Can someone explain the term ‘try hard’ in the context of baby names.

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As the title says. I’m reading the threads and someone always uses the term ‘try hard’ to give their opinion on a name. I genuinely don’t know what this means?

it seems to be a derogatory term or even a euphemism?

I get if you love, like, dislike a name. I also appreciate names considered classics or historically posh etc but try hard I just don’t understand.

just curious

They mean poor/ common people who have the absolute audacity to have airs and graces beyond their station. The people using this phrase in the context of baby names are arseholes.

🤣🤣🤣🤣 brilliant. As I thought ….its derogatory.
my baby girls name has been described as try hard once or twice and others on here called it tacky. It’s a funny forum I genuinely struggle with people who are so sensitive about baby names.

I don't think it's that at all. I think of it as people making up names or searching for something terribly unusual because heaven forfend their child ends up in the top 100 or even 500 of names used that year.

It's not about the perceived class of anyone choosing a particular name but whether that name just sounds like it's making a point rather than just being a normal name.

E.g. James for a girl.

Cant say I’d know, I got the complete opposite. I named my little boy Sonny after his father and grand father, and got a total of 4 pages of pure vitriol saying I didn’t put any effort in at all and it’s not even a name? Eg ‘YES HES YOUR SON BUT WHATS HIS NAME’??? 😂😂😂😂 weird on here

I agree it's someone trying to be ever so unusual.
For example Jack is a very common and lovely name used by all sectors of society. Nobody would say someone using it was "try-hard".
Sebastian is possibly a bit more unusual and more common with "middle class" families but nobody would say a single mum shop worker was "try hard" for using it.

Aisha is also a common and lovely name but has specific cultural connections. If your family were not Asian/Arabic it would be an unusual choice but nothing specifically try-hard about it.

However Guillaume for a family with no French connections at all would be "try-hard" I'd say because you're trying to find something unique AND with a "moving up culturally" vibe where Aisha doesn't have that "moving up" vibe.

I understand “try hard” to mean normal names that parents try to make unique by butchering the spelling. Like Zakk or Jaxxon.

I think it's this.

It's 'trying hard' to find a quirky/unusual/one of a kind
name rather than just going with what you love.

I'd say try hard names are often:

• Not traditionally names, but just words/objects/animals
• Have a 'creative' or 'unique' spelling
• Being used for the opposite sex that it would normally be associated with (James for a girl is a good example).
• Made-up, often two names smooshed together.
• Taken from a culture that the parents have no part of.

I wouldn’t agree with that. To me I imagine it’s trying desperately to be unique and normally failing

"I don't think it's that at all. I think of it as people making up names or searching for something terribly unusual because heaven forfend their child ends up in the top 100 or even 500 of names used that year.
It's not about the perceived class of anyone choosing a particular name but whether that name just sounds like it's making a point rather than just being a normal name."
This.

Agree with all the others. I think it’s meant that you’re trying too hard to be different/unusual. It’s like when people describe themselves as kooky/fun-loving/laidback/alternative, when usually they are the opposite!

I think the baby name threads are interesting, because it’s one of those topics in RL that often we don’t say what we really think, inside we are full of opinions, but we know it’s none of our business really. On MN it’s a kind of pleasure to be able to unleash those opinions, but it can be brutal. I saw my own name described as ‘trailer park trash’ once 😆. And I did one baby name thread and never did it again! I always advise people not to share baby names with others, as they’ll regret the opinions that come. Anyway I think pps have described the meaning of ‘try hard’ - a wee bit pretentious or trying to be ultra different, I think. Who knows if this applies to your child’s name in some peoples minds but don’t worry!

I completely agree with the sensitivity statement. People who post their child’s name and then get offended when others call it tacky/common/etc. Why on earth do people post their child’s name and think everyone is going to love it?! Names are so personal, if you’re feeling sensitive about your child’s name don’t post it asking for comments!!

This is so true.

It's one of the areas where you get a lot of 'only on Mumsnet'...and I always think...you know people in RL also think this about your child's name, they just don't have license to tell you!

It's a silly description because actually parents should "try hard" when naming a child.

It is mostly made-up names, such as names that sound more like place names or surnames and it is "novel" to apply it to a person. Also names like Apple that belong to, well, an apple, though even that is a bit illogical because names like Poppy or Holly are common nouns.

I think generally speaking if you stick to names that are actually well-established classics, it is less likely that the name seems try hard - unless it is something really OTT like Seraphina Georgiana (though I think either of those on its own is fine).

There are some names that have been popular with MC families in recent years which people think sound try hard, because they reference history or literature, particularly classical names like Titus or Brutus or Antigone or Artemis. I think some people attack these names because they think the families are trying to sound posher than they are. I'm not sure that's true though, because truly posh names are more often than not from quite a limited pool that repeat down the generations of that family, so usually quite ordinary in a sense. I think they just enjoyed those names during their education. Maybe "displaying" education is seen as try-hard?

Sometimes people call a name try-hard because they wouldn't dare use it themselves because of some perceived class restrictions. Georgiana would be an example. That's silly though, because historically (at least in the UK) children of WC families were often named after kings etc.

The inventive names are a much more recent phenomenon and I think they are probably the ones most seen as try-hard.

THIS!!!! People who can't possibly have their little darling saddled with the same name as anyone else.

There’s a family who post every snuff and dribble of their gorgeous little boy on line. And his name is absolutely ridiculous

Thats the epitome of try hard 🙄

I always assume the people who use the term are very young and not long out of school - it sounds like something someone on a high school playground would say.

But yeah, derogatory to basically mean “I’ve never heard of it/would choose it so therefore you shouldn’t”.

I think it’s used for parents who say they want an unusual name. It’s not a class thing. This involves made up names, and names that no one has any idea how to spell or pronounce. The parents are only thinking of themselves and not the child they are saddling the name with.

So I chose my daughter’s name because me and my husband really liked it. It’s not particularly unusual and within the top 200 girls names but for me I didn’t want my daughter to have a common name. I’m not bothered by other little girls having her name but I have a very common name and it does get ridiculous.
I also don’t like classic/traditional names and therefore my name choice is deemed try hard and even chavvy!

I think MN believe that the only acceptable names are very traditional ones.

I don’t think it’s a class thing at all.

i wouldn’t describe Georgiana as ‘try hard “ no matter what background the parents were from.

I quite liked Scout for dd but thought that might be a bit “try hard” and decided against it.

Yes this is what they mean usually with a smirk emoji about "olivia mays"

I always think this as well. MN isn’t a group of women totally separate to and outside of the rest of the population. It might lean certain ways on certain issues, but if some people on MN have a view of a name, then some people in “real life” will have the same view.

I think 'try hard' is usually used when the name is trying hard to be very cool or unique - stuff like Jagger, or I read an article today and the poor kids were named Blight and Rothko.

I don’t think anyone hears the name Olivia and thinks that someone is “too common” to use it.

That’s not me criticising the name, it’s just that it’s been the most popular girls name for years. It’s ubiquitous, not the reserve of a certain class.

I also don’t like a lot of classic and traditional names, and I tell people when they ask on threads, that certain names are boring, or twee, or posh. I agree some names can feel ‘try hard’ for reasons discussed. The fact is, some people don’t like yours or your kid’s name. In MN and RL. Who cares really?