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I love it! I named my son Holden. He is 13, and he loves his name. I did name him after the book. He gets many compliments on his name. I either get asked if I named him after a soap opera (not sure which one) or the book.

I'm probably the only person who hasn't read Catcher, so I really like it. That said, I do know of the hipster-ish, all-the-girls-love-him-even-though-he's-bad type of association from the book and that it might be a bit of an eye-roller for many people. (Where I am in the US I wasn't aware of the car, so that doesn't affect my impression at all). But if you love it, who cares, right? And even though it may be rising in popularity broadly, I haven't seen a bunch of Holdens running around yet (at least in my area in the Northeast US).

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I also like Hayden, if that helps knowing my style preference, though I'm not typically one for trendy names. I think a lot of people also hate Hayden because it has -ayden in it (though it was firmly established before the -ayden craze, which saves it IMO - which I know many don't agree with).

I disagree, I think it has a very hipster sound to it. Holden has a very trendy sound, and I totally can see several young adult novels using Holden as the name for important male characters.

It seems somewhere between Atticus and Hudson on the hipster-trendy scale. I think it sounds awful, and I'm not sure why it'd be called classic.

I like it as a GP. It is totally usable and very trendy right now.

I agree

Australian-made Ford cars used to be Holdens; don't know if they still are. But that's what I think of before Caulfield (which I don't think I can spell).

I like it, it doesn'tseem like a hipster name too me either.

(Joey Tribiani tries out a new stage name)

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CASTING DIRECTOR: What is your name?

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JOEY (nervous): Holden McGroin!

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... Yeah, that's my association with Holden.

I wouldn't use Holden because it's a car make. Also a) it sounds masculine & b) it sound like the word 'holding'. Too much room for risque teasing and bullying.

I also love Catcher in the Rye. I also like the name Holden... BUT... it's way hipster and way trendy. Look at the numbers, I think it's gonna continue shooting up the same reason Atticus (BLERGH!) is... which is idk what reason. Nothing wrong with a hipster name though IMO (except Atticus... and Harper ugh).

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That being said, though I love Catcher and I like the name Holden I don't think I'd wanna name a kid after him. He's just such a troubled and miserable character... then again so is Ophelia... but her character is more romantically abysmal instead of nearly-dying-on-a-park-bench abysmal.