The Random Crap Thread 2: It Hits the Fan.
- Thread starter North_Ranger
- Start date
So every year or so, this video shows up on my Facebook feed - and it's a video of Utah names and making fun of the names people come up with here - which are bonkers, don't get me wrong. I wanna know though, is if Utah is this weird anomaly of naming. Don't other states have weird names? Or is it just us?
GasBandit
Staff member
I'll go ask Billy Bob and Bobby Rae, see if they think Cletus'n'them got funny names
I'll go ask Billy Bob and Bobby Rae, see if they think Cletus'n'them got funny names
This is for real. Like 1000%. The names in this video...are legit names people have in Utah. So, help me out - how do other states compare?
GasBandit
Staff member
Well, I made a joke about southern names, but the names in your video remind me of a Mormon friend of mine, who has a sister and three brothers, and all his siblings, children, and neices and nephews all have names that start with the letter K.
Keenan
Kottie
Kayern
Kris
etc.
So, I didn't know it was a thing, but it matches up with other things I've known.
A few of those names pop up around here, but not those spellings. However, I do have a close friend whose name is Tahlia, and spelled the same way, but I think she said it had to do with Jewish ancestry.
Now, between Li'l Z's school, soccer, and other kid-loaded places, I swear we're living in a sea of Siena/Siennas.
Same around here, although I'd add Michael/Mike, and Jon/John. Usually they'd use their last names.
My parents gave me such a boring name. I always wanted something more fun and interesting. I thought I had done that with our daughter and I was so proud and then characters on two prime time shows appear with her name shortly after her birth and there are several other girls with her name in the lower grades 
Our son is the only guy at school with his name which surprises me because I didn't think it was that out there.
Our son is the only guy at school with his name which surprises me because I didn't think it was that out there.
Well, there was the random-letter-den epidemic of about 5 - 7 years ago; you had your Caiden, Braden, Jaden, Aiden, etc., but that was about it for Washington, aside from just ethnic names. All of my friends growing up seemed to come from strong Germanic OR Austrian* stock, so while they had some interesting surnames (Schulteiss, Scharnhorst, Druffel), their given names were all pretty normal (Greg, Nathan, Jessica). The only really "odd" thing we had was the number of older couples who had what used to be considered male or unisex names but are now primarily female. Like Carol and his wife, Pat.
*It was a whole big thing, involved the Catholic church, and two separate towns, you did not want to confuse one of the Austrian Druffels for a German Druffel - the German Druffels did NOT look kindly upon being conflated with those poor people from Austria.
*It was a whole big thing, involved the Catholic church, and two separate towns, you did not want to confuse one of the Austrian Druffels for a German Druffel - the German Druffels did NOT look kindly upon being conflated with those poor people from Austria.
My kid's names are exactly mainstream, but I don't think they're way out there:
Grant
Hunter
Micah
Asher
Gideon
Ezra
Levi
Adalyn
Jared
Out of these the one I had the hardest time assimilating at first was adalyn, but it's been in the top 200 names chosen in the US for the last 5 years. But what can I say, my wife wanted uniques names (doesn't want our kids to end up in a class with three of them with the same name), and I wanted a name that others would rarely have to ask how to spell (so it had to be a combination of common enough people would be familiar with it, and it had only one popular spelling variant, with the other variants being uncommon).
That said, if I fit the stereotype, I'm still not moving out there. I got enough of Utah culture serving my mission in Salt Lake City, and I couldn't then, and still can't now, see how I could raise my kids there and have them turn out ok. I'm not knocking the parents who do live there - they manage just fine. I just don't think I'm cut out for Utah life and the culture, and I wouldn't be the parent I'd need to be to teach my kids what I need them to learn while also teaching them that there's a difference between religion, faith, and culture when they aren't separate there.
