[name]Hi[/name] everyone, I’ve been on Nameberry for a while but I am just beginning to post lol. I am not expecting or anything but I would like your opinions on a question…
After centuries of people living perfectly normal lives with harsh or unpleasant-sounding names ([name]Hortense[/name] anyone? or [name]Eugene[/name]?), why all of a sudden are people so obsessed with soft or happy sounding names? There’s nothing at all wrong with them of course, we all want our children to have a good name, but what is wrong with the names that are harsher? Does it hurt the way someone is viewed?
Ultimately, I’m not sure it matters but I am curious as to what others think!
I’m not sure if people are more concerned with how names sound now, or if sound preferences have changed, does that make sense? Back when say [name]Hortense[/name] or [name]Eugene[/name] (using your examples) were popular people maybe felt like names such as [name]Chloe[/name] or [name]Logan[/name] had ugly sounds. I think it’s an evolution in how people hear sounds, and what people think sound attractive, kind of like how clothing style has changed over the years
PS I kind of think [name]Eugene[/name] is cute, but I would never admit it or name my child it
I’m sure those names were considered wonderful when they were used, despite sounding “ugly” now. I don’t think anyone ever intentionally gave their child an awful name, I agree that it’s likely just due to the times and tastes changing, in the same way that many of us now dislike names we once loved and love names we once hated!
I agree with pp that it’s probably a matter of evolving tastes. You’d likely find a difference in opinions across cultures today as to what names or sounds are pleasant and which aren’t as well. Also, for some people at least, I’d think that the sounds they’d want to use on a girl and a boy would be different, like “pretty” sounding names for girls, but “strong” or “bold” sounding names for boys, for instance.
I am sure that names that sound “ugly” now sounded great when they were popular! (Although with some names it can be hard to believe) But I guess my real question is would anyone today be opposed to using names with “harsher” sounds to them? Not necessarily ugly names, obviously if you think it’s ugly you wouldn’t use it! But a name that has a heavy sound? To answer my own question, I might consider it (depending on the name, of course), I rather like the sound of d’s or v’s or g’s in names that others might see as too much.
@gabbygrace - I actually kind of agree with you! If it weren’t for a childhood association I had with [name]Eugene[/name], I would probably like it a lot more!
Actually I think some people gravitate toward harsher sounding names. Names like [name]Nash[/name], [name]Gunnar[/name], [name]Zeke[/name], [name]Garrett[/name], [name]Burke[/name], [name]Vlad[/name], [name]Katrina[/name], [name]Jagger[/name], etc. Not all harsh sounding names are unpopular. There do seem to be more people on nameberry who like the more “fluttery, princess” names like [name]Aurora[/name] (which sounds like uh-wa-wah to me, lol), but I don’t know that it reflects the general population.
There are many times when I say “this doesn’t sound pleasant to me” because of the associations it brings up in my mind.
Like [name]Esme[/name]! Everybody seems to love it, but it sounds like asthma to me.
Or somebody was just asking for an opinion on [name]Aislin[/name], which sounds a bit like lazy to me.
Another was Elroe–which sounds like Scooby Doo speak to me, lol
Others like [name]Helena[/name], I love the sound of but I’d never use because of the “hell in a” thing, but I’m kinda weird about puns.
I’m sure other people either have more positive connections to those sound combinations, don’t hear them, or just don’t mind the connection.
I think [name]Eugene[/name] is rather soft sounding. Softer & more pleasant sounding than popular well-loved [name]Jack[/name] or [name]Jackson[/name].
I know what you’re getting at though. Names like [name]Gertrude[/name] or [name]Geraldine[/name], [name]Prudence[/name] or [name]Patience[/name]…it’s more of a clunky or out dated feeling you’re talking about.
I think you should go with what you love regardless of popularity as long as it’s wearable and probably a lot of stuff in the category you’re talking about is pretty hipstery & on the up-tick.
To me, this is more about tone. Other than [name]Patience[/name] there are a lot of hard sounds in those names. There are a few hard consonants I don’t like at all; D, B and K. As a consequence I like very few names beginning with those letters or containing those sounds like [name]Bertha[/name], [name]Caitlin[/name] or [name]Phoebe[/name]. So to my ears, those sound harsh and unpleasant but I know lots of other people who likes them.
Harshness is subjective. What’s harsh to me may not be harsh to you. [name]Geraldine[/name], [name]Prudence[/name], and [name]Eugene[/name] don’t feel harsh to me.
My mom got flack over picking such a harsh name for me, [name]Tara[/name] “TAR-uh”. I like a lot of names that I feel sound harsh
[name]Lachlan[/name]
[name]Sage[/name]
[name]Greer[/name]
[name]Lotus[/name]
[name]Drake[/name]
[name]Hollis[/name]
[name]Deryn[/name]
[name]Dax[/name]
