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Comment by jchampem | Hacker News Reader

It also applies here in France, especially northern/eastern parts close to Germany.

Well, not for Chantal, which is not a very exotic name here.

Somewhat in Italy as well. There's a scene in an 80s movie where two "coatti" (I can't really find a translation for this word. Let's say "white trash" from Rome) are deciding what name to choose for their hypothetical son. The guy would like to call him Kevin because "it gives a sense of respect".

Here's the scene (somewhat NSFW, I guess) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GUyKG96xlsk

Same in the Netherlands. There are a lot of names that will instantly identify you as someone born from parents hailing from the lower socio-economic classes.

If you meet a boy named Jayden (the present day Dutch Kevin I guess?), you can be pretty sure his parents didn't go to college. This information should be irrelevant, but in reality it is used by whoever they meet, consciously or unconsciously.

The problem with these imported and new names is that it places a long lasting, nigh indelible stigma on their bearer. A label that everyone can see — yet you'll never know if it affects someone's opinion of you. All you might know is that the net effect of your name is negative until society changes its perception of it (i.e., gets used to it).

> If you meet a boy named Jayden (the present day Dutch Kevin I guess?), you can be pretty sure his parents didn't go to college.

In Poland it's Brian for a boy and Jessica for a girl. Often spelled phonetically (Brajan, Dżesika).

Living as a (expat) Kevin in The Netherlands for many years and I've never heard this. Might be that my friends are just polite. Interested to know if this is well-known to those who grew up in The Netherlands.

Kevin was a typical nineties name: http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nvb/naam/is/kevin

Home Alone came out in 1990.

Kevin does have some lingering association; the lower socio-economic class stigma is there, but not that strong. Keep in mind that for someone born in an Anglo-Saxon country, that stigma would not necessarily apply. It tends to be limited to Dutch-born folk.

Chantal on the other hand seems to carry a much stronger connotation of a lower class background.

Do you have an accent (preferably from the Anglosphere) that gives you away as an expat? The stigma (at least in Germany) basically doesn‘t apply to native English speakers (or at least much, much less so). Nobody here makes fun of Kevin Costner for being named Kevin. The stigma is specifically about lower class Germans frequently choosing certain foreign names for their kids.

Also in Spain. Kevin, Joshua, etc automatically mark you as being a gypsy. No Chantal here though, but names like Jennifer or Yolanda are arguably used to that effect too. Very, very surprised though to see this as an international phenomenon.

I'd argue these names are more representative of cani/quillo culture than gypsies though. The phenomenon is pretty universal, it has to do with the formation of lumpenproletariat.

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