Grant
Hunter
Micah
Asher
Gideon
Ezra
Levi
Adalyn
Jared
Out of these the one I had the hardest time assimilating at first was adalyn, but it's been in the top 200 names chosen in the US for the last 5 years. But what can I say, my wife wanted uniques names (doesn't want our kids to end up in a class with three of them with the same name), and I wanted a name that others would rarely have to ask how to spell (so it had to be a combination of common enough people would be familiar with it, and it had only one popular spelling variant, with the other variants being uncommon).
That said, if I fit the stereotype, I'm still not moving out there. I got enough of Utah culture serving my mission in Salt Lake City, and I couldn't then, and still can't now, see how I could raise my kids there and have them turn out ok. I'm not knocking the parents who do live there - they manage just fine. I just don't think I'm cut out for Utah life and the culture, and I wouldn't be the parent I'd need to be to teach my kids what I need them to learn while also teaching them that there's a difference between religion, faith, and culture when they aren't separate there.
I would have guessed that is parody video, either of white people names or girls coming up with a porn pseudonym.
I mean, I guess it's a matter of frequency. I see names spelled like that every once in a while, but it's unusual.
Do people do the same thing with boys names over there?
Yeah, it's not a parody. I mean it is and isn't - they're clearly making fun of the names, but they are real, honest to god names here. And yes, it's the same with boy's names, though more common with girl's in my opinion.
There are Cadens, Bradens, Aidens and Jadens all at school with the kids lol.
GasBandit
Staff member
Without meaning judgement, the only two names on your list I'd consider common are Grant and Jared (and in my experience, Jareds usually turn out to be the school bully
).Most of the rest definitely fit the profile of coming from a large, religious family. One of the hallmark flags is Biblical names that aren't a single degree of separation from JC himself (Apostles or family members).
But my info could be getting stale, apparently other Biblical names are making a comeback.
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GasBandit
Staff member
I'm in the same boat - there was usually only one other kid in any given entire school that shared my first name, which kind of surprises me, looking back.[DOUBLEPOST=1507924317,1507924107][/DOUBLEPOST]Hah, and boy oh boy did the Chris/Jennifer thing date me -
"Why yes, I was born between 1970 and 1990, almost exactly between, how could you tell?"
Lucky!! I was always one of many in my classes and at work. I used to get the wrong emails all the time at one of the firms I worked for.
There were six of us at my university with the same first and last name! And someone with a close enough birthdate and my name with a record that I needed to be finger printed to get my job. Super embarrassing because until the results come back, it looks pretty shady
GasBandit
Staff member
You weren't kidding about Michaels born circa 1979.
My Uncle loved the name Jennifer so much he named is first dog, after getting married, Jennifer. Then a couple of months later named is first child Jennifer too. So until that baby was 8 years old... she had a fur sister with the same name.I'm in the same boat - there was usually only one other kid in any given entire school that shared my first name, which kind of surprises me, looking back.[DOUBLEPOST=1507924317,1507924107][/DOUBLEPOST]Hah, and boy oh boy did the Chris/Jennifer thing date me -
"Why yes, I was born between 1970 and 1990, almost exactly between, how could you tell?"
GasBandit
Staff member
I went down the list of 1979/1980 US names, and it was odd. I was just.. "Yep, these are all completely normal names that I'd expect people to have, back when people didn't name their kids crazy shit."
It made me think... I wonder if "Normal" names for kids in the 80s sound like archaic names to kids today, like Ruth and Ethel and Jedediah and Grover and stuff.
But then I looked back at 1950, and thought, no, these names still seem pretty normal. So I went back to 1880. Nope, seems pretty normal.
So what the hell happened around the turn of the century that got people breaking 100-year-old naming conventions?
By far, the most perplexing name trend to me has been the incredibly dramatic resurgence of Emma.
It made me think... I wonder if "Normal" names for kids in the 80s sound like archaic names to kids today, like Ruth and Ethel and Jedediah and Grover and stuff.
But then I looked back at 1950, and thought, no, these names still seem pretty normal. So I went back to 1880. Nope, seems pretty normal.
