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Help[Opinions] Re: Usability
in reply to a message by MCB327
Some seem more usable than others, to me. In the US, I mean.
Klaus is rare in the US, so seems ultra German, and therefore "foreign" - sort of like François or Vladimir, maybe a bit less so. It's partly the pronunciation of Klaus being so different from how those letters would be said in English. It's slightly "difficult" for Americans. So a name like Klaus vaguely suggests recent immigration, or American Germanophilia.
But it's usable!
Otto, Dietrich, Henrik seem less "foreign" - more familiar, easier to say for Americans - and so they're even more usable imo. They sound more potentially American, I guess.
IIWY I'd consider - how quickly would people accept Klaus if it belonged to a boy whose family came from Europe and often spoke German at home.
Would they accept it as easily as they'd accept, say, Cillian on a kid whose family was recently from Ireland? Or Arjun on a kid whose family came from India?
If they would accept it, then there is no *real* difference in usability between Klaus and any other "foreign" name. Because - for most interactions the kid will face - Americans don't know how "American" his family is. But they do know that it's none of their business.
If they wouldn't accept it as easily just because it's not as fashionable ... and that could be the case ...
then you just have the same problem as someone who is considering naming their son Mervin or Hubert. Liking unfashionable names.
I think it's legit to care that your kid's name doesn't sound stodgy or ugly to his peers.
If you happen to care, though. People who use Haizleigh or whatever, don't care that that seems silly and hard to spell to a lot of people, so you don't have to care either.
Anyway, people deal with one another as individuals. The response to a person's name is incredibly superficial and virtually never matters for that person's experience socially, compared to how their behavior and appearance matters. JMHO. So I think it's more important, that Mom and Dad think the name is awesome and can assure the kid that it is, than that his peers don't think it's weird.
- mirfak
Klaus is rare in the US, so seems ultra German, and therefore "foreign" - sort of like François or Vladimir, maybe a bit less so. It's partly the pronunciation of Klaus being so different from how those letters would be said in English. It's slightly "difficult" for Americans. So a name like Klaus vaguely suggests recent immigration, or American Germanophilia.
But it's usable!
Otto, Dietrich, Henrik seem less "foreign" - more familiar, easier to say for Americans - and so they're even more usable imo. They sound more potentially American, I guess.
IIWY I'd consider - how quickly would people accept Klaus if it belonged to a boy whose family came from Europe and often spoke German at home.
Would they accept it as easily as they'd accept, say, Cillian on a kid whose family was recently from Ireland? Or Arjun on a kid whose family came from India?
If they would accept it, then there is no *real* difference in usability between Klaus and any other "foreign" name. Because - for most interactions the kid will face - Americans don't know how "American" his family is. But they do know that it's none of their business.
If they wouldn't accept it as easily just because it's not as fashionable ... and that could be the case ...
then you just have the same problem as someone who is considering naming their son Mervin or Hubert. Liking unfashionable names.
I think it's legit to care that your kid's name doesn't sound stodgy or ugly to his peers.
If you happen to care, though. People who use Haizleigh or whatever, don't care that that seems silly and hard to spell to a lot of people, so you don't have to care either.
Anyway, people deal with one another as individuals. The response to a person's name is incredibly superficial and virtually never matters for that person's experience socially, compared to how their behavior and appearance matters. JMHO. So I think it's more important, that Mom and Dad think the name is awesome and can assure the kid that it is, than that his peers don't think it's weird.
- mirfak
This message was edited 12/30/2022, 12:11 PM
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