Ok so last month, my husband and I along with the kiddos, including two little babies, moved down to the South. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband got a job doing in [name_f]Atlanta[/name_f], and so far the South has been great. The house next door has three little boys named, [name_m]Jackson[/name_m] [name_u]Rhys[/name_u], [name_u]Sawyer[/name_u] [name_m]Hayes[/name_m], and [name_u]Grady[/name_u] [name_u]Carter[/name_u]. I had to ask the middle names since I loved the first ones so much! [name_f]My[/name_f] question is, [name_f]Do[/name_f] these names have a Southern vibe about them or is it just me??? Thanks!
They sound pretty southern to me, but I’m from the west coast so I wouldn’t know… 
[name_m]Jackson[/name_m] (not so much [name_u]Rhys[/name_u]), and [name_u]Sawyer[/name_u] [name_m]Hayes[/name_m] definitely sound it to me. I love the [name_u]Sawyer[/name_u] [name_m]Hayes[/name_m] combination though!
Depends on what “type” of Southern we’re talking about. If you mean the hipster cowboy feel, then yes! Those names definitely fit into that category. But traditionally in the South, you choose surnames from your grandparents or parents, or name your kid after a family member. For example, I grew up in [name_f]Alabama[/name_f], right on the border to Mississippi (you don’t get much more Southern than that), my name [name_u]Jamison[/name_u] and my brother’s MN [name_u]Jameson[/name_u] are after my dad [name_u]Jameson[/name_u]. Other brothers include [name_m]Alston[/name_m], [name_m]Rhett[/name_m], and [name_u]Roscoe[/name_u], three surnames from the [name_u]Shaw[/name_u] family tree.
But then again, I also have a brother named [name_u]Sawyer[/name_u] as well. He is the only one in our family to not be a “Something [name_m]Junior[/name_m]”.
They are wonderfully southern.
I’m southern so not really. [name_m]Just[/name_m] regular nice names.
I’m from the edge of the South–northern VA, but my dad and paternal family are actually from [name_f]Atlanta[/name_f]. [name_m]Hayes[/name_m], [name_u]Grady[/name_u], and [name_u]Carter[/name_u] all seem really Southern to me, in a nice way. [name_m]Hayes[/name_m] in particular is very handsome and traditional. [name_m]Jackson[/name_m] is popular everywhere, but still feels a bit Southern to me. Same with [name_u]Sawyer[/name_u]. [name_u]Rhys[/name_u] really feels like the odd one out: it’s not very Southern, and also just doesn’t seem like the same style as the other names in general. They’re all good combos, though. I love [name_m]Jackson[/name_m] [name_u]Rhys[/name_u] in particular, although [name_m]Hayes[/name_m] might be my favorite out of the whole bunch.
Yes. It’s that charming, surname-y Southern feeling. [name_u]Rhys[/name_u] is the only one that stands out a bit, with its traditional spelling (you’ be more likely to see [name_u]Reese[/name_u] down here, for a first or a last name) but still fits.
I think [name_m]Jackson[/name_m] [name_u]Rhys[/name_u] and [name_u]Sawyer[/name_u] [name_m]Hayes[/name_m] are my favourite boys’ combo of this week and even a bit longer! Really lovely names! They do make me think of hipster cowboys though, which is not a bad thing at all.
Anyways, I’m not american, so my vision of the american south comes from movies and TV shows (and country songs, a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine), so they do seem very southern/dixie to me, as do [name_f]Magnolia[/name_f] and [name_f]Annabeth[/name_f] on the girls’ side! =)
PS: is the term dixie offensive? I’ve always heard of it in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s songs and [name_m]Hart[/name_m] of [name_f]Dixie[/name_f] and so on, but I read somewhere it is offensive and now I’m unsure. Could someone enlighten me on this? If it is, I’m sorry. :?
No, not especially. There’s really no such thing as “Southern names”. We mainly use the same names as everyone else. And [name_f]Atlanta[/name_f] isn’t even all the “southernish” anymore. There are too many transplants.
One test to see how Southern your neighbors are: [name_m]How[/name_m] do they pronounce [name_u]Sawyer[/name_u]?
[name_m]Born[/name_m], raised, and living in [name_f]Louisiana[/name_f] so I can also agree that the names we use aren’t that different from the rest of the country. (You’re probably thinking of the Antebellum south.) We don’t seem to use familial surnames much anymore, at least I’ve never met anyone with a family surname for a first. There are a lot of weird ones here that would be unusable in the first place. [name_m]Jackson[/name_m] is popular in my state, but I feel like very few people have ties to it, it’s just the trend.
@caroline I don’t think it’s offensive at all and have no idea why it would be…
http://www.mom365.com/babyphotography/la/womens-and-childrens-hospital.aspx (click the mom’s names to expand the announcement)
For anyone interested, birth announcements from [name_m]Lafayette[/name_m], LA. I think you’ll find most of the names are butchered spellings, made up, and trendy names. There are some gems (Fisher, Holden,) but they’re definitely rarities among these babies.
@oiseau, thank you! I read it was offensive in the wikipedia, while looking for the “I wish I was in [name_f]Dixie[/name_f]” song. (Dixie (song) - Wikipedia ). If you google “dixie, offensive”, you’ll find lots of opinions on the matter. I quote wikipedia:
“The song originated in the blackface minstrel shows of the 1850s and quickly became popular across the United States. Its lyrics, written in a comic, exaggerated version of African American Vernacular English, tell the story of a freed black slave pining for the plantation of his birth. During the American Civil War, “[name_f]Dixie[/name_f]” was adopted as a de facto anthem of the Confederacy. [name_m]New[/name_m] versions appeared at this time that more explicitly tied the song to the events of the Civil War. Since the advent of the [name_u]North[/name_u] American Civil Rights Movement, many have identified the lyrics of the song with the iconography and ideology of the Old South. Today, “[name_f]Dixie[/name_f]” is sometimes considered offensive, and its critics link the act of singing it to sympathy for slavery or racial separation in the American South. Its supporters, on the other hand, view it as a legitimate aspect of Southern culture and heritage and the campaigns against it as political correctness. The song was a favorite of President [name_m]Abraham[/name_m] [name_m]Lincoln[/name_m]: he had it played at some of his political rallies and at the announcement of [name_m]General[/name_m] [name_m]Robert[/name_m] E. [name_u]Lee[/name_u]'s surrender.”
I guess it’s considered offensive the same way [name_f]Jemima[/name_f] is? I was not familiar with the “aunt [name_f]Jemima[/name_f]” question, and wasn’t with the [name_f]Dixie[/name_f] and [name_f]India[/name_f] questions either (although I’m one of those who consider [name_m]Cohen[/name_m] offensive - but that’s because I’m half jew and grew up with both cultures).
Anyway, thank your for your answer, and sorry for going off-topic =)