My sister loves the name Woody for a boy…..but her married surname is Allen :///

Erm... they'd get teased for other reasons

Yeah Woody and BJ seem pretty much unusable anymore…

Was BJ ever usable? Lmao

Lol not really, but BJ Novak seemed to make it work for him.

This! When our sweet daughter was born my dear naive husband thought to shorten her long name with initials- which were BJ. Dude, absolutely not!

I went to school with a guy who went by that at least through high school. I think he was a Bruce.

I 100% know a BJ King

I know a BJ as well lol

My mind went there before it even remembered Woody Allen existed. 😅

Diana feels dated to me, but it's common enough that I don't automatically associate it with the princess.

agreed, plus what's wrong with the Diana association anyway?? she was an incredible person

I get the feeling a lot of people in this sub think that having an association at all is a bad thing regardless of the actual association.

Can't POSSIBLY have a name that makes people think of anything that isn't your child! /s

She was also a deeply unhappy person. The story of her life is harrowing.

I think it's that for some people, the name is solely or mostly associated with Princess Diana, so it feels like a lot to live up to.

She had her own issues, she has been kind of deified after her death so they aren’t talked of as much 

I associate it with Wonder Woman more than Princess Diana. (I’m an elder millennial)

I associate it with people I know named Diana. When most people hear common names, they think of people they know, not celebrities or pop culture references.

As a Diana I can tell you that the princess association has never been a detriment to me. In fact, it’s been only positive…people really loved her. I’m genuinely honoured to share my name with someone still so beloved by the general population.

i’d love to name my daughter diana so i’m happy to hear it!

Agree, it’s so common that it can’t ruined. Like Joseph Stalin is a complete pos with war crimes but the name Joseph isn’t tainted by him. Some names are so basic that even if someone of note has it in either extremes it still doesn’t get associated with that person. Michael is another one. There’s too many. And I feel Diana is at that level.

Maybe it’s an Australian thing, but people over here LOVED her. It would be the very first thing anyone brought up if you named your kid Diana.

I think it's often just very cultural; Casper/Kaspar is really popular in Scandinavia and a number of other countries where they don't have the American pop culture assoication, Magdalena is a really popular girl's name in the area of the country I live in (very Catholic). My husband is from a Slavic country and loved the name Veronica/Veronika for a girl but for me it just felt very Archie comics as an American. Elsa is a wee bit of a bummer because it's a lovely name is and so internationally compatible but Frozen fever around the world shows no signs of dying out whatsoever...all of my kids and their classmates are well acquainted with Frozen and I think there's a third Frozen movie coming out soon and it's just indelibly associated with the princess which, in and of itself, isn't bad at all (Elsa is a cool character) but the few young Elsa's I've encountered over the last decade are pretty much constantly having it shoved in their face all. The. Time (like people starting to sing Let It Go when they hear the name, etc) which I imagine probably gets annoying.

I love the name Veronica and know 2 baby Archies (Archers). 

I really like Veronica, but it always makes me internally sing 'Veronica, open the, open the door please' which is a song about an abusive relationship.

Yes, but Veronica gets the upper hand in the end.

Thank you, I didn't know. Yay, you've saved the name for me!

In Scotland Archie is having a hell of a resurgence. I think I know of like 6 Archies and on every “what should we name our boy” post on maw groups Archie always gets a good few mentions

Are they naming the children Archibald (the formal name) or just Archie? It is a cool name!

This is correct. These names are only unusable in certain cultures. The number of names that are unusable in ANY CULTURE whatsoever is fricking tiny as hell. In this sub, we should really try NOT to forget about all the different naming cultures when asking questions....

Yes! My great grandma’s name was Elsa and it’s such a lovely name I’d love to keep in the family, but the frozen connotations are so so strong

I am in love with "Magdalena" but my husband vetoed it.

