[Opinions] Re: What about Casey or Jennifer as English names for teenagers?
in reply to a message by Francisinfp5w4
If you're a teenager now, I think Jennifer is a little dated for your generation. It would still work though. It doesn't sounds like an old grandma, it's more of a name for people who were born in the 80's.
There's also nicknames. Most people named Jennifer are called Jen or Jenny. Casey is already short so most people won't use a nickname, but if someone shortens it they'll probably call you Case.
In my experience Jennifers are usually called Jen/Jenny by everyone, even people they just met. But Caseys are only called Case by their family and friends, and even then it's not all the time.
Casey is pretty much equally popular for boys and girls, slightly more for boys, but girls can also have various other spellings (they're meant to be cute but some of them are just annoying): Kacie, Kacey, Kaycee, Kasey, Kacy, etc. So if you grouped all the spellings together, I assume the pronunciation 'KAY-see' is more popular for girls than for boys overall but the spelling 'Casey' is slightly more popular for boys than for girls.
Another thing to note is that any name with the "i" sound on the end can be seen as cutesy and like a nickname even if it's a full name. I don't know what it's like in your first language but there's probably something similar. Because so many English nicknames have "i" sound at the end (Charles/Charlie, Kenneth/Kenny, Elizabeth/Lizzy, Victoria/Vicki, etc.) and when you have a choice between nicknames the "i" versions are more cute and babyish (Ben/Benny, Mike/Mikey, Jess/Jessie, Joe/Joey), names that end with that sound already can sound less professional than other names sometimes. I think Casey is generally considered fairly neutral, but it does sound a little more casual than Jennifer.
There's also nicknames. Most people named Jennifer are called Jen or Jenny. Casey is already short so most people won't use a nickname, but if someone shortens it they'll probably call you Case.
In my experience Jennifers are usually called Jen/Jenny by everyone, even people they just met. But Caseys are only called Case by their family and friends, and even then it's not all the time.
Casey is pretty much equally popular for boys and girls, slightly more for boys, but girls can also have various other spellings (they're meant to be cute but some of them are just annoying): Kacie, Kacey, Kaycee, Kasey, Kacy, etc. So if you grouped all the spellings together, I assume the pronunciation 'KAY-see' is more popular for girls than for boys overall but the spelling 'Casey' is slightly more popular for boys than for girls.
Another thing to note is that any name with the "i" sound on the end can be seen as cutesy and like a nickname even if it's a full name. I don't know what it's like in your first language but there's probably something similar. Because so many English nicknames have "i" sound at the end (Charles/Charlie, Kenneth/Kenny, Elizabeth/Lizzy, Victoria/Vicki, etc.) and when you have a choice between nicknames the "i" versions are more cute and babyish (Ben/Benny, Mike/Mikey, Jess/Jessie, Joe/Joey), names that end with that sound already can sound less professional than other names sometimes. I think Casey is generally considered fairly neutral, but it does sound a little more casual than Jennifer.