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[Opinions] Re: Anna vs Katherine
in reply to a message by Lily
Not sure where you live, but currently in the US I'm pretty sure nobody would call a Katherine Kathy. If they shortened it without permission, it would be Katie or Kate. But no matter what, I'm very much a proponent of not caring if there's a common nickname you dislike for a name you like. In my experience people will call your child whatever you introduce them as, and they might otherwise ask if you use a nickname. (My son is Benjamin "Ben".) Spelling it Katharine would cause more issues than Katherine, but any Katherine is probably going to have to mention how her name is spelled because it could always be Catherine. Or Kathryn.I'm not a big fan of Anna. It's not bad, but it's so common and follows the soft, frilly -a trend. But I love Anne. It's so much fresher and sharper.
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I love Anne! I'm wondering whether -e endings will be fashionable again in a few years when people will become tired of all the names that end in -a. I could see Anne, Diane (instead of Diana), Adrienne (instead of Adriana), Eve (instead of Ava) etc making a comeback soon.
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soft, a namesYes, I think (although I really like Anna) that this name will blend in... Anna, Olivia, Emma, Ava, Eva, Sophia, Isabelle, Hannah -- softly, softly, feminine names.
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I can see this happening. I think it's already happening to me. Names that end in -a are just losing their appeal, and I almost always prefer the -e version if there is one.
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I saw you mention that in the trend post below, and I agree with that observation. I think once the frilly name thing wears off people will get more into sharper, snappy feeling names, and -e instead of -a will accomplish that with all the names that were more common before.
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Anna also sounds like popular HannahI agree. Also, Anna is very confusable right now with HANNA(H). I ran the name Anna past a 7 and 11 year old and they both said "Hannah?" Not a bad name, in itself, but easily confused.
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TrueWith there being a lot of Hannahs, an Anna will have to repeat her name a lot I'm sure. Although not sure how common Hannah really is anymore. There was a day where it seemed like all little girls were named Hannah. I think it was popular in the 90s? I'm too lazy to go look it up. :P

This message was edited 1/7/2012, 12:42 PM

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HannahI think it's making a comeback. I have young children and am running into little Hannahs all over the place. I don't think it's as popular as Ava or Emma, though. I have always been tempted to use Olivia as I have *never* met one, but all the lists and news items name Olivia as number one. Sigh.
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Yeah, it's weirdI've never once met an Ava, an Olivia (under the age of 22), an Emma, an Isabella, or a Sophia (also under the age of early-20s) in real life. So where are they all?! I suppose I also don't meet a lot of little kids. My son is 3, so not in school yet where I can hear lots of little kid names.
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I'm actually looking forward to that. Anne and Diane especially sound really fresh to me lately. And I've always liked Eve.
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