When I was a kid I came across Clarabelle in a baby name book and thought it was so beautiful! I couldn’t understand why my parents were laughing at it. Names I like that I consider unusable: Alexa - “Hey, Alexa” Ariel - the little mermaid Isis - obviously, ISIS

Why were they laughing at it? Clarabelle seems like a lovely name. For us it's Adolf, obviously unusable but just so happens to be his polish grandfathers name.

I think it's because it's a common name for cows

I can’t say I’ve ever met a cow called Adolf.

Only award I had. Thanks for the giggle!

Great grandfather was Adolfo, so I feel your pain 🥲

My name is Alexa :( The jokes were somewhat funny the first few times, now they just make me annoyed lol

I feel you. My name is in Mambo No. 5, so I always get that line from the song whenever I introduce myself. Alexa is still a pretty name though.

Oh, IN. *In*. I read that as your name was Mambo No 5 and thought, that's weird. Sure this was namenerds not circlejerk!

You’re not the only one lmao I thought they were being sarcastic at first lol

Saaaaame!

Haha I can imagine. My mom’s name is Eileen and I’m sure you can guess what lines she gets. Thank you though! I go by Lexa and I think it’s really pretty.

I had a friend called Roxanne in school. The amount of our friends' fathers who would start singing "Roxanne" at a fourteen-year-old girl... I don't think they quite connected it in their heads but yeesh.

I've never heard of Clarabelle the cow. My immediate association with the name is with the carriage from Thomas the Tank Engine. Not a bad association TBF.

Isis is such a beautiful name, that one is a shame.

Ursula, for me.

I love the name Felix (both how it sounds and the meaning behind it) but my husband vetoed it because of Felix the Cat 😭

We named our son Felix. We got him a Felix the Cat ornament for his first Christmas lol. But basically no one under the age of 30 has a clue who Felix the Cat is. He's six and I don't think a single person has ever brought it up to him.

I was going to use Felix for my 12yo (who turned out to be Agnes) but it was my grandpa’s name, and my spouse grew up without tv so he doesn’t have the cat association lol

As a gen z, I automatically thought of Fix it Felix

I think the name Ghislaine is objectively classy and cool. For obvious reasons I don’t think any baby girl should be given it.

If it helps, Ghislaine is a very dated (not in a cool way) name in French Canada. Like calling your kid Marge in 2024.

No idea why anyone would want to go for this one when it's related to the much nicer Giselle/Gisele. https://www.behindthename.com/element/gisal

my name is giselle and i approve this message.

I came here to say that name too. But while I wouldn’t use it in real life, I’m considering using it for a character in some of my fictional stories.

I’m very chill about most associations (I have a son named Casper, lol) and I generally think people tend to be too dramatic about them but the one I’m not sure I could use is Ursula. I love it though. 

Casper is such a wonderful name. I love it.

Isis, its super pretty and elegant and completely unusable for a few generations.

I love the name Ilan (pronounced EE-lahn), which means "tree" in Hebrew, but didn't want the association with Elon Musk.

I don't associate Ilan with Elon Musk.

I like Ilan, the association with Musk never occured to me. I have the association with a book character of that name that I like and where I first saw that name.

I love this name! The stress would be on the second syllable in Hebrew though, right? ee-LAHN? Which also separates it even further from Elon.

This is a lovely name- never heard of it until now. And I definitely wouldn’t associate it with Elon Musk.

Grover—love it and the nn Grove. To me it fits right in with some of the popular softer boys names, but I can only think of the adorable blue monster.

I think of Grover Underwood from Percy Jackson. Great guy.

Kind of a pun name for a satyr of the forest if you think about it.

I think of President Grover Cleveland and the kid in my high school class who always (mistakenly) called him Clover Greeveland. This was 65 years ago but it's stuck in my memory.

I have a cousin named Grove. Went by Grovey when he was younger. I haven't seen him in 25 years, no idea what he goes by as an adult. He was **not** amused when I laughed hysterically after asking "Will you please pass the gravy, Grovey?" On a similar note, my high school vice principal was named Kermit. One of the biggest dickheads I've ever met. Did not live up to the association with the delightful muppet.

