“Pretentious” names vs. “tacky” names [I’m a foreigner]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Atticus
Amber
Rhythm

(All names of kids in my neighborhood)

Amber, really?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ScarJost just named their son Cosmo. I like it although I can’t help but think of the drink.

Fairly Odd Parents! I love Cosmo!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents named me a kinda pretentious name in the ‘70s. A girl’s name from Shakespeare. At least it’s classic, I guess.

Hi, Portia.

On the plus side, they could have gone with Goneril.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents named me a kinda pretentious name in the ‘70s. A girl’s name from Shakespeare. At least it’s classic, I guess.

Hi, Portia.

On the plus side, they could have gone with Goneril.

Or Doll Tearsheet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What names are you thinking of using OP?

Names from your culture of origin are rarely considered tacky or pretentious.

Ha! Try Eastern European names. They’re almost all considered tacky even if they are family names. Not too many Stanislaus out there let alone Stanley. And do you use Casimer or the more culturally appropriate Kazimier? Caroline or the more culturally appropriate Karoline, which an upthread would deem krazy or made-up spelling.

I don't view want of those as tacky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ironically naming your child after the English royal family is considered classy. Elizabeth, Charles, Katherine, Julia. Etc.

I have a child with one of these names, a family name passed down for generations (no II’s or III etc.) it has nothing to do with the royal family nor would I ever consider it classy. Traditional yes, classy no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Genevieve
Braxleigh/Nova/Nevaeh
Jackson

Nailed it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing beats Crystal from the 80's

Brandi and Misty are very close.

Amber.

So true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretentious are all the heavy last names as first names - Kensington, Welles, Chadwick. . . Also all the Southern girl double names - Madison Kate, Harper Rose, Sarah Grace-Louise, Mary Hollis, etc or made-up boy names like Kashton, Huxley, Torsten, etc.

Tacky are invented spellings (Krystynah) random apostrophes (D’iann’a), brand names (Chanel, Porsche. . .) and fake words (Neveah)

Torsten is actually a Scandinavian name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tacky
* Strange spellings to make a boyish or gender neutral name girly (Examples: Mackley, Ryleigh, Jaxyn, ).
* Words as names (Examples: Danger, Maverick, Precious)
* Using a culturally significant name when you're not from that culture or, even worse, what the namer thinks is a cultural name but is actually quite colonial. (Examples: Cohen, Denali, Egypt)
* For boys especially, taking the two-syllable name du jour and changing the leading consonant to come up with your own "unique" name. (Examples: Kyler, Hayden/Kayden/Bayden/Rayden/Zayden/Dayden/....)

I think pretentious names usually comes down to being from a lower class and giving names that you think are upper class, but missing the mark somehow.
* Place names associated with "class" (Example: London, Yale)
* Random nouns as names (Examples: Apple, Pilot)
* Names associated with WASPs of decades past (Examples: Sloane, Greir)

I forgot literary. To qualify, the name must be instantly identifiable as from a specific book. You can have literary-tacky (Reneesme or however it's spelled) and literary-pretentious (Atticus). If the name is from a YA or Fantasy novel written in the last 20 years, it's literary-tacky, and if it's from "literature", it's literary-pretentious. Of course there are some names that have crossed from literary-tacky/pretentious into just being names (Wendy).

What category is Bronte?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Genevieve
Braxleigh/Nova/Nevaeh
Jackson

My niece has a kid named Nova and no joke, her new baby is named Brexley.

Nova is fine. I like it, but it's getting popular and I'm not sure if it's trending toward the next Sophie/Charlotte or more towards the next Nevaeh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ScarJost just named their son Cosmo. I like it although I can’t help but think of the drink.

Fairly Odd Parents! I love Cosmo!

I love it too. Annoyed they named their son Cosmo because my son is named that and now there will be a bunch of copycats.

[Anonymous]

Eugenia and a Viktoria are fairly common among Eastern Europeans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What names are you thinking of using OP?

Names from your culture of origin are rarely considered tacky or pretentious.

Ha! Try Eastern European names. They’re almost all considered tacky even if they are family names. Not too many Stanislaus out there let alone Stanley. And do you use Casimer or the more culturally appropriate Kazimier? Caroline or the more culturally appropriate Karoline, which an upthread would deem krazy or made-up spelling.

My maternal grandpa was Casimir. I thought it might be a nice name for our son, but my mom thought that seemed insane. She was born and raised in the US and felt like it would be like naming a baby Alfred or Chester.