Has someone ever insulted your name or the names of your children (intentionally or not)? Names are very personal so it’s easy to be hurt by someone’s comments or attitudes. I know it hurts when people say that they don’t like my name, even though I know opinions about names are often based on subjective factors. [name]How[/name] do you respond when your feelings are hurt over a name?
I have a very trendy 80’s name so my name gets bashed a lot on these sites. It hurts, but I try to remind myself that my name isn’t actually bad, people just tend to not like popular/trendy names. Naming kids is more personal, I think, because people are insulting your taste in names.
Everyone has different taste in names. If we all had the same opinions about what sounds good and what doesn’t, all of our kids would have to use their last initial (and middle initial probably) to be distinguishable at school. If I mention [name]Hazel[/name] on this site, everyone loves it. If I were to mention it some other places people would say “oh no thats a horrible old lady name. [name]How[/name] about [name]Haley[/name] instead?”
So I just try to remind myself that its fine if people don’t like the same names that I do, just like its fine if they don’t have the same favorite color or clothing style. And, I remind myself that if they don’t like it, that means they aren’t going to steal it from me and make it more popular.
When my son was little, a lady told me that his middle name sounded “--------” (a nationality different than her own). She said it with a sniff and a snobby tone in her voice. She lives in a very conservative, white bread, wealthy, and extremely boring area, so I figured, consider the source. I love my son’s middle name no matter how many boring and prejudiced people don’t like it!
esylt - I also have a name that’s associated with the 70’s/80’s but I still like it and I wouldn’t trade it for any other name.
jemma - I agree that it’s good we have different tastes because it allows for more variety. My name might not be loved by everyone, but at least I wasn’t one of 5 people in my class with the same name.
susan - I can’t believe how rude some people can be. She may be secretly jealous of your good taste!
susan - I can’t believe how rude some people can be. She may be secretly jealous of your good taste!
If you saw this lady and you saw me, you would know how completely different we are. I am certain that she doesn’t think that I have good taste. But I haven’t seen this lady in years. She would be a bit shocked to know where we live now because it is nice, but incredibly boho. She used to be my father’s secretary, and then she became a realtor, or as she would probably put it, a real-uh-tore. My father insisted that we use her as our realtor when we bought our first house.
I have an overwhelming urge to angram that woman’s name. And you can bet that the “name makeover” that I give her wouldn’t be complimentary! Hahahaha!
Are you inclined to give me a scramble (for privacy) of the letters of her name? It would be delicious revenge!
– [name]Nephele[/name]
tihdju esinnwhat - I think that is the spelling of her last name, but I’m not sure.
With a wave of my magical anagramming wand, I hereby transform the sniffy, snobby lady into…
Janithe Tushwind
= tihdju esinnwhat
Tushwind: “the wind that breaks from one’s tushie.”
See how she likes THAT name. Bwahahaha!
– [name]Nephele[/name]
That’s how I deal with people who say mean things. 
One time I was out with two of my kids: [name]Linus[/name] and [name]Fable[/name]. I was pushing them both in a stroller and one woman nearby told me how cute they were. Then she asked their names. I told her and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. “[name]Linus[/name] and [name]Fable[/name]? What were smokin’ when you had them?” I was quite offended, even more so when she told me she had daughters named (cringe) Zaedynne and Hayddene (Yes those were the spellings, she told me!)
No matter how much I hated those names, I kept my trap shut. Because It’s the polite thing to do.
I’ve even had people look bored about my daughter’s name [name]Laura[/name]. People can be rude!
Anyone who has a popular name from the '80’s or another decade: never think I am being rude about your name. I love a lot of names from back then. They just got very popular and no longer sound like baby names. But they sound fine for adults. My name is [name]Susan[/name]. I love [name]Susan[/name], but it wouldn’t be right for a little baby girl. [name]Susannah[/name] would be more fashionable now. It is kind to give a child an appropriate name so that they can have a happier life. That’s why Nameberry and [name]Pam[/name] and [name]Linda[/name] are so popular. But when you think about it, [name]Jennifer[/name], [name]Jessica[/name], and [name]Kimberly[/name] are all pretty names. I would have been happy with the name [name]Melanie[/name] or [name]Melinda[/name], and they are very dated now.
Zaedynne and Hayddene? Wow. This morning I read a newspaper article about the first day back at a local school. I cringed at the way some of the students’ names were spelled.
I was talking in a big group of people once, and a friend was thinking of a fake name to use for something. And someone who knew my name (my name is [name]Jenn[/name]) said as a joke to use [name]Jenn[/name]. Another person in the group who I had just met quickly replied saying “No, all [name]Jenn[/name]'s are wh*res.” Everyone started laughing (personally I thought it was pretty funny also) but the girl felt really bad and apologized. It was funny because it was such a generalization and I know I am not like that.
I have an extremely popular name so that kind of stuff doesn’t bother me. I know everyone has different experiences with people named [name]Jen/name or [name]Jennifer[/name] so it doesn’t bother me. They don’t have to like my name. It’s just my name, it doesn’t necessarily reflect my personality.
It’s true, name taste can be so wrapped up with identity, memories, and ideals that it can really hurt to be criticized about it. This reminds me in a roundabout way of how much I disliked the name [name]Tiffany[/name] as a kid, actually. It wasn’t the name itself, which sounded like the height of sophistication at the time, but I couldn’t think of any Tiffanys I had met who weren’t stuck up, and I came to associate the name with the sort of person I would inevitably dislike. I finally met a [name]Tiffany[/name] in college, a friend of a friend, who was such a bright, friendly, interesting person that even though I’m not close to her, I now associate the name more closely with those qualities–sometimes that’s all it takes! [name]Just[/name] thought I’d share that as an example of positive change in name judging. Ultimately, the people who appreciate you in life, the people who matter, can’t help but be happy when they think of your name because it reminds them of you. 
I like how someone mentioned that name taste is like choosing a favorite color–I wouldn’t try to convince someone who loves orange that green would be a better favorite color. There are a few practical matters to consider seriously when naming, and beyond taking those into account, it’s just a matter of taste.
I think I’m most hurt when someone suggests (indirectly) that my name is suited to someone uninteresting/unattractive/etc. I can understand someone not liking my name, but to attach personality traits to it makes it very personal.
I try not to generalize, even though I’ve known mean people and couldn’t help but have negative associations with their names, I logically know that someone isn’t bad just because they have a certain name.