Old time names that haven't made a comeback

I had great aunts named Myrtle, Agnes, and Gladys. I don't see any of those coming back.

My friend has 3 daughters called Edith, Hazel, and Pearl. They're all under 12. They sound like a bunch of old ladies!

I love the name Agnes. But Ruth, for example, is an old lady's name. Also Montgomery. Ain't nobody calling their child that.

Thelma, Agatha, Gertrude

Mabel.

Florence

Ebenezer, Ichabod, Ezekiel

I'm a hick homosexual and still I've never known nor heard of an Ennis or Alma or Lureen in real-life.

Mildred

My niece named her twin girls Nora Belle and Naomi Lynne.

[quote]Lureen

I’ve never heard of a Lureen outside of The Far Side.

Bertha

I think Mabel is back. Tracy Ullman named her daughter Mabel.

Is Edith really back, OP?

Oh I missed your post R2 - I'm more surprised by Edith than Mabel. Evelyn surprised me a little.

My grandparents were Elmer, Ethel, Eugene and Evelyn. Of those names, only Evelyn seems to be in use today.

Agnes will make a comeback.

Bertha

Agnes will become more popular. Hazel has also seen a resurgence as I see at my kid’s elementary school. They also have two Walters and a Eugene, though Eugene is Asian.

All of my great-grandparent names are back in style. Sam, Mattie, Charlotte, and Daniel.

Sorry, missed the earlier "Bertha" poster. Winifred, Mavis, Marlys.

Kermit and Argyle have yet to see the light of day again. Gertrude for girls will probably be lost in history.

Deneen

When was Argyle ever used for anything but socks?

Hortense. Ida. Gertrude. Emil. Mavis. Eileen. Irene. Ralph. Clemence. Harold. Mae.

My mother and my aunt were born in 1917 and 1919, respectively. One was named Olive and the other Ruby. Growing up I remember them both laughing about having clunky, old-fashioned names.

And now those names are totally up to the minute. They would share a good laugh over that.

Emory, which I like.

Margaret

Lucille

Dorothy

Thelma

Millicent

Horatio

My grandmother's name was Ruby Nadine. She went by her middle name which she considered more sophisticated.

Dorothy absolutely owyns this thread, as it was a very popular name a century or so ago.

But more mid-century, I'm surprised that names like Jane, Joan, and Patricia have rather faded, they were so popular between the 1940s-1960s. Karen has also faded, in the 1950s-1960s quite popular. For boys, mid-century stalwarts like Brian and Stewart, Alan, and Jeffrey seem to have faded.

Linda and Barbara are today's old lady names.

R31 - Yes, agree - Donna, as well, was popular in the 1950s, but all those Barbaras, Lindas, Karens, Janes, Joans, Patricias . . . now old lady names. Frances was also popular in the 1940s - now gone.

And some of the Catholic schoolgirl names have gone, too: Camille, Kathleen, Mary, Anne, Rosalie . . . how many of those do you see about?

Agnes sounds like shiny white orthopedic shoes. No way is that making a comeback.

You rang???

Esther

R23

Edna

Asa

Harriet

Fern

Mathias

My Grandmas were Lydia, and Flossie. I don't see those coming back. I also had an aunt Fern...

Biblical names, such as Mehitable, and Azariah.

Orson

Myrtle

Maude

Pauline

Milton

Grover

Mamie

[quote] Also Montgomery. Ain't nobody calling their child that.

I can see some deluded trendy mom thinking it would make a good name for a girl. "It's the new Madysyn!"

[quote]Mamie

I beg your pardon?

Phyllis

Ethel

Cyril

Myrna

Cecil

Mayor Pete's full name is: Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg

Charity, Verity, Faith, Hope, Constance ...

Arthur

Clarence

Raymond

Lloyd

Lawrence

Heather, Fern, Iris, Ivy, Petunia, Hyacinth, Flora - but Rose and Poppy are still in use?

Martha

Elisha

Fay

Martha...horrible name.

Herbert

Walter

Edmund

George

Porter

Arthur

Gladys

Phyllis

Mavis

r50, George and Arthur are rea,ly big lately. Priun bce George made that name, in particular, super on-trend.

Maude is in style again

Go to bed r52, you’re drunk.

Also r52, neither name is in even the top 100 names.

The names from the Silent Generation are the most out of fashion now; but they will almost certainly be the big hip names in ten years:

Linda

Patricia

Barbara

Deborah

Dawn

Nancy

Sharon

Gary

Steven

Mark

Richard

Curtis

Carl

Lance

Larry

* Sorry, that should read:

"[R50], George and Arthur are really big lately. Prince George made that name, in particular, super on-trend."

My grandmothers’ names were Faye and Flossie.

My grandfathers’ Virgil and Walter.

