Trends in Naming Conventions

opb
Although I can see it’s close to Pat Bottom, in my head I have always pronounced it Pat Botham, like Ian Botham.

I'm not sure how women of a certain type got named "Karen" and it is pretty insulting to women of that name. I've known several people with that name and they don't fit the stereotype.
Some names in stories seem to fit women in the Top or Bottom categories better than others.
- Kudos to whoever seems to have deleted political comments in this thread.

My contribution: here in the US, the Social Security website allows one to look up the most popular baby names for every year after 1879. The setting of my spanking stories ranges from the late Victorian to current times. If my story is set in the 1950s, the younger characters will have names popular for babies born in the 1930s. Their parents will have names given to babies in the early 1900s or before. If nothing else, it tells readers that you did a bit of research and that names used are appropriate for the era.

This is all an interesting read! I tend to google things like 'most popular baby names 1923 UK' if I'm writing a story about a 20 year old in the UK getting a spanking in 1943. That said, sometimes a name just appears fully formed in my head, like the character themselves ambled into my head and told me their name. I'm also generally a fan of names seen as a bit quaint nowadays, and generally always shortened - William, Thomas, Eleanor etc - but in their full forms.

???
I don't think I've seen any political comments in this thread...
Whachu talkin' 'bout, Willis?

I'm mostly curious how it was even remotely possible to weave a political comment into this thread...

These days you can weave politics out of any thread ...

As I recall, certain politicians were brought up recently.

updated female spankees list:
* indicates author with same name

"ee" names (totals - 79 ) (three most popular "ee" names: 1st - (tied) Katie, Lucy, Jenny, 2nd - Wendy, 3rd (tied) Amy, Kristy)
Ashley - II
Abby/Abbie - II
Amy - III
Angie - I
*Becky - I
Betty - II
Carrie - I
Cassie - II
Chloe - I
Cindy - I
Circe - III
Dori - I
Jamie - II
Jenny/Genie - IIIII
Jessie - I
Julie - II
*Katie - IIIII
Kari/Carrie - I
Kimberly - I
Kristy/Kirstie - III
Lexi - I
Libby - I
Lori - I
Lucy - IIIII I
Maggie - I
Melanie - II
Molly - III
Nancy - I
Natalie - II
Nickie - I
Patty - I
Peggy - II
Penny - I
Rosie - I
Sally - II
Sherry - I
Sophie - I
Stacy - I
Stephanie - II
Suzie - II
Tiffany - II
Wendy - IIII
Yuki - II
Zoe - I

non "ee" names (totals - 57 ) (three most popular "non-ee" names: 1st - Jane, 2nd (tied) - Karen, Carol/Caroline, Melissa/Lisa, 3rd (tied) - Amber, Clara, Ellen, Susan/Sue, Tanya, Tara, Trish )
Alicia - II
Allison - I
Amber - III
Angela - I
April - I
Arista - I
Barbara/Bana - I
Caitlynn - I
Cassandra - I
Catherine - I
Charlene/Charlette - II
Clara - II
Caroline/Carol/Lina - III
Ellen - II
Emma - I
Jane - IIIII
Jessica - I
Joanne - I
Juliette - I
June - I
Karen - III
Leah - I
Lauren - I
Megan - I
Maxine - I
Melissa/Lisa - III
Michaela - I
Natalia - I
*Rachel - I
Sabina/Sabrina - I
Sarah/Sara - I
Sue/Susan - II
Summer - I
Tanya - II
Tara - II
Taylor - I
Trish - II
Yvette - I

It is interesting how popularity of names change over time. When I was young, Anne, Ruth, Linda, Susan,Barbara, Mary, were all very common names for girls. Not so much anymore.
On the other hand, there were no Caitlyn(various spellings) or Kaylas which are popular now.
The first time I came across the name Caitlin was in the book Dylan Thomas in America-Caitlin was his wife's name. There is also a passage in the book where he threatens to beat her "black and blue" for wearing a bikini. Thomas, a great poet but a very troubled human being. I do not associate being beaten black and blue with spanking, I think of a beating with fists,in the face perhaps. A red bottom sounds a lot better.
Another naming trend is the popularity of names like Jacob and Joshua for boys, biblical names but with a rustic ring, unlike say John or David or Matthew. A " country Jake" is a word synonymous with bumpkin or hick.
And then there are the creative new spellings for names, some of which are downright bizarre. I cringe at some of them. Once saw the name Juanita someone had-only it was spelled as pronounced-Wawnita! I think names whose origin is some language other than English should be spelled and pronounced correctly, as they are in their language of origin.
Point is it makes sense when writing a story set 50 or more years ago to use names likely to have given then. The Kaylas and such are fine for stories set in the present . And somehow some names just conjure an image of brattiness!