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Help[Opinions] American Sounding Names
I mean the names which don't (or never) ranked in the USA charts or just the names which you think "The bearer must be American" when you hear or see them. Thank you.
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80's names like Tiffany, Brittany, Justin, and Chad and 50's names like Susan, Linda, Larry, and Randy. Nick-name-y names like Bob, Sam, Peggy, and Molly.
Basically any name that is specifically attached to a decade or that passed through a short phase. Europeans tend to be more grounded in tradition in naming, choosing names with personal or historic significance. Americans, on the other hand, are more aesthetic and thus the "American" naming style follows what "looks" or "sounds" good at that time. It is influenced by fads and momentary trends.
Basically any name that is specifically attached to a decade or that passed through a short phase. Europeans tend to be more grounded in tradition in naming, choosing names with personal or historic significance. Americans, on the other hand, are more aesthetic and thus the "American" naming style follows what "looks" or "sounds" good at that time. It is influenced by fads and momentary trends.
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Generally nickname-names are a very American thing - especially in the 50's, shortened forms like Jackie, Frankie, Susie, Eddie, Sally and Ernie were very popular. I'm sure those forms did chart back in the day, but they are much less popular now. However, whenever I see them (especially if they are compounded: Jackie-Frank, Susie-Jo, Sally-Anne) I find them to be extremely "American".
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That's true, and kind of funny because nickname-names are really common in the UK right now, but not quite as common in the US.
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At my blog (link below) I posted a bit about the nicknames vs. longer names between the countries.
http://millennialkelly.blogspot.com/2009/11/usuk-on-longer-names-vs-nicknames-as.html
http://millennialkelly.blogspot.com/2009/11/usuk-on-longer-names-vs-nicknames-as.html
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I've noticed that too! At least in the UK BA's that some people post here. I think in the UK, nickname-names are being seen as hip and fresh again, while in North America they are still seen as somewhat dated, and are associated with babyboomer names and 1950's sitcoms. You Europeans are so ahead of the curve!
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Names that I think of as American:
(f) Lori, Kimberly, Kendra, Nancy, Sherry, Candy, Teri, Hope, Virginia, Lois, Lucille, Laverne, Crystal, Dana, Erin, Eden, Amber, Alyssa, Chelsea
(m) Willard, Wilbur, Eugene, Chester, Marvin, Earl, Randy, Dale, Duane and Dwayne, Curtis, Otis, Travis, Dustin, Chad, Jared, Nathaniel, Cory / Corey, Zachary, Jedediah, Micah, Cole, Wade, Gram and Marlon
Plus: all surname-names that aren't Scottish on boys and all surname-names on girls, most place-name names (especially ones like London and Camden and Ireland), most word-names (River, Brooke, Crystal etc) and anything with apostrophes, internal capitalisation, or an unusual spelling that isn't obviously European, especially if it ends in -lynn or -leigh.
(f) Lori, Kimberly, Kendra, Nancy, Sherry, Candy, Teri, Hope, Virginia, Lois, Lucille, Laverne, Crystal, Dana, Erin, Eden, Amber, Alyssa, Chelsea
(m) Willard, Wilbur, Eugene, Chester, Marvin, Earl, Randy, Dale, Duane and Dwayne, Curtis, Otis, Travis, Dustin, Chad, Jared, Nathaniel, Cory / Corey, Zachary, Jedediah, Micah, Cole, Wade, Gram and Marlon
Plus: all surname-names that aren't Scottish on boys and all surname-names on girls, most place-name names (especially ones like London and Camden and Ireland), most word-names (River, Brooke, Crystal etc) and anything with apostrophes, internal capitalisation, or an unusual spelling that isn't obviously European, especially if it ends in -lynn or -leigh.
This message was edited 11/12/2009, 4:14 PM
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Kristen and Lori. I have never seen those on an English person.
Also, names ending in ly where in Britain we'd tend to go for ley e.g. Shelly, Kimberly, Beverly. Apart from Ashley on a girl. Until recently this was a male name with Ashleigh occasionally used for girls.
As other people have said, surnames on girls like Taylor.
Lynn as a middle name. I hardly see it over here.
There are probably loads more but I need to go to bed now!
Also, names ending in ly where in Britain we'd tend to go for ley e.g. Shelly, Kimberly, Beverly. Apart from Ashley on a girl. Until recently this was a male name with Ashleigh occasionally used for girls.
As other people have said, surnames on girls like Taylor.
Lynn as a middle name. I hardly see it over here.
There are probably loads more but I need to go to bed now!
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Really? There was a Jennifer in my year (and a Jenni) and I work with a Jennifer known as Jen/Jenny. I have known a few so I think of it as being a fairly typical name although nowhere near as popular as in America. One thing I do notice is that Jenny is a common nickname here but it seems in America Jennifer is usually just shortened to Jen. I could be wrong about that though.
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From my experience, I've never met or heard of a Jennifer/ Jenny/ Jen from Great Britain. When I was a kid/ teen, we usually were Jenny. My cousin's wife (the other Jennifer Marie) is always Jen, and I'm Jenny. At work, I'm Jennifer, or Jen if a coworker wants my attention. That could be related to the age of the person, though. Jenny seems to informal for a workplace to me.
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The spelling 'Ashley' for a girl seems American. I think of Ashley as male anywahere else, and Ashleigh as female.
Edit: Also names like Dakota, other american place names. Nevaeh is another name that hasn't really had much popularity outside of the U.S.A.
Edit: Also names like Dakota, other american place names. Nevaeh is another name that hasn't really had much popularity outside of the U.S.A.
This message was edited 11/12/2009, 1:55 PM
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