Posted on 04/29/2011 4:07:30 PM PDT by decimon
When it comes to names, everybody's got an opinion. But while figuring out what names people like is pretty simple -- the U.S. Social Security Administration keeps a list of the most popular baby names each year -- figuring out what people hate is trickier.
It turns out that in the case of names, love and hate aren't mutually exclusive. A new informal survey of the most disliked names in America finds that popularity often breeds backlash, as a quick track to baby-name fame seems to also trigger hate for that name. Among the most-hated "trendy" names are Jayden, Brayden, Madison and Addison.
The most commonly cited name that put people's teeth on edge was Nevaeh, or "heaven" spelled backward. That name didn't exist until the 1990s, but it took off in popularity in 2003, shooting from the 150th most common baby name in that year to the 31st most popular in 2007 (as of 2009, it stood at No. 34).
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The survey also turned up a few interesting trends. The first is that people hate gender-bending names, particularly when a masculine name becomes feminine, as with Madison (which tied for second-most-hated for boys with 16 separate mentions) and Addison (which tied for sixth with eight mentions). They also hate names they can't spell, including Kaitlyn, which got eight mentions and tied for sixth. (People say "Caitlin" is fine because it's traditional, Wattenberg said, though the original Irish pronunciation of that spelling would be closer to "Kathleen.")
...The most hated boys' names -- Jayden, Brayden, Aiden and Kayden -- all rhyme and all shot up from obscurity during the last decade. Among girls, a spate of "Mc"-names sparked annoyance: Mackenzie, McKenna and Makayla all made the top 10.
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(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
So I guess Tiglath-Pileser is still good.
Mohammed any way you spell it.
I work with a guy with 2 young kids: Aiden and MacKenzie.
Those traditional names never really go out of style.
Identical twins. Juan and Amal. But if you’ve seen Juan, you’ve seen Amal.
Is either kid a boy or girl?
Going on the current economic conditions,Gotta bet that Barrak will be at the TOP of the next list.
But Amal is never the loneliest number.
LOLing at you guys! Too funny!
Then there were the twin sons of my fireman friend: Jose and josb
especially in this lonleydice.
I thought it would be Barack.
Is Beltashazar still ok too?
The problem being that neither of those names are masculine.
What, no Nimrod?
However, Amiss is as good as Amal.
Jaden. You are assured that anyone with this name will grow up to hang in the Castro and skip to work.
We named our children with the intention that their names must look good on a college application and a resume’. :)
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