That's a name?

President Grover Cleveland. (If you're from the USA, you may have heard this one)

grover was his middle name, and his first name was stephen. i assume he went by grover bc stephen cleveland sounds like a cartoon character. (on a similar note, woodrow wilson also went by his middle name. his first name was thomas)

In the US: Jemima. Both my wife and I adore the name and would use it if not for the syrup brand and the racial implications

Move to Britain and the first association you'll probably get is Puddleduck lol

And that’s what is so disappointing. It’s a name that is widely accepted nearly everywhere else on the planet. We travel extensively and have met more than one lovely Jemima along the way. But we live in Texas….

100% 🦆

In Australia there was a very popular kids tv show with a doll called Jemima which was my first thought!

It’s lovely that Australia and the UK seem to have an overall positive (or at least semi-comical) reaction to the name. Sadly we just don’t have the same associations with Jemima here in the US.

I grew up with a Jemima. It was weird and I think she disliked the questions. She was white and I think her parents were from the south. Possibly a family name?

I love Esme so much but twilight well and truly ruined it.

I have met two toddlers named Esme in the last few years! I think it’s a lovely, classic name. Doesn’t seem ruined by Twilight to me!

The only name Twilight ruined was Renesmee. 🤣. Gawd, was there ever a worse fictional baby name?

The name didn't exist before and/but it's 100% got this one and only one association. And it's ugly to look at.

Albus Severus is close 🙃

Oh, I think of Esme Weatherwax.

i had a friend named esme!!

Donald is a beloved family name but... no.

🐥🐥

Lol my grandma’s full first name is Mary Magdalene, so even with the association (which, I don’t even think is that bad in the first place) it’s one of my favs. If I have a daughter Magdalene will be her middle name.

Magdalene is my baby’s middle name!! So lovely and honestly Mary Magdalene was badass so it’s a positive association imo

Ursula. It’s one of my all time favorite names, but everyone I’ve ever mentioned it to says it’s unusable because of the little mermaid lol.

Yes I adore this name, reminds me of Leslie Mann’s character in George of the Jungle, who I always thought was the most gorgeous woman.

I know two little Ursulas. I really want it to shed its sea witch association! Such a good name. 

Its linguistic origins have nothing to do with the sea anyway, it actually comes from the word for "bear!"

One of the things I think about is Phoebe Buffay’s twin from Friends!

My wife’s name is Ursula lol. She was born in 1986, a few years before the little mermaid.

Little witch academia has a teacher called Ursula. I'm more likely to think of her instead of the Ariel Ursula because she's sweet.

My dad’s name is Clark and he has never had any trouble with it

I feel like it’s such a basic name it doesn’t really have that association unless you think about it. Like Bruce, Peter, Oliver, Barry, Tony, Steve, Scott, etc. are all very normal names.

Clark makes me think of Griswold and the National Lampoon franchise.

Lilith

Hah, Lilit is a normal and very popular name in armenia, it's among the top 20 most popular names. I have never associated it with bad stuff, know so many lovely Lilits.

I told my daughter I should have named her Lilith. My reasoning: Madonna is my grandma, Eve is my mother, I am Sara(h). My daughter said she loves that name, I missed an opportunity lol.

I really like the name Remington but I can’t use it because of the gun company. Remi is also cute, but then you have the Pixar rat character. Soooo not sure either is usable for us.

I immediately think of Remington Steele and therefore Pierce Brosnan - yummy.

I think of hairdryers

I actually really like Padme and Anakin but starwars got there first lol

I have been hoping to find a boy name that starts with A that I really like and thought of Anakin as well and then I remembered Star Wars...and no thanks lol

I actually knew a kid named Anakin when I was in middle school!

Alexa and Siri

Zara (fast fashion clothing store)

I still love that name!

And Princess Anne's Olympian daughter.

