Naming a child can be incredibly difficult. You have to somehow find a name that you and your partner both love that neither of you associate with people you’ve known in real life. The name of an ex? Nope! The name of your middle school bully? Vetoed! And of course, any names associated with memes, cruel historical figures or brands are also off the table.
Redditors have recently been discussing formerly common names that have been ruined by one person or event, so we’ve gathered some of their thoughts below. Enjoy reading through this list of unfortunate names, and be sure to upvote the ones that you’d never give to your children!
Image credits: Atom1cThunder
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Not a single person, but I'm told there are simply no babies being named "Karen" at all anymore.
The nicest, most generous and kind person I ever met is named Karen. What a shame that the name has been destroyed.
Yep, my MIL is a Karin (the equivalent of Karen here in Germany. I've never met one "Karen" here). She's nothing but nice.
Load More Replies...The only Karen I had the misfortune of knowing personally was the exact embodiment of the meme stereotype. I guess there's always one that spoils it for everybody.
No there’s at least two. My former roommate used to be called Karen by the new neighbors, who didn’t even realize it was her actual name. She just was that much of a Karen 🤷
Same, in school I knew a girl named Karen and she was so genuinely kind, it's a real shame the name got associated with meanies.
My Mom is named Karen and a monster. For me, it was earned, but I do feel bad for any nice Karen’s out there. Feel free to blame my Mom for why we can’t have nice things.
Me too. My mom has a client named Karen and she’s the sweetest lady ever.
In about a hundred+ years someone is going to use that name and it's going to be all the rage
Yeah, because Francis and Edna have circled back after 100+ years? RME
Me too—I have a friend named Karen who is absolutely the sweetest woman alive.
Some Karens are really Karens though. The only Karen I’ve ever known well, personally was one of the most abusive people ever, a former roommate who stole from me and was an utter nightmare. Even when legally evicted, she spent the next few months randomly breaking into the house and taking things. Once I caught her rifling through my refrigerator, and she hissed at me like a rabid cat. Literally hissed at me. I still get goosebumps remembering how it sounded when she’d go around to reach door and window to test if it was locked. She was also the classic “Karen” — manager-seeking, fox-news-watching racist blonde boomer nightmare of a human being. Managed to become President of the HOA while I was in the process of evicting her from my own home. For years she’d walk by my yard as I was gardening and yell “dog murder” at me, and tired to talk my neighbors into believing I poisoned her dog. I only felt safe when I heard she died during the Covid years.
Damn shame. My favorite aunt is named Karen. Only other one in the family who chose not to have kids.
My aunt is named Karen, she is a lovely person, wish the internet hadn't ruined the name
I don't really understand the whole Karen thing. I thought it meant, a specific kind of irrational, demanding, entitled person. But, now it seems like, anytime a woman is angry, they're labeled Karen in some video. Even if they are completely justified and rational. Half the time, it's the person doing the filming, who's being the real Karen. I just don't get it.
my sister's name is Karen. She is a see you next tuesday of the highest rank. She's 10 years older than me and made my life a living heck. Haven't spoken to her in years. When the Karen thing started happening it made me so heckin happy. Sorry all the other Karens but this is the best gift Karma ever gave me.
I also know 2 nice Karens. Neither of them care that their name has come to mean what it does.
I don't believe that no one's being named that or it's ruined. No one actually cares about the stereotype in real life and if you do you need help.
Yes, people do care. When people introduce themselves as Karen they sometimes get snickered at. I would never name my kid that for fear they would get teased at school.
Ironically, the person in the pic is named Kate yet it is the Karen name that gets the stick.
I don't understand why everyone named Karen are being judged and canceled just because of their name. I mean isn't this an example of prejudice at its worst?
I must say I don't really connect the online Karen thing with the Karen's in real life. In the NL (as in Germany) it's more Karin you hear, and for me that has a totally different feel to it. Furthermore it's the complete picture, you have to be a demanding and not very nice person otherwise you are just a Karen instead of a 'Karen'. Also, ehrm, sorry but it feels like she hast to be American?!
To be fair, it had fallen out of popularity long before the internet came along.
This annoys the hell out of me because the person who ruined my name isn’t even named Karen. Why don’t we call those people Kates?
If I had a daughter I wanted to name her Karen...it's a beautiful name, after a town in France I think
The irony that the most common Karen photos ever are actually of a woman called Kate!!
I always wonder about this person whose picture is used for the Karen meme, as shown. Can she even go out in public? Does she have to wear a disguise?
