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I don’t usually start liking names I actively dislike, but I may start to care more about certain names. I didn’t dislike Michelle, Laura, & Anna before, but they’d never stood out to me until I met amazing teachers with those names. But I dislike the name Bernadette, and having a favorite teacher with that name hasn’t changed that.

This message was edited 5/13/2025, 8:44 AM

Yes, definitely. Recently it's happened to me in a slightly roundabout way with some characters I thought of which include siblings called Sebastian and Viola (named after the twins from Twelfth Night, naturally). I never cared much for Viola as a name, but the fictional Viola in my head (named after Shakespeare's Viola, a character I also admire very much) made the name grow on me immensely in a very short span of time.

I'm more likely to have a name I like ruined by an unpleasant person. My grandfather was my favourite person in the world. Unfortunately my evil sister is named after him and even though I have cut all contact with her, any Ben- derived names make me recoil. I'm passing down my grandpa's surname, so I get to honour him in that way. Point being if a lifelong positive associate can't erase a negative one, I'm not likely to change my opinion on a name I'm not fond of because I like a person who has it. I see it as nice on *that* individual, but when it stands alone the reasons I don't like it are still there.

This happens to me, but more often with fictional characters. I really liked Everything Everywhere All At Once, and suddenly I love the name Joy. Read a webcomic and suddenly like Ashlynn despite not liking -lynn names.

Associations from people and characters do affect my opinions on names - especially the mental imagery I get.
I started liking Clementine when I read more "Clementine" books by Sara Pennypacker.
I started liking William because of a dear friend with the name.
I started liking Melinda because of the book "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson.
I started liking Wendy because of the character from the anime "Fairy Tail".
I started liking Amy because of a friend with the name.
I started liking Micheala because of an actress with the name.
I started liking Addison because of the movie "Z-O-M-B-I-E-S".
I started liking Evie because of the movie "Descendants" and the Pokemon Eevee.

This message was edited 5/12/2025, 11:08 PM

I gave a ride to work to a young lady from Colombia years ago. Her name was Mildred and she was delightful. I came to like the name. The other day, I looked to see what my family's names would have been had they been born 100 years ago. One of my daughter's name would have been Mildred Claire and I was happy to see it!

Oh yes, definitely. If I meet someone lovely with a name I wasn't fond of or didn't care about, it can flip the script for me. A name can also grow on me if someone I really like and admire loves a name. When I was with my Ex, I found an appreciation for Joyce and Jean (m), because he loved them. I didn't care about them at all before (or after him. The magic went out of those names when we broke up). My husband has fascinating name taste that has opened up a whole new world of seeing certain names in a different light. And also, sometimes when I'm playing around with names and make certain combos, they can turn a so-so name into something special. It's like they somehow acquire a soul and they have a kind of magnetism to them. It doesn't happen often, but I love it when it does.

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However, the opposite can also happen - I can love a name to the moon and back, and the second I meet someone uniquely awful called that, it can poison it. Since I started appreciating more common names unfortunately this happens more often! It was much safer when my favourite names were bizarre and obscure.