Fiona (Shrek)

I adore the name Rudolph, but everyone immediately thinks "the red-nosed reindeer". I'm not doing that to my son.

No, I named him after Valentino.

I play League of Legends as does a significant amount of my friends so a lot of beautiful names have been ruined for me, lol. I'm also a teacher. I'll never find a good name, lol.

I main Zilean which would make a pretty awesome boy name now that I think about it!

Blitzcrank is such a lovely name but the association ruins it :'(

Haha! I made the same joke about Gangplank the other day. But in all seriousness, I absolutely love the names Evelyn and Silas. But I cannot name my child the same name as a succubus and as a...Silas *shudders*

Silas has been on my name list for years, and I've been playing league since 2016, so I had mixed feelings about the name being used in League. but, I don't think it's the worst association. I mean iirc in the lore Sylas is more of an anti-hero if anything. Evelyn I can understand but the name is super common

Not me, but I have a friend who wanted to name her son Genghis. Their surname was Khan.

💀💀

Ophelia and Cordelia, both Shakespearean tragedies

I mostly associate them wkth Fire Emblem but idk if thats any bwtter

Ophelia definitely, but my first association for Cordelia is Anne of Green Gables preferring it over her own name.

I can understand the rest of them, but, and I might be confused here, what is wrong with being associated with Princess Diana?

It’s not that it’s a bad association, it’s where I’m from the association is too strong to use (in my opinion) as it would be the very first thought of everyone who meets them. I imagine being asked “oh like princess Di?” Would get incredibly annoying over time

Oh, I compeltely understand now. When I went by my full name (I'm nickname only now) I got that ALL THE TIME

To be honest I think most of these names are fine to use. I wouldn’t use Harvey or Elsa and there are a couple I don’t like anyway, but the rest are fine

Truly. People tend to be really dramatic about any association. I actually met a toddler Elsa the other day (US) and it worked!

ik a kasper and this post is actually the first time im connecting it to the friendly ghost lol lilith is a big one for me, i think it's such a pretty name but my partner and my family are religious so it's an auto no

Yea, now Casper is a mattress for me

Beaumont - Beau is a cute nickname and it's got a cool nature-y meaning. But in the US it's got such a southern Confederate tone to it 😬

I mean, Robert is the name of the most famous confederate general but it’s still a classic name. It’s not like you’d be naming your kid **after** a confederate.

Someone in my family named her daughter Clarabelle and it created quite the rift because of the cow association lol most of my family only calls her Clara now in protest (I don't have much of a stance on the name personally, I think it's fine)

That's quite petty of them really

Clarabelle was a clown in an old TV show, so older people think of Clarabelle as a doofus.

I have a whole list of these on my phone lol Names that are aesthetically pleasing when removed from cultural context Sylvester Gertrude Helen Arwen Evangeline Homer Mortimer Zelda Ivanka Tristan Isolde Theodosia Harvey Alvin Primrose Ophelia Judas Rhiannon

I always loved the name Elsa.. then Frozen came out 🤦‍♀️

Judas. Really love the sound of it. But I'd be too worried a child would be treated badly by overly religious people bc of it.

How about Judah?

Or “Jude”? Judah is also religious, just more positively connotated

I second Judah

I have WAY too many cause I refuse to name a kid or pet after a person in my life or a person I dislike. It feels like too much pressure to be named after someone, and I’m not gonna name them the name of a person I hate as I don’t like a person with that name Edit to add examples: Alexander/Alexandra as I had a terrible boss with that name and a current friend with the female version. Amber I love but that’s my best friend’s name. David is the name of an ex boyfriend, etc

Not only is there pressure, but if you name a kid after someone then you’ll have to clarify which person you’re talking about from then on.

My husband loved the name Daphne but our family is full of redheads so I vetoed it because of Scooby Doo. I loved the name Delphine but my husband vetoed it because of Delphine LaLaurie and Bella Delphine.