Do some woman go to the hairstylist and ask for the 'Karen' look or does.it just work out that way?
Always said if I had a daughter...she would be named Karen...probley lucky I didn't.
I’ve met some actual Karens that were very nice and I’ve met literal Karens that were huge b*tches.
In the Caucasus region Karen is a male name (pronounced [kΛ'ræn]). I met quite a few, all of them nice guys
I know of at least one person who has legally changed their name for this reason.
Apparently Kermit used to be a popular name. I don’t wanna say it was ruined, persay, more froggified.
Not one person, but I know a lot of women in my community named Isis (after the Egyptian goddess of fertility).
Then THAT ISIS came along, and long story short, they’re all now unemployable.
Lolita, because of the book by Nabokov.
As a Norwegian the name Anders is ruined for me because of terrorist Anders Behring Breivik. It's a common name but I never hear anyone call their babies Anders anymore.
Alvin. Ruined by the Chipmunk.
My friend started going by "Al" as soon as he could.
Let's just say there's a very good reason why the founder of Adidas went by Adi and not what was written on his birth certificate. (His name is Adolf)
I read Judas was a popular name back then. Thanks to THAT Judas, it's no longer popular today.
Weird because he was good enough to be a disciple of the Son of God. An alternate view has it that as Jesus knew who all his disciples would be, he specifically chose Judas to fulfill the required acts to ensure his crucifixion and resurrection, Judas agreed to enact Christ's plan and accepted that he would be hated for it.
Kevin
After Home alone, many families with low socioeconomic background in some European countries named their son's Kevin. When this boys hit Kindergarten or school, they oftentimes where seen as the troublemakers of the group (probably bc of a mixture of the Kevin from the movies and their families status and the resulting problems in their upbringing ) In the years after that, the name got associated with poor background, bad behaviour and overall stupidity. Alpha-Kevin is used as a semi-funny insult to this day in the German speaking part of Europe.
Madonna
My Aunt Madonna tried to call her husband at work to inform him that his father had died. The secretary hung up on her for being a crank caller, so he didn't get the news until he got home that evening (despite Madonna calling back several times).
In Germany it's Chantal, Jaqueline, Mandy and Kevin, besides Adolf of course. "Kevin is no name, but a diagnosis!"
They have the stigma to be names for stupid people. There is even a study for that! And names: Kevinismus (Kevinism) and Chantalismus (Chantalism).
My cousin always said if she had a girl, she'd name her Amber. 3 weeks ago, she named her newborn daughter Emily. When I asked why she didn't use Amber, she said she didn't want anyone to call her daughter Amber Turd.
Eileen - Was fine until a guy wrote a song called Come On Eileen. Now parents can never name their child that knowing that child would suffer from teenage jerks making every p**n comment possible.
Myra (in the UK).
Pretty name but it was the name of a female serial killer of children in the 1960s, Myra Hindley.
Might be due a comeback when Gen Z or Alpha have kids as they won’t have the same associations with it. Serial killers are relatively rare in the UK so even though she is from the 60s she’s still very well known to people born in the 80s, 90s and probably even 2000s due to media coverage around her death.
For those who don't know her and a man called Ian Brady killed children and buried them on the Yorkshire moors.
Ebeneezer, used to be fairly common until a certain author wrote a book with the protagonist named that...
Benito.
Everybody talks about the Austrian painter, and forgets the Italian bald journalist.
not journalist, Newspaper Editor. He got his political start as the editor in chief of Avante, Italy's most prominent socialist newspaper and one of the most influential socialist publications in the world. He was considered one of the defaco leaders of Italy's socialist movement. He however began to turn on the internationsim of the socialist movement and started promoting that socialism needed to be blended with nationalism. Then he one day quit Avante and a year later is the editor in chief of the brand new publication for a tiny political movement called the Fascistii , and over time he took over the movement and the rest is history.
Ellen. Dropped in popularity in the 90s when Ellen DeGeneres came out as gay, slowly rose in popularity again as gay people became more accepted, then dropped again when she came out as a terrible boss.
Einstein. Have a friend named Einstein, everyone thinks he's smart until you get to know him.
Kinda in this category, I heard Daenerys was a popular name for a bit there.
*smirks*.
I no longer like the name Logan.
Somewhere, Wolverine is shaking his head at the WWE US Champion...XP
Stacy. Poor any girl who got named Stacy.
Joran. Used to be a popular name but I don't believe many parents will name their boys that anymore.
Cristina (if you are from Argentina).
