View Message

This is a reply within a larger thread: view the whole thread

[Opinions] Re: Laura or Lauren?
I was talking to a friend a while back and I can't exactly remember the conversation, but his initial comment was something like "we better meet for brunch early tomorrow to beat all the Emilys." He was, of course, suggesting that Emily is the most basic of white girl names, so bland that it could be used as a term for the archetypical basic ass white girl obsessed with brunch. I was thrilled with this, but I suggested that Lauren was actually a better name to use than Emily. Everyone agreed instantly. All this to say, while I like the sound of Lauren, it is so basic, so insipid, that it could be anybody (in an American context at least).This is why I prefer Laura. It feels slightly out of fashion and lacks Lauren's polish, but it's spunkier, less generic... more dignified almost?
______________________________________________________________________

This message was edited 7/9/2018, 2:47 AM

Archived Thread - replies disabled
vote up1

Replies

For me the most basic "generic seeming" white girl's I've known have been named Julia or Caitlin/ Caitlyn or Britney/ Brittney/ Brittany.Allison, Ashley, Emily, Kristina/ Christina, Jess/ Jessica, and Samantha are the next names I'd put on that list but most of them have been a bit more quirky.Even though I know a lot of Laura's, Amanda's, Melissa's, and Nicole's/ Nikki's about half of them have been black.The only Lauren I knew was white and she was a bit of a "generic white girl" although she was a really good ballerina rather than someone who just dabbled in ballet. As a kid she got to be in the professional Pacific Northwest Ballet Company's performances of The Nutcracker each year at the McCaw Hall.
----------

This message was edited 7/9/2018, 2:09 PM

vote up1
For me, it’s Amber.
vote up1
the "basic" girl to me ....Would be more likely to be Jen. Not Jennifer, and very possibly Jenn and she has to make a big point that she's "Jenn with two n's."
Or Sarah.
vote up1
Jen is definitely basic, but Lauren is almost more so. Jen is like 80's basic and Lauren is more 90's basic IMO. I think Sarah is so neutral that it's not even basic.
vote up1
Heh...I joke around with one of my friends about being a basic, white girl named Jen. It's a character we play with, sometimes. It's amusing to me that someone else feels this way about that name.
vote up1
It's funny ...Because I don't feel quite the same way about Jenny or Jennifer. Even though both those names are pretty "basic" too, Jennifer seems to have more personality than Jen does, and Jenny seems more friendly.
vote up1
This is how I picture a Jen:
vote up1
I picture Jen's to have dark brown almost black hair. I picture them being fairly reserved.
--------
vote up1
I agree with Sarah but must Jens I know are not at all basic so that's colored my view of the name. I actually do like the name Lauren but I've known such boring ones.
vote up1