It might come as a shock, but "Palin Country" is not particularly backward, contrary to eastern sensibilities. It is full of indigenous people, but this isn't a problem unless you're a bigot.

The best first names are the names your grandmother, great-grandmother, and so on bore: Lydia, Violet, Mercy, Elizabeth, Emma, Catherine, Anna Margaret, Hannah, Sarah, Abigail, etc.
Evelyn will do in a pinch; so will Margaret, although it can be iffy.

If you come from old WASP stock in the south or New England, just run back the genealogy a few generations. Using a surname reasonable if you have a surname that can carry it - Palmer Hoyt works far better than
Mackenzie Garcia. Using a mother's maiden name as a middle name is also good - Catherine Perrine Dill is a good old line WASP example.

Nicknames are important - Muffy, Molly and Mopsy are better than Debbie, Lyndie, and Susie.

Brittney, Tiffany, Brandy, Victoria - any name from a popular television series character or celeberity is completely inappropriate. The proliferation of boys named Aiden and Declan are a wee bit too prime time - although
some will give you points if you name a son Declan for Elvis Costello.

Nadine and Fleur work; Bernadette and Madeline, not so well as they reflect popular saints and are wildly popular down scale.

No silly spellings, no silly apostrophes, and for heaven sake don't name your daughter after a mushroom or wine unless you are a celebrity who can leave their child a large inheritance.

Any name or spelling found in the Urban Dictionary should be bypassed with extreme prejudice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Upper class, white and wealthy/celebrity/famous family's names have always trickled their way down the food chain.
Aiden is white and yuppy today, but give it a couple of years and all of those names will be popular at the lower income / minority level.

ACTUALLY, Aiden trickled up, not down.

Aiden is part of that Aiden/Bradyn/Cayden/Hayden/Jaden/Zaiden phenomenon that gripped the middle and lower class starting around 10-12 years ago. Even-GASP-minority children were named these types of names.

If it is just now hitting the upper middle/upper class, then Aiden is definitely a trickle up kind of name.

This is not true at all. (And I don't have an Aidan, just commenting.) But if you think it's traveled up, you are sadly mistaken.

Aiden is part of the whole ---den craze. Those names have certainly been in lower-middle and working class areas with younger parents for quite some time, and popular with them just as long if not longer than they have been for yuppies. I am sorry, but you are wrong.

Sorry, I don't think you're right. Aidan is largely responsible for the -den craze. Then, as Aiden took over, parents who previously would have chosen Aidan picked other names.

My evidence? http://www.babynamewizard.com/archives/2010/5/2009s-hottest-and-nottest-baby-names-part-2-the-fallen (and lots more posts by Laura Wattenberg)

Aidan was the fasted FALLING name of 2009. Here's what Wattenberg wrote: "Nope, this doesn't mean the "Age of Aidans" is over. The more common spelling Aiden actually rose in 2009. I suspect that the specific decline of this one, most traditional spelling means that the parents who thought of Aidan as an old Irish saint's name are giving up on it because of the flood of Aidyns, Aydens, Aedans et al."

[i][u]

I think this is absolutely correct.

I think Nameberry relies fairly heavily on what names are currently popular in this demographic in the UK for their US predictions. Barnaby, Ned, Kitty- I've been seeing these names tossed around on the Mumsnet naming boards for years.

To clarify, the OP did not make up the list she posted, it came from the Nameberry website. (A few posters seemed to think OP wrote it). I actually sent the link to that list to my DH because 3 of our 4 kids' names are on it, which I thought was funny. We would be considered yuppies, I guess, in our late 30s, both have JDs from highly ranked schools.

Anonymous wrote:Kitty?
Tess?

Most of these names are awful!!!

You're panning a list of almost 100 names on the basis of two you don't like?

Kitty?
Tess?

Most of these names are awful!!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Upper class, white and wealthy/celebrity/famous family's names have always trickled their way down the food chain.
Aiden is white and yuppy today, but give it a couple of years and all of those names will be popular at the lower income / minority level.

ACTUALLY, Aiden trickled up, not down.

Aiden is part of that Aiden/Bradyn/Cayden/Hayden/Jaden/Zaiden phenomenon that gripped the middle and lower class starting around 10-12 years ago. Even-GASP-minority children were named these types of names.

If it is just now hitting the upper middle/upper class, then Aiden is definitely a trickle up kind of name.

This is not true at all. (And I don't have an Aidan, just commenting.) But if you think it's traveled up, you are sadly mistaken.

Aiden is part of the whole ---den craze. Those names have certainly been in lower-middle and working class areas with younger parents for quite some time, and popular with them just as long if not longer than they have been for yuppies. I am sorry, but you are wrong.

Sorry, I don't think you're right. Aidan is largely responsible for the -den craze. Then, as Aiden took over, parents who previously would have chosen Aidan picked other names.

