My brother's Facebook post on popular Utah names

[Color Me Badd Fan]

As I've mentioned before, I teach in the primary. I also live in an incredibly homogenous ward. There are a ton of people that are the same exact age as my wife and I and there are a lot of children in the ward. In the 4-5 year old range (kids born in 2004), there are literally 20 active kids. There are a few kids that have older teenage siblings, but not many. Most of the parents are in their late 20s through mid to late 30s. What this means, is that I have a lot of experience with these names.

What always seems to amaze me is the "what the hell, let's look for a last name that sounds cool or we can just make something up and piece together a few cool sounding syllables" influence. My brother didn't even scratch the surface. There's a kid in my class named Becker. I'm not kidding you. Somehow it didn't dawn on the parents that from the minute a kid at school learns the word pecker, Becker will be teased relentlessly. There's a Kelton. There's a Bitner. I believe there are both boy and girl Braxtons.

When my wife got pregnant, we narrowed down our list of boys and girls names to three on each side. Given how horrendous the last bad naming trend went (the WWII generation) and my grandmothers having siblings with following names: Afton, Alta, Louella, Bertha, Golda and Seymour- we decided not to get caught up with the trend- but one of the names for a boy we had on our list that was somewhat trendy earned the derision of my father. Owen was the name. When I told my dad about it, he basically said "Are you kidding me, that's the name of the guy from Hee-Haw. Why the hell would you do that to your kid."

On an interesting note, I don't think I've seen a single Emily in our primary of many kids. Apparently, between all the Adysons, Rileys, Camris and Braxtons, there's no room for an Emily, or Sara, or Rachel or Rebecca.

[Donuthole]

Here are the names of the grandchildren in my and my wife's families:

Dallin, Jaxon, Noah, Mia, Mikele, Hailey, McKenna, Ivy, Austin, Schaeffer, Harlie, Braxton, Justice, Chloe, Belle.

Two of those are my children. Unlike others, however, it doesn't bother me in the slightest when people don't like the names we chose for our children. Chances are, I don't like the names they chose for theirs, either.

[SteelBlue]

Oh dang....
I was really hoping not to step on anyone's toes, and therefore probably shouldn't have posted it. It's the Vicodin talking.

FWIW, we named our first son Britton. Fire away.

LOL, seriously not offended. Until about 5 years ago (while reading a cb thread on horrible Utah names) I had no idea the name had gained any popularity. I still don't think we've met anyone else who spells it that way. That's the nature of the game when you choose a different spelling. Some love it, some really hate it and most just don't care. That spelling though isn't really new. Like I said the guy my dad stole it from is coming up on 70 years old. I once read in American Heritage magazine that Andrew Jackson occasionally used an "x" in his younger days, though I've never seen this written anywhere else (and he was a notoriously crappy speller I believe).

[cougjunkie]

I teach Nursery as well and the kids in our class are as follows:

Matt, Koda, Brooklyn, Alyssa, Paige, Olivia, Zachary, Isaac, Gage, Mason.

Nothing to crazy on that list, except maybe Koda.

My wife is the youngest of 14, she has a huge family, a few of the grandkids names:

Makayla, Jackson (no X), Mckenna, Emily, Samantha, Andrew, Barrett, Madison, Jaden, Cassidy, Megan.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Here are the names of the grandchildren in my and my wife's families:

Dallin, Jaxon, Noah, Mia, Mikele, Hailey, McKenna, Ivy, Austin, Schaeffer, Harlie, Braxton, Justice, Chloe, Belle.

Two of those are my children. Unlike others, however, it doesn't bother me in the slightest when people don't like the names we chose for our children. Chances are, I don't like the names they chose for theirs, either.

My prediction on what you named your kids from that list: Noah and Chloe.

Our little girl is the only grandchild on my wife's side. So for my side it goes as follows:

Chad, Rosie (ugh), Trent, Vanessa (ugh), Ashley, Elizabeth, Caroline, Katie, Susanna, Thomas, Gracie, and Rebecca.

Apparently, all of these kids could have been born in the 70s or 80s, with the exception of Rosie (1920s) and Gracie (common name given to girls nowadays).

[Donuthole]

My prediction on what you named your kids from that list: Noah and Chloe.

Wrong on both counts.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I teach Nursery as well and the kids in our class are as follows:

Matt, Koda, Brooklyn, Alyssa, Paige, Olivia, Zachary, Isaac, Gage, Mason.

Nothing to crazy on that list, except maybe Koda.

My wife is the youngest of 14, she has a huge family, a few of the grandkids names:

Makayla, Jackson (no X), Mckenna, Emily, Samantha, Andrew, Barrett, Madison, Jaden, Cassidy, Megan.

I like the prevalence of the name Jaden in Utah. It's nice to see Utah returning to the old habit of giving their kids names that are usually only seen in the African American community.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Wrong on both counts.

Damn, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Mia and Austin?

[Donuthole]

Damn, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Mia and Austin?

I figured as much. Pick the two you like the least, and you're probably getting closer.

[FN Phat]

My wife's name is Chelsea. I knew how to spell her name from the second I met her. There is no other way to spell it. We've had a president's daughter with the same name. It's not obscure. However, I have yet to ever have someone correctly spell her name on the first guess.

My wife's name is Chelsea as well. She has experienced the same for most of her life. I don't get it.

Pronounced Chelt-see

This is her number one pet-peave. She hates the Utah version of her name.

[beefytee]

My guess it that at the rate we're going, anyone with kids or even nieces and nephews is going to be able to be offended by someone before this thread dies down.

[FN Phat]

We named our boy after both of his grandpas. It violates two of the rules that have been mentioned. It is a variation of a name and ends in -on.

Funny that one of the rules is from his Uncle. Might have to rethink the next one being his name sake

[All-American]

My brother had twins and named them Emerson and Finlay. My eyebrows were raised, I confess.

They just happen to be two of the most adorable little boogers around, so I've gotten over it.

[Flystripper]

Well my daughters name is on that list.

my daughter's name is on the list as well and I live in CA.

[Surfah]

We named our boy after both of his grandpas. It violates two of the rules that have been mentioned. It is a variation of a name and ends in -on.

Funny that one of the rules is from his Uncle. Might have to rethink the next one being his name sake

Hey my own name ends in -on.