Did you have us vote on your favorite names?

[neroli.livejournal.com]

A lot of people have been asking us to vote on their name lists at Babynames. If you were one of them, I'd be interested in hearing what you thought of the results of your poll(s).

Specifically:

1- What names came out on top? The bottom? Any surprises?

2- How has your list changed based on the poll results? Did you promote or demote any of your names because we seemed to adore or detest them? Or did you find that you felt more protective of a name or combo because it was received poorly?

3- If you made no changes to your name list based on the results, were there other ways in which the input was helpful to you?

Looking forward to your responses!

Comments

[requiem-morrow.livejournal.com]

I learned you can't please everyone:) I knew some of my names would go belly up...didn't expect Jain or Kisten to earn rave reviews:) However, even my more mainstream names struggled to break even. I didn't receive much feedback other than votes. I can't say that I've changed my mind about any of them, though.

[neroli.livejournal.com]

So if you haven't changed your mind, do you still think it was worth your time to type 'em all into the poll? I am not saying that in a snarky way - was just curious if it ended up feeling like a waste of time, if you didn't get much of anything you could use.

[requiem-morrow.livejournal.com]

I was bored. I'm bored now:) so I'm doing a girls list. Most of the names are possible character names, not names for real little people so I'm not really thrown one way or the other. I was a little shocked at the middle of the road votes. I figured I'd see a clear "these names are good, these not so much" pattern, but there really wasn't one. To go by the list, my boys would be Jack Carter, Elijah Grey, and Asher James. I love all three, but Raffery Caine is still my favorite and I still love Kisten:) I think actual feedback, comments and explainations of votes and not just votes, would have been more helpful in the long run. It was still fun, though.

[monalyssasmile.livejournal.com]

I was shocked at how all of the really insanely popular names like Jack and Lily got A LOT of votes. From my experience at most communities about baby names, popular names are hated. Another shocker was Savannah got 8 thumbs up and 25 thumbs down and that is a pretty popular name right now.
A lot of my favorite names like Thatcher and Deacon for boys and Briar and Ada for girls got really poor votes. My opinions didn't really change because I love my names too much to let someone's opinion change them. I actually wanted people to not like my names because then it means they probably won't become popular anytime soon.

[neroli.livejournal.com]

I don't remember the details of your list, but I think I remember you as being one of the people who really really likes celeb-associated names. I'm not a big fan of using identifiable pop culture names, in part because you always run the risk, if you name after someone still living, that they could do something humiliating that taints your child's name. (I imagine the girls out there named Britney aren't liking their names too much these days!)

Anyway, I probably would have given those sorts of names a thumbs down when I voted on your list. Since I feel bad giving too many negative votes, I would probably have been more likely to vote thumbs up on a name like Jack. So, context definitely influences how I'd vote.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

The results of mine didn't really surprise me. The top voted name for boys was Nathaniel Andre, and for girls it was Camilla Rose. Nobody liked Irene Elanor. Shame. :P

[neroli.livejournal.com]

Names go in cycles - you're just ahead of the timing curve with Irene. Give people 5 years and I bet they'll catch up to you.

[pinkslit.livejournal.com]

i have a friend named irene who was named for her mother. she is expecting irene the third in december. we've been calling her irene threesticks.

long live irene!

[eleanorgrace.livejournal.com]

Maybe people don't like the spelling Elanor. I don't.

But I kind of like Irene. I think my opinions vary a little bit when I'm looking at a long poll, though. And by my mood.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

Elanor was thrown in there as an homage to Lord of the Rings, because it's the only name from Lord of the Rings that I could ever actually give a kid. :P

[aquilinum.livejournal.com]

Love Irene; can't get over Elanor. Legit, maybe, but still begging for spelling correction over and over and over again!

[girlsknowbest.livejournal.com]

excuse me, i just woke up and should proof posts first. sorry.

[neroli.livejournal.com]

I understood what you were saying, no worries!

Regarding Georgia, it's very well liked (top 20) in Australia and England. (It was even more popular 10 years ago, but the fall in the charts has been so gradual that statistically it looks like the name is still very much in favor.) The fact that it's a state's name in the U.S. may be slowing its rise here.

[aquilinum.livejournal.com]

To be honest, my names got a better reception than I anticipated! It was worthwhile for me because I got feedback on specific names and associations, instead of a blanket "Your taste suxxors" (which would never, ever happen... sure...).

I can't say that a name combination getting a majority thumbs-down would be ruled out entirely, but if it came down to the wire between two or three names (and who here is really going to have as many kids as names on their list?), why NOT take on board public opinion? "I don't care what anybody thinks" is all fine and dandy except for the fact that your kids are going to have to introduce themselves by their name millions of times, and in some cases will PRECEDE the actual person in forming a first impression.

I too was one that felt bad giving every single name on certain lists thumbs-down, and for that reason might have given a thumbs-up or two to names I don't like but are at least a little less atrocious.

[neroli.livejournal.com]

Right, if people are rejecting a name because it resembles an unpleasant word or has some other awful association, I think I would be irresponsible not to remove the name from my list. I mean, I wouldn't want to go around with a name like that, so how could I put my child through that? Better to save a name like that for a pet who won't have to deal with negative repercussions.

However, if the reason people don't like a name is because they think it sounds "old" then I wouldn't worry too much about that - time will take care of that automatically. In some sense, I'd actually consider negative reactions here a good sign, as it would suggest that the name isn't going to be too popular in my child's age group.

So, knowing *why* people have reacted in a certain way definitely would be important to me.

[dcrachel.livejournal.com]

I saw the results and basically said, "Hey, I don't like most of their names either, so this makes sense." I think only two of my names got more Yeas than Nays. And the ones that got absolutely no Yeas did give me pause and I reassesed. But my top names are still my top names, even if no one liked them. :)

[neroli.livejournal.com]

I wonder if you (or other folks who had similar experiences) would consider doing a follow-up to ask why certain names got Nay votes? With polls like that it's hard to tell if people just don't like the way something sounds, or if they have a reason for disliking it that would be useful to know.

[neverstarsburn.livejournal.com]

only one of my names actually got more yes's than no's (Laila Catherine) but i didnt change my mind at all. i have different taste in names, and thats fine by me.
i was surprised at how many people positively hate the name Amir though.