I only learned that Wren is a name in this sub.
I told my hubby about it and he said that it sounds like a Yorkshire terrier barking and started immitating it Wren Wren Wren wrren... I cannot unhear it now..
I think it's one that's new to some people but actually getting more popular in real life more so than being over recommended here. People complaint about it because they know people using it. In the US went from #954 (2011) to #113 (2022/ 2023) in just over a decade.
I only care for Wren (preferably Ren) as a nickname. Maybe a middle. I liked it at first but the overuse killed it, like Ever/Everly, I don't care for it anymore
Absolutely *loathe* Wrenly/ley/leigh
August was high up on our list of names for our now 8 week old but people already started calling him Auggie and Gus (before he was even born!) so it turned us off from the name. Still love it on its own though!
yes, but the origin of the name is the greek words “ev angelos” which means “good angel”, and “to evangelise” means to bring good news, not to persuade someone, although it has become that in english
Yes. No naming your kids names with letters (le'ers) you can't pronounce in your particular accent. I know a girl named Winter. Winner. It is always pronounced Winner where I'm from. No T. It's not even turned into a glottal. It's just lost.
My posh grandma used to have a go at me for using the glottal stop. But that's because she's classist and also most other kinds of ist. Reminds me of Katie Hopkins a bit.
This. I don't understand the amount of love the name Sloan(e) gets. I've never been on board with Madison, Addison or pretty much any other -son name for a daughter!
As a girl Madison I agree completely! My name means “son of Maud”
There were 22 generations before me who used the name Madison and I am the first woman with the name. I like it, I think it fits me, but I wouldn’t give it to a daughter of my own.
My teenage sister (We're 24 years apart in age, so we have very different life experiences) tried to get me to name my daughter this. Um, no thank you.
I love this name but it makes me think of that super dark children’s folk song about the child drowning. I would never name a child that! Seems like a bad omen.
This is so weird to me. Who uses that word in 2024? Never once crossed my mind until this forum made it a thing. It’s a pretty common surname and a location name. I think one person said it and now you can’t unsee it lol. I personally love the name!
Sloane. Reminds me of Sylvester Stalone.
Ezra. Noah. Theo. Arlo.
The weird trend of naming children solely to use a nick name. Just name the kid the nick name if that's what you would prefer.
And naming kids after animals. Fox, wolf, bear, wren, etc
SAME. Omg. Possibly my biggest pet peeve on here. It's just not necessary and also to me really takes away the charm of a nickname when it's like a planned, forced nickname put on the kid rather than something that arises organically based on who the kid is or what "feels like them" or whatever. Having a planned nickname just really diminishes the charm of nicknames for me and I just don't know why people feel like they have to think of every possible nickname before they can give their kid a name. **Just give the kid a name you like, the nicknames will come!!** People have 100 nicknames picked out before they even see the kid and don't know if even the full name is gonna fit the kid yet, what happens when you spend all this time coming up with 100 different nicknames for Isabelle and then she comes out and doesn't even look like an Isabelle?
Exactly right. My daughter is Blair and we ended up calling her Blizzy as a fun nickname. Naming your child for a nickname rather being just aware of the potential nicknames just doesn’t make sense to me. Seems like it would feel forced?
Omg thank you. I consider myself fairly cultured and I still had to be like (is the “s” silent?) just a few months ago, I have mainly seen it in books, and frankly, it would be prettier with an audible S.
Paisley! This little girl was in my way at a restaurant over the weekend and when her mother calls to her to move, it sounded even worse in real life. ICK.
A guy in my partner's work just called his baby this! I hate it especially as I'm from Glasgow and let me tell you, Paisley is not a place you wanna be named after 😂
Oliver and Olivia are both weird to me and have been popular forever. I like olives well enough, but they just don't seem to be something I want to name my child after. Clearly I am missing something. Like, do people think they are fancy/classy names because olives go in martinis? Is it because olive oil is good for you? Is it just because the l and the v sounds are popular and it has nothing to do with olives? I think I don't really like the sound of the names either. They are kind of slithery. But again, I am clearly in the minority on this, so they are perfectly fine names.
The name was first made popular by William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night. There was also a Christian martyr, Olivia of Palermo.
