(no subject)

[crzydimond.livejournal.com]

There's been a lot of talk lately about names that are "pretentious".
I wonder - is it the name itself, or do you associate it with something that makes it seem pretentious?

IE - I would find it to be very pretentious if someone names their child Jesus. So, there is a strong association I have with the name Jesus that makes it seem pretentious to me.

What names do you all find to be incredibly pretentious?


EDIT - Here is a little definition:

Pretentious: intended to attract notice and impress others, claiming or demanding a position of distinction or merit, especially when unjustified.

Comments

[drunkontea.livejournal.com]

For some reason, names like Peyton and Madison seem very pretentious to me.. Also do names based off literary characters, or famous authors or artists, like Atticus, Holden, Poe or Dante. Well, not ALL names based off literary characters/famous authors or artists.. I guess it depends on how "linked" the name is to its inspiration. Like the name Atticus is SO connected to To Kill A Mockingbird. Hope that makes sense.

[crzydimond.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I agree - Madison IS a pretentious name!
As for Peyton, I just never understood the hype with that one. If you change just one letter it turns into another 'aiden' [Peydon]...and everyone seems to hate those names!

[adamantplatypus.livejournal.com]

The only time I've heard "Jesus" used it's been pronounced "HAY-ZEUSE".

That doesn't bother me.

[crzydimond.livejournal.com]

Oh and on your comment about how linked it is the the inspiration...

Do you mean basically that the parents could not possibly have used a particular name without the intention of naming them after a literary/whatever else character?

Eg someone could name their child Emily, or Charlotte, or Harry [I'm just waiting for a huge influx of those!]...but those names could have meaning other than the literary connections.

However, it would be hard to convince people that you really did just think of the name Voldemort all on your own.

[crzydimond.livejournal.com]

See this is what I mean, I see it to be a very pretentious name, but I have seen other people here label names that I quite like as pretentious. It just comes down to personal taste I suppose.

[rorylareina.livejournal.com]

I think names are pretentious when they're obviously trying too hard to ascribe to a specific (typically upper-crust) aesthetic. This is especially true in sibsets.

[plaidpineapple.livejournal.com]

A lot of the obvious literary names, like Atticus, Harper and Scout.

[joereaves.livejournal.com]

I think to me it woul depend who was using the name.

For example if you're an English speaking person and you name your child Jesus (pronounced Gee-zus) then yeah definitely pretentious. But if you're a Spanish speaking person and using Jesus (pronounced as the person above said) then you're picking one of the more common names from your language and really it's no different than an English kid being named Peter or Paul or Joseph.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

I guess I think of a name as pretentious if it seems overly frilly, or refined, or what have you, especially if hardly anyone was named that, and suddenly people start using it. So that's why Sebastian seems pretentious to me. It's such a fussy-sounding name, and suddenly it's everywhere. It's really subjective, though. But to me, names like Sebastian, or Scarlett seem a bit ridiculous, and like someone's trying too hard. That said, I like names like Theodora. So... definitely subjective.

[rorylareina.livejournal.com]

Examples: I know a kid names Gates. Anastasia. MacKenzie used to be, but its snootiness has been a little marred by overuse. Parker. Anything that sounds like a British surname or county name. Sebastian. Roman.

[morgainlefee.livejournal.com]

I don't so much think that certain names are pretentious. What I find pretentious is giving your child a million names. Most people I know have 3 names when you count first, middle, and last but once you start giving your child 5, 6, 7, or more names, that's pretty pretentious in my book.

I went to high school with a guy who has 6 names total, his dad has 5, and his brother 4. It just gets to me......

[drunkontea.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I basically mean names that are unique enough to be only connected to a certain character. The Harry/Voldemort example is a perfect example, although I don't find "Voldemort" pretentious. That name's more silly than anything else.

[adamantplatypus.livejournal.com]

YEAH! It's just like Pedro, Paulo and Jose! ROFL

[plaidpineapple.livejournal.com]

... but they chose a book that pretty much everyone in the country read in junior high school.

