Despite the name being used in The Catcher in the Rye in 1951, Holden did not start rising in popularity until the 1980s. In fact, in 1951 only six boys were given the name Holden. My guess is that Holden was considered too daring of a name choice back then, especially given The Catcher in the Rye's history of controversy.
Holden is the sun and the moon, Holden is the reason the day breaks and the wonderful ball of fire in the sky rises, Holden, is the ocean, the trees, the rocks the grass the bird flying in the sky, singing sweetly and heavenly. Holden is heaven, Holden is unstoppable, Holden is the most powerful and gorgeous, richest, most godlike being to ever exist. Holden is the mid-latitude cyclones, the stars and the earth, and Holdens step rocks the earth as Holden moves. Holden will. Holden can. Holden is.
― Anonymous User 12/5/2023
2
My brother has this name, and it's great! Not really that common!
I once knew a kid named Holden and his nickname was Holden Deez... you know.So, if you name your kid this, you're definitely opening them to roasts. It'll be worse on a girl.
― Anonymous User 7/14/2021
8
I love the name and I guess it could be a masculine name, but I've always felt that this was a more feminine name.
― Anonymous User 4/6/2021
-5
I absolutely love this name, it reminds me of a cold afternoon when you're wishing to get home and put on warm clothes. It's kinda comforting.
My darling husband was called Holden he was 65 when the lord called him home. I have never known anyone with the name and I think it's a beautiful name.
― Anonymous User 12/18/2018
13
Only 3% people voted this name feminine and those people claim this is unisex. Please don’t feel ashamed if you wish this name unisex. It’s just as feminine as masculine. Personally I prefer it slightly more for a boy, but it’s a cute name for a girl too. If I ever have a girl with an ultra-masculine name, you’ll probably see her middle name as the opposite of macho. Like Holden Alina. That’s pretty and elegant. It’s a great name for both boys and girls.
― Anonymous User 11/17/2018
-8
I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that Holden is inseparable from Holden Caulfield, and that Holden Caulfield is a pretentious, whiny, spoiled character who ruined several weeks of our lives in high school. Most, if not all, of these traits were intentional. The author meant for him to be immature and angsty. Someone with this name runs the risk of sounding like an insufferable teenager his entire life.
Thinking about naming my son Holden Drew! I absolutely love the sound of it. It sounds like the name of a classy and successful man as well as a precious little boy! It's sort of rare which I love, you don't find too many Holden's and I'm striving to name my kids something that isn't far fetched but also is not extremely common!
― Anonymous User 6/10/2017
4
This is alright I guess, but one of the main reasons for why I would never use or even consider it myself is because it sounds too close to the word "Holding" so much so that it's bound to get confusing for any living Holdens out there. "What are you holding, Holden." "Sorry, did you say Holding or Holden?"
― Anonymous User 1/5/2017
2
Unlike the majority, I love The Catcher in The Rye and the titular character. It's an uncommon, unique name. To all you Holden's out there, wear your name with a smile! :)
My first name is Haldun. When I studied in London 27 years ago, lots of people used to pronounce it as "Holden". When I used to spell and correct, they were saying they thought it was like William Holden :-) I have always got the impression that the surname Holden was well known in the UK thanks to this person.
― Anonymous User 11/2/2015
3
My name is Holden. I am a girl and I think my name is absolutely wonderful. :-)
I love this name. It isn't overused, sounds great and youthful.
― Anonymous User 5/20/2015
3
Not a common name, but I kind of like it. I've only met one person named this, and he's a teenage boy.
― Anonymous User 3/10/2015
3
Like others, I hated Holden Caulfield and The Catcher in the Rye. I also knew a Holden in high school and not only did he get teased for having the same name as the book character (pretty much every American kid reads The Catcher in the Rye in high school, so unless you homeschool your kid or send them to an alternative hippie school, that's going to come up with this name) he was an obnoxious and creepy person. Overall, not a great name.
Ick. Totally unusable in Australia (unless you actually want to sound like a bogan who named his son after his favourite beat-up old car), plus it sounds terrible anyway.
― Anonymous User 7/26/2013
-7
Holden Nowell, a Canadian model best known for his role as the super hot, "boy-next-door" who actually turns out to be gay in the end in Carly Rae Jepsen's music video for her song "Call Me Maybe."
If I think about the name by itself it's not a terrible name. When I hear it though I'm instantly reminded of Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye. I despised that book and character. Therefore I could never use this name. It's perfectly fine for someone else. Just not me.
I've never come across this outside of "the Catcher in the Rye," but I liked the character a lot (as a character, not a person.) I didn't much like it when I first heard it, but it's grown on me.
Holden is also a girls name, and is derived from Ireland. It sounds more feminine to me than masculine.
― Anonymous User 11/14/2008
-7
"Also a girls name" Really?
― Anonymous User 1/5/2011
3
I loathe this name, and I loathe The Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caulfield was pretty annoying and a whiny, self-absorbed brat. This name will cause plenty of jokes.
I used to date a boy with the second name Holden and quite liked it but really fell in love with the name after reading Catcher In The Rye. If I ever had a son I'd like to stick it in as a middle name or something.
I love Holden. The name and the character. He's just a teenage boy dealing with overwhelming greif and trying to grow up at the same time. He's sweet, lonely. I love the book, the character, and am planning of naming my first son Holden. There will always be people who like something and people who don't. We can't all agree. I for one, like it.
I haven't heard this name except in J. D. Salingers book, "Catcher in the Rye" which I think is a moving story. I wouldn't name someone this but I do like this name.
― Anonymous User 4/3/2007
5
I actually really like this name. I first heard it on the movie Kids In America, in which the main character is named Holden. He's played by Gregory Smith.
Ben Affleck played a character called Holden in the film "Chasing Amy".
― Anonymous User 12/20/2005
3
Salinger combined the two surnames of actors William Holden and Joan Caulfield to create the name, they were starring together in a film then and he saw the names together on a poster.
― Anonymous User 12/17/2005
4
Comments are left by users of this website. They are not checked for accuracy.