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Help[Opinions] Travis
There's an earlier thread called "overload" about twins Travis and Trevor.
In response, Travis was called "trashy" and "tacky."
Travis is one of my sons' names. Now, keep in mind that I didn't name him -- his dad did. At the time, a long, long time ago, I had never heard of the name Travis. But it didn't strike me as trashy or tacky. Of course, now, I've grown used to it. I think of it as more "out West" than trashy or tacky.
So, I'd like to know exactly why some think unkindly of Travis. Please, be as brutally honest as you need to be. It won't offend me in the least. I'm just curious.
In response, Travis was called "trashy" and "tacky."
Travis is one of my sons' names. Now, keep in mind that I didn't name him -- his dad did. At the time, a long, long time ago, I had never heard of the name Travis. But it didn't strike me as trashy or tacky. Of course, now, I've grown used to it. I think of it as more "out West" than trashy or tacky.
So, I'd like to know exactly why some think unkindly of Travis. Please, be as brutally honest as you need to be. It won't offend me in the least. I'm just curious.
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Replies
I've got no clue about Travis in the US.
My mother had a Travis friend a long time ago: a very pleasant man with a nice wife, who used to manage a ballet company. So I grew up with pleasant impressions of it.
But recently it's taken the bottom end of the UK naming market by storm - for instance, my niece's two sons are Travis and Kieron. (No clue if Kieron's got a mn, but Travis is Travis Jay.) It's associated with football (soccer!) players and their rowdy fans.
My mother had a Travis friend a long time ago: a very pleasant man with a nice wife, who used to manage a ballet company. So I grew up with pleasant impressions of it.
But recently it's taken the bottom end of the UK naming market by storm - for instance, my niece's two sons are Travis and Kieron. (No clue if Kieron's got a mn, but Travis is Travis Jay.) It's associated with football (soccer!) players and their rowdy fans.
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I was a little surprised to read that too since I've never considered Travis to be "trashy" or "tacky." It's more trendy and surnamey to me and no better or worse than many names, imo.
You know, for years, I was a regular on another name site. Whenever my dd's name came up (Katherine), you wouldn't believe the negative comments. People (and I strongly suspect it was the same few people over and over again because the comments were always similar) would say things like how ponderous and masculine it was (masculine???) and how it sounded like the name of a hairy lesbian yet Kathleen was like a lyrical, leprechaun-esque breath of fresh air. How they arrived at these conclusions is beyond me. Then again, perception is everything, apparently, and everyone is entitled to an opinion. Try not to let it get you down.
You know, for years, I was a regular on another name site. Whenever my dd's name came up (Katherine), you wouldn't believe the negative comments. People (and I strongly suspect it was the same few people over and over again because the comments were always similar) would say things like how ponderous and masculine it was (masculine???) and how it sounded like the name of a hairy lesbian yet Kathleen was like a lyrical, leprechaun-esque breath of fresh air. How they arrived at these conclusions is beyond me. Then again, perception is everything, apparently, and everyone is entitled to an opinion. Try not to let it get you down.
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Sorry if I hurt your feelings. :-(
The post was really about the middle name Jackson being used 3 times. One of my replies: "Travis and Trevor from the trailor park" only stems from me saying the names out loud and thinking that Taylor would be thier sister. And for some reason, when ever I hear the name Taylor, I think of the word "trailor" . So the association in my mind with the whole sib set was "Travis and Trevor from the trailor park". I know, that is a verbose and abstract reply. But it is honest! On thier own, Travis and Trevor are just fine. They are a little plain for my taste, but there is nothing inherently trashy about the names.
The post was really about the middle name Jackson being used 3 times. One of my replies: "Travis and Trevor from the trailor park" only stems from me saying the names out loud and thinking that Taylor would be thier sister. And for some reason, when ever I hear the name Taylor, I think of the word "trailor" . So the association in my mind with the whole sib set was "Travis and Trevor from the trailor park". I know, that is a verbose and abstract reply. But it is honest! On thier own, Travis and Trevor are just fine. They are a little plain for my taste, but there is nothing inherently trashy about the names.
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I don't see Travis as trashy at all, in fact I rather like it. I have two cousins named Travis, one is my age and we were best friends as little kids (for reasons I don't need to get into, our friendship seemed to just fade out) and the other who is maybe 10 years younger than me (I don't know him all that well though).
Travis definitely does have that "western" feel andI get this leathery smell/feel when I hear it (which, I LOVE the smell of leather so that's a huge +). It's far from tacky or trashy.