My evidence? http://www.babynamewizard.com/archives/2010/5/2009s-hottest-and-nottest-baby-names-part-2-the-fallen (and lots more posts by Laura Wattenberg)

Aidan was the fasted FALLING name of 2009. Here's what Wattenberg wrote: "Nope, this doesn't mean the "Age of Aidans" is over. The more common spelling Aiden actually rose in 2009. I suspect that the specific decline of this one, most traditional spelling means that the parents who thought of Aidan as an old Irish saint's name are giving up on it because of the flood of Aidyns, Aydens, Aedans et al."

Both my kids are on the list. FWIW, we have doctorates.

I think Hudson and Hunter have already begun to make headway in Palin country

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Upper class, white and wealthy/celebrity/famous family's names have always trickled their way down the food chain.
Aiden is white and yuppy today, but give it a couple of years and all of those names will be popular at the lower income / minority level.

ACTUALLY, Aiden trickled up, not down.

Aiden is part of that Aiden/Bradyn/Cayden/Hayden/Jaden/Zaiden phenomenon that gripped the middle and lower class starting around 10-12 years ago. Even-GASP-minority children were named these types of names.

If it is just now hitting the upper middle/upper class, then Aiden is definitely a trickle up kind of name.

This is not true at all. (And I don't have an Aidan, just commenting.) But if you think it's traveled up, you are sadly mistaken.

Aiden is part of the whole ---den craze. Those names have certainly been in lower-middle and working class areas with younger parents for quite some time, and popular with them just as long if not longer than they have been for yuppies. I am sorry, but you are wrong.

Where is the craze for 'den names? Oh yeah, 5 or more years ago.

10 years ago all the ---den kids I ever met were bi-racial, African American, or Hispanic. Not wealthy whites.

Where are you posting from?

DC metro.

These kids are all 10-12 years old, and are from the Midwest, south and southwest.

Why are you getting so worked up at the idea that the poors, flyover folks and brown people might have been naming their kids something either at the same time and to the same extent as the rich white yuppies?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ok the nerd in me had to check. There were 12 boys born last year named Ned. So I'm curious how Nameberry knows it is popular with young urban professionals.

Sometimes I feel like Namberry wants to make and shape naming trends, rather than just report on them.

Same here. It can be a fun website, but some of the names on the OP's list are wishful thinking.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see several missing that are common in DC circles. Also, where are all of the trendy last names used as first names?

Such as?

Benjamin and William are glaring omissions if we're talking DC. Also there's no Abigail, no Penelope no Evelyn. I personally haven't heard them in DC, but I'm surprised not to see Piper and Harper on the list.

But, I am surprised to see Laura, Helen and Miranda on that list. And who the heck is naming their kid Ned?

Love, love, love the name Ned but DH wouldn't go for it.

I love it too! Makes me think of Nancy Drew's boyfriend, Ned Nickerson. HA!

Me too, lol. Nancy was a lucky bitch what with that titian hair and the hot boyfriend always helping her out.

Ha ha! Yep! And with her besties Bess and George by her side. And dad Carson and housekeeper Hannah Gruen looking after her.

And the convertible--don't forget the convertible!

Oh yes, how could I forget?!? Let's see, what were Bess' and George's boyfriends' names again? One was Chet and let me google the other. . . OH! DALE! Dale is Bess' boyfriend.

Oh wait, I was wrong. There is no Chet. Maybe that was a Hardy boy. George's bf was supposedly named Burt. I don't really remember that one at all, to tell you the truth!

And poor Bess -- always described as being "pleasantly plump."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see several missing that are common in DC circles. Also, where are all of the trendy last names used as first names?

Such as?

Benjamin and William are glaring omissions if we're talking DC. Also there's no Abigail, no Penelope no Evelyn. I personally haven't heard them in DC, but I'm surprised not to see Piper and Harper on the list.

But, I am surprised to see Laura, Helen and Miranda on that list. And who the heck is naming their kid Ned?

Love, love, love the name Ned but DH wouldn't go for it.

I love it too! Makes me think of Nancy Drew's boyfriend, Ned Nickerson. HA!

Me too, lol. Nancy was a lucky bitch what with that titian hair and the hot boyfriend always helping her out.

Ha ha! Yep! And with her besties Bess and George by her side. And dad Carson and housekeeper Hannah Gruen looking after her.

And the convertible--don't forget the convertible!

Anonymous wrote:I see several missing that are common in DC circles. Also, where are all of the trendy last names used as first names?

I actually see quite a few. For the boys there's Anderson, Duncan, Harrison, Hudson, Jackson, Sawyer, Spencer, Truman, Walker. On the girls list are Addison, Sawyer and Sloane.

Anonymous wrote:ok the nerd in me had to check. There were 12 boys born last year named Ned. So I'm curious how Nameberry knows it is popular with young urban professionals.

haha - you and I would be such good friends IRL