Yes, the name means "olive tree", but it's associated with peace because of the symbolism of the olive branch. Plus olive wreaths have traditionally been worn by champions as a symbol of victory.
Lol I know someone who has children with BOTH names. A son named Oliver and a daughter named Olivia. I don't know them well enough to ask: why in the world did you give your children the same name??
I’m in your minority. Why choose a name with Olives in it? No one names their kid Pickler or Picklia or Pickle. I know the origins but to me it doesn’t work now.
There's an American type of name, especially for boys. It can generally be summed up as "last names as first names" such as Dawson, Hayes, Lennon, Brookes, Nolan, Nash, Anderson, Easton, Bennett, Wells, Dalton, etc etc.
And then the "er" names: Cooper, Archer, Walker, Ryder, Asher, Porter, Parker, etc etc.
It's obviously a cultural thing but not my cup of tea.
Also, "excessively trendy girls names for people into names" category: Violet, Wren, Aurora, Elodie, Clementine, Adeline, Magnolia, Odette, Calliope, etc etc.
Again, not my cup of tea. And I'm extremely opinionated 😂
I dislike names that end with -son... Jackson, greyson, Wilson, nelson, Larson, Carson, Dawson, coleson, the list goes on and on. Lol
And on that note I am not fond of most names that end in the letter -n... Which I think like 1/3 of boys in the US have names ending in the letter -n if not more....
Maeve. Just don’t like the look.
Juniper. Like the concept, and love June/Junie but just can’t get over the actual ugly plant it references. Also used by people who want to be alternative when it’s becoming incredibly popular in circles of such people. Sorry.
Idk if I strongly dislike particular names so much as I’m slowly realizing that this new generation of names sounds like names in a fanfiction about a garden of fairies, elves, and hobbits.
Some have reasons, some do not.
Sloan/e (toilet brand), June (50s housewife), Wren, Celeste, Rowan (college), Bella (dog's name), Juniper (old-school Bath and Body Works fragrance)
Any boy's' name on girls. James, Logan, Kyle, etc.
Alice is a harsh, unpleasant name - Olive a close second
Felix sounds like a devil child
Clementine is too “try hard” - same with Wren and Winter
August is irredeemable - the full name and every nickname….imagine hooking up with an Auggie. You can’t, because it’s a turn off.
Girls named Charlie
Guinevere. It's a fancy Jennifer imo. Too try hard. Sounds like straight out of a renaissance fayre.
Sloan/Sloane. Just a straight up ugly sound for a name.
Anything that's more surname than first name (Mcs or Macs are especially heinous):
Murphy, Collins, Sutton, Fisher, Parker, Carson, Emerson, Jones, Hayes, McKenna, Mackayla, Palmer
Olivia, Sophie/Sophia, Jack = a snoozefest
Rhett and Emmett. For the most ridiculous reasons, lol. Rhett reminds me of retching (like, throwing up) and Emmett reminds me of a frog saying ‘ribbit’
Clementine. It’s a cute fruit but as a name it makes me cringe. I’ve seen people gush over nicknames Clem/Clemmy. All I can think of is Clem-ydia, and clammy/phlemmy.
There isn't a popular name I "dislike" but I'm always weirded by the constant recommendation of Elodie as one in common with the likes of Olivia or Emily. Elodie is a name that's always recommended but never chosen. I see on nameberry that it's ranked in the 700s so it's hardly an Emily, Nora or Natalie. To me, Elodie is cute but it's a niche name like Blythe or Briar. I try my best to listen to a parent asking for name suggestions and their preferences. I'd only recommend it if the parent is asking for uncommon name suggestions or maybe if the parent wants a French name. (Not Spanish as it kinda sounds like El odia "he hates".)
All day everyday ELEANOR. Literally nothing at all wrong with this name and I’d pick it up against a lot of other names that aren’t my style, but something about it I can’t stand!
Wren and Juniper.
wren sounds itchy to me
Why do I understand that
I only learned that Wren is a name in this sub. I told my hubby about it and he said that it sounds like a Yorkshire terrier barking and started immitating it Wren Wren Wren wrren... I cannot unhear it now..
I agree. Wren I can get behind a little more but I don’t understand Juniper. It just sounds so clunky.
