Is Nameberry the Great Equalizer?

[freya_1983]

@kala_way

I’m not sure that’s actually true.

While there are definitely sound combinations that are broadly recognized by most cultures as being more or less pleasant than others, it’s very hard to state definitively that one name is superior to another objectively.

Names that have sound combinations with similarities to ma, da, and pa are usually pleasant because they are the simplest sounds to say and mom/mother and dad/father contain these sounds in almost every language on the planet.

In the same way, sound combinations that are harder to produce or that have similarities to "ugly"words are often seen as unpleasant. Which is why Flugwot isn’t a name. Dissonance is recognized in every language.

Outside of that, what we find to be pleasant or unpleasant is simply a construct of our own language and more so of our culture, society, and personal experiences. People clearly found names like [name_f]Bertha[/name_f], [name_f]Dorcas[/name_f], and [name_f]Helga[/name_f] to be lovely enough to give to their children at one time (and I’m sure still today)–even though many on NB would say they are ugly.

It may feel like these things are so obvious and universal that they’re objective, but that’s just our own bias.

Fair enough. I should have said that within a given culture, we develop standards that define taste and offer parameters within which we all choose to operate (or not). When someone chooses to operate outside those parameters, we assume certain things about the person. Someone who names their child [name_f]Porsche[/name_f] is probably not well-educated whereas someone who names a child [name_f]Portia[/name_f] probably is. Someone who names a child [name_f]Candy[/name_f] probably does not expect her to go to college, and that (the attitude and the name) are widely considered to fall outside the normal societal expectations. Given the reality of those assumptions, naming a child [name_f]Porsche[/name_f] in this society is objectively in bad taste and ill-advised.