Name Association

[stars-are-fire.livejournal.com]

With the whole trying to find a name for our baby, I came across these obstacles quite frequently:

1)I found a name that I love, but someone in my family, or a close friend, or a friend or family member's baby was named that. This is along the same lines as friends or family members 'claiming' the name for whenever they decide to have a baby.

2) I absolutely loved the name, but it reminded me of that shitty town we drove through while doing our cross country trip, or that boy in elementary that used to bully everyone, or my high school boyfriend's ex gf whom I hated and have associated the name with ever since, just to name a few examples.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Also, just for fun, what names do you love but have to avoid, and why?

Comments

[honey-bear79.livejournal.com]

OMG yes... Katy. The only problem I have is Katy. Kaitlynn, Kate, Katy. Every Katy I've ever known I absolutely can not stand (ok - well 3 to be exact) for one reason or another. One was an ex-roommate who stole half of my things, and moved out on me one afternoon - never paid any rent whatsoever... and I never heard from or saw her again. One is my ex-boyfriends' sister's best friend - who was always hanging all over him.. used to drive me nuts...

I love the name Kaitlynn. Love it. But I don't want her to be called Katie.

Although - I still haven't made up my mind about that.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

My aunts and uncles beat me to: Adam, Rebecca, Peter, Matthew, Joshua, Joseph, and Georgina. (They're all younger than my parents, and had their kids much later in life. Matthew is only 18m older than my son. Technically I could have kids older than all but three of my first cousins.) My cousins beat me to Daniel and Alice. I might have had all those names on my shortlist if it weren't for that. We're a close family and two kids called the same thing would just be too confusing.

Because of strong associations with people (both good and bad) I could not use Kathryn (or any other spelling but particularly that one), Ellen, Eleanor, Helen, Emily, Rachel, Simone, Deborah, Simon, Justin, Nicholas, Robert, David, Richard, Anthony, or Geoffrey.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

That's funny - every Kate I've known IRL has been dreadful. (I know some lovely ones online, one of whom I've met, but if I meet them IRL first it's just a Bad Sign!) It's one of the reasons I ruled out Kathryn, as the very worst Kate was a Kathryn.

[ky-whitney.livejournal.com]

1)I had a hard time with that. When I got pregnant with my now almost 14 month old son, his father already knew what he wanted to name a boy. He said he had never heard of a child being named that, for it was a brand of baseball equipment. (Very hardcore sports fan/player) We immediately decided that boy or girl, we were naming our child "Easton". I ran into a ex-friend from high school right before she had her baby and she claimed she didn't know what she was going to give her son's middle name. After asking me, she said that she had never heard that name and loved it. That night, she went home, found it in a baby book, and asked her son's father/boyfriend at the time if they could name their son's middle name that. A month later their son was born and I saw the birth announcement in the paper. I was livid. The father didn't hear that I had fully planned on naming my son that from that start and was mad that she even suggested it, let alone used it. What makes this story even worse is that the child whose middle name is "Easton" is now my step son, Trent Easton. Now I have an "Easton Allen" and a "Trent Easton" in my home.

2)I relate every name to something. My husband wants "Zander" but it reminds me of a creepy charactor off of General Hospital. He picked out several pretty girls names, but they all reminded me of strippers I used to work with. Things like that...

[in-the-starlite.livejournal.com]

Word. In high school, my bf's ex-gf was Katy. And then he left me to get back with her. Yeah, I could never use that name. But I love Katherine. (To be safe, I'm only going to use it for a middle name.)

[in-the-starlite.livejournal.com]

Oooh. That's why I am keeping my names secret until my kids are born. If anything, I'll just tell everyone we haven't decided on a name yet. I hate name stealers!

[bloomingtulip.livejournal.com]

There seems to be a trend with Katelynn type names. I knew a girl in high school named that and she was just awful. I love how she spelled it (or her parents, whatever) but I can't get her out of my head when I think of that name so it's definitely out.

[stars-are-fire.livejournal.com]

That sucks about her 'stealing' that name, and how funny that you have the two Eastons in your household.

A friend of ours named her son Xander, because she loves Vin Diesel and that was his name in XXX. But, they call him X! It's a little weird for me to call a one year old boy just X.

All the girls I knew when I worked at a strip club had names that I would not name my child anyway, such as Misty, Candy, Cassandra. It was their stage names, but still, reminds me too much of my wild teenage years that I wouldnt mind forgetting.

