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[Opinions] "American names"? Part 1
Hello everybody, long time no see!
Well, well, I'm at home with a bad cold and reading A World of Baby Names by Teresa Norman. A great book, mostly correct. But some of the names listed as "American" sound so strange to me. I'm from Sweden, so I'm not really updated about what names that are used "over there", but those of you who live in the USA or Canada, have you heard any of these? (Of course you can just comment on the names if you want to, wherever you live! :))"AMERICAN" BOYS' NAMES
Archer
Arnel
Banner
Bannock
Bay
Bear
Brazier (yes, seriously!)
Camus
Case
Cack
Deston
Duran (Duran Duran!?)
Everest
Finch
Fleet
Free
Jaxson (ick ick)
Jededish (a jade dish!?)
Jerran
Jevin
Kalen
Kipp
Kivi (this is Finnish for "stone" and definitely not a Finnish first name!)
Kodiak
Lawyer
Lucky (ick ick)
Pardee
Parish
Park
Pepper
Powell
Rand
Rider
Smokey
Tanier
Tannis (tennis!?)
Tannon
Teger
Trail
Trout
Tupper (ware!?)
Turk
Wesken (almost sounds like the Swedish word for "the bag", väskan)
Zethus (sounds like a disease, I think)

This message was edited 8/31/2010, 1:39 PM

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Archer - I know one
Case - I know a Kase
Cack - oh god this is awful!
Jaxson - I have seen a Jaxon
Rider - 2 celebrities with this name in the US
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Cack was my misspelling. It should be Dack! :)nm
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I'm from Ohio, USA and the only ones I have ever even heard of being used are: Rider (but spelled Ryder) and Jax (not sure if the full name is Jaxson or not...). Overall it is a pretty ridiculous list! BEAR?? lol
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Part 2, Female NamesAlcinda (very beautiful, I think)
Arizona
Arnett
Artia
Baines
Breqlynn
Brice
Brylieva
Calandra (I think it's beautiful, but maybe too close to calendar?)
Cameo
Canada
Chaplin
Charney
Chezna
Cinnabar
Cozette
Crosby (where are Stills, Nash and Young? :))
Danacia
Darenda
Darlonna (ick ick)
Darsell
Denell (duh, Nell)
Enfinity (whaat?)
Ionia
Jatana
Javonna
Jaylene
Jehessa
Jennara
Joceile
Kaiya
Kami (isn't that a Shinto god?)
Karas (car a**)
Kierce
Lazette (sounds like a brand of toilet paper)
Lynnelle
Marcenya
Mare (like "female horse")
Miskaela
Monaco
Neida
Paradise
Philene
Prairie (actually like this)
Rigel
Sahara
Shalana
Shaleen
Shasta
Sondya
Stormy
Tauna
Terris
Tivian
Zhané

This message was edited 8/31/2010, 1:42 PM

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Again not commonI’ve heard of
Arizona
Arnett – doesn’t seem too weird
Brice – but never heard of it on a girl
Calandra
Jaylene
Jenessa – not uncommon
Kaiya
Kami – variant of Cammie
Karas – I think it is like Care-us
Lynnelle – sounds trendy and made-up but really wouldn’t surprise me to see
Mare
Paradise – haven’t heard but wouldn’t surprise me
Shaleen
Shasta
Stormy – I know 2 girls named this
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These are about as American as driving on the left side of the road.
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HahahaI couldn't agree more! It strikes me as one of those book deals given to someone by a publishing company that either didn't care that she knows nothing about names or was completely clueless that she knows nothing about names.

