Do you classify or label people by their name?

[manicinsomniac]

And does it often turn out to be correct?

I have a shameful addiction to the baby names forum.

Recently I have noticed my oldest daughter's name getting rather a slamming. It has come up in the past and it has generally been agreed on as 'chavvy'. Recently is has been called 'truly awful' 'dreadful' and 'just no'.

Her name is Savannah. The names Susannah, Samantha, Sophia and Sylvia however, are almost always received positively. These names, especially the first two, are very similar. So what is it that makes Savannah 'truly awful'? I can only assume that people are basing their liking of the name on what they assume its owner or her parent/s to be like, rather than the actual sound of the name.

I've also seen that people 'hate' the names Charlize and Charmaine but really like Charlotte. That they think Jayden is an awful name but like Aiden and Hayden. Isabella and Annabella are lovely but Arabella is ridiculous.

Am I unreasonable to think that people pretend not to like names when the truth is that they just have a particular association with a name that they wouldn't want for their child? And, if so, do those associations bear out in real life? I'm getting worried that I've saddled my child with a name that will cause people to roll their eyes before they've even met her. Especially as comment about my other two daughters names tend to sum up as 'nice but dull' and 'nice but posh' as oppose to 'god-awful!'

I know an Auric (as in Goldfinger). Pronounced Orric. To my mind, it sounds horribly harsh, just an unattractive word. But the parents like it so good for them.

Yes, Rock. I thought that too about that comment, as if there was something inherently funny or odd about a name like Alessandro Murphy. I'm Irish and it's an increasingly diverse place. I know several children who use both parents surnames, and so are called things like Parresh Singh-O'Connor or Niamh Leahy-Bronowski.

I think names like Alessandro Murphy are probably fairly common, if the baby has a surname from one culture then the first name is often from the other culture to make it 'fair'.

My DC are probably going to be EnglishFirstName MyForeignSurname DHsDifferentTypeofForeignSurname

My DC are called something like Alessandro Murphy. They are mixed heritage. As are a number of their friends, they all have names like Alessandro Murphy.

I think it's absolutely ridiculous to make judgements about people based on their name alone. It's they same narrow mindedness that leads to racism.

My dad had a colleague in the 1970s called Yakimoto Hamilton. He was as cosmopolitan as his name, very culturally aware and pre-empted any curiosity over his origins by being so up to date on current affairs, well read, well travelled, charming and empathic that he could always start an appropriate conversation with anyone. Whether this was because of his mixed heritage, or in spite of it, I don't know, but he suffered no discrimination, even 40 years ago. Dad says he was the cleverest person he ever met, and dad was pretty smart.

I know three Sians all of whom are bossy and potentially sulky. The Sharn I know isn't.

I know two barristers called Sharon.

I have to speak up for the Sian's, I know a lovely one who is shy, funny, and would help anybody without a thought for herself. She's an amazing friend.

Maybe we could just stop calling people chavvy full stop. Isn't it a bit unpleasant?

What about professions? Do some jobs attract people with particular names? I have a fairly classic 5 letter name that fell out of fashion towards the end of the 70's; there were just 2 of us in the 8 class middle school I attended. I now work in Healthcare and it seems like there are loads of us. So was my future career predetermined by my name? and are there any other names and careers that go together?

Costa where do you live that you are given a limited list of names?

My name really dates me and there were several with the same name in my class at school. It isn't used now and I hate it.
I tried to give my children names that weren't so unusual that they had to repeat or spell them but unusual enough that they wouldn't be associated with a particular time.
Think I succeeded as all 7 of them really like their names

I live in Portugal Twowrongs

yes, shamefully I do

Costa where do you live that you are given a limited list of names?

There are quite a few countries which have this - Iceland seems to have one of the most restrictive lists with only 1800 for each sex! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naming_law

France had this until the mid-90s, and Germany still has fairly stringent ones. What I seem to remember from friends is that German-approved names have to suggest a gender and not be surnames, so I suppose no baby Taylors, Coopers etc.

Names are correlated with the parents' socioeconomic status (though which names are high and low status changes over time and is different in different places). Your profession and your socioeconomic status are correlated with your parents' socioeconomic status. So yes, you'd expect some correlation between names and professions.

I have a first cousin once removed (my first cousin's daughter) whose name is Savannah. It doesn't strike me as too unusual a name, but then again, we're Americans.

I love Savannah. I know one who is 5 and it's just so pretty.

I will admit to not liking the trend of names. But I suspect twas ever thus.

I should explain... I suspect the generation of Adas, Irenes and Margarets did not hold with the Sarahs, Janes and Jennifers. As the Sarahs may think of the Jaydens, Courtneys and so on. Times move on...

Sarah is a biblical name though

Sarah and Jane have both been in heavy usage since at least the 16th century and almost certainly bbefore that in Sarah's case. Unlikely to ever raise eyebrows unless you're merely surprised at people using such boring names.

Jennifer is a traditionally a Cornish name so may well have raiser eyebrows when it first came to common usage.

I don't judge people who have certain names, but i do judge parents who give those names. The most stupid thing is when people hear a word in a foreign language they don't understand and think it can be a name...