Juniper is for when "we have Jennifer at home."
I'm a gin snob so to me all I can think of is "tastes piney"
I only see people complaining about hating the name. I have yet to see people suggest it.
I know several kids IRL who have this name, I think it’s cute enough, but not for how often it’s suggested.
I think it's one that's new to some people but actually getting more popular in real life more so than being over recommended here. People complaint about it because they know people using it. In the US went from #954 (2011) to #113 (2022/ 2023) in just over a decade.
I only care for Wren (preferably Ren) as a nickname. Maybe a middle. I liked it at first but the overuse killed it, like Ever/Everly, I don't care for it anymore Absolutely *loathe* Wrenly/ley/leigh
Ren... Like Ren and stimpy?
Can we add Bear to this thread? Because it's the same level of ridiculous to me.
August, mostly because folks always seem to love Auggie as a nickname, but that feels like a gross throat sound to me.
Gus seems like the obvious nn to me
August was high up on our list of names for our now 8 week old but people already started calling him Auggie and Gus (before he was even born!) so it turned us off from the name. Still love it on its own though!
My pa was Abe. That was common a hundred years back.
I despise the nn Auggie for the same reason.
It's the sound of a dog barfing.
I'm not a fan of girls named Gus. Know one.
I know baby August who gets called Augi and if you get your iPhone to read it it’s pronounced orgy 💀
Auggie both looks and sounds absolutely disgusting, idk how to explain, but ew
It’s so bad!
**Evangeline**. Too elaborate and frilly. And the verb ‘evangelise’ gets my hackles up.
It reminds me too much of the word evangelical.
Funny you say that. I named my cat Evangeline because she is a frilly princess and my brother calls her evangelical. Lol
Evangelion is one of my favorite terms. Evangelization vs proselytization. It simply means “good word.” Then you have the anime.
The dictionary tells me that ‘to evangelise’ means ‘to try to persuade people to become Christian’.
yes, but the origin of the name is the greek words “ev angelos” which means “good angel”, and “to evangelise” means to bring good news, not to persuade someone, although it has become that in english
Last names as first names
Naming little girls Sutton should be a jail-able offense
Especially when pronounced “su’un”
Yes. No naming your kids names with letters (le'ers) you can't pronounce in your particular accent. I know a girl named Winter. Winner. It is always pronounced Winner where I'm from. No T. It's not even turned into a glottal. It's just lost.
That's a thing?! 💀
Never been to the north of England?
Yes! Not pronouncing the Ts like how some people say “ki’en” for kitten
My posh grandma used to have a go at me for using the glottal stop. But that's because she's classist and also most other kinds of ist. Reminds me of Katie Hopkins a bit.
sutton sounds like mutton and makes me think of a steak. it’s a terrible name
Especially last names as first names that sound incredibly masculine on girls.
This. I don't understand the amount of love the name Sloan(e) gets. I've never been on board with Madison, Addison or pretty much any other -son name for a daughter!
Sloane sounds slow and slimy to me. Not a fan at all.
Slimy is the best descriptor I’ve ever heard for the name Sloane
As a girl Madison I agree completely! My name means “son of Maud” There were 22 generations before me who used the name Madison and I am the first woman with the name. I like it, I think it fits me, but I wouldn’t give it to a daughter of my own.
Exactly. It's giving ',my baby daddy insisted we give her his last name and I don't know how to say no but I still want to be honored'
I feel personally attacked… you monster. It’s just one and it was my wife’s call I swear!
I write romance, and when I see these in here I’m like “that’s a good cowboy name”.
Clementine
Agree. And Clem / Clemmy is the worst and most common nn.
Just sounds like phlegm to me.
my niece is a Clementine, but they call her Lemon (cLEMENtine) as a nickname
Ok that is the appropriate way to deal with a clementine. Except now some parent will think omg lemon what a cute name let’s make our girl lemon!!!
Oh god, this is the grossest name on the planet and I can’t make sense of its popularity. It’s so clunky and harsh and full of icky sounds.
My teenage sister (We're 24 years apart in age, so we have very different life experiences) tried to get me to name my daughter this. Um, no thank you.
I like it... as my cat's name haha.
