Hello,

First, I'd like to apologize for not writing in Dutch. My husband (Dutch) and I were discussing baby names the other day and I mentioned a name I liked (Madison or something) and my husband said it is "Achterbuurt". It got me wondering as to what are "achterbuurt" names so that I can avoid naming our baby that!?Then he said names like "Fleur" or "Isabelle" are "kakker-ish".

Thanks in advance and I hope it is not terribly offensive. I am not Dutch so it is not easy to tell what names are associated with what.

Isn't it more practical to discuss with your husband which name are according to him 'achterbuurt' or 'kakker' or whatever? I mean, that differs from person to person....and as it is going to be your child, you as parents have to decide which name to choose.

Are you American (considering you use 'apologiZe')...?

The associations with names are not so very different from de US. Names like Matthew, Andrew, Paul, Daniel are always considered 'approriate' for about anyone.. Typical American names like Jason, Kevin, Jayden are more popular and are sometimes considered trashy. You can differentiate with Britain in this case. English names that are not common in the UK are usually considered more trashy (Madison is an example). Very conservative names such as Isabelle, Caroline, Stephanie, Josephine etc etc are valued similarly here as in the US. (same as Sophie, Emma, Luke, James etc etc)

Your husband and yourself will have to answer the question what kind of name would you like to give your child? Long - shirt, popular - original, American of typically Dutch (such as Hidde of Jeroen, Guusje of Marijke * grin *), easy to pronounce in Holland as well as abroad etc etc.

Many people in Holland choose an American name from TV or the movies and have no idea what kind of association these names bring up in the US. Not that that is a real problem. These people live in Holland and are nog very likely to move to the states.

Chose a name you both are happy with.. it's a very large world! Somewhere somebody will always comment on your choice.. whatever you decide

It also depends on which area you live, for example my daugthers name is M.egan. In Amsterdam it might be an "achterbuurt" name but here in my place in Gelderland it's an normal name. In my city, kids from the "achterbuurt" called Joey, Dylan, Samantha, Sylvana. You have to choose a name, you're both happy with! Good luck!

Yes that's right Loesje, in the little village I grew up, names as Jessica, Samantha, Claudia, Bianca, Manuela and Raimon, Michael, Peter and Kelvin were a little trashy. But people with those names thought our names were "kakkerig". I have my own ideas about trashy names and I think everyone has his own opinion about them.

So think of names you like and discuss them with your husband to make sure you both like the name of your child.

I found an article (in Dutch) about this subject on a blog about baby names: Verborgen ordinamen: Britt en Julian

The writer included a list of names that are often called 'ordinair' on internet forums. I copied the list below.

Meisjesnamen
Oude modenamen: Angela, Chantal, Jessica, Jennifer, Kelly, Kimberley, Larissa, Mandy, Melissa, Melody, Natasha, Nikita, Priscilla, Ramona, Samantha, Sharon, Stacey, Stephanie, Tamara, Wendy
Celebritynamen: Alyssa, Britney, Demi, Lindsay/Lindsey, Romy, Shania, Siënna, Vanessa
Korte namen: Amy, Bo, Britt, Daisy, Daniek/Danique, Demi, Fay, Gigi, Indy, Jade, Jamie, Kim, Lara, Lola, Luna, Lynn, Nicky/Nikki, Roxy, Zoë
Amerikaanse/Engelse namen: Angel, Ashley, Caitlyn/Katelin, Destiny, Eden, Felicity, Jamie-Lee, Jessie/Jessy, Jill, Kaylee/Kayleigh, Maureen, Ruby, Skye
Andere leennamen: Ainoa, Anaïs, Cheyenne, Lakeisha, Luz, Raya, Solane, Soraya
La/le-namen: Jamilla, Joëlla/Joëlle, Maribelle, Noëlle
Namen die nog niet ouderwets genoeg zijn om retro genoemd te worden: Anita, Arina, Trudy
Namen die met beginnen met een dj- of sj-klank, verzinselnamen en namen die fonetisch worden geschreven: Chanel/Chanelle, Jailey, Jeslynn, Mailynn, Sharity. Maar ook... Charlotte!
Jongensnamen
Oude modenamen: Aron, Brian/Bryan, Danny, Dave, Dennis, Fer/Ferry, Jeffrey, Jeremy, Joey, Jordy, Kevin, Marco, Melvin, Michael, Mitchell, Patrick, Raymond, Ricardo, Rico, Rodney, Wesley
'Te' buitenlandse namen: Christiano, Giovanni, Jamal, Laszlo, Leonardo, Leroy, Rafael/Raphael
Korte namen: Brad, Brenn, Dean, Espen, Finn, Jim, Mexx, Mike, Morris, Nick, Sem, Sep/Sepp, Wes
Modenamen die op -m/-n eindigen: Aidan/Aiden/Ayden, Damian, Fabian, Jayden, Julian, Liam, Milan, Quinten, Tristan
Modenamen die op een klinker eindigen: Charlie, Dani, Delano/Dylano, Elijah, Jari, Joeri, Jona/Jonah, Joshua, Keano/Kyano, Kenzo, Levi, Luca/Luka, Mauro, Milo/Mylo, Senna, Timo, Tycho/Tygo
Namen die nog niet ouderwets genoeg zijn om retro genoemd te worden: Arie, Marius, Ronny