jeremiah or Josiah, etc. I don't think Abraham Lincoln was an evangelical, despite his OT name.

The part of Ireland where my mother grew up had naming traditions that included OT and unusual names - thinking of Moses and Simeon from the OT, and Laserian, Moling and Anastatia as examples from early Christian history for both boys and girls (first two boys, last one girls).

Not everyone reads the bible or takes an interest in the Christian religion.
You can be interested in history or wider culture or names people call their children, and therefore take an interest in the Christian Bible or the Koran or other landmark documentation of a religious community.

Caylen is a new one for me. Yuk, sorry. It's put me off Kayleb.

Caleb is not in the same group as Kayden, Jayden, Caylen etc. etc.!

It may sound similar but it's a million times nicer.

Yes, you've got it eyebrows.
There are definitely names that teachers think 'Hmm, one of those' about.

I take chavvy to mean the sort of name that conjures an image of a person on Jeremy Kyle. I think on MN it's often shorthand for the child who's a giant pita. So if you know a Jayden in your kid's class and they have nightmare behaviour then that name becomes "tainted" and you think of them when you hear the name Jayden.

I know that I'm going to be flamed for talking about kids with nightmare behaviour (because they must have SEN ) but all schools/classes have a kid who others have to be wary of.

I think most people use the word chavvy to mean lower class not working class. I don't particularly like the word, but someone could be chavvy without being working class.

A chavvy name IMO would be one where the parents are young and not very academic or aspirational, and would choose a name of a sport star or celebrity for their baby.

Most people who use the word chavvy do so to indicate something working class. People fall over themselves to deny that of course.

Is Bear a chavvy name? I think Rafferty might be. Any others?

Chavvy does not mean working class. The Oxford English Dictionary defines chav as an informal British derogatory, meaning "a young lower-class person who displays brash and loutish behaviour and wears real or imitation designer clothes".

People who bandy the word 'chavvy' around do tend to be dim in my experience. It's their only descriptor for things they feel are beneath them. Their sluggish minds think 'working class - bad' and out pops 'chavvy'.

Squoosh - they wouldn't use the term chavvy. We don't use that word in our conversation. Which is why I said "for want of a better term". What is that term?

Also, can you explain why using the word chavvy is "dim"? Rude, snobby or whatever I would understand, but not dim. Out of interest, is it the use of the word chavvy you think is "dim", or believing in the existence of what it represents?

LetsSplash not you but the person who said 'Caleb cones across as either 'chavvy' or American which isn't much better.'

Sorry LetsSplash, I was being sarcastic about Dina1234's post.

I don't think sounding American is awful. They're an English speaking country, so they're going to have the same names as us. Like Donald.

MyWhat, I don't see how you can be offended by someone saying that the name was historically more common in America, yet you also picture a Caleb as an old American man on a porch swing. These are very similar things to say and neither offensive.

My aunt asked my mum if we'd converted to Judaism when we named our twins. No, still atheists. Just chose names we liked.

I never said American was a bad thing, of course not, just that the religious people in the US were ahead of the trend for Old Testament names. I don't think being a traveller is bad either, I was only trying to guess why different people might make different associations.

I have a neighbour whose grandchild has one (Eli) and she said she was surprised they chose a Jewish name, which I'm sure is a MIL thread in the making!

Uninformed then. And dim to use a term like 'chavvy'.

No squoosh, aetheists and different religions if that's ok with you. Not everyone reads the bible or takes an interest in the Christian religion.

They would not at all associate it with anything biblical or churchy.

Are they a bit dim?

I like the "sound" of Caleb as in its arrangement, I think it's got a nice soft sound to it, but where I live it would go hand in hand with Kyle, Jayden, Kayden etc. If I called my dc Caleb my sister and friends would think it was chavvy (for want of a better term, which I can't think of right now). They would not at all associate it with anything biblical or churchy. My sister would think I'd lost my mind and would probably tell me so to my face. Everyone else would smile and nod.

Not sure how Caleb can be American when it's Biblical... or how being American is a bad thing

Wow! American. So awful. When I had my Caleb I actually thought it was an old mans name. Which was appropriate as he looked like a wise old man when he was born (like most babies really!)

My image was an old American man sitting on a porch! (Ok, maybe I'm weird!)

What's so wrong with American?