This message was edited 9/1/2010, 9:09 AM

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Arizona - I know one, she's probably 90
Calandra - I read Calandra in a book once and loved it... when I was younger I wanted to use this name.
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I had a student named Cameo last year.
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Thankfully, the only one on this list that I"ve ever known of was a girl named Crosby. I'm sure there are people that are bearers of the other names, but I haven't met them.
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I've come across one BA with a Sahara, and I work with a Stormie. Other than that? Pffft. Again, this author has no clue what they're talking about.How does one define an "American" name, anyway? America is a melting-pot made up of many different ethnicities and languages. Seems silly to designate the most god-awful names you can think of as "Amercian".
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I've seen these used or at least wouldn't be surprised to see them:
Alcinda
Arizona
Calandra - I think it's too close to colander, too
Cozette
Enfinity
Ionia
Javonna
Jaylene
Kaiya
Lynnelle
Paradise
Sahara
Shalana
Shaleen - this and the one above sound like African-American names
Shasta
StormyBut these I've never heard of or would be very surprised to see:
Arnett
Artia
Baines
Breqlynn
Brice
Brylieva
Cameo
Canada
Chaplin
Charney
Chezna
Cinnabar
Crosby
Danacia
Darenda
Darlonna
Darsell
Denell
Jatana
Jehessa
Jennara
Joceile
Kami
Karas
Kierce
Lazette
Marcenya
Mare - yeah, that would be weird
Miskaela
Monaco - hasn't quite made the random place name trend!
Neida
Philene
Prairie
Rigel
Sondya
Tauna
Terris
Tivian
ZhanéAlthough a few of those would be quite believable African-American names, I think.
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Alcinda - pretty rare
Arizona - shows up from time to time
Arnet - never seen this
Artia - never seen this
Baines - ack, nope
Breqlynn - not totally out of the question, but I've never seen it
Brice - occasionally you find one
Brylieva - never seen
Calandra - lovely, but never seen one
Cameo - there are always a few of these born every year
Canada - I don't think so
Chaplin - nope
Charney- never seen one, but doesn't seem too out of the realm of possibility.
Chezna - never seen
Cinnabar - seen once or twice
Cozette - occasionally for Les Mis fans
Crosby - seen it once or twice
Danacia - More common as Danasia
Darenda - never seen
Darlonna - awful, but not out of the realm of possibility
Darsell - ditto Darlonna
Denell - usually Danelle or Donelle
Enfinity - unfortunately, Infinity, Enfinity etc. are becoming more popular.
Ionia - never seen
Jatana - I could see this
Javonna - somewhat popular along with Giovanna, Giavana etc.
Jaylene - yes, this is not uncommon
Jehessa - never seen, maybe a typo for Jenessa?
Jennara - never seen, but it could happen
Joceile - never seen
Kaiya - more often Kaya or Kaia
Kami - more often Cammie or Cami
Karas - never seen
Kierce - huh?
Lazette - Lisette, Lizeth etc. is not unusual in Latin neighborhoods
Lynnelle - shows up from time to time
Marcenya - weird
Mare (- I don't think so
Miskaela - huh?
Monaco - no
Neida - you might find one or two older ones
Paradise - yup, every year a few babies get named this
Philene - never seen
Prairie - rare, but not unheard of
Rigel - never seen
Sahara - pops up from time to time
Shalana - not that unusual
Shaleen - ditto Shalana
Shasta - popped up from time to time in the 90s
Sondya - nope
Stormy - pops up occasionally
Tauna - never seen, but Tana is occasionally used
Terris - never seen, but not out of the realm of possibility
Tivian - never seen
Zhané - there are a zillion spellings of this, Jonay, Shanae etc. There's no good way to spell out the "zh" soundMost of the ones that occasionally pop up on this list are most often found in African-American populations.
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Oops, Jehessa is supposed to be Jenessanm
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Ah yesJenessa/Janessa has been around since at least the 70s. Never hugely popular, though.
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In the USA......these names from your list are ones I've seen or heard in use:Arizona
Jaylene - used to know one; lovely gal inside and out.
Kaiya
Lynnelle
Mare
Sahara
Shasta
Stormy

This message was edited 8/31/2010, 2:06 PM

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My cousin's wife is Denelle, which I believe is a var. of Danielle. Mare Winningham is an actress. Made up names ending in lynn and lee are common. So are names with the first syllable Jay (Jaden, Jade, Jada, Jane could maybe fall in this group). Place names are also common, but usually cities or states, not countries.
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I've seen these on Americans:Arizona -and this is a character on a TV show Grey's Anatomy (as is Addison)
Brice -and Bryce
Chaplin -a celebrity recently used this for a daughter
Cozette -and Cosette
Ionia -this is a place name, as in the Ionian Sea
Jaylene -and Jayllene
Jennara -and Gennara
Kami -spelled Kammy
Prairie -this is a huge GP for me
Sahara
Shasta
Stormy -and Storm on a boy

This message was edited 8/31/2010, 1:49 PM

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Well they aren’t commonI’ve heard of
Archer
Bay
Deston
Jaxon isn’t really that uncommon though
Kalen
Kodiak
Lucky
Pepper – though I hate it
Rider
Turkand a lot of these are more like character names
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Well, I'm an American, and I've never met a soul with the following names:Archer
Arnel
Banner
Bannock
Bay
Bear
Brazier
Camus
Case
Cack
Deston
Duran
Everest
Finch
Fleet
Free
Jaxson (Jackson, sure, but never Jaxson.)
Jedidish (???)
Jerren
Jevin
Kipp
Kivi
Kodiak (like the camera?)
Lawyer (there's one occupation name I haven't thought of.)
Lucky
Pardee
Parish
Park
Pepper
Powell
Rand
Smokey (WTF? This is a cat's name.)
Tanier
Tannis
Tannon
Teger
Trail
Trout
Tupper
Turk
Wesken (???)
ZethusWhich leaves only Kalen and Rider. I want to know where the author of this book did their research, because I don't know ANYONE with names like this.