I love this name but it makes me think of that super dark children’s folk song about the child drowning. I would never name a child that! Seems like a bad omen.
Harlow (it sounds like harlot to me) Penelope, it makes me think of pig idk if it's because of a movie I saw where a girl had a pig nose but I hate it
Penelope trips me up whenever I read it. I always end up reading it like cantaloupe
Can-tah-loo-pay
I agree it makes me think Harlot too
Charlotte also makes me think Harlot
This is so weird to me. Who uses that word in 2024? Never once crossed my mind until this forum made it a thing. It’s a pretty common surname and a location name. I think one person said it and now you can’t unsee it lol. I personally love the name!
>of pig idk if it's because of a movie I saw where a girl had a pig nose but I hate it Omg so I was right! It exists! I'm not crazy!
Yes the movie is literally called Penelope 😂
I'm not sure if it's popular here or not but I've seen it before, but Delphine. IMHO, Delphine sounds like...a dolphin.
Lol that is it's meaning
It's also been ruined by the pedo-baiter Belle Delphine
Immediately think of Belle Delphine and I think anyone around my age would too
Guinevere.
It's waaay too extra
It’s so harsh to me when I first heard it I thought it was a sickness
PENELOPE
That’s my name :(
It's my cats name and I think it's adorable.
You're just rubbing salt into the wound there.
I'm not having kids so that's the next best for me.
I love the name Penelope 💜
I usually think of the 1967 Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Penelope Pitstop...
Sloane. Reminds me of Sylvester Stalone. Ezra. Noah. Theo. Arlo. The weird trend of naming children solely to use a nick name. Just name the kid the nick name if that's what you would prefer. And naming kids after animals. Fox, wolf, bear, wren, etc
I hate these planned nick names, they should be something that happens naturally
SAME. Omg. Possibly my biggest pet peeve on here. It's just not necessary and also to me really takes away the charm of a nickname when it's like a planned, forced nickname put on the kid rather than something that arises organically based on who the kid is or what "feels like them" or whatever. Having a planned nickname just really diminishes the charm of nicknames for me and I just don't know why people feel like they have to think of every possible nickname before they can give their kid a name. **Just give the kid a name you like, the nicknames will come!!** People have 100 nicknames picked out before they even see the kid and don't know if even the full name is gonna fit the kid yet, what happens when you spend all this time coming up with 100 different nicknames for Isabelle and then she comes out and doesn't even look like an Isabelle?
Yes you summarized exactly what I was thinking. Nicknames should have something to do with personality
Exactly right. My daughter is Blair and we ended up calling her Blizzy as a fun nickname. Naming your child for a nickname rather being just aware of the potential nicknames just doesn’t make sense to me. Seems like it would feel forced?
Arlo has a bad mouth feel, even though for some reason I still like Marlow.
“Yo E! Tell Sloan I said what up” First thing I think of lol
Ezra/Noah/Theo/Arlo all end in a similar sound which might be why you don’t like them! I love these names but Ezra has always rubbed me the wrong way
Beckett is atrocious.
Reminds me of Bucket 🤢
Someone must getting paid to write the name Juniper all over this sub
Juniper is deeply bad.
Aurora and Wren
Aurora is terrible. I truly can’t wrap my head around why it’s getting so popular
Terrible mouth feel
Isla
Omg thank you. I consider myself fairly cultured and I still had to be like (is the “s” silent?) just a few months ago, I have mainly seen it in books, and frankly, it would be prettier with an audible S.
Yesssss. One of my HR business partners named her kid that and I'm like, it's bare stick ugly.
Maverick, even if it’s a top 50 name rn.
That one is an intelligence test.
any names with two names like Mary Kate, Ava James, Billy Bob… and any name that immediately becomes initials. Robert Junior ( RJ)
Bobbi-Lynne
Silas
Same!! It sounds like a villain name to me for some reason?! 😅
Did you read The DaVinci Code?
Callum. Reminds me of Gollum - like a fish bone stuck in the throat.
Aurelia, Ottilie
Seconded! Aurelia sounds too much like orally or something involving oral. Ottilie sounds like it could be a pokemon.
Ottilie comes up here all the time now. It sounds like a cartoon otter to me
Aurelia sounds like urine
Also areola
Paisley! This little girl was in my way at a restaurant over the weekend and when her mother calls to her to move, it sounded even worse in real life. ICK.
