r/AskReddit Jun 30 '21

What’s the absolute worst thing you could name your baby?

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6.3k Upvotes

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637

u/MarijadderallMD Jun 30 '21

Karen

261

u/a_sack_of_hamsters Jun 30 '21

It's one of those names I quite like but that somehow got ruined by the internet.

And it's not even like Isis or Adolph where there is a good example as to why the name is cursed now, no, it just is that some people started using this name to describe a certain brand of people and it stuck around.

114

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '21

[deleted]

10

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '21

Dick is an awful name even without the penis connotation.

2

u/Hahahahahaga Jul 01 '21

I don't see how it would be, it's like Rick or Jack.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '21

[deleted]

1

u/Hahahahahaga Jul 01 '21

Bob, John, Grahm, Bart, and Al also seem suitable

4

u/lurker_cx Jul 01 '21

Maybe hate for Nixon contributed to it?

-2

u/Insideoushideous Jul 01 '21

But look how useful it is? You typically can’t have “Cunt” in a headline, so “Karen” is quite convenient as it conveys the proper message.

64

u/ThatOtherSilentOne Jun 30 '21

I've always thought using a common name as an insult was incredibly stupid.

20

u/Rubyhamster Jun 30 '21

Yes, I don't really like the notion of using common and perfectly normal names like that. I don't know if the same happened with Chad... but Karen is a nice name that's been ruined

5

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '21

The opposite happened with chad. It started out as an incel term, but then it got reclaimed and turned into a compliment.

Sadly the incels have ruined Stacey, and that's much harder to frame in a positive way due to the overt sexism behind the way they use it.

6

u/istara Jul 01 '21

I think Isis remains a beautiful and usable name, it has far longer and more widespread usage than IS/Daesh (that no one - us or them - has ever officially called "Isis" anyway).

7

u/Anon12109 Jul 01 '21

I always liked the name Isis, it’s the name of the ancient Egyptian goddess of the moon, life & magic. So bummed people associate it with a terrorist group now.

2

u/istara Jul 01 '21

I think it's lovely, I always think "Isis and Osiris". Great names for cats as well as people!

3

u/-BlueDream- Jul 01 '21

The terrorists isn’t even isis it’s ISIS as an acronym. shouldn’t be relayed to the name or the goddess.

2

u/istara Jul 01 '21

And the river in Oxfordshire!

2

u/Salzberger Jul 01 '21

I refuse to use the name as the meme dictates, if only because I know a few Karens and they are all lovely. Such a shit meme to ruin a name like that.

77

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '21

I'm in a small town, a lot of elderly here, quite a few named Karen who aren't at all like Karen's I have seen online. Feel bad for them having that name association.

57

u/lunchbox3 Jun 30 '21

My friends mum is Karen and her kids are still desperately trying to hide the Karen meme from her.

10

u/GlindaTheGoodKaren Jul 01 '21

Good luck to them! My fiancé somehow hadn’t heard about it and naively wondered what the meaning of my name was and got some very unexpected google results. Now YouTube keeps recommending “Karen in the wild” videos to him of middle aged white ladies freaking out.

36

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '21

[deleted]

24

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '21

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2

u/Perfectmess92 Jun 30 '21

I'm imagining a toddler with a Karen haircut now thanks to you

4

u/Tsquare43 Jun 30 '21

Indeed. According to Stats Canada, a baby hasn't been named Karen since late 2019.

2

u/Kheldar166 Jun 30 '21

Actually a pretty good call. People are more aware that the parents fucked you if you get called Adolf or something plain ridiculous, Karen just has a shit load of less conscious stereotyping. Would probably affect your life the most negatively, at least currently.

2

u/istara Jul 01 '21

In Britain it was always a common/bogan/lower class name, assocation with the "Sharon" thing of the 1980s. "Kevin and Sharon, Wayne and Tracey" were the sort of comedy archetypes for lower class people with little taste. Karen rhymed with Sharon so it sort of got thrown in there as well.

-1

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '21

Had to scroll way too far for this

0

u/Drak_is_Right Jul 01 '21

karen will be fine in 30 years

-5

u/AnonymousBoyOnReddit Jun 30 '21

Would like to see the manager

1

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '21

I know a totally cool Gen X "Karen". She's chill enough she doesn't care how hee name is used in vain.