This message was edited 8/31/2010, 3:22 PM

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The camera is KodakKodiak is an island.
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And a bear. I've heard of a couple people with the name Kodiak but I've never met one.
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Archer -- you find this occasionally
Arnel-- never heard it
Banner - huh? I don't think so!
Bannock - nope
Bay - I've seen this a couple of times
Bear - getting more popular for babies, but still pretty rare
Brazier - never seen
Camus - where did they get this one?
Case - there are a few, esp. as a nn for Casey
Cack- huh? This is awful and I've never even seen it!
Deston - occasionally as Destin
Duran - only as a last name
Everest- nope
Finch - no way
Fleet - ack, nope!
Free - was used occasionally by hippies, short for Freedom sometimes
Jaxson - unfortunately, this is fairly popular for the under-10 crowd
Jededish - I bet this is a typo for Jedediah
Jerran - sort of, more often Jaren
Jevin - it's possible, but I've never seen it
Kalen - more popular as Kaylin and for a girl
Kipp - my uncle's name! It's a family name, as a fn, more common as Kip, but still pretty rare
Kivi - never seen this
Kodiak - in the 90s you found this occasionally as a long form of Cody
Lawyer- uh...
Lucky - sometimes a nickname
Pardee - huh?
Parish - shows up occasionally (last name name)
Park - never seen one
Pepper - I've seen this on a girl once or twice
Powell - there are a few
Rand - not unheard of
Rider - unfortunately, getting more common. Usually found Ryder, though
Smokey - hahahahahah! I'm sure there are a few of them out there
Tanier - never seen
Tannis - never seen
Tannon - never seen, but doesn't look too out-there
Teger - huh?
Trail - maybe Sarah Palin should name her next kid this! Otherwise, never seen
Trout - HAHAHAHAHAH! Never seen (thank god!)
Tupper - never seen
Turk - seriously?
Wesken - never seen this
Zethus - sounds biblical. Never seen it though.
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Oops, and Cack should be Dack. I blame it on my cold :PBut Jededish is not a typo.
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Dack?I've seen Dack (also Dax) here and there. I meant maybe Jedidish is a typo in the book? Lots of books have typos in them; you come up with some funny names that way! One book I have actually has, I kid you not, Sarh instead of Sarah.
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Sarh, oh, how beautiful! Just kiddingMakes me think of SARS.
No the book SAYS Jededish, pronounced je-de-DEESH. Maybe someone once spelled Jedediah wrong and thought that "well, Jededish actually sounds beautiful".
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I like some of these .....
Some that I think are actually okay and kind of fun!
I don't mind:
Archer - I think this would be a cool MN
Bay - I like this as a NN for Baylor or Bailey. And with all the water nature names (Rain, Lake, River, Ocean, etc.) why not Bay? I like the sound.
Bear - I like this as a name for a dog, but as a MN it might be cool
Case
Deston
Everest
Free - I don't find this weird with all the virtue names out there.
Jaxson - I love Jackson. It's the same name, just a different spelling so I don't see why the actual name itself is an issue or a surprise. The spelling isn't shocking either.
Kalen - I love this on a girl. Way too feminine for a boy IMO. But I see nothing wrong with the name and I think it's actually pretty common.
Kipp - it's cute! What's the issue?!
Kivi - This sounds sort of girly, like Keevy (and the Irish-version spellings)
Kodiak - This definitely doesn't surprise. I think it's kind of cool. Kody is a good NN for it.
Rider - Oh this is not surprising in the slightest. Multiple celebrities have sons named this, and I personally know babies with this name.
Tannon
The rest, I don't like at all and most of them surprise me that they made it into a book of names that we use. I'm sure some people are named these, but I'm sure it is really rare. I've never met anyone with these names.
Arnel
Banner
Bannock
Brazier
Camus
Cack
Duran
Finch
Fleet
Jededish
Jevin
Jerran - I don't like the soudn but I can understand this one. It's similar to Joran.
Lawyer
Lucky - great name for a pet
Pardee
Parish
Park - Maybe Parker
Pepper - another good pet name
Powell
Rand
Smokey
Tanier
Tannis
Trout
Tupper
Trail
Teger - I like Teagan, on a girl
Turk - ew
Wesken
Zethus
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I've heard of (although haven't necessarily encountered):"AMERICAN" BOYS' NAMES
Archer
Finch
Jaxson
Kalen
Kipp
Rider
Tupper As I've eliminated the majority of the names on this list, I don't think that it was very American...I can't think of anyone who'd name their kid Jedidish or Trout. A very strange list.
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Many of these aren't actually even considered legitimate by many Americans.
Archer - yes, this one is fairly common, but much more so in Australia or the UK than in America.
Arnel - never heard of it
Banner - why would anyone name their kid after a flag?
Bannock - sounds too much like hammock. Never heard of this either
Bay - this probably is used here, it's just I can't remember seeing it
Bear - definitely not
Brazier - come on, not even us Americans are that bad at naming
Camus - ?
Case - possible. Plenty of guys named Chase, Caden, Casen, Cade...Case is possible, just not common
Dack - wtf? Nobody would name their son something that sounds like a combination of Dick and cackle! That's weird even by trendy American standards.
Deston - name-ish, but I've never actually seen it
Duran - um...it's possible, but nobody, not even a Duran Duran fan like myself, could actually imagine it as a real name.
Everest - very possible. Lots of Everetts arounds, why not Everest?
Finch - I highly doubt that anyone would name their son after a boy.
Fleet - again, too weird even by trendy standards
Free - not a name here. I've come across Freedoms, but never Frees.
Jaxson - actually a name, people sometimes prefer this over Jackson. Yes, I hate Jaxson too. Jackson's a nice name, why can't people accept it the way it is?
Jededish - I hope this is a typo for Jedediah.
Jerran - Perhaps a trendy version of Jerrod? I've never seen it before.
Jevin - possibly a variant of Javan, although most people don't even use that (although I do know someone one BtN has a son with that name).
Kalen - Jalen with a K? Or a masculine form of Kaylin?
Kipp - never seen it
Kivi - again, never seen it. Even if it is Finnish, I guarantee that almost nobody in the US speaks Finnish (unless they are from Finland, of course) and thus have no connection to the word

