How would you pronounce this name Kaelan or Kaylan

That's really weird. Do people really think that?
Not weird at all. Yes,

Over my many years I've known boys/men called Kyle, Kevin, Kayden, Keith, Kelvin, Keegan, Kai, Kelly (yes a boy), Kenny.
Most of those are dated and suggest a certain age group or socio-economic background.

Caelan is fine, Kaelan and Kaylan are not.
Cillian fine, Killian not fine.
Caitlin is fine, Katelyn isn't.
Ciaran is fine, Kieran isn't.
Caleb is fine, Kayleb isn't.
Cai is fine (if Welsh), Kai isn't.
Courtney is reasonably OK, Kourtney isn't.

I don't like 'new' names from different cultures being used especially if mispronounced or misspelt. They tend to date badly.

Oh, I’ve read quite a bit of the research that’s currently out there. Just hadn’t seen what you were describing specifically and thought it sounded interesting.

Anyway, your job sounds like fun!

The work I was personally involved in is ongoing research into a particular niche area so not yet published. There are various other studies though regarding the perception of names.

Many employers now take all personal information off applications. This includes names, age, school etc. They are increasingly even removing the name of the University you attended.

The racism element is interesting. I can see that being applicable in the US, due to African American naming trends (caused by their forcible removal from their cultural roots).

However, in the U.K., these sorts of names are very much ‘white working class’. Ethnic minorities generally have names from their culture or (in the case of some Caribbeans) really traditional British names. While I’m sure there are ethnic minorities called Kayden, etc, I’d think it was fairly rare for anyone who didn’t have at least one white working class parent.

For the piece of work you did, was there any research we could read? I find this sort of stuff fascinating?

@user746016 perhaps everyone should just have identity numbers then 🤷
Or people should stop being so snobby.

Its human nature to make assumptions.

If you have CVs in front of you from a person named "Kayshon" and person names "Charles" most people will make certain assumptions. Not necessarily consciously.

Likewise if you have a CV from a "Chardonnay-May" and an "Emma"

Well I AM shocked it exists.
It bloody well shouldn't (along with racism, homophobia etc).
Why are humans so horrible to one another?
It's depressing.

Whether you think it's appalling or not, it's something that exists. Racism is appalling but it exists. Likewise homophobia.

There is less of an impact if you consider older names. So our prime minister has a K name but it's an established "older" name" in UK culture. Kenneth would also not trigger the same associations (although in the absence of indications to the contrary might lead to assumptions that the applicant is older)

Edited to add - The same with girls names. Kate or Katherine would not trigger the same associations. Kayleigh on the other hand would. It's more prevalent with K names and more prevalent with male K names but it's fundamentally there with any names perceived to be "made up". There's a racism element to it too.

@user746016 I think that's appalling.
Judging people because their name begins with a K.

Yes they do.

Agree with all this.

That's really weird. Do people really think that?
Over my many years I've known boys/men called Kyle, Kevin, Kayden, Keith, Kelvin, Keegan, Kai, Kelly (yes a boy), Kenny.
All of them perfectly normal nice people (except for Kelly who was a bit of a tosser but his whole family were tossers).

I think boys’ names beginning with K are often looked at negatively, but there are lots of names for which that isn’t true - particularly if one includes names from all cultures. There’s no issue with names like Krzysztof or Keshav.

However, I cannot think of a single name beginning with ‘Kay’ (again, those three letters) that isn’t instant social branding of the kind I would be reluctant to give a child.

Names which are perceived as "made up" lead to assumptions about class. Assumptions about class correlate to assumptions about behaviour and intelligence. This then ultimately feeds into assumptions about the suitability of job candidates and has a potential impact on career prospects.

Not something people like to hear but perceptions/stereotyping exist and there is little point in denying that.

Edited to add that "K" names for boys are often perceived as "naughty boy" names.

@IHate you seem to have a strange phobia about names beginning "Kay" - perhaps you should get some therapy about that 😂😂😂

I don't think it's the use of the y. It's that "K" names for boys have a negative connotation.

I have actually been involved in an interesting piece of research on this involving employers making assumptions about candidates based on names.

I mean the letters ‘Kay’. I think I’ve been quite clear about that, and I don’t think it’s a subtle difference. I am not alone in this.

RTFT.

Yes it does. K-ate, Kay-te.

Oh you mean the letters K A Y not the pronunciation? That’s too subtle a difference.

What else is on your list OP?

Neither, I'm not a fan of made up spellings.
What about Callan?

Weird, I have the name "Kay" in my head as the boy from box of delights, so consider it quite a classic name. How cool (if he gets nicknames Kay) to read him that story at Christmas ♥️ meant a lot to me in my childhood. Also, I read it the way you want it to be read.

I've taught a Kaelan and I've known a Caelan but have never come across a Kaylen. Both pronounced as Kay lun.
I'm not keen on Braden/Jayden type names but that's just my opinion. I probably wouldn't choose majority of the names in my class to be honest!

Kate doesn’t begin with ‘Kay’?