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

[Anonymous]

Please, don’t say “pretentious names are tacky” or “all names are good”. I’m trying to understand cultural nuances better.

Examples would be great.

1- Perceived as extremely pretentious
2- Perceived as extremely tacky
3- Near the line, and you’re not sure

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Sabine
Grayson
Ainsley

[Anonymous]

1. Grier, Sloane, are pretentious.
2. Brooklyn, Brayden, Jayden, Cooper, Greyson, are tacky.

[Anonymous]

OP, just give us a list of names and we'll let you know if they are considered pretentious or tacky, or just a regular name

[Anonymous]

Atticus
Amber
Rhythm

(All names of kids in my neighborhood)

[Anonymous]

Genevieve
Braxleigh/Nova/Nevaeh
Jackson

[Anonymous]

Are you naming a baby or sorting your neighbors?

[Anonymous]

1.Linus
2.Braxton

[Anonymous]

Nothing beats Crystal from the 80's

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you naming a baby or sorting your neighbors?

Neither.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you naming a baby or sorting your neighbors?

Lol

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone

[Anonymous]

1. Gwyneth
2. Nevaeh
3. Jennifer/Jason

[Anonymous]

Pretentious names are trying to sound like you come from Old Money - particulary WASPy names. Surnames as first names, all three names sounding like surnames, a kid who is a III going by "Tripp", etc. The theme here is UMC aspiring to sound like Old Money. There's a less-scorned branch of pretentious names that are just literary to the point of absurdity: parents trying to make it clear they're English majors. Tennyson, Holden, Anais, Austen, Dashiell.

Tacky names are either fully made up, or things that very poor people think sound pretentious. Brynnsleigh, Paisley, Braxton, Lexus, Royal, Majesty. Theme here is lower-income people trying to seem extremely unique. The second theme is names that used to be in the first bracket but have become ubiquitous enough to trickle down to this one: Everleigh, Harper, Avery, Jackson.

Near the line varies for a lot of people. Some of the names scorned on these boards are just ethnic names and people either don't realize it or are fine with saying anonymously that they consider AA naming conventions "tacky", for example. Some people are more bothered by names that are surnames the family has no connection to, others by names that look misspelled, etc.

[Anonymous]

Cosette
Parker
Arabella (both!)