Travis definitely does have that "western" feel andI get this leathery smell/feel when I hear it (which, I LOVE the smell of leather so that's a huge +). It's far from tacky or trashy.
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I was surpised too.
I was also surprised by the harsh treatment of Travis in the "overload" thread. I don't consider it trashy, but I do see how it could be considered country, especially with country music performers named Travis Tritt and Randy Travis. There have been numerous comments on this board lately about names being hickish, tacky, trashy, too "southern," etc and I think it reflects a certain kind of ignorance. I'm originally from the South but have lived in numerous parts of the country and in small towns and major cities and everyone assumes that all people living below a certain latitude are named Bubba and Billie Jo and Dixie. Based on my experiences living around the US, as a region the South consistently has the most elegant, effortless names. Enjoy your son's name and ignore the nonsense comments. Also, check out the personal name lists of people who make harsh comments and you will see that they often have questionable taste.
I was also surprised by the harsh treatment of Travis in the "overload" thread. I don't consider it trashy, but I do see how it could be considered country, especially with country music performers named Travis Tritt and Randy Travis. There have been numerous comments on this board lately about names being hickish, tacky, trashy, too "southern," etc and I think it reflects a certain kind of ignorance. I'm originally from the South but have lived in numerous parts of the country and in small towns and major cities and everyone assumes that all people living below a certain latitude are named Bubba and Billie Jo and Dixie. Based on my experiences living around the US, as a region the South consistently has the most elegant, effortless names. Enjoy your son's name and ignore the nonsense comments. Also, check out the personal name lists of people who make harsh comments and you will see that they often have questionable taste.
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That's good advice...
about checking out the name lists of people who make very negative comments. Not that their opinions are invalid, but you maybe feel very negatively towards some of their favorites. This gives you the option of quietly and reasonably accepting the varying tastes of BtNers or feeling exuberantly vindicated that your tastes and opinions are so superior to your BtN peers! :o) Either way.
about checking out the name lists of people who make very negative comments. Not that their opinions are invalid, but you maybe feel very negatively towards some of their favorites. This gives you the option of quietly and reasonably accepting the varying tastes of BtNers or feeling exuberantly vindicated that your tastes and opinions are so superior to your BtN peers! :o) Either way.
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That is so true!
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What did I call it in the last post, tacky and thoughtless? I stand by that. It has a sleazy kind of feel to it to me, like an entitled middle-American teenage football player kind of thing.
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Excellent imagery.
You captured my distaste for certain names with that line:
It has a sleazy kind of feel to it to me, like an entitled middle-American teenage football player kind of thing.
So many names give off that vibe to me - Brayden/Braiden/Braden, Bryson, Jackson, etc.
I would probably feel somewhat similar to you if it wasn't for the fact that I went to school with an awesome one.
You captured my distaste for certain names with that line:
It has a sleazy kind of feel to it to me, like an entitled middle-American teenage football player kind of thing.
So many names give off that vibe to me - Brayden/Braiden/Braden, Bryson, Jackson, etc.
I would probably feel somewhat similar to you if it wasn't for the fact that I went to school with an awesome one.
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But I don't understand how "entitled" or "middle-American" or "teenage" or "football player" equal "sleazy". I could see someone saying Travis is sleazy if it makes them think of "prematurely aged" "drug-addicted" "porn addict".
This message was edited 2/3/2011, 3:13 PM
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It's what they do.
I'm going to attempt to explain. The entitled, middle-American students - especially wealthier ones - have this aura of doing whatever they want, however they want. It's terrible - I avoided the entitled brats far more than any other group. They were the most dangerous - because they don't feel like anything can touch them. It's sleazy in a different way.
I'm going to attempt to explain. The entitled, middle-American students - especially wealthier ones - have this aura of doing whatever they want, however they want. It's terrible - I avoided the entitled brats far more than any other group. They were the most dangerous - because they don't feel like anything can touch them. It's sleazy in a different way.
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I used to...
have a similar sense for Joel until I met one that was so nice and mild, it completely blew that image out of the water.
It helps me say what I dislike about a name if I can create a person to apply it to. :-D I think (I hope!) I can get it across better as "this guy" than as "these adjectives."
have a similar sense for Joel until I met one that was so nice and mild, it completely blew that image out of the water.
It helps me say what I dislike about a name if I can create a person to apply it to. :-D I think (I hope!) I can get it across better as "this guy" than as "these adjectives."
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I guess it depends on who has the name Travis. Yes, I have heard this name squawked a bit too much at bad moms in supermarkets and the like, but I have also heard it on other people too. Generally, I associate it the regional supervisor with where I work, and he seems like an average kind of guy, not trashy, just average.