I can see Faye coming back.

Doreen

Olive

Harvey

Lester, Chester, Sylvester

Olive is hip again, r59.

So is wearing hair rollers in public, or so I’ve been told.

Elsie

Marcia

Joyce

Millicent

LaVerne

Loretta

R25/R29 My friend named her daughter, Ruby.... She was just born a year ago. It's gaining in popularity with Brits. They're Irish, and it's a name of a relative.

Jamima spelled with a G.

Enema.

I've met a lot of young East Asians, particularly those of Chinese origin from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore or Malaysia, who were given or chose very old-fashioned names for their English name.

I have known or worked with young East Asians called Gladys, Edith, Agnes, Clarence, Terence, Hope, Ivy, Beatrice and many other such names.

R56, those are Boomer names, not Silent Generation.

Louise and Doris.

Some names are just too ugly to ever come back - Gertrude, Hilda, Mildred, Edna, Ethel, Mavis, Ruth, Hortense, Wilma.

I've always liked Ruth.

Muriel

R40 - I'm surprised Maud hasn't made a comeback, at least in Britain. It featured in the royal family and Lord Frederick Windsor names his daughter Maud.

In America, of course, there would be feeling against it because of the television show.

I rather like it without the final "e".

Has anyone an idea of whether "Diana" has remained popular? One would think . . .

R44, his parents named Pete Buttigieg after a candy company? That's very strange.

And you don't really see many Ethelreds these days. Haven't for some time now.

[quote]Mayor Pete's full name is: Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg

They should have stopped at "Montgomery."

Many years ago, I knew of two baby girls who were Imogene and Estelle. At the time I thought they were ridiculous granny names, but on the right girl, they could be fetching. Their last name was pretty doomed, though.

Methuselah hasn’t made a comeback

“Mayor Pete's full name is: Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg“

You just know Trump will ask: Who is this Peter Paul and Mary!? ...and then say The Answer Is BLOWING In The Wind.

r59, Drew Barrymore named her daughter Olive

Mitzi...Fritzi...

Bootsy R55 I know of 3 Maudes (my sisters neighbors toddler daughter, my friends daughter and my coworkers niece) although one of them is spelled Maud. Also Judd apatows daughter is named Maude.

Maeve

Sasha Baron Cohen and his wife also named their daughter Olive

Dorcas

I know 2 millennial Maeves and a friends daughter is also named Maeve

[quote]Drew Barrymore named her daughter Olive

I think that had something to do with her holiday movie and book "Olive, the Other Reindeer."

Marie Osmond's first name is actually Olive.

[quote]I've met a lot of young East Asians, particularly those of Chinese origin from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore or Malaysia, who were given or chose very old-fashioned names for their English name.

True. I know an Asian couple who chose the names Fred and Grace. And Winnie is also popular with Chinese women. (I know of three.)

Well, ain't you just the Maeve maven, r85!

r8 in my crappy city (in Fl) we have a Lureern. She has a store front diner. You can just imagine the right wi ng trumpers it attracts...

I still can't get over that "Matilda" has been popular among well-to-do millennials.

Did anyone mention Lorraine?

Sybill

Bertha

Blanche

r90 ..who would do that to a child? ick

Lois

Pearl

June

Bernice

Hortense

Nelda Fanny Millicent Beatrice

My niece, who’s a year old, is named June - it’s a family name

Joan, Helen, Sydney (for boys), Lionel

Matilda and Tallulah are now upper-middle and upper-class names in England.

Hephzibah

Harry

Audrey

Hermione

Phyliss

Heddy, Hedda

Henrietta

Ernestine

Lisle, Lyle

Everett

Vance

Vaughn

Blaine

Clark

Dagmar, Edmar

Eunice, Enice

Willa

Bernice, Bernie

Josephine

Antonia

Darcy

Marcy, Marcie

Masie, Masey

Mindy

Seymour

Oscar

Alvin

Alastair, Allister

Alfred

Adeline

Cuthbert

Canute

Stacy

Anne-Marie

Mary-Beth, Marybeth

Meredith

Roger

Lionel

Algernon, Alge

Victor

Desmond

Basil

Barnaby

Clifford

Cyril

Horace

Leopold

Melvin

Norman

Roland

Rudolph

Willbert

Priscilla

Roderick

Winston

Maurice, Morris

Muriel

Mirriam

Arthur

Lorna

Leona

Leonora

Elsa, Elsie, Elsey

Ephraim

Effie, Efret

Isadora

Elisha, Alicia

Elsa is back thanks to Frozen.

Prudence, Prue, Prunella

R107 Interesting... none in my circles or back home. I once knew a young Japanese lady called Elsa at University. I've yet to meet another. How many years ago has it been since 'Frozen' made its Disney debut?

