Names You Would Never Use

[AubernFable]

I am an absolute name nerd and love hearing other people’s preferences, but instead of being boring and asking for your favourite, I want to hear your least favourite baby names.

Disclaimer: I am not encouraging anyone to hate on anyone’s name choices—everyone has different tastes and it makes life interesting. I just want to hear the names that you personally dislike or would never use.

Some of my least favourites…

Boys

Hunter – also see Gunner or any other violence-based, American-sounding name (Nameberry Baby Name Trends 2025)
Kai – Jax and similar three-letter names
Kayden – Jayden, Brayden
Archie/Teddy – shortened names in general
George – just don’t like it

Girls

Luna – and Nova sound like pet names to me
Emma – Olivia and Amelia type names, just because I know so many DC with those names
Savannah – I don’t know why
Francesca – weird because it’s similar to names I love
Poppy, Rosie, Ruby – cute but I feel like they don’t suit adults
Angel – also see Honey or Princess (all real DC)

In general, I don’t like unique spellings or really modern names like Graeyson, Blakely, Azra, or Kyndall.

I’m loving all of these, I like some hyphenated names but only if the whole name is used consistently.

I’m really glad this thread stayed friendly & we can share and laugh about our preferences without getting salty.

Tuppence is a NAME?! When I was a little girl my parents used that word for my private part, the same way some people say ‘flower’ 😭😂

I don’t think so at all, I was trying to avoid bashing and I haven’t seen any. Even people whose DC’s names have been on the thread have joked about it and added the names they don’t like- it’s all in good fun.

My naming style has been thrown in there, someone doesn’t like frilly names with multiple middle names and that’s my both my name and naming style- it’s not deep.

I can’t get past Labbia 😭

Archie
Jake
Calvin
Zac
Reggie
Ben
Ethan

Stephanie
Morgan
Bethany
Eleanor
Chloe
Kaitlin
Emma

I can't stand 'matching' sibling names - it's so twee

Can’t stand matching either but just as bad are sibling sets that just don't go, think of Jack, Ryan and Bartholomew or Sophia and Tigher.

This is quite a bad name

Ava
Catherine
Jessica
Olivia
Emma

Finn/Flynn
Aidan
Mathew
Lachlan
Frank

I wouldn't use names that a child might have to live up to, like Angel or Grace.

I also want to scream when I see/hear that parents are considering calling their child by their middle name. I have been known by my own middle name since the day I was born and it is a real faff. I've had 58 years now of having to regularly explain it. Even my parents apologised for doing it when I was grown up. Just don't!

Also, I am not a fan of hyphenated names, such as Ellie-Mae etc. it just seems to add an extra complication to me, and the child will have a lifetime of explaining it (if they choose to keep it).

I shouldn’t laugh but wow, his parents really set him up for a bright future and he’s living up to it like a champ.

I have an irrational dislike of L sounds in some names eg Luke, Logan. Just hate the sound of them.

Anything too cute is a bit cruel to inflict on the dc for when they are an adult. Eg Dottie as a full name.

Always interesting when people use their favourite name from when they were a child, which is now dated. So eg names like Nicola which were very popular in the 70s and 80s for a child born now. I’ve come across this recently with a few names like this (not Nicola!)

Yeah tbh it makes no difference to me, I like my name and my kids like theirs. For every name in the land they’ll be a bunch of people that don’t like it. Some names are completely inoffensive but I don’t like them because of people I’ve met called that eg Helen, Jenny and Olivia 😂

Old lady names, especially ones that are blunt and harsh sounding. I've got one and I absolutely hate it.

I'm fairly easy going with names. I might think 'oh dear' when I first hear them and then it just stops being a name and becomes a label that fits that particular baby. But if it comes to names I would never use - that would be anything that sounds as though I was either giving birth to a baby that was going to stay a baby forever (so twiddly little overly cute names) or giving birth to a Labrador.

Olive
Dulcie
Elizabeth
Grace
They are all so harsh sounding.

Albert
Jayden
William

Weirdly placed "y" I know from my time as a dinner lady - Jayden, Allyson, and an odd year with a Mason, Mayson and Masyn...

Thankyou, and I’m glad you weren’t offended 🤍 I work with children and have met so many DC with names I don’t like on paper but as soon as you know the child it just becomes uniquely ‘theirs’ and becomes more likeable.

Thats so real, one person can ruin a name I have loved forever.

Dulcie should be on my list at the start, just awful. I have a young relative called Olive and it doesn’t suit her at all- she’s a real tomboy.

William is terrible, I know about 20 guys called Will now as it was so popular when I was growing up. See also Thomas, Jacob, Benjamin and Daniel.

I really don't like ottillie either which seems so popular atm. Don't even know if I spelt that correct😂

Olive - can't shake the olive oyl association
Ethel
Veronica
Cheryl/Cheryl
Eileen/Aileen
Riley
Jordan
Morgan

Rupert - too posh
Patrick - Pat, like cow pat
Bodhi
Jax/jaxon
Grayson
Albie etc - babyish
Gordon
Brian

Me and my daughter have unshortened and tricky (seemingly) to spell/pronounce names. Mine gets shortened by others without consent, maybe hers will too! If I hadn't been on so much morphine I may have chosen something 'easier' for her 😅

He's probably spent his entire life being called Lucy. I'd probably act out a bit too.

I’m trying to picture him as a toddler

‘Come on Lucifer, lets sit on the carpet and read a story’
‘Night, night Lucifer, I love you.’
’Lucifer, no. We have to hold hands in the street it’s dangerous.’

Wild.

Anything ending in ‘ie’

I actually really like Veronica and Rupert but I’ve been told Veronica sounds like a mean girls name and Rupert may get bullied so I’d probably avoid.

My name is long and frilly, everyone absolutely loves it but I also got stuck with the typical NN which is far less pretty. I won’t let anyone NN my DC until they can decide for themselves.