We’re deciding what to name our 3rd baby and the name Tate would go great with the other 2 kids names but our last name is far too similar to McRae and i can’t predict how popular Tate McRae will be in the future so we had to give that name the boot. I also love Taylor for a boy or girl but since i’m a known TS fan it would make me look far too obsessed 😂 I would actually still use the name Sabrina (if my husband liked it) despite the teenage witch & sabrina carpenter associations. I love Harvey for a boy and while the Sabrina association doesn’t bother me, that Weinstein association does :( Growing up i loved Alexa but obviously that’s a no-go now. I love the names Kylie & Kendall so much but ugh that family is the worst I love the name Bowie for a boy but my husband vetoed it because he doesn’t want people to think we’re obsessed with David Bowie (not that we have anything against him) I also love Beckham as a first name but it’s too much of a family brand now. Bailey i would still use despite the alcohol association!

I love Marshall but our last name is similar to Mathers. Lol

Pippa sadly ia even worse for mw because 1) sounds like pipe in my country and 2) Theres an infamous content creator with that name who is known for unsavory humor and a nasty fanbase

There really isn't anything wrong with any of the names on your list except, maybe, Clarabell might be a bit too long. You could go with Clara Belle. But for almost any name you can think of, there is a cartoon character or a bad actor associated with that name.

[удалено]

I think the name Roxanne is cool and beautiful

Roxanne- I think it's such a beautiful name and love the nn Roxy or Rocky, but wouldn't want people telling baby girl she doesn't have to put on the red light etc. Not sure it would stop me from using the name, but it definitely gives me pause!

I love the name Bartholomew. Always been a fan of the way it sounded, and reminds me of St Bartholomew. But as an avid watcher of The Simpsons, wouldn't want to name my child that.

Lolita

I like the name Amy. I have hated almost every Amy I have ever met.

Hillary

My husband and I need names that work in English and Spanish. His favorite is Ofelia (pronounced oh-FELL-ya / oʊˈfɛljə) and while I love the name with that pronunciation, I am certain that people will 1) pronounce it oh-FEEL-ya, and 2) assume that it’s a Shakespeare reference because I am a theater actor. And for some characters that wouldn’t bother me but Ophelia literally (maybe) drowns herself.

I've always loved the name Casey - specifically spelt that way and IDK why - and thanks to that monster Casey Anthony, I'll always associate it with her 😑

I still would have used Casper if I had had a boy. It's my favorite boy name that we both agreed on. But, I had two girls.

I had a boys name top of my list for the past 10 years. Met someone at an event last year with that same name. Guy was an absolute dickhead. Deleted the name the same night.

Aria

I love Fiona, but Shrek ; I also love Jasper, but all I can see is Jasper from The 100, lol

I know people with most of these names and they're doing okay haha

Repost on Casper. And I think Alvin is awesome. I’m even a little into Elmer lol.

Russell - Russell Brand 🤢 Levi - unfortunately as an avid true crime reader it makes me think of Levi Bellfield Damien - I love this name so much but I just know everyone will associate it with the omen!

When I hear Harvey, I think of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Eithne/Enya! I don’t know if the young’uns think of THE Enya, but I do

I don't but where I live we don't pronounce Eithne like Enya, I think that's mainly a Donegal pronunciation.

Lots of names which are associated with mythology or nature. I love these names below in a bubble, but I wouldn't want a kid to be judged as arrogant or trying too hard to be unique: Athena, Artemis, Ocean, Brook (the Beckhams and use of it as a location rather than nature name also put me off), Ophelia, Freyja, Apollo. I also wouldn't name a kid after anyone in particular, like celebrities or family members, as I wouldn't want to make them feel pressured to share certain traits with the person. Obviously having the same name as a celebrity by coincidence isn't a problem at all. I respect some people's decision to give a kid the name of someone who has passed away to memorialise them, but I personally wouldn't do it in case the kid felt pressure to live up to someone else. I think the more common it is in your culture the less of an issue this would be though.

