When names become a thing...and therefore something to laugh at

[Conniebygaslight]

There's a thread about strange spellings of names and it got me thinking about names becoming a thing and how it must feel for the poor buggers who have those names. Nothing is safe.......For example.
People called Alexa
People with the surname Gooch (Apparently it's now a term for perineum)
People with the surname Butt/Butts
People who Go by BJ (We have an adult relative in Australia where this is Perfectly acceptable - but I'm sure it will a thing there too very soon)
Your just going along, living your life and minding your own business and suddenly you're a subject of ridicule because somebody (usually on social media) has decided a word means something.

Tracey might suddenly come to mean an erection or Wilson might mean a pervert etc..The world is crackers.

Well people's names are just that. It really isn't that amusing as an adult to laugh when you see the letters BJ next to eachother. My hospital consultant is called Dr Dick and I've yet to see anyone laughing about it.
I guess maybe if you were a primary school teacher having an 'embarrassing' name might be a bit cringe. I wouldn't imagine it would adversely affect any other profession.

I feel very sorry for all the lovely people called Karen. Their name has been trashed.

I don't laugh at people, I know of a lot of people that do, particularly younger adults. I feel sorry for others who are subject to ridicule.

Exactly my point...thank you

I think of the name Isis and today we all know what is referred to unfortunately

It's not the same as what you're getting at, OP, but I have a friend called Andrew Tate. He's bald. And hench. He says life has got very weird for him in recent years 😳

Then I'd suggest finding new friends. I agree with a pp -- it's not normal to find that kind of thing particularly amusing once you've left school. I mean, I doubt Alexa Chung is dying inside because some people associate her name with asking a virtual assistant to turn on the TV. Or Siri Hustvedt either.

Yes, I was going to say Karen. But I absolutely love it that many cool women still carry on using it and not changing to Cara or whatever. I follow a super cool, young and edgy, animator on Ig with the name, for example. I hope they manage to reclaim it back.

Alexa was a baby name gaining popularity just before Amazon picked it. So many young children have to go by Lexi or something similar now.
Amazon should’ve been more considerate and pick something like Siri or Cortana.

Also something ought be said about the British using names like Dick and Willy, both for people and as insults/ private parts, and nobody seems to notice it’s the same word…

What are you talking about....? It's not my friends doing this, it's society. Just because I don't find it funny, it doesn't mean that others don't. I think you've completely missed my point. I think the whole thing is ridiculous.

It's not just social media. It's always happened. Fanny and Dick used to be a normal names. Sharon and Tracey before the fat slags. Herbert as in he's a right Herbert. Malcolm (Malcoordinated) There's more that I can't think of!

Yeah it's not a social media thing I don't think. Look at the huge drop in popularity the name Adolf had after Hitler. Also BJ has meant blowjob since I was in primary school and I'm mid 30s. God knows when it started.

Yes, the internet just makes the ‘trend’ spread much quicker and to a bigger scale.

But it does work the other way around too. Someone I knew in about 2009 named their child Elsa - not a name part of their culture or heritage, not particularly known. Well, that name became so popular a few years later and the child absolutely adored the association.

It has always happened yes but I definitely think with the madness of social media anyone can just decide something is a thing and all the lemmings follow. It spreads like wildfire now too.

Me too! Karen is a beautiful name.

Made me laugh to be fair

I guess it depends on how many names you see each day. In my previous career it was hundreds of people so nobody's name sounds that funny or unusual anymore. If you'd never heard of a person called Mike Hunt before then it's true if might raise a chuckle. 🤣

Oh lord, I'll bet!

But who decides these things, I mean, who the hell decided to put the name Karen out there and who decided that Gooch was an issue...and who latches onto these things going along with it?

I worked with a gynaecologist called Fani Kokka

Excellent name for an excellent surgeon!

Not the point I was making but absolutely excellent and hope she/he owned it with gusto!

Well the criminal gooch Gang might not get the get quite the same reaction that they are used to. 😂

Oh no - I was agreeing with you!

Her name was probably nothing unusual in her native Greece, but I bet she’s been on the receiving end of a few chuckles since she moved to the UK, especially given her surgical speciality!

DD has a friend called Alexa and it’s only annoying when she’s round and I ask her a question like what she wants for lunch and the bloody Echo pipes up with some smart-ass reply.

Well, I happen to remember how Karen started. Basically, people were saying that the privileged middle aged lady making fuss is almost always called Karen. And I’m sure it was a genuine observation for some at first, it being a name very popular for its generation only. I don’t think they were ‘deciding’ to thrash the name as such.

When the Catherine Tate show was popular, it wasn’t a great time to be called Lauren. Same with Vicky Pollard.
I think Karen is a lovely name, and it’s a shame it has become what it has become.