Posted on 06/07/2013 4:13:47 PM PDT by workerbee
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The sounds of liberal and conservative names varied, too. For both boys and girls, liberals tended to pick more feminine-sounding choices, such as Liam, Ely and Leila names that include lots of L sounds and soft-A endings, including popular choices Ella and Sophia.
Conservatives, on the other hand, tend to pick names with more masculine-sounding Ks, Bs, Ds and Ts, such as Kurt. A couple of famous national political families demonstrate that pattern, Oliver said: The liberal Obamas named their daughters Sasha and Malia, both names heavy on As and Ls, whereas the conservative Palin family picked more masculine-sounding names for both their boys and girls, particularly Track, Trig, Bristol and Piper (although third daughter Willow got a softer-sounding moniker).
The findings of an ideological split mostly among the well-educated are no surprise, Oliver said, as only about 20 percent of the American public holds strong political principles, and those people tend to be college educated. In that group, he said, the data suggest that liberals are looking to distinguish themselves for their culture and education by choosing esoteric names. Conservatives, on the other hand, seem to pick traditional names that will distinguish their kids as economically successful.
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(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Both of my daughters were born in the 1980s and I went for the Irish names. Don’t ask me why, as I have no Irish blood in me (hubby has some); just liked the names — Erin and Kerry.
My son was born in 1972. His name is Seth. It was very uncommon at the time; now I hear that name all the time.
This is a great point. I definitely think there's a line between "unique" and "what are your parents' trying to prove?"
Many names that seem trendy or "invented" to current generations are actually quite old. I wouldn't have thought Roxanne was one of them, but thanks for pointing this out. I actually have an Appolonia in my family tree (from the mid 1800's, I believe) -- but I can't see that as anything other than Prince's lady friend from the '90s movie Purple Rain!
I love Seth!
Boys names are really hard for me. I guess it’s a good thing I had 3 daughters.
My wife and I struggled over names for our baby for sometime. The only boys name we could agree on was Chase. A girls name we never agreed on. Thank goodness we had a boy !
Liberal Republicans give their boys girls names like, Lindsey and Haley.
Well, if you want to talk about ruining a name, Ms. Lewinsky sure wiped “Monica” off the map ;)
In the case of those two names, I think it’s more a Southern tradition. The South has always favored surname/family names for their male children.
OTOH, many names we consider feminine were once entirely masculine. For example: Courtney, Evelyn, Darcy, Dana, and Vivien were all once exclusively male.
I have a great niece named Cecilia and her little sister is named Vivian (that’s one you don’t hear much now days).
I also have great nieces named Madelyn, Lillian and Helen; Helen was my mother’s name and there was a Madelyn and Lillian on my niece’s husband’s side of the family.
This is a great point. I definitely think there's a line between "unique" and "what are your parents' trying to prove?"
Have you ever noticed that it is very, very unusual for a woman to name her daughter after herself? My opinion about this is that women don't have the conceit that men have: "Look at me. I'm something special, so I'll give my son my great name."
Many moons ago I worked in Sears credit collection department and you cannot imagine how many accounts got mangled because the father's payment on his account got applied to the account of his son, who had the same damn name.
Full name: Malia Anne Obama
Yeah, we got Bolshevism covered with Sasha, and we got MAO in there too.
Hope no one thinks its a coincidence.
The half of my family that raised me gave everybody biblical names, which are much meatier and assertive than Amber, Ashley, Liam etc.
My daughter is Rebecca Elizabeth. Becca for short. The other half of my family, Sicilian, everybody is named Michael, Michelle.. with a few Anthonys thrown in.
I think it’s awful to burden a girl with a masculine name and vice versa.
Irish/Celtic names got hugely popular in the late ‘80s. Look at the popularity of Caitlin and it’s 2,001 spelling variations!
Conservatives, on the other hand, seem to pick traditional names that will distinguish their kids as economically successful.
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That is a stupid statement.
Enjoyed the excerpt until I got to that.
I was on the phone yesterday with client support for our payroll vendor and the woman’s name was, I kid you not: “Lacola” pronounced La-Cola. I also once spoke with someone at this same company named Latrina and one named Chiquita.
Frank Zappa is dead,isn’t he?
Wow, those are some seriously traditional names! They could be my great-aunts, LOL! In fact, some of them were!
;-)
How about Esther?
I’ll meet your La-Cola and raise you a Chlamydia. Yep, same spelling and everything.
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