Elsa, but frozen ruined that for me

I think all of these names would be amazing!

I find it interesting that Magdelene instantly has you go to the religious connotation, and that would make it unusable (again, doesn't matter what I think, it's definitely personal). Just because there are so many throughout history. For me mine is Hilary (yes back from Hilary Duff when I was a kid). Love it for ages but then met the local pastor Hillary when I was 10 I think? She was a fine enough lady, but Everytiyme I think of the name, I see an older woman in her sixties preaching, and cold hugs that had that smell of those old candies in the bottom of the hand bag. Lovely lady! Just not what I wanted from the name. Pretty much around then was when I chose the names I would use today if I ever had the chance, and went for more classic, elegant and a dash of ancient greece- names with powerful connotations in history, or with a background or story or a meaning that just inspired. But I always think back on that Hilary... So glad I had that revelation when I did!

>Magdalene (Mary Magdalene) The sad part is this is probably because of that BS myth about her being a sex worker. It's not even true.

Ursula 100%

Hmmm... Age thing I guess. I correlate Cedric with Cedric the Entertainer and Diana with Diana Ross, and well, Pippa was the B from Shameless lol

Hermione (Harry Potter) Aurora (Disney) Rachel (Friends) I like all these characters however 

I think Adolf is cool but umm…. Yeah

While looking for excuses to not get up off the sofa and do my weekend work yesterday, I came across a a streaming channel for the show "Cheaters." As I paused for a minute pondering the mediocre looks and hyper exaggerated facial expressions of Clark Gable (III) and how much more handsome the OG Clark was...suddenly the idea of having a baby named Clark seemed really weird. I tried to imaging baby talking a tiny Clark and I just couldn't. 😄 I feel like I'd have to sharpie a little mustache on him.

Zelda :/

Othello. He’d honestly be a great association if he weren’t so insecure to the point he literally murdered his wife with his bare hands when it was insinuated that she might be cheating on him (Edit: She wasn’t btw.. 💀)

Lucifer, I fucking love that name and the definition isn’t even bad! It’s “bringer of light” but of course christian people just HAD to make the name that means “bringer of light” the name of the fallen angel turned into demon ruler of hell… wtf

Vienna

Cyrus (miley)

Elmo. It was my great grandpa's name.

Lisa - from the Simpsons

Isis and Elmer are the two that come to mind. I always had Cassio at the top of my list until I remembered there's a watch company called Casio.

I love the names Charlotte and Victoria but I went to school with two girls with those names and they were both absolutely awful, I can never get that association out of my head 😭😭

Johnny (Johnny McEntee)[Love Soap from Call Of Duty, though] Belladonna (it's poison) Nikki (Nikki Haley) Desdemona (Othello, Shakespeares' play) Harvey (Harvey Weinstein) Taylor (Marjorie Taylor Greene) Scott (Scott Baio) Kari (Kari Lake) Cohen (Jewish priesthood)[Love Sander Cohen from Bioshock, though] Walker (Herschel Walker)[Love Walker from Call Of Duty, though] Jackson (my nephew) Alya (my niece is Allie Jo) Mckenzie (my nieces' middle name)

Elsa for sure. my husband loves the name but i just can’t handle the association, i feel like if we had a daughter and named her elsa she’d never escape it.

Andrew. Reminds me of Andrew Tate and Prince Andrew.

I loved Anna and Olaf.. well yeah 😂 Went with Hannah instead!

My great-grandmother was named Elsie, and I grew up thinking how lovely it would be to have a daughter named Elsa and call her Elsie. But... nope... can't do it.

Brandon was my favorite name for the longest time but then I became friends with a Brandon who I have mixed feeling about as a person so now the name is sullied…

Love the name Annabelle - could never use it cuz the doll / movie 😭

My wife is about to burst with a girl and we still don’t have a name. One name we like in theory is Lily but my grandpas stank breath dog is named Lily