Very true. I mean, I liked TKAM as much as the next guy (or gal!), but I'm wondering if Atticus and Harper would be as popular if they'd come from a less well-known book.

I'm actually kind of dreading the release of movie "The Time Traveler's Wife", because the two main characters have our top names for a boy and a girl, names we liked far before the book (which gained a large following). With the movie coming out, the names could become even more popular. Blegh.

[plaidpineapple.livejournal.com]

My in-laws' dog is named Bronte. The breeder named her Bronte as a pup, but they didn't like it, so they tried Charlotte and Emily (before I came along). Neither stuck, so Bronte it stayed.

But, she's a dog. It would be pretty pretentious on a kid.

[plaidpineapple.livejournal.com]

Less well-known? Let me re-phrase: A less popular book.

[la-jolie-vie.livejournal.com]

The most pretentious name I ever heard was "Monet." Names like that ftl.

[plaidpineapple.livejournal.com]

Ha! I agree.

The two main characters in Time Traveler's Wife are Henry and Clare. Henry is our #1 name for our first son, and Claire for our first daughter. When I read the book (which was just "okay"), I actually thought, "how weird".

And then, when I saw they were making it into a movie, I thought, "oh, crap". We're TTC right now, too, so I'm just praying Henry isn't the next Aidan.

[plaidpineapple.livejournal.com]

LOL @ my extreme use of quotation marks.

[unitedwedont.livejournal.com]

I don't really post on this community very often but I feel compelled to comment here. I don't understand why it would be pretentious to name your child after an artist/musician/writer/novel/movie that actually had an impact on your life. I don't think it's parents trying to prove their educational level, it's parents paying homage to people/creations that have had an impact in their life. I knew a girl named Hadley and she is named after Ernest Hemingway's first wife because her father was a big hemingway fan. I don't see that as pretentious at all.

[searlait.livejournal.com]

Names that end with "belle" or "bella" make me roll my eyes.

I know a little boy named Weston and I know his parents are as sweet as pie, but that name is just so...screamingly "hey, we're rich white people!" pretentious.

British last names as first names squick me in real life. For a character, maybe. A pet, sure. But please don't name your children Acton, Bristow, Richmond or Rowle.

[searlait.livejournal.com]

You can find Mileys in the Social Security death registry as far back as 1894.

[nothingbuthp.livejournal.com]

I love the Brontes! I want to name a child Catherine Emily after Emily.

[tryyingtoevolve.livejournal.com]

I agree somewhat with unitedwedont: I like names that have meaning to me, so I plan to name my daughter Eleanor, after Eleanor Roosevelt, and her middle name will be Barbara, after Barbara Kingsolver, who is one of my favorite authors. One of my sons will have the middle name Carver, after Raymond Carver. I personally don't find these to be "pretentious," because with the exception of Carver, I don't think people will hear it and automatically think, "Hey, that's what you were going for." And even then, I doubt it.

However, I do think that there are some names after musicians/writers/etc. that do seem really pretentious. Naming your child John after John Lennon? Okay. Naming your child Lennon after John Lennon, or Hendrix after Jimi Hendrix? THAT seems pretentious. I think names after musicians/writers/etc. are okay as long as they aren't OBVIOUS. If you hear the name and automatically think of the person you're naming after, it's probably too much; it seems pretentious, and there's no point, since you could use a variant and still have it mean the same thing to you.

The most pretentious names I can think of are last names. I'm not talking about the ever popular Anderson or Harrison or Walker; those aren't that bad. I don't like them, and hopefully they'll die out soon, but they're not quite as bad as some. No, I'm talking about Jefferson, Kingston, Willoughby, etc. Ones that sound like really elite, uppercrust British last names. They're just waaaaaaay too much. It's like you're trying way too hard to sound "classy" when you could use a name like William or Thomas and (a) sound a lot classier and (b) not sound like white trash.

[crzydimond.livejournal.com]

Oh no! I hope Claire doesn't become trendy. It's my name and I love it because I know so few people with the same name.