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It's also a dead give-away class marker of the lower classes. Also, the number of people who hate their "unique and quirky" name they got from their parents is

It's also a dead give-away class marker of the lower classes. Also, the number of people who hate their "unique and quirky" name they got from their parents is much, much, much, much higher than the number of people who hate their normal name.

dragonwriter 5y ago
> It's also a dead give-away class marker of the lower classes. Plenty of upper- and middle-class babies with unique, or at least unusual, names.
- carlmr 5y ago
  Maybe he meant the name unique, not a unique name.
- pawelmurias 5y ago
  In some countries if you have a weird name people it means that you are either a foreigner or you parents are complete morons. Some names strongly imply the later.
- Talanes 5y ago
  Yeah, it's more that unique names are more likely to carry class markers (for any class) than common names, because common names are... common.
- henrikschroder 5y ago
  > Plenty of upper- and middle-class babies with unique, or at least unusual, names. Such as? In my experience, upper and upper-middle class kids get common names, usually a bit on the conservative side, nothing that sticks out too much. Never crazy spelling, never unique names.
  - Mayzie 5y ago
    > Such as? In my experience upper and upper-middle class kids get common names, ... Never crazy spelling, never unique names. X Æ A-12 Musk? Never say never.
    - henrikschroder 5y ago
      Being rich doesn't make you upper class, evidently.
      - thruway516 5y ago
        If your first name is really henrik, that would be pretty unique in the English speaking world. I think what you say might be true for your country but not really in others. Many upperclass people have unique names in the United States (and also in Britain I think ). In fact it used to be quite fashionable with some upperclass people to have a vaguely foreign sounding name especially one hinting at some kind of European connection.
      - halitox40 5y ago
        Maybe not in Europe (and that is arguable depending on the country). In the US it absolutely does.
        henrikschroder 5y ago
        No. Here's a good resource if you want to read up on how class works in the US: https://siderea.livejournal.com/1260265.html https://siderea.livejournal.com/1260265.html
    - swexbe 5y ago
      A name like that screams new money / no roots to me. There is a big difference between uncommon names but with deep roots like the above mentioned Sixtus and completely unique names X Æ A-12. The former is very common in the upper classes, the latter not so much.
  - robin_reala 5y ago
    “Jacob Rees-Mogg announces birth of his sixth child, Sixtus” https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/05/jacob-rees-mogg-announces-birth-of-his-sixth-child-sixtus https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/05/jacob-rees-...
    - henrikschroder 5y ago
      Unlike the other examples in this thread, I'll give you credit for that one. Interestingly the article shows a way for upper-class people to signal upper-class-ness through names. The other kids all have a normal given name, and can easily fly under the radar. But once you start saying all of their first names, it's a clear signal. (Because it is in line with how many European royals name their children.)
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    > Such as? Moon Unit, Dweezil, and Diva Thin Muffin Zappa. Raddix Madden Lyra Antarctica Sheeran Kal-El Coppola Cage Pilot Inspektor Lee Blue Ivy Carter Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Busson Aleph Portman-Millepied Bear Blu Jarecki Kulture Kiari Cephus Sparrow James Midnight Madden Exton Downey Seargeoh Stallone North, Saint, and Chicago West Rumer, Scout and Tellulah Belle Willis
    - henrikschroder 5y ago
      None of these people are upper-class?
      - dragonwriter 5y ago
        > None of these people are upper-class? In the usual sense used in the US, they’d mostly be above the upper middle class and into the upper class. In the more theoretically grounded system otherwise used when discussing capitalist societies, they’d still all be, at birth, be at least petit bourgeois, so the idea that such names are clear indication of membership in the “lower classes” is only even possibly true of capitalist classes in the narrowest possible sense (“not of the haut bourgeoisie”, though even that is a stretch), or maybe if you are speaking of vestigial pre-capitalist class systems, and still just as narrowly (“not the titled nobility”).
Auracle 5y ago
I have a unique name and it’s served me well in life, for what it’s worth. People tend to remember you, although that’s perhaps going to change with more children having unique names.
- speleding 5y ago
  I concur. I have a unique first name that's simply two common names concatenated with a dash. If I'm worried about the impression or pronunciation I can simply use half of it.

