One can lose hours of their life scrolling through Reddit feeds, and we recently stumbled across one that took us down a bad baby name rabbit hole. The user u/TIFUstorytime asked the question, “What name is ruined for you?” And the responses are downright shameful. There are a variety of reasons a name can be “ruined” for folks, including students who rubbed their teachers the wrong way and baby names that ended up being tainted by pop culture.
We decided to take a deep dive into these “ruined” names to share the most entertaining and intriguing among them. From names that are better fit for dogs to annoying people who completely turned folks off from a name, there’s no shortage of appellations that people are totally over. Join us as we discuss the names that should be retired indefinitely.
Karen
“Karen,” one user shared. “My friend, Karen, is not taking the comments well. Breaks my heart”
Alex
“I have a bad association with the name Alex,” another reply reads. “In college, I sat next to an Alex in art history, and he was always drinking coffee, and after every sip, he would go, ‘Ahh!’ Every two seconds — ‘Ahh!’ — and he would take, like, 40 sips. I had to drop the class!”
Harmony
“Harmony,” one person chimed in. “I’m a teacher, and all the Harmonys I’ve had were not at all harmonious.”
Hermione
“Hermione,” another user said. “I first saw the ’60s movie version of The Music Man in seventh grade in 1997 and fell in love with the character of the Mayor’s wife, played by Hermione Gingold. I decided then that I wanted to name my first daughter after her. I’m still pissed at J. K. Rowling for ruining that name, even though I did grow to love Hermione in the books.”
Siri
“I had a classmate in high school whose family friends named their daughter Siri literally two weeks before Apple announced their new virtual assistant technology,” another explained of the baby name Siri that Apple ruined.
Trevor, Travis, Dax, Jenica, and Ashlynn
“As a teacher, there are several names that are forever ruined for me: Trevor, Travis, Dax, Jenica, and Ashlynn, to name a few,” an educator admitted.
Milo
“As someone named Milo…I’d have to say Milo,” a man named Milo wrote in. “Nearly every Milo I meet in real life turns out to be a dog.”
Aaron
“Aaron — thanks Key & Peele,” another said, referring to the infamous skit.
Katie
“Katie,” another person shared. “It’s so strange because Kates, in my experience, are lovely people, but Katies are not. What goes wrong with that extra syllable?”
Devin
“Any time I hear the name Devin, I can’t help thinking about the SNL skit ‘The Californians,'” a person explained.
Astrid
“Astrid, because of that episode of The Office where Michael keeps pronouncing it ‘a**-turd,'” yet another person said of a pop culture reference ruining a baby name.
Brock
“Brock,” someone with a strong opinion shared. “What kind of name is that, anyway? Sounds like someone vomiting *BROCK*.”
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Aiden, Brayden, Jayden, Cayden, Zayden, etc.
“Aiden, Brayden, Jayden, Cayden, Zayden, etc., etc. There are no names you’ll hear screamed more at grocery stores,” one user who frequents grocery stores said of these baby names.
Jenny
“Jenny. (Forrest Gump ruined it. ‘Jenn-NAY!’),” one movie buff wrote of Tom Hanks‘ southern accent in the classic movie.
Eric
“Eric,” one person replied. “All because of a silly and, at times, absolutely god-tier TV series (South Park). Screw you, Cartman, by the way.”
‘J’ Names in General
“After dating three Jasons and two Joshes…definitely any ‘J’ names,” a person who has been burned by too many Jasons and Joshes said.
Donald
“Donald,” a user replied with no explanation needed. According to baby name data collected by the Social Security Administration, they are not alone in this sentiment. The name has tanked in recent years.
Lana
“Lana, because of what it says spelled backwards,” someone noted. We never even thought about that.
Angel
“Angel,” someone said of a baby name that should be heavenly but is not. “Some guy I used to work with robbed the business, causing them to close down. Never trust a guy named Angel.”
Chad
“Chad,” a reply reads. “It’s my name, and I hate that it became shorthand for entitled jerks.”
Alexa
“Alexa, at least in terms of naming a child or pet, thanks to the Alexa device,” a person who is not too pleased with Amazon shared.
Katrina
“I happened to know two women named Katrina — a bright, pretty, Scandinavian-sounding name — at the time of the catastrophic 2005 hurricane,” someone said. “I feel sorry for them in the sense that ‘Katrina’ is now shorthand for natural disaster and tragedy.”
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Naomi
“Naomi because it’s ‘I moan’ backwards,” a user pointed out. We never knew so many people read names from back to front for sport.
There you go! Now, you know all of the names that people are completely over and the varied reasons why that’s the case. Name preferences vary greatly from person to person, so that means that this list represents a diverse set of hated appellations. Feel free to share the names that are ruined for you in the comments.
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