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A lot of them are surnames or variants. Those tend to be pretty big here. I will say that Cack is the only one I know of ;o) My husband's great grandparents had a thing for plant-like names and his great uncle's name was Cactus nn Cack (DH's grandmother is Vanillia Ophelia).
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I've never read or heard of any of those, and I'm thinking they were termed American because somebody wanted to insult Americans. Might have been an American wanting to insult Americans.
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I've nothing to say apart from 'Caprice!!!' :DYay! :)
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Hi Poppy!Still got that cute cat avatar, I see. :)
I'm thinking about crawling back to BtN. I'm currently at a Swedish Asperger forum (and also at a Sarah Brightman forum where people are crazy...beware, Sarah, beware! :))
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These are the only ones I could see being used or have seen used:
Archer
Jaxson - because people like to spell Jackson creatively
Kalen
Kipp
Rider
Tannis - My husband's cousin's son is named this, but I think they got it from a book or video game or something.These are all totally unheard of to me or I would be completely shocked to see used here:
Arnel
Banner
Bannock
Bay
Bear
Brazier - It's prn. BRAY-zher, it's a surname.
Camus
Case
Cack - way too close to a dirty slang term!
Deston - too close to Desitin, a diaper ointment
Duran
Fleet
Free
Jededish - Sure this wasn't a typo for Jedediah?-- though that's not American
Jerran
Kivi
Kodiak
Lawyer
Lucky
Pardee - This is a surname
Park
Pepper
Rand
Smokey
Tanier
Tannon
Teger
Trail
Trout
Tupper
Turk
Wesken
Zethus
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In the USA......these are the names from your list I've heard or seen in use:Archer
Everest
Jaxson
Kalen
Lucky
PepperOf these, I think I've seen Jaxson most, but none of them are really popular here.
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I've never seen those names, but Jaxson is possible. I've seen/ heard of Jackson and Jaxon. Last names and nature names are common.
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I live in America and I heard of most of these as last names. I only like Archer.
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Well, I'm not American, but out off these I've seen on Americans:Archer -someone mentioned that this was popular in Australia
Arnel -I actually know a Croatian boy with this name, his twin sister is Mirela
Banner -I saw this on a girl
Jaxson -this seems to be a kr8tyve spelling of Jackson influenced by celebrity names with X in them (Maddox, Knox, Bronx...)
Kipp -as a nickname and spelled Kip
Lucky
Pepper
Rand -as a nickname for Randall or Randolph
Rider -and Ryder
Trail
Turk
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