dragonwriter 5y ago

> It's also a dead give-away class marker of the lower classes. Plenty of upper- and middle-class babies with unique, or at least unusual, names.

carlmr 5y ago
Maybe he meant the name unique, not a unique name.
pawelmurias 5y ago
In some countries if you have a weird name people it means that you are either a foreigner or you parents are complete morons. Some names strongly imply the later.
Talanes 5y ago
Yeah, it's more that unique names are more likely to carry class markers (for any class) than common names, because common names are... common.
henrikschroder 5y ago
> Plenty of upper- and middle-class babies with unique, or at least unusual, names. Such as? In my experience, upper and upper-middle class kids get common names, usually a bit on the conservative side, nothing that sticks out too much. Never crazy spelling, never unique names.
- Mayzie 5y ago
  > Such as? In my experience upper and upper-middle class kids get common names, ... Never crazy spelling, never unique names. X Æ A-12 Musk? Never say never.
  - henrikschroder 5y ago
    Being rich doesn't make you upper class, evidently.
    - thruway516 5y ago
      If your first name is really henrik, that would be pretty unique in the English speaking world. I think what you say might be true for your country but not really in others. Many upperclass people have unique names in the United States (and also in Britain I think ). In fact it used to be quite fashionable with some upperclass people to have a vaguely foreign sounding name especially one hinting at some kind of European connection.
    - halitox40 5y ago
      Maybe not in Europe (and that is arguable depending on the country). In the US it absolutely does.
      - henrikschroder 5y ago
        No. Here's a good resource if you want to read up on how class works in the US: https://siderea.livejournal.com/1260265.html https://siderea.livejournal.com/1260265.html
  - swexbe 5y ago
    A name like that screams new money / no roots to me. There is a big difference between uncommon names but with deep roots like the above mentioned Sixtus and completely unique names X Æ A-12. The former is very common in the upper classes, the latter not so much.
- robin_reala 5y ago
  “Jacob Rees-Mogg announces birth of his sixth child, Sixtus” https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/05/jacob-rees-mogg-announces-birth-of-his-sixth-child-sixtus https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/05/jacob-rees-...
  - henrikschroder 5y ago
    Unlike the other examples in this thread, I'll give you credit for that one. Interestingly the article shows a way for upper-class people to signal upper-class-ness through names. The other kids all have a normal given name, and can easily fly under the radar. But once you start saying all of their first names, it's a clear signal. (Because it is in line with how many European royals name their children.)
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > Such as? Moon Unit, Dweezil, and Diva Thin Muffin Zappa. Raddix Madden Lyra Antarctica Sheeran Kal-El Coppola Cage Pilot Inspektor Lee Blue Ivy Carter Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Busson Aleph Portman-Millepied Bear Blu Jarecki Kulture Kiari Cephus Sparrow James Midnight Madden Exton Downey Seargeoh Stallone North, Saint, and Chicago West Rumer, Scout and Tellulah Belle Willis
  - henrikschroder 5y ago
    None of these people are upper-class?
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      > None of these people are upper-class? In the usual sense used in the US, they’d mostly be above the upper middle class and into the upper class. In the more theoretically grounded system otherwise used when discussing capitalist societies, they’d still all be, at birth, be at least petit bourgeois, so the idea that such names are clear indication of membership in the “lower classes” is only even possibly true of capitalist classes in the narrowest possible sense (“not of the haut bourgeoisie”, though even that is a stretch), or maybe if you are speaking of vestigial pre-capitalist class systems, and still just as narrowly (“not the titled nobility”).

Auracle 5y ago

I have a unique name and it’s served me well in life, for what it’s worth. People tend to remember you, although that’s perhaps going to change with more children having unique names.

speleding 5y ago
I concur. I have a unique first name that's simply two common names concatenated with a dash. If I'm worried about the impression or pronunciation I can simply use half of it.