babyIf you already have your heart set on a name for your baby, you may want to stop reading now. If you couldn't care less what anyone else thinks and won't break into tears at the sight of seeing your future child's name on the 10 Most Hated Baby Name list, then proceed. I warn you, however, that it can be brutal to see one's choice sitting there after all the painstaking debate and devotion that go into choosing just the right name. 

The list comes from Laura Wattenberg, author of The Baby Name Wizard: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby. She conducted an "informal" study and came up with the list. In general she found people hate "gender-bending" names in which a masculine name becomes feminine -- like Addison or Madison.

As well, people despise trendy names ... though obviously not everyone does or they wouldn't be trendy, right? Also on the list of hate are names that are difficult to spell (Kaitlyn) and those that are similar versions of other names (Jayden, Brayden, and Kayden).

Here's the full list (with notes from Live Science) ... brace yourself:

Girls

  1. Nevaeh ("heaven" spelled backward and one of the most divisive names around, according to Wattenberg)
  2. Destiny (people dislike names that confer a virtue onto a child, Wattenberg said -- and many associated this name with exotic dancers)
  3. Madison
  4. Mackenzie
  5. McKenna
  6. Addison (an example of a masculine named turned feminine, which many people dislike, Wattenberg said)
  7. Gertrude (people said this name is "ugly")
  8. Kaitlyn (for its "made-up" spelling)
  9. Makayla
  10. Bertha (author's note: duh!)

Boys

  1. Jayden
  2. Brayden
  3. Aiden
  4. Kaden (these rhyming names struck many as overdone, Wattenberg reported)
  5. Hunter (too much like a last name or "too violent")
  6. Hayden
  7. Bentley (people dislike brand-name names, Wattenberg found, calling them "trashy")
  8. Tristan
  9. Michael (too boring, according to some)
  10. Jackson

I'm surprised to see some of them there -- especially Michael, and Kaitlyn doesn't seem that strangely spelled to me. But some of them, yeah ... "Bentley," really?

Still, if you love a name, it's your baby, and you get to decide. Don't let the haters color your opinion of a name you love ... just know that your child may be among those who hate it too.

What do you think of the baby names on this most hated list? Are your children's names on it? Do you care?


Image via Julien Haler/Flickr