There sure are a ton of names to choose from, aren’t there? Geez. Eventually Taylor, Kayla etc will be old lady names.

R56 reads like my elementary school class roster.

Too many Hazels already!

My Mexican-American Elementary students have some of the coolest retro names:

Tiburcio, Adleme, Dulce, Jimena, Arlett, Rigoberto

R56, I already have several elementary students with the names:

Nancy

Patricia

Larry

R112 A Nancy? I’m impressed. Waiting for a Lisa, Debbie or Kathy.

Very tired of all the Bens, Sams and Joshes. Jason seems finally to be over.

Linda is literally beautiful, I don’t know why it hasn’t come back.

Fanny

R113 I sure hope you're correct regarding Jason. They're bloody everywhere! I've had a silly friend name his dog Jaysen, and have a young late twenties neighbour named Jay, who "creatively" named his son Jayson. I shall tell him he's late to the party, and no longer on trend!

I could see Gertrude making a comeback as Trudy.

I'd rather meet ten new Jasons than one more person who says "on trend."

Funny R116 I have a neighbour Gertie, Chinese from HK. All her siblings have these rather old-fashioned names. Gertie or Trudy certainly is better than Gertrude. I have one way back in my mum's line... German Jews.

I have a Jasen student.

I have THREE Jaxons- I thought that name finally died!

R17, I’ll see your “on trend” and raise it with a “start a conversation.”

r119, assuming you meant r117, I'll continue the conversation with a WW.

Ignatz Though it still exists in Italy.

Leopold

I have two boy students with the name Imanol. I love that name!

R122 "Imanol" sounds like something that came out of an electronic syllabicator, such as they use to invent new Rx drug and automobile names.

Adolf

Madonna, but the campaign continues.

"Adbiel" is another favorite.

The Mexican kids have such cooler names than Brendan, Olivia, HAZEL, Kaydence, Tanner, Weston, Jaxon, Isabella/"IZZY"!!!

I also have two boy students with the name of Iker this year.

Once pronounces it correctly as EE-Ker.

The other says it as EYE-Ker.

However, a lot of the Mexican-American parents have stopped using traditional Mexican names and are now naming their kids Isaac, Eleanor, Jeremiah, Joshua, Prince, Jennifer, and a few Kenzies. And these are parents who speak barely a word of English.

Amelia, Emmaline, George, Veronica

Amelia is in the top ten.

Amelia, Emmaline and Veronica are all current popular names in the Kindergarten through 3rd Grade set.

Maryann

Joan

Brenda

Monica

Arlene

Lori

Laura

Roseanne

Sally

Pauline

Phyllis, Margaret/Peggy, Susan, Suzanne, Judy, Jody, Herbert

Amelia is a shitty name. Don't even name a cat Amelia. Ugh.

Aloysius.

Herbert and Hubert

Mary Pat

Mary Louise

Patricia

Bruce

Wayne

Melvin

Alan/Allen

Paula

Karen

Roger

Beverly

Marion

Temperance

Louise

Bertha

Ebenezer

Enoch, Herbert, and Eustace. Gertrude, Muriel, and Dorthy for girls.

When I brvsne a nurse in the 1980s Lillian was the most popular old lady name. I think we had 6 Lillian Cohens in the hospital at one time.

1950s & 1960s popular names are not coming back.

Deborah/Debra

Maureen

Kathy

Patty

Cindy/Cynthia

Elaine

Sandy/Sandra

Paula

Jean

Joanne

Joan

Janine

Lisa

Theresa/Therese

Mary/Marie/Maria

Linda

Lorene

Janet

Rhonda

Barbara

Denise

Faye

Clara

Gina

Regina

Ramona

Wanda

Nancy

Gail

Laurie

Florence

Diane

Dale

Anne

Cora

Mona

Gaylord and Gaynor

Virginia/Ginny

Freda

Frances/Franny

Carla/Karla

Joy

Josephine

Jackie

Prudence.

Roberta

Vincent

Alicia

Felicia

Fern

Iris

Doreen

Geraldine

Hope

Honorè

Betsy

Pam

Jan

Louise

Claudia/Claudette

Eunice

Wayne

Ernest

Rosalee

Mindy

Nadine

Susan

Suzanne

Bonnie

Darlene

Sheila

Darla

Georgina

June

Veronica

Vera

Mary Lou

Marilyn

Noreen

Aileen

Eileen

Irene

Farina

Alfalfa

Stymie

Spanky

Butch

Chubby

Darla

Brisbane

Ethel

Carol

Marcia/Marsha

Shirley

Jesus

Darkene.

Shirley is a good one

Shirley is.

There are plenty of Dagmars in Denmark. Prince Oscar is the name of Crown Princess Victoria's (Sweden) son. The elder daughter, the heir, of King Felipe of Spain is named Leonor.