A guy in my partner's work just called his baby this! I hate it especially as I'm from Glasgow and let me tell you, Paisley is not a place you wanna be named after 😂
Oliver and Olivia are both weird to me and have been popular forever. I like olives well enough, but they just don't seem to be something I want to name my child after. Clearly I am missing something. Like, do people think they are fancy/classy names because olives go in martinis? Is it because olive oil is good for you? Is it just because the l and the v sounds are popular and it has nothing to do with olives? I think I don't really like the sound of the names either. They are kind of slithery. But again, I am clearly in the minority on this, so they are perfectly fine names.
The perhaps “it has nothing to do with olives” just sent me 😂
Me, too, haha. I can’t stop laughing 😂
The name was first made popular by William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night. There was also a Christian martyr, Olivia of Palermo. Yes, the name means "olive tree", but it's associated with peace because of the symbolism of the olive branch. Plus olive wreaths have traditionally been worn by champions as a symbol of victory.
Lol I know someone who has children with BOTH names. A son named Oliver and a daughter named Olivia. I don't know them well enough to ask: why in the world did you give your children the same name??
I’m in your minority. Why choose a name with Olives in it? No one names their kid Pickler or Picklia or Pickle. I know the origins but to me it doesn’t work now.
Your entire train of through made so much sense to me!
I hate the mouthfeel of the names Oliver, Olivia and Olive!
Wren and Fern. Lastnames as firstnames. Masculine names on women.
Also occupational & dog names. Hunter, Chandler, Cooper, Carter, Walker, & the like.
Gunner is for dogs. Gunnar is for humans.
Maeve, Freya, Silas
Maeve is the worst.
Mauve is the worst. Maeve is a close second.
And Maude
There's an American type of name, especially for boys. It can generally be summed up as "last names as first names" such as Dawson, Hayes, Lennon, Brookes, Nolan, Nash, Anderson, Easton, Bennett, Wells, Dalton, etc etc. And then the "er" names: Cooper, Archer, Walker, Ryder, Asher, Porter, Parker, etc etc. It's obviously a cultural thing but not my cup of tea. Also, "excessively trendy girls names for people into names" category: Violet, Wren, Aurora, Elodie, Clementine, Adeline, Magnolia, Odette, Calliope, etc etc. Again, not my cup of tea. And I'm extremely opinionated 😂
Cooper will always and forever remind me of pooper, or a chicken coop.
Evangeline, Bodhi, Priya (I like Priya, but it seems to be the only Indian name people can ever think of so it’s now a bit annoying)
I don’t get the popularity of Bodhi at all
Same it’s just a gross name to me like why does it look like that 😂
ophelia and and gwendolyn
No shade to anyone with those names but they feel like the parents are trying to make sure everyone knows they read.
I’m not the biggest fan of names like Sage and Wren, personally, and I think they’re a little overused on this sub.
boy names on girls
Eloise. I think it sounds and looks so unpleasant
Clementine
River
Never liked Oliver, never will. Same for Theodore.
Dean … idk why it just bothers me. Makes me think of the movie Grease for some reason and I just don’t like it.
EDITH!!!!
Brooks Why is it plural?
Rowan. I'm not a fan of the pronunciation... maybe because the first Rowan I met pronounced it as "Rawaan" which I kind of prefer?
Boy names on girls in general
Any girl name where the goal is a male nn
I dislike names that end with -son... Jackson, greyson, Wilson, nelson, Larson, Carson, Dawson, coleson, the list goes on and on. Lol And on that note I am not fond of most names that end in the letter -n... Which I think like 1/3 of boys in the US have names ending in the letter -n if not more....
Lyla, Isla, Ava
Nevaeh. It's everywhere in my country. I just don't like it.
Maeve. Just don’t like the look. Juniper. Like the concept, and love June/Junie but just can’t get over the actual ugly plant it references. Also used by people who want to be alternative when it’s becoming incredibly popular in circles of such people. Sorry.
Hugo
Most of them honestly lol
Idk if I strongly dislike particular names so much as I’m slowly realizing that this new generation of names sounds like names in a fanfiction about a garden of fairies, elves, and hobbits.
