Names in commercial

[Sobes]

There's a cell phone plan commercial where the father asks his teenaged daughter about who she added to her buddies list and she says, "Sarah, Beth, Crystal, Jenny and Jackie." and thent he da asked his son, he repaets the list and says his sister's friends are hot (bah dunt duh!)

Lame commerical,I know, but after watching it several times, it occured to me - the names seem more like a group of 20-30something women than high schoolers. I know our current group of students includes many Sarahs, one Crystal (though she's the daughter of immigrants) a few Jennys and a Jaci. No self respecting Elizabeth of this generation would dream of going by Beth. Still I would think an Ashley or a Kayla would update the list a little.

It makes me wonder about the ad writer who thinks of those names as teenager names. I also wonder if my kids pick up on it - I'll have to ask them.

Anyhow, do you guys ever notice that? Name lists that seem off. I'm actually okay with things the other way around - characters who have names that seem too young for them - I figure writers are like moms, we want our babies to stand out a little or at least have something fresher sounding.

[Mirth]

I dunno, I mostly notice with medieval thrillers. Given that most people were called John (alright, maybe not the girls), it's not just the anachronistic names, but the anachronistic distribution. The real medievalers got round this with by names and nicknames but writers are lazy... Some of them, anyway.

The other thing is that middle-aged writers seem a little out of touch with how naming has really changed. So they give middleaged characters the names that were middle-aged when they were young. Or they stick to classics, and nobody has a name that's arrived after 1985.

[KNY]

Yes - totally agree! You see this also on TV shows, where the adult characters have the currently trendy names, I guess to make the show seem fresh.

Like on my favorite show "Crossing Jordan" - you had adult women named Jordan, Lily, Abby, Maggie, Devon.....I would picture those more in preschool together than as adults!

[juliedanielle]

I noticed the same thing. The teens/adults with currently trendy names don't bother me quite as much as the outdated ones.

The occasional teenage Karen is fine, there are always a few, but that all of her friends would have names from 1973 is weird.

[LaLaLalena]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KNY @ Sep 3 2007, 06:45 PM) 6722226</div>
Yes - totally agree! You see this also on TV shows, where the adult characters have the currently trendy names, I guess to make the show seem fresh.[/b]

Ditto! I actually know a lot of kids my age (18) with thos names, but a Megan or Ashley or Samantha would have made it more believable. I also think that Sara, Beth sounds like one name, Sarabeth.

As for TV shows, Grey's Anatomy is a big one! Meredith, Preston, Miranda, Isobel "Izzie", Derek, Ava, Olivia, Callie. Really?

[ckevans]

Yup, sometimes Madison Avenue is behind the times on this. It seems to me that "Susie" STILL shows up as the name of a young girl in commercials in the USA fairly often, and that's much farther back as a common name for a child than Crystal and Jenny are.



As others have already pointed out, characters on television programs more often have names which are too "young" for them, rather than too old. That's also been going on for a long time. Back in the 1970s the soap opera my mother watched, As The World Turns, introduced two adult sisters named Jennifer and Kimberly, at a time when those names were more appropriate for young girls than adult women.

[Panya]

Okay, just have to say, I LOVE that commercial! :smiletu: "Maybe you should have uglier friends..." :rofl:

But yes, I did notice the name thing, and even mentioned it to Bill. Of course, he didn't notice, as I'm sure most non-name buffs wouldn't.

I noticed the "Susie" thing too. I went to school with a girl named Susan [never called Sue/Susie/etc.], and thought it was sort of weird that she had such an 'old' name [I'm 26].

In a story I was writing I gave the main character's family all strange names [to fit my taste], but tried to give the rest of the characters more mainstream, age-appropriate names. I wish more writers were like this.

[lunastar]

:) That commercial is cute. I did think the names were a little off, but not too bad. I knew several girls by those names in school, and I graduated HS almost ten years ago--so maybe a little bit.
The commercial I think got its names fairly right is the K-Mart commercial where the kids are going back to school: Brandon, Sophia...I can't remember the others, but they seemed more up-to-date.

[alleigh76]

I thought it was supposed to be Sarah Beth, one name. I guess if it was there would have to be another name, though. But I thought there was? Sarah Beth sounds a lot more modern than Beth. I only know one Elizabeth that ever went by Beth, but she's been Liz since she was about 7.

Jenny and Sarah are perfectly okay, but I have never met a Crystal, or a Beth, and only one Jackie (maybe 2)--and I'm in high school, so... :)

I've noticed that a lot of movies/TV shows do that. Most of the time they seem to be too young, rather than too old, but I have seen some 'old' names as well. The lack of Ashleys on TV just amazes me, since I know about 50 million of them (or so it seems). I honestly can't think of a single show with an Ashley, other than Two of a Kind, and that was sort of cheating since they used Mary-Kate and Ashley's real first names.
However, as for Crossing Jordan, my school guidance counselor (about 30?) is named Devyn, and I personally think of Maggie as more of an adult name than a child name...and Lily and Abby are pretty much timeless. Jordan, definitely, is way too young for the age group, though.
And I can't argue about Grey's Anatomy. Isobel and Derek are possible, but otherwise they're quite unlikely, especially all together.