You have to take different national cultures into consideration.

Meanwhile, amongst the "flower" names, some have survived and some have not. Rose has gone out of fashion, except amongst aristocrats, but Violet has become very chic, and so has Flora.

In the flower vein, Winston Churchill had a daughter named Marigold, who died when she was three (he and Clemmie were devastated).

I'd have said Marigold was a damned silly name, but somehow, when you pair it with "Churchill", it takes on quite another aspect.

Leslie has also gone out (it was a boy's name in the UK).

Arthur has survived, while Roger has not .

Pansy, once familiar in Britian, but not in America, is now gone.

Don’t call me Shirley! Or Betty. Or Helen.

If I had a kid, I’d give it one of those Susie or Bobby names, as a Midcentury Modern statement.

Every Italian American NY family with 2 daughters is required to name them Sofia & Marissa

Gwyneth. Who’d have thought a “Gwyneth” would ever be a current movie star?

How did a Vanderbilt end up with the a first name like CONSUELO?

Evelyn

Linda, Maryann, and Donna own this thread.

My mother was an Agenes--she hated the name. I don't think it's coming back.

A lot of boomer names are classics: Kathleen/Katherine, Linda, Patricia, Mary, Laura, Micheal, jeffrey, Richard, etc. They'll eventually come back

Ruth, Esther and some of the other old lady names came out of an era where the Old Testament served as inspiration even for WASPs. I don't think that's going to happen again any time soon. The pole dance/hooker names (Tiffany and the like) also seem unlikely to come back and I'd imagine that the Skylers and names that became androgynous for no particular reason (Cameron, Madison, etc.) will probably die off much like Dana, Evelyn, and beverly.

Hortense.

I can’t decide which name is uglier - Enid or Edith.

Harold

Sylvester, Sylvestri

Magdalena

Cornelius

Howard

Abner

Egor, Igor

Gregor

Stanislas, Stanley

Woodrow

Barney

Clayton

Persephone

Petrea, Petra, Petroula

R158 I WAS taking other cultures into my consideration, as my ex is Danish. His mum is a Dagmar, brother Edmar. During his parents' and grandparents' generation, Dagmar and Edmar were quite common. That is no longer the case in Denmark. Regarding Harold, royalty always favours antiquated or historically popular names, so I'm not considering them the norm. Dagmar and Edmar were not at all uncommon in Britain, Poland, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Germany...long ago. Again, not the case today, as the two names now barely make 1%. They're both decidedly out of fashion today.

I had an Asian friend with a white husband. Their boys were Silas, Calvin and Quincy and were each more adorable than the last.

Evelyn was one of the top ten baby names of 2019.

I know three Harrietts and one Ebenezer. I know three Sadies, both are under 20. There's a woman on my subway line named Uglina.

Names that have comeback-

Henry

Sebastian

Julian

Theodore

Amelia

Evelyn

Ella/Ellie

Camilla

Penelope

Nora

Eleanor

Lillian

Hazel

Violet

According to this, Evelyn is just outside the top ten

(The Kayla/Kaylee names seem to have faded. Good!)

How about Pamela? I like Pamela.

Are they pronouncing it Ev-uh-lyn or Eve-lyn?

Bartholomew, Bart

Ferdinand, Fred

Abernathy

Reginald, Regina, Reggie

Anton, Antony, Antoni

Maxwell, Maximillian

Emiliano

Franklin, Frank, Francis

Ralph

Gidney, Gideon, Gedney

Ellery

The ugliest girl in our school was a Penelope/Penny.. I can't imagine saddling a little girl with Hazel. Even Eleanor conjures up some old broad in a housedress, hair in curlers.

After Thanksgiving tonight my sibs and I went through old family names. Ezra was our great grandfather, married to Harrietta. Ezra's brothers were Clarendon, Joseph and Haza. Harietta had sisters Louisabeth, Mignon and Juditha. We learned they were all Hungarian immigrants.

Marjorie, Ethel Arthur

Gutrune

R178, Hazel is hip now....a lot of names considered old lady-ish are now associated with little kids. It all comes full circle.

Beaver

Wally

Ward

Clarence

Fred

Clement

Percy

Cecil

Fern

Myrtle, Edna, Anita.

R163, Consuelo Vanderbilt was named in honor of her Spanish grandmother, Consuelo Yznaga.

Constance.

Dotty

R179 I've always been fond of Ezra. I think it's a very strong, cool name. I began thinking of my ancestors' names again after your post, and realised two names I haven't added to my posts here. I had a great grandfather Felix, and a great gran named Nina. They don't seem popular anymore at all.

Some others in my family I find no longer popular: Warren, Sanford, Norbert, Cecily, Alice, and Avigdor