[ky-whitney.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I love Isabella but it's too popular now.

I usually run it all together, "Trent Easton Allen". They catch the drift;)

Names like: Jasmine, Bunny, Tiffany, Chloe, etc remind me of strip clubs. And yes, those are years I would like to forget;)

[ky-whitney.livejournal.com]

I concur. There are tons of people in Fremont who have named their child Easton or given their child that as a middle name since I have. The Gerber Hospital said that it was their most recent popular name:(

[scintillated.livejournal.com]

That's weird...I used to be bullied by a Caitlin in elementary school. So, obviously I don't like the name or any forms of it.

[heyitsrebecca.livejournal.com]

I don't really believe one can 'steal' or "claim" a name especially if it's a different generation. I probably wouldn't use the name of a close cousin, but as far as I'm concerned, if you're over 15 or 20, your name is fair game. No one owns a name. My stepsister is thinking of naming her daughter Rebecca.. doesn't bother me any. I almost named my new baby Rachel which is my sister's name. Didn't bother my mom or sister at all.
In fact, when non-relatives ask me for name advice, I usually offer the names of my girls as suggestions.. LOL I'd rather every little girl I knew be named Ivy or Leah, rather than something ugly or made-up. =X

The only names I guess I feel like I HAVE to avoid are Zoe, Aiyanna, Lucy, Samantha, Brandi, and Serena.. which are my girls' cousins' names. But I don't really like any of those anyway.. so I don't really think much about it. LOL

[stars-are-fire.livejournal.com]

All of the names I have liked are 'this generation's' names, meaning they are 7 years old or less. I have lots of cousins who just had babies, there were 11 of them in the past year.

At least I can say they have good taste!

As for one of the names that I really like, a close friend of mine has 'claimed' the name but is not pregnant, or even close to being so. Don't know if that's a battle I want to face yet. I have to decide how much I like the name.

[sayga.livejournal.com]

2. yes, yes YES. that is my husband's and my biggest problem. well, besides avoiding names that end in N to prevent a rhyme with the lastname. but each of us shoots down the other's names when we say, "ooh, i knew a ___ who was such a bitch/asshole/slut/jerk/etc." it's hard to get over those associations.

although, i believe if you completely love the name anyway, and you name a kid that, soon your kid will be the first person you think of when you hear that name, and not the jerk from school.

[cherryrider.livejournal.com]

Well, my boyfriend got lucky with me, cause the majority of names out there in the world are people hes fought with. When he was younger he use to tend to have a problem with everyone, so almost every name is a name we can't use. Luckily though, I'm not into the common names so it works out.

[krosp.livejournal.com]

Almost my entire list of favourite boys' names have been taken already, by my boyfriend's cousins. If we get married and had kids, I can't use any of the following names because there would be two people in the family with the same first name and last name:

Aaron, Andrew, Jonathan, David, Benjamin (although benjamin is a cousin with a different last name)

=(

I know there are other names i have reasons for not being able to use, but this is the only one i can think of for now. annoying!

[krosp.livejournal.com]

Trent Easton sounds like Trent Eastwood

[glitterberrys.livejournal.com]

Anya. I can't explain how much rage I'm filled with from this woman, but she's ruined one of my favorite names for me.

Every Natalie I've ever met has been horrible, but I don't like the name anyway, so no loss there.

[anapology.livejournal.com]

I love Caitlin but I hate Katie. Although if i spelt it wil a C i doubt Katie would become a nn.

I love Max, but it's my brothers name so i wouldnt use it.

ummm *thinks* Jane as a middle name. I love Amelia Jane but one of my Aunties is called Jane & it's kind of a family name on my dads side, I dont want to look like i'm following that tradition when i dont especially like that side of the family.

[peach-rose-girl.livejournal.com]

I have about 248 second cousins. Not really, but I have a lot, since my dad has 45 first cousins. My mom wanted to name me Jillian, but I have a second cousin named Jill, and we would have had the same first and last name. I disagree with naming your child something that someone else is already named. So if you have a common last name, use an uncommon first name. I have a friend who named her son Robert Smith, nn Bobby. I can name half a dozen famous Robert Smiths! In order to avoid "stealing" names, just don't tell people what you intend to name your child until he or she is born, with the exception of parents and extremely close friends, perhaps.

Names that have been ruined for me:
Corinne
Bethany
Heather
Justin
Amber (which I don't like anyway)
Danielle
Trevor (used to love this name)
Serena
Joshua