Overall, Travis isn't really trashy to me, just kind of blah.
Overall, Travis isn't really trashy to me, just kind of blah.
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I don't see it as trashy or tacky at all. It does have a slightly Southern feel to me, but that's only because of the country singer Travis Tritt.
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It reminds me firstly of the pop band. Apart from that I've known one dog called Travis and no people. I think it's quite nice, very American, I don't really have any negative associations at all.
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I don't really see it as "trashy" per se, I just see it as very . . . plain. A Travis in my mind wouldn't be trashy or a loser, but he wouldn't be a CEO either. He'd be some guy working in a cubicle at an insurance company or something.
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I don't see it as trashy. I don't like the name, but it's not trashy at all.
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I love Travis. I've recently taken to really liking it and just added it to my PNL. I love that is sounds out West. I've never thought it trashy or tacky. Just the opposite really, I find it charming and handsome.
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I like it. I'm not just saying that. I think it sounds nice and I agree that it has an "Old West" flavor. I don't think of it at all as trashy or tacky.
My nephew's name is Trevor, which I think is a fine name, but I've seen a lot of negative comments about that name here, and I'm always like "Whaaaa?"
My nephew's name is Trevor, which I think is a fine name, but I've seen a lot of negative comments about that name here, and I'm always like "Whaaaa?"
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I have the impression that, for many people, most recent/surname-derived names give a trashy vibe.
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I don't see it as trashy.
I honestly don't. Travis is a bit dated to me - I went to school with lots of them. Other than that, though, it's a fine name. It's a bit modern for my tastes but it's a good name otherwise.
One of the things about this board is that they are going to list quite a few names as 'tacky' or 'trashy' that aren't seen that way in real life - at least from what I've seen. I've posted about the name Ivy a few times and people have told me that it's a stripper name. Considering that the majority of Ivies I've known have come from wealthy, educated if slightly eccentric houses I never saw the connection. I still don't. I finally realized that the board attracts a wide variety of people from different backgrounds & areas. In DC the name Tammy/Tammi is considered to be slightly trashy, because it's not used very often and when it is the person does tend to be slightly tacky. Then I moved to North Dakota where every other woman is named Tammy/Tami/Tammi - with no regards to age or background. My view of the name quickly changed from 'trashy' to 'super common.' With super common you can't really label a name as trashy or not - it's too wide spread. I see that with Travis as well.
I honestly don't. Travis is a bit dated to me - I went to school with lots of them. Other than that, though, it's a fine name. It's a bit modern for my tastes but it's a good name otherwise.
One of the things about this board is that they are going to list quite a few names as 'tacky' or 'trashy' that aren't seen that way in real life - at least from what I've seen. I've posted about the name Ivy a few times and people have told me that it's a stripper name. Considering that the majority of Ivies I've known have come from wealthy, educated if slightly eccentric houses I never saw the connection. I still don't. I finally realized that the board attracts a wide variety of people from different backgrounds & areas. In DC the name Tammy/Tammi is considered to be slightly trashy, because it's not used very often and when it is the person does tend to be slightly tacky. Then I moved to North Dakota where every other woman is named Tammy/Tami/Tammi - with no regards to age or background. My view of the name quickly changed from 'trashy' to 'super common.' With super common you can't really label a name as trashy or not - it's too wide spread. I see that with Travis as well.
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I really couldn't say why for sure, but I get that feeling from it, too. I suppose all the Travises I've ever known fit that image. I think that since it has that western/country feel, that =trashy/tacky to a lot of people. Country-ish names are red-neck-y. It might get the country vibe from the country singer Travis Tritt? I don't know. It's also quite dated to the 70s/80s, which doesn't help.
I will say that I saw some newscaster or something on TV yesterday whose first and last names were Travis Bartholomew, and I really liked that as a fn mn combo. It made me sort of see Travis in a more polished way if it were in the right context.
I will say that I saw some newscaster or something on TV yesterday whose first and last names were Travis Bartholomew, and I really liked that as a fn mn combo. It made me sort of see Travis in a more polished way if it were in the right context.
This message was edited 2/3/2011, 5:37 AM
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I take offense at your implication that the Midwest is "hickish." Every state has "hickish" people, not just the Midwest or the South.
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It's what some people actually refer themselves as in...
areas of the Midwest. It's not my fault that people from my town call themselves hicks.
areas of the Midwest. It's not my fault that people from my town call themselves hicks.
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