Message: "Re: Help me warm up to Caroline"

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Re: Help me warm up to Caroline

by Martha (CarolineCarolina)

6/21/2022, 10:35 AM

I am a Caroline and I associate the name not so much with myself as much as the masses of women I know named Caroline from the southern US. Most of these women are, how do I say this nicely? They’re not my type. They have struck me as superficial, silly, shallow, and conservative on the whole, though I know there are variations of course. I think it’s kind of an “I want to fit in” type of name and I hate that. I can’t imagine why my hippie parents chose it for me.

But when I think about the name itself, I realize that its sound is really open, happy, sunny even. It’s not aggressively pretty or gentle. When I try to disconnect myself from all the Lilly Pullitzer wearing cultural Christian sorority sister Carolines I’ve known, I think the name is actually really nice and bright.

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- erb816 +1

6/21/2022, 11:53 AM

I'll admit, the stuck up and "distinctly frosty" image I'd previously had in my head was quite English (even though I'm from the Midwest). I had no idea the name also had a postbellum wannabe Southern Belle stereotype associated with it! (Or that the name was so popular, regionally speaking.) Really not the best image, and I'm sorry you had to deal so much with this type of person - they sound exhausting.

I assume they're all KER-ə-lien? Which is how I'm pronouncing it (KER-ə-lin is Carolyn, imo).

- Martha (CarolineCarolina)

6/21/2022, 12:16 PM

Yes, that’s how it is pronounced. I think it started as a legit southern Belle name but then everybody started to emulate the upper class and it for some reason became so incredibly popular in the south, especially compared with other regions.

I am generalizing though. Some people like the name. For some it’s a family name. There are some great Carolines for sure!

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