@somemom, I knew a guy in high school who came here from India when he was just a toddler. His parents chose new names for him and his brother so that they would sound more “American.” They named my classmate “Tony” after Tony Curtis, and his brother “Mickey” after Mickey Mouse!
Not a fan of Ezra. Reminds me of eczema. I know, not nice, but that’s the picture in my head. Not a fan of Talullah either…sorry Bruce. (Don’t like Bruce either, come to think of it).
I do like some of the newer trendy names (Harper is a cute little girl AND a high powered attorney ;-). Also like Irish/Gaelic names…Declan, Aiden, etc. found out after the fact that my DD’s middle name is a “lower class” Irish name. I thought it sounded pretty.
^^ that is hilarious!
My middle schooler was doing a research paper and ran across an “Ezra” and immediately assumed it was a woman. I LOLed.
Re post #178: Your argument that spelling conventions are a recent phenomena would apply equally to ANY word. Most people accept conventional spellings of non-name words as “correct,” despite the fact that spelling was not completely standardized in Shakespeare’s times. So that argument actually cuts against your point.
Names are arbitrary signifiers, and people are free to spell them as they like. We are talking about aesthetic preferences. My preference is generally for the more standardized, traditional spellings, even when alternate spellings have overtaken the original. I greatly prefer Michaela to Makayla, for example. Thousands of people disagree, including the vast majority of people choosing that name for their daughter. That’s fine, but I’m still entitled to my own preference.
“I know kids named Ira, Owen & Gus. Also Atticus, Stella & Lucy. And Sol.”
And Leo. And Maxine.
I’ll concede the point on Jeffery and Rachael, but not on Myckkinzeigh 
My grandfather was Izrael and “Americanized” to Jack when he immigrated. I’m aware that there are many variants of names.
My kids fell on the floor laughing hysterically when they learned that I had a Grandma Fanny, an Aunt Weenie and an Aunt Sissie.
Also, It could potentially be useful to SOME people to understand the connotations that their name choice has for OTHER people. Not that this would be the DECIDING factor, of course, but SOME people might appreciate leaning, for example, that the name Sharon has/had lower class connotations in Britain (but not here). Or that most Taylors these days are girls. Or that to some people, Jeffery looks less literate than Jeffrey or Geoffrey, etc. Other people couldn’t care less. But in my view sharing preferences helps people make the most informed choice.
We had a young man who worked for us a couple of summers whose name was a term for feces when translated in Swedish 
My husband and I were having a casual meeting with a sales rep when I got a call from a customer with a german last name. It sure sounded suggestive in English and we giggled about it after the call ended and the rep chimed in because her name was really just as amusing . They sounded like names that would be on an SNL skit
All the old names are coming back. In the last 2 years, I’ve had contact with toddlers named Eleanor, Agnes and…Esther! When was the last time you ran across an Esther?!!
Well adding to this list …, Micheal is not a trendy name or a misspelling. It’s an alternate spelling which is fairly common in Ireland and Scotland. Oh, and the Irish spelling of Maire (for Mary) is often corrected to “Marie” by “helpful” people.
I’m not conceding Jeffery!
“When was the last time you ran across an Esther?”
I have a good friend who is an Esther. She is in her 30’s and from Scotland.
I know several young Latina Esthers (in their 20s and 30s). (Might be spelled differently).
My grandmother was almost named Esther, but her mother chose a different name that to my ear has almost the exact same connotation. She truly believes that her life would have been better if she had been called Esther. She has told us this many times.
The only Esther I knew was my great aunt.
I was surprised to see that Esther has not been ranked lower than 348 (in 1970) by the Social Security (from link upthread) since 1900!
There’s a certain privacy advantage to having a common first and last name. Now that Google can find anyone if you have a very unique name you can be found and stalked online.
If you think Randy is bad, I have an elderly relative whose name rhymes with vagina.
@nottelling that’s interesting since the “th” doesn’t really exist in Spanish. I wonder how they’re spelling it or if it’s just that they’ve taken on an Anglo name.
@nottelling @romanigypsyeyes In my experience, it’s usually spelled and pronounced Ester in Spanish-speaking countries, although I have met an ‘Esther’ in one such country before, pronounced without the h.