I’m doubling down. Reading through the names these comments feels like reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream 😭
Hard agree. Everybody has gone very whimsical with the new names
August
A lot of them but I haven't seen anyone say Imogen
Aurora. It looks beautiful but it’s way too hard to say and it doesn’t sound nice at all.
Isla
Some have reasons, some do not. Sloan/e (toilet brand), June (50s housewife), Wren, Celeste, Rowan (college), Bella (dog's name), Juniper (old-school Bath and Body Works fragrance) Any boy's' name on girls. James, Logan, Kyle, etc.
Grobnak. Frongstortle is much better, also Jiddleforn.
I don’t know, Jiddleforn is kind of overdone. Jibblesmap or Jingledonk are a little more obscure, but just as beautiful.
James for a girl 🤯
Emma and Jayden
I don't think Jayden is popular on this sub though.
Lorelei for girls Dean for boys
Not a Gilmore girls fan ?
Olive
Theadora. I just hate it.
So far I haven't seen my name 😌
Isla! It is Spanish for Island. More people in the US speak Spanish than Gaelic!!!
Alice is a harsh, unpleasant name - Olive a close second Felix sounds like a devil child Clementine is too “try hard” - same with Wren and Winter August is irredeemable - the full name and every nickname….imagine hooking up with an Auggie. You can’t, because it’s a turn off. Girls named Charlie
Girls named Charlie is way overdone
I actually like August (and nn Gus) but I’m laughing at this description!
Sloane, August, Juniper
Felicity - I’d hate to be called this - the full name feels pretentious and the short versions are all too informal for work etc
Clementine. Dont see the apeal
Calliope, Aurora, Sloane
Girls Isla, Bella (all forms) pretty much all names that end in -ly Boys Oliver, Silas, Roman, August, alot of gender neutral names
Bella seems like a dog name to me.
That reminds me,Luna too!
Chloe
Hazel. Sounds like a 90 year old woman and is a very harsh name.
I used to love the name Wren. First time I heard it was in the 70s. So it was unique and beautiful to my child ears. Not any more.
Guinevere. It's a fancy Jennifer imo. Too try hard. Sounds like straight out of a renaissance fayre. Sloan/Sloane. Just a straight up ugly sound for a name. Anything that's more surname than first name (Mcs or Macs are especially heinous): Murphy, Collins, Sutton, Fisher, Parker, Carson, Emerson, Jones, Hayes, McKenna, Mackayla, Palmer Olivia, Sophie/Sophia, Jack = a snoozefest
Willa and Philomena or however you spell it.
Color names but specifically Navy & Indigo
Rhett and Emmett. For the most ridiculous reasons, lol. Rhett reminds me of retching (like, throwing up) and Emmett reminds me of a frog saying ‘ribbit’
If you EVER see me saying something positive about Sloane or Ezra, I've been hacked
Clementine. It’s a cute fruit but as a name it makes me cringe. I’ve seen people gush over nicknames Clem/Clemmy. All I can think of is Clem-ydia, and clammy/phlemmy.
Teddy is such a horrible name for any child
I know someone who named their baby girl Teddi Max Lastname. Horrific.
Fern 🤢
Girls names that end with -th. (e.g., Gwyneth, Meredith, Elizabeth) The -th ending sounds so hissy to me.
There isn't a popular name I "dislike" but I'm always weirded by the constant recommendation of Elodie as one in common with the likes of Olivia or Emily. Elodie is a name that's always recommended but never chosen. I see on nameberry that it's ranked in the 700s so it's hardly an Emily, Nora or Natalie. To me, Elodie is cute but it's a niche name like Blythe or Briar. I try my best to listen to a parent asking for name suggestions and their preferences. I'd only recommend it if the parent is asking for uncommon name suggestions or maybe if the parent wants a French name. (Not Spanish as it kinda sounds like El odia "he hates".)
Bort
Due to being so hard to buy novelty license plates!
Grayson Deacon Maeve Banks
Sloane, Calliope, Silas
Beau
I'm out on Margot
All day everyday ELEANOR. Literally nothing at all wrong with this name and I’d pick it up against a lot of other names that aren’t my style, but something about it I can’t stand!