I need some enlightening on this, more so because that's me mum's name... -_-"
Poll Question
Would you avoid naming a child a name that has negative associations in popular culture or history?
Yes, absolutely
It would depend on how strong the association is
Probably not
No, I wouldn't care
At least half of these are nonsense. It takes more than one unpopular person having the name to ruin it. The first name itself has to have some inherent part of their identity AND it has to have broad awareness. Adolf was heavily used to refer to him. Benito not so much. Karen has a known heavy connotation. Logan not so much.
Not a lot Attilas running around. It only takes one bad person to permanently ruin the taste for the name in a lot of people's mind. I'm prejudiced against Ronald.
Load More Replies...Well, this was mostly stupid. With the exception of a few obvious names which will never regain popularity, name popularity ebbs and flows due to many factors.
It was interesting to hear what names are unpopular in other countries though
Load More Replies...No-one named Ken? (Not 100% sure whether Barbie was ever used as a girl's name.) But then: Mercedes and Porche used to be.
Barbie's full name is actually Barbara. "Barbara Millicent Roberts"
Load More Replies...Barbie was often a nickname for Barbara. I have a friend named Mercedes, she is in her early 30's.
Mercedes was a beautiful spanish girl´s name BEFORE it became a car brand - I think the wife of the founder (Benz or Daimler) was named Mercedes. Porche is just ridiculous
Isn’t Mercedes still a normal Spanish name? I’ve met two myself, so I guess I just assumed it is.
I knew three girls called Gay when I was at school. You never hear that as a given name anymore.
I can't think of anyone named "Sauron" since J.R.R. Tolkein's book came out. Not that I can think of anyone BEFORE the book, either. Kinda surprised no-one's been named "Voldemort" just in spite of J.K. Rowling. "Ya know what, who are you to decide who shouldn't be named what?"
My grandparents and their siblings and in-laws had names like Jobe, Francis, Clyde, Dorothy, Ralph, Bernice (pronounced like Berniss), Warren, Peg and the like. So many names have faded away.
My cousin named her son Clyde. She's only in her early 30's. I agree with you it's not that common of a name these days. It's not a bad name, although I couldn't help but think of "Bonnie & Clyde" when she first told me his name, though!
😏 funny, in your list of names, my paternal grandparents were Clyde Wesley and Doris Eleanor, my maternal grandmother was Helen, my father dated a gal named Peggy before marrying her sister, LouAnn, I have an aunt Dorothy, worked for a lady named Francis, great uncle Harold, great aunt Pearl, aunt Elizabeth, etc...
There is a famous Croatian singer whose first name is Adolf, though most people don't know that. He was born in Yugoslavia, in 1949 and he was named Adolf. His parents had some guts.
I had a cousin who named her son Elvis. Not necessarily any negative connotation, but you know he probably got teased. Elvis Presley owns that name for all time.
Sugismundo is a very Iberic medieval name, but nobody more is named after this because it sounds like the words sujo and imundo (dirty and unclean) together. And just now I discovered that in Brazil they made short animations about a dirty guy called Sujismundo to learn children to be clean.
My cousin always told me when she was growing up she always wanted to have a daughter named Heidi. She grew up in a very German family. Then she married a man named John Fridy and realized that wasn't going to work. She named her Tami.
I can almost believe this, my husband happens to have a male name that starts and ends with a D, since the 2016 election, he has hated saying his own name.
This is Czechia specific: .There's very popular classic book (and movies) called Babička (Grandmother). One of characters in book is mentally ill woman named Viktorka (Viktoria), who's often seen wailing and screaming. It kinda ruined this name, because people sometimes use the phrase 'screaming like Viktorka'- being very loud.This name is still used, but it's not like people forget about that book character anytime soon.
Gary - in the UK after Gary Glitter. Also James/Jim/Jimmy due to Jimmy Saville
To me using city names is just ridiculous - Paris, London, Vienna - is that a tour?
People who look down on other people's names because *vulgar* or *uneducated* should have a hard look at their own. I also think Karen will make a comeback eventually. It's a beautiful name and the whole millennial discourse on it will vanish with time.
We were a bit concerned that our son would get some teasing about John Philip Sousa ( the march composer), when we named him John Philip, but it never happened.
I know I sound like an old man but can me PLEASE stop changing spellings because we think it makes them unique? It just makes it hard on everyone. I had a customer today named Shyann AKA Cheyenne (relatively common name in Colorado). She had to spell it twice then had a coworker tell the hilarious original joke that they know her and she doesn't seem shy.