So what the hell happened around the turn of the century that got people breaking 100-year-old naming conventions?
By far, the most perplexing name trend to me has been the incredibly dramatic resurgence of Emma.
I want to say that pop culture has a lot to do with it. There was a graphic, and I know it was in one of threads here, showing baby naming trends by year. "Mary", the most biblical of names, was the undisputed most popular name, until 1970, when Jennifer became the nom-du-jour for the next 20 years. February 1970 is also when Love Story published, and shortly after the movie came out. I notice on the graph Emma hit peak popularity right after Rachel on Friends named her baby that. Isabelle/Bella/etc. also saw a huge resurgence after Twilight. Some are fans, and the rest just get the name stuck in their head. (Meanwhile, my mom wanted to avoid popular names. I've only known other girl two grades above me with my name as a first name, but a lot of people who have it as their middle name.)I went down the list of 1979/1980 US names, and it was odd. I was just.. "Yep, these are all completely normal names that I'd expect people to have, back when people didn't name their kids crazy shit."
It made me think... I wonder if "Normal" names for kids in the 80s sound like archaic names to kids today, like Ruth and Ethel and Jedediah and Grover and stuff.
But then I looked back at 1950, and thought, no, these names still seem pretty normal. So I went back to 1880. Nope, seems pretty normal.
So what the hell happened around the turn of the century that got people breaking 100-year-old naming conventions?
By far, the most perplexing name trend to me has been the incredibly dramatic resurgence of Emma.
GasBandit
Staff member
So, the short version would be: Basic Bitches be namin' babies
Since, basic= average, then yes? That's why it's called average.So, the short version would be: Basic Bitches be namin' babies
GasBandit
Staff member
"Basic" has SO much more "connotation" than merely "average."
At a time when have seen a white Cadillac with a license plate reading "I TITHE," I hardly find this surprising.
You know the Gwyneth Paltrow movie Emma came out in Fall of 1996, right?
--Patrick
Yeah, I know, but I'm mentioning that the common part is common for a reason.
But I'm wondering if there's also the mentality that well-known names are easier to spell and more "acceptable". My paternal grandmother was very big on commonly known names and spellings. But she was also a child of Eastern European immigrants, and once she started school, they anglicized their last name and she shorted her first name, to seem more "white* ". I've also noticed amongst our Asian friends, who were either immigrants themselves or 1st generation, it was very common to pick well-established popular American names from the previous generation.
(*Hey kids, remember when being Irish, Italian, Jewish, or eastern European meant you weren't "white"? Bet a lot of MAGAs don't!)
GasBandit
Staff member
I'm sorry, Keltsy, you're just not white enough. I thought you knew.
(Says my swarthy Scotch-Dutch ass)
Yes, but the popularity of Emma never came close the the rating behemoth that Friends was. You can see on the chart, Emma was already making a slow resurgence years before the movie came out, but when the Friends episode aired in 2002, there is a huge spike, and it stays up there.[DOUBLEPOST=1507929597,1507929307][/DOUBLEPOST]
Don't I know it! My grandfather's family used to keep one of those Sirius Black-like family trees on the wall to show of their bloodlines, and when he married my Hungarian grandmother, not to mention his sister married an Irishman, his aunt tore it off the wall and ripped it to pieces, saying it was worthless now.
So that's me! Generations of worthless! Woohoo!
(Also, Brofist for the Dutch and Scotch genes!)
I am a little shocked by how Game of Thrones names are becoming popular. I was a little shocked watching This Old House and the homeowners introduced their infant Arya.
It is hard enough being named for a famous TV frontier lawman, but I can't imagine finding out that you are named for an orphaned assassin.
It is hard enough being named for a famous TV frontier lawman, but I can't imagine finding out that you are named for an orphaned assassin.
GasBandit
Staff member
Well, to be fair, that's what my families were when they got here. The last couple hundred years probably saw some homogenization.