Why don’t people like K names?

[RosieLemonade]

A lot of people don’t seem to like names that start with K on MN and probably the wider community. What do you think is the reason behind this?

I have absolutely no idea. Personally, I like lots of names beginning with 'K'.

Katie and Katherine etc are lively but it's the names like-
Kyle
Kiara
Kayden
Kaysee

These names are hideous...

Thanks @whattodo2019

eh?
Not a great fan of Kevin, but apart from that, Ks are just fine.

Is it the whole Kardashian thing? I don’t like K names that should normally be C names (like Chloe).

A lot of them are seen as rather chavvy or down market.

It's those Kunty Kardashians

Never noticed that.
Now thinking about it, sometimes ‘K’ replacing ‘C’ makes them look trying to be unique
Khloe and Kairo etc? Maybe that is part of it?
Or maybe because they just aren’t generally as popular, top 100 boys just had Kayden and Kai, girls had Kayla

No idea if there is anything to this but I have seen it suggested on MN before that as many K names are anglicised Celtic names the dislike is indicative of anti-Celtic bias.

Certainly K boys’ names in particular are often dismissed with the MN euphemism of choice, ‘downmarket’.

One of my fav girls names is Katya.
But maybe I'm 'down market' and 'chavvy'

I do get that a 'k' can be quite harsh sounding but it's snobs and people think they're classy saying all 'k' names are not good enough. But those people tend to also be really judgy and classist

I've recently met a newborn Kylie.

Good question op, I'm sure there are some exceptions but on the whole I agree.

I think @SquirtleSquad has basically nailed it

DH and I both have names starting with K. I had no idea we were so trashy!

I like a lot of names starting with K. Kai and Kian are both favourites of mine. I think if you’re looking at a baby name you should take mumsnet advice with a pinch of salt really. On mumsnet some posters will insist that certain names are ‘chavvy’ and your child will never be able to be a doctor, lawyer etc if their name is Lacie. In real life, most names are basically fine.

That was supposed to say Kacie, which is a name I recently saw this happen with. In real life most people who meet a Kacie won’t think twice about it.

The Kacey (same principle) I know is a lawyer

@Tillygetsit
She can’t possibly be a lawyer with a name like Kacey! She obviously doesn’t know the rule about chavvy names

In the earliest Latin inscriptions, the letters C, K and Q were all used to represent the sounds /k/ and /ɡ/ (which were not differentiated in writing). Of these, Q was used before a rounded vowel (e.g. ⟨EQO⟩ 'ego'), K before /a/ (e.g. ⟨KALENDIS⟩ 'calendis'), and C elsewhere. Later, the use of C and its variant G replaced most usages of K and Q. K survived only in a few fossilized forms such as Kalendae, "the calends".[4]

After Greek words were taken into Latin, the Kappa was transliterated as a C. Loanwords from other alphabets with the sound /k/ were also transliterated with C. Hence, the Romance languages generally use C, in imitating Classical Latin's practice, and have K only in later loanwords from other language groups. The Celtic languages also tended to use C instead of K, and this influence carried over into Old English.

It's because they think they names are common (in a bad way)

Back in the 1980s it T names.

It'll change again, as all fads do

Weirdly, many of the female pilots where I work have names starting with K - including names that have already been mentioned here as ‘downmarket.’ There are only 250 of us, and yet there are at least a dozen Karens and well over 20 with variations on the name Katherine - Kate, Kathy, Kat, etc. It’s been said that there are so many of us with my K name that it is ‘the female Nigel’ (at one point there were so many pilots called Nigel it was joked they were all called Nigel, and Nigel remains today as a nickname for any pilot.) We can’t all be common chavs, can we?

I always think it is very poor form to judge anyone on their name.

Snobbery

@Garcellesaidwhaaat

In the earliest Latin inscriptions, the letters C, K and Q were all used to represent the sounds /k/ and /ɡ/ (which were not differentiated in writing). Of these, Q was used before a rounded vowel (e.g. ⟨EQO⟩ 'ego'), K before /a/ (e.g. ⟨KALENDIS⟩ 'calendis'), and C elsewhere. Later, the use of C and its variant G replaced most usages of K and Q. K survived only in a few fossilized forms such as Kalendae, "the calends".[4]

After Greek words were taken into Latin, the Kappa was transliterated as a C. Loanwords from other alphabets with the sound /k/ were also transliterated with C. Hence, the Romance languages generally use C, in imitating Classical Latin's practice, and have K only in later loanwords from other language groups. The Celtic languages also tended to use C instead of K, and this influence carried over into Old English.

Awesome post

I find MN a terrible place for snobbery and those who think they're really classy. Those people are the same people who band the terms like down-market and chav around as if they're the mouth piece for class and taste. ironically those who happily use these terms to judge a baby name (!) are the least classy.

I agree that the tendency to use K in place of C to create ‘unique’ spellings (Kortni, Kloe etc) has made K seem less of a ‘classic’ name.

Plus many invented or newly used names begin with K - Kayanna, Keon, Kiana, etc.

Newly invented names are often viewed as ‘non classic’

And using K as a phonetic replacement for Ch or Qu looks ‘less educated’.

I don’t agree with these reasons, just observing.

Kaden Kade