American names. . . on Americans?

[janiejones5446]

"American" is often thrown around as a pejorative on this board for surname-names (not by everyone, of course). Though, I'm curious -- do you dislike these sorts of names on Americans as much as you dislike them on Brits?

I thought of this when I was reminded that the current US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has a son who goes by Hunter (Hunter is actually his middle name, which was his mother's maiden name, but he seems to go by it exclusively).

Some US name trends make me a bit eye-rolly in general, if I'm honest. I hate boys' names on girls, ugly WASP surnames as first names (not Hunter--I think Hunter is OK), made-up names with "lyn" and "leigh" on the end.... although to be fair, the Americans do not have a monopoly on those.

That said, Brits also have some ghastly name trends, especially the "cutie-pie" names like Teddie, Alfie, Tillie, etc. In the States, boys in particular tend not to get given names that sound "cute."

Neither of these groups is really statistically representative of either Americans or Brits, mind you. If you look at the "most popular" name lists, they are actually surprisingly similar--Olivia, Sophie, Isabella, Ava, Emily and the like.

My DD has attended American daycare for the past 2 years and her classmates all have normal, possibly even a bit dated, names. To name a few: John, Brian, Martin, Jack, Sam, Claire, Alison, Olivia, Kirsten. I’ve never actually met any children with the sort of names often deemed American on here and know very few adults with them either.

So I wouldn’t particularly associate surname names with Americans, since in my experience, they’re not particularly!

I don't mind the surname as a first name thing at all, but I can't stand the name Hunter. It's like naming your child Fisher or Butcher. I just think of the photos of hunters next to a dead deer.

I think a lot of “American” names on Americans are a class thing. The DDs went to American schools and their friends all had names that would be unremarkable in the U.K: Katherine, Sophia (lots of these!), Jessica, Nicola, Anna, Sonia, Brianna, Karen, Meredith (so what a PP has said about slightly outdated names). The only, what I would say were very American names, were things like Peyton, Mackenzie and Kamryn, but they were in a minority. Boys tended to be Andrew, Steven, John, Ian, and the odd surname type name.

It's not unusual for an American to have the mother's maiden name as a first name.

I know some americans and canadians with fairly unusual first names but they suit them.

I'm not so keen on them for brits but I'm not a fan of using names from outside one's culture.

There's a really sad story behind Robert Biden's use of his mother's maiden name, Hunter. She was killed in a car crash when he was two. He and his brother Beau were in the car but survived. Incidentally, Beau was also a nickname; his given name was Joseph III.

Surname as a first name is also common in Scotland, also the maiden name as first name - it’s certainly the case in my family. I like the tradition.

The only names I think of as really ‘American’ (and unbearable) are things like ‘Douglas McCallum III’, which make me want to throw stuff.

The DC have some American/Canadian classmates with decidedly peculiar names... Riley, Cole, Colton, Kaylee, Brody, Blayse, Phalelen, Jewel, Tobyn, Sovereign...

The habit of using mother’s maiden name as a forename started here in the 17th century and some made the switch to become standard forenames (Percy, Sidney, Barry, Shelley). Bamber seems confined to the Gascogne family though. I think it started out when the mother was an heiress

I think it's the stupid spellings. Januari, camryn, jenipher etc. (All real examples I've seen).

ha! I'm American & I cringe at Theo or Luka. But I find it astonishing that Brits even ask or are so opinionated. Figure out what you like & own it.

A lot of Americans find popular English names fusty & obviously horrible: George? Ralph, Evelyn... really?! But we are TOO POLITE to tell you that.

I bet no one on here is going to diss MLK III.

I have definitely said I think I name sounds American. I dont think it's a bad thing though! My OH likes names like Cole and Cody. And maybe its because I grew up watching Disney channel, certain names just sounds American.
Agree with PP that names that end in 'leigh' has that sound too, I suppose because it's more popular there than here. Also agree what what said about UK names being a bit to cutesy. I think Alfie and Archie are nice names but they are cute names on an adult man. I love watching name videos on YouTube, I've seen alot of wild names bounced around on some American youtubers videos, but they probably think the same about more out there names that are popular here?

The best American name for travelling badly is Randy.

I’m not dissing MLKIII as a human being, but I think that even when a name is in tribute to an assassinated and admirable parent, giving a child a parents’ name repeated is a poor idea.

What is fusty ?
Why on earth would anyone diss MLK ?

I haven’t chosen “American” names for my children, I suppose a lot of them haven’t been that obvious in every day culture for me to take them in as names that I see as anything other than the name of a character in a tv show I watch occasionally.
I certainly don’t disapprove of them in any way or form. It’s definitely something I see all the time on here though.
My dc have got names that have been described as fusty (what ever that means) and obviously horrible, but they’re just names that I hear all the time and have a natural inclination to.

The only American names I know are when children are named after American cities or presidents/founding fathers. The rest are just European and African names they inherited from being a colony.

Names like: Madison, Phoenix, Chicago, Hamilton, Muncie, Manitou, etc

Oh I see, the MLK reference now.
I’m not all that bothered about children being named after parents.Its really common in loads of families I know to name the eldest son after their Dad.

@remainin How do you pronounce Phalelen?

Using the mother's maiden name as a first name for a child makes complete sense. It's choosing a random completely unconnected surname - especially something that's a job or includes the suffix "son" in it that's a bit peculiar. The weirdest is calling a female baby a random unconnected surname ending in son.... As in: Dawson Smith - a daughter for Sarah Smith and James Jones...

Do Americans not provide mother's maiden name as a security question :o

Ah, I googled it.
Old fashioned.
I did know that, It clicked as soon as I saw it. I just haven’t managed to have a coffee yet.

The OP did make me chuckle a bit though, it reminded me a bit of the thickos on tripe advisor thread where people were moaning about Spanish food in Spain.

As a generalisation, Americans don’t seem to worry as much about what others will think about what they name their child, while for many Brits it’s a bigger concern.

We lived in the US and as a result have many friends with very American names. Off the top of my head, we have at least one, if not several, of the following in our/our DC’s friend groups - Avery (m&f), Cole, Cooper, Troy, Randy, Blake (m), Blayke (f), Graylee, Grayson, Brynlee, Kaylee, Parker (m&f), Parks, Chase, Jewell etc.

I have to think about making that list though because to me they are just names, and I’m sure there are many more that people would consider very “American”. When we first moved to the US we did raise an eyebrow at some of them, but they very quickly became normal.

The US is much more diverse when it comes to names, and people are generally more accepting of people’s choices without raised eyebrows like you would get here. It is the only place we have lived where no-one has commented on our DD’s name, which is a little unusual. (Not weird, or off the wall, just quite unknown) Everywhere else we have lived in the UK and Ireland, people pass comment on it. In the US people just accepted it without comment. It was also the only place we have ever lived where no-one spelled or pronounced either DD’s name, or our slightly odd surname, incorrectly. Again, people heard us say it the first time, and either saw it written down (in an email or something), or asked how to spell it, and then got it right every time thereafter. Here, people still misspell and mispronounce our surname after decades of knowing us, and DD is 11 and still gets her name spelled incorrectly by people who have known her since birth. (It’s 4 letters long so it really isn’t hard!)