12 Names That Pop Culture Ruined

Lifehacker.com has a list of 12 "once normal" baby names that pop culture basically ruined. They are:

1.  Karen . . . It's now a meme for a specific kind of entitled white lady.

2.  Mario . . . It's now basically 100% associated with a video game character.

3.  Chad . . . Like Karen, it's now a meme for an “alpha dudebro"-type.

4.  Katrina . . . Most hurricanes don’t ruin the human names they are given, but Katrina wasn't an ordinary hurricane.

5.  Hermione . . . It wasn't a super common name before "Harry Potter", but it was considered an "exotic" option. Now, it has a much different vibe.

6.  Adolph . . . Arguably, the king of negatively associated names.

7.  Siri and Alexa . . . They're now associated with somewhat-creepy digital assistants, and to use them you call them out by name. That said, Siri was never a "normal" name, right?

8.  Dick and Fanny . . . They're slang terms for naughty parts of the body.

9.  Donald . . . This name will now be associated with Donald Trump . . . for better or worse. "Hilary" could've also made the list. And to kids, it's connected to "Donald Duck."

10.  Waldo . . . There will always be "Where's Waldo?" jokes.

11. Damien . . . Ever since "The Omen" came out in 1976, the name Damien has been connected with supernatural evil.

12.  Guy . . . No specific pop culture connection . . . at least outside of "Flavortown" . . . but it's so widely used as a stand-in for boring, "generic member of the male species." Like, "just a guy."


View Full Site