At college I was in a class with four Nancy's. Four! Over the years at different companies there was always a Nancy. I absolutely detest the name.
At least half of these are nonsense. It takes more than one unpopular person having the name to ruin it. The first name itself has to have some inherent part of their identity AND it has to have broad awareness. Adolf was heavily used to refer to him. Benito not so much. Karen has a known heavy connotation. Logan not so much.
Not a lot Attilas running around. It only takes one bad person to permanently ruin the taste for the name in a lot of people's mind. I'm prejudiced against Ronald.
Load More Replies...Well, this was mostly stupid. With the exception of a few obvious names which will never regain popularity, name popularity ebbs and flows due to many factors.
It was interesting to hear what names are unpopular in other countries though
Load More Replies...No-one named Ken? (Not 100% sure whether Barbie was ever used as a girl's name.) But then: Mercedes and Porche used to be.
Barbie's full name is actually Barbara. "Barbara Millicent Roberts"
Load More Replies...Barbie was often a nickname for Barbara. I have a friend named Mercedes, she is in her early 30's.
Mercedes was a beautiful spanish girl´s name BEFORE it became a car brand - I think the wife of the founder (Benz or Daimler) was named Mercedes. Porche is just ridiculous
Isn’t Mercedes still a normal Spanish name? I’ve met two myself, so I guess I just assumed it is.
I knew three girls called Gay when I was at school. You never hear that as a given name anymore.
I can't think of anyone named "Sauron" since J.R.R. Tolkein's book came out. Not that I can think of anyone BEFORE the book, either. Kinda surprised no-one's been named "Voldemort" just in spite of J.K. Rowling. "Ya know what, who are you to decide who shouldn't be named what?"
My grandparents and their siblings and in-laws had names like Jobe, Francis, Clyde, Dorothy, Ralph, Bernice (pronounced like Berniss), Warren, Peg and the like. So many names have faded away.
My cousin named her son Clyde. She's only in her early 30's. I agree with you it's not that common of a name these days. It's not a bad name, although I couldn't help but think of "Bonnie & Clyde" when she first told me his name, though!
😏 funny, in your list of names, my paternal grandparents were Clyde Wesley and Doris Eleanor, my maternal grandmother was Helen, my father dated a gal named Peggy before marrying her sister, LouAnn, I have an aunt Dorothy, worked for a lady named Francis, great uncle Harold, great aunt Pearl, aunt Elizabeth, etc...
There is a famous Croatian singer whose first name is Adolf, though most people don't know that. He was born in Yugoslavia, in 1949 and he was named Adolf. His parents had some guts.
I had a cousin who named her son Elvis. Not necessarily any negative connotation, but you know he probably got teased. Elvis Presley owns that name for all time.
Sugismundo is a very Iberic medieval name, but nobody more is named after this because it sounds like the words sujo and imundo (dirty and unclean) together. And just now I discovered that in Brazil they made short animations about a dirty guy called Sujismundo to learn children to be clean.
My cousin always told me when she was growing up she always wanted to have a daughter named Heidi. She grew up in a very German family. Then she married a man named John Fridy and realized that wasn't going to work. She named her Tami.
I can almost believe this, my husband happens to have a male name that starts and ends with a D, since the 2016 election, he has hated saying his own name.
This is Czechia specific: .There's very popular classic book (and movies) called Babička (Grandmother). One of characters in book is mentally ill woman named Viktorka (Viktoria), who's often seen wailing and screaming. It kinda ruined this name, because people sometimes use the phrase 'screaming like Viktorka'- being very loud.This name is still used, but it's not like people forget about that book character anytime soon.
Gary - in the UK after Gary Glitter. Also James/Jim/Jimmy due to Jimmy Saville
To me using city names is just ridiculous - Paris, London, Vienna - is that a tour?
People who look down on other people's names because *vulgar* or *uneducated* should have a hard look at their own. I also think Karen will make a comeback eventually. It's a beautiful name and the whole millennial discourse on it will vanish with time.
We were a bit concerned that our son would get some teasing about John Philip Sousa ( the march composer), when we named him John Philip, but it never happened.
I know I sound like an old man but can me PLEASE stop changing spellings because we think it makes them unique? It just makes it hard on everyone. I had a customer today named Shyann AKA Cheyenne (relatively common name in Colorado). She had to spell it twice then had a coworker tell the hilarious original joke that they know her and she doesn't seem shy.
At college I was in a class with four Nancy's. Four! Over the years at different companies there was always a Nancy. I absolutely detest the name.