[speechykeen]

Lily and Abby are pretty much timeless.
No, they're trendy names that are also old. I promise you, they have been dated before and they will be again.

Go to http://www.babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html and compare Lily/Lillian/Abigail to Katherine.

Anyway, I think those names are very 70s/80s! Crazy!

[Jennifer]

I hate that, when character names are not "age-appropriate"! We're actually going to launch a name section for writers with just that advice!

[KNY]

Ditto speechykeen - I think it's a generation thing - to you, Lily and Abby seem timeless, but when I was in junior high, they would have seemed sooooo old! Nobody had those names but elderly relatives. Even Maggie would have stood out, whereas today, it's more common.

I would be shocked to ever meet a Lily my age (pleasantly shocked, but still).

[alleigh76]

No, they're trendy names that are also old. I promise you, they have been dated before and they will be again.

Go to http://www.babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html and compare Lily/Lillian/Abigail to Katherine.

Anyway, I think those names are very 70s/80s! Crazy!
I know they've been dated before. I didn't really mean they're timeless exactly. What I meant was that they are really, really old names that are still being used--and even when they were 'dated' no one went, "Oh...my...gosh! Where in the world did the parents ever came up with a name like that?!" Unlike Jordan-for-a-girl or names like London and America, which are really new, Abigail has always been a name. If you were to meet an Abigail that was born during the name's dated period, you would be surprised but not shocked. But I know that I, for one, would be fairly shocked to meet a 90 year old woman named Jordan.

That's what I really meant. Sorry I didn't make myself clear on that. I meant to reply right after you posted, but my computer decided not to let me. :)

[Sobes]

Jordan and London have only been on the list lately in the last 100 years - America seems to have had a bit of a following in the 1880s.

Abigail wouldn't have been that popular with the upper classes in the 1800s (it also meant maid), and I don't know if Lily would have been that popular before Victorian flower names (it seems Lily is much more popular now than ever - Lillian is a different story.)

It seems like "classic names" are a lot like old money, people don't remember humble/trendy roots that may only be a few generations back.

[alleigh76]

Abigail is in the Old Testament of the bible--I'm sure people would recognize it the name considering the prevalence of Judeo-Christian culture.
Lily, maybe not. I believe I have heard of it being used in about the 1400s, but I could (very easily) be wrong.

[KNY]

Aurora - you're right that Abigail and Lily are names with a long history - they are not trendy in the sense of being modern invented names.

But even Biblical names can be dated to a certain generation. My grandmother's name is Ruth, and I would assume an 80 year old woman when I heard that name, it's the most common of her generation. But Deborah I would assume to be my mother's generation (in her 50's now). Abigail or Hannah I would assume to be a young child.

But then some other Biblical names, like Elizabeth or John, I really do think are timeless classics.

[Sobes]

I know Abigail goes way back, but it hasn't been constantly popular. As for Lily, I don't doubt it was used occasionally before Victorian times, but I don't know how normal a name it would have been.

Besides, Jordan has medieval roots, too - I thought it initially was tied to the Crusades. And do forget America was a first name before it was a contient.

So old/new/trendy really is is the eye of the beholder. There are a very few names that are truly new, and fewer that are consistently popular oer several generations, or at least if you count the last 100 years.

[GeorgiaLola]

I hate that, when character names are not "age-appropriate"! We're actually going to launch a name section for writers with just that advice!

Oh, this drives me crazy! I complain all the time when characters have names that would never appear on members of their generation.

That section sounds really interesting, Jennifer!

[alleigh76]

Besides, Jordan has medieval roots, too - I thought it initially was tied to the Crusades. And do forget America was a first name before it was a contient.

Yes, I know Jordan is an old name for boys, but what I said was Jordan for girls--as a girls' name, Jordan was unheard of until quite recently.

[kacykc]

Yes, I always notice that for TV & Movies... they always use names of babies instead of decade appropriate names for adults.

I bet those names from the commercials are like staff, or editors wives or something.

[alleigh76]

I bet those names from the commercials are like staff, or editors wives or something.
:lol: You're probably right. Or maybe they're the wives of the writers' bosses, and the writers were sucking up for a raise.

[Sobes]

It's been a while since I heard, but I thought Jordan started off as a unisex name.

[lacascada]

I wonder if the writers aren't going for accuracy, but more choosing names with an appeal to a whichever generation their target audience is. Hence, if you want to sell a Baby Boomer on the idea that a product is great for a typical little girl, you call the girl "Suzie."

[lacascada]

It's been a while since I heard, but I thought Jordan started off as a unisex name.

Hmm, I thought it had to do with baptism in the river Jordan. Which gets back to the Santos question. No particular reason that the name would have to be male or female, but what's the tradition behind it?

[lacascada]

But then some other Biblical names, like Elizabeth or John, I really do think are timeless classics.

Thanks. I think so too. ;)

[ckevans]

I wonder if the writers aren't going for accuracy, but more choosing names with an appeal to a whichever generation their target audience is. Hence, if you want to sell a Baby Boomer on the idea that a product is great for a typical little girl, you call the girl "Suzie."

This would only work if you are selling a product where you want the Baby Boomers to remember THEMSELVES being children. Susie was